The Port of Chehalis commissioners held their bi-weekly meeting on Aug. 11 and discussed investment issues, approved the purchase of land to expand existing parcels they own and began the process of creating their 2023 budget.
Rodney Reynolds, investment and banking officer for the Lewis County Treasurer’s Office, explained to the commissioners that currently they are relocating funds from the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) to the Lewis County Investment Pool (LCIP).
The reasoning behind this move is to improve their investment return yields. This practice has been seen in neighboring counties, too.
“I put together a list of other counties that do this. This wouldn’t be something that’s never been done before. There are a lot of counties that do this very successfully,” Reynolds said.
It will also allow the port to better diversify its investments and beat the investment return yield of the LGIP, giving the port more money to spend.
Additionally, the port is purchasing two parcels of land next to parcels the port already owns. The reasoning is the existing parcels aren’t big enough for what developers are planning.
“Typically, we are finding that people who are interested in this parcel are just short of the space that they need to operate. Parking is always the issue when it comes to development,” said Port of Chehalis CEO Lindsey Senter.
The parcels being purchased still have to be rezoned. The port is meeting with the City of Chehalis next week to discuss getting industrial electricity, water and sewage to the properties.
Port commissioners also approved the 2023 budget calendar and preliminary 2023 budget discussions will start on Sept. 8.
