Have you wondered what happened to the “Centralia Station” project? Do You wonder what happened to the Fred Meyer store that was supposed to come here?
I have gone to the Port meetings and asked these questions and more and because I have received no answers, I have done some research on my own. I have read RCWs, the Port’s Master Plan, SEPA checklists and talked with people at the “City”, WSDOT and others. This is what I have learned: Complaints have been made to the State Auditor regarding a lack of transparency by our Port. Meeting Agendas tell nothing and, along with mid-afternoon weekday meeting times, discourage the public from attending. Public comment is barely tolerated and answers are basically non-existent. Executive Sessions are called on a regular basis citing the same RCW with no adequate explanations. And meeting dates are changed for no legitimate reason.
Now, once again, the Port has declared a business (WinCo) is coming when the agreement is, by their own admission, only tentative with “many, many” contingencies like the agreement with Fred Meyer. And we all know how that ended. The infrastructure has only just begun. They are now working on the sewer line but, the water line project has not begun. The access road/ramp off Mellen and I-5 interchange has not even gone out for bid. Nor when asked, do they even know when that will happen. The planned Yew St. extension into the area is dependent on the purchase of Alder House which, I heard is still in negotiations. Also, there are still houses to be demolished on Long Rd., elevations to be established, etc. No business is going to keep waiting for these things to be completed before they can begin construction. they, like Fred Meyer, will go elsewhere.
It is my opinion that Executive Director Kyle Heaton had a dream but is unable to follow through. He is not a team player, refuses to provide information even to the city of Centralia, holds up progress on this project and then blames everyone else. We elect the Commissioners. The Commissioners hire the executive director but, apparently fail to play a leadership role. One person cannot do all of this alone. It takes a team and partnerships working together to accomplish these goals.
Other port districts, such as the ports of Chehalis and Olympia, are much more transparent. Their meeting agendas are more detailed and they rarely have Executive Sessions which do not allow the public to attend. The Port of Olympia even has a Volunteer Citizen’s Advisory Committee. Maybe our Port needs that.
I think it is time for a shake-up at the Port of Centralia. It is time to hold them accountable. Vote for Bonnie Canaday for Port Commissioner. She will work to fix our broken Port.
Jan Banevich
Centralia
