PORT TOWNSEND — A second ramp in the Boat Haven could be in operation by early 2016, the Port of Port Townsend deputy director said.

All of the necessary permits are in place for the construction for the new ramp, according to Deputy Port Director Jim Pivarnik.

At 36 feet, the ramp would be twice the width of the current ramp and would allow two boats to be moved in or out at a time.

The matter was discussed in a nine-minute hearing last Tuesday before Port Townsend Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts, who characterized the proposal as “pretty straightforward, and all the impacts are addressed.”

Olbrechts has 10 days to issue his final decision which Pivarnik expects will be favorable to the project.

The $450,000 project would be subsidized by a $329,000 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office, with the remaining $121,000 originating from the port’s general fund, Pivarnik said.

Construction would have to be complete by Feb. 15 to accommodate a state-imposed “fish window” to protect spawning fish in the river, but Pivarnik hopes that the ramp will be in use a month ahead of that deadline.

Pivarnik expects to request bids next week and award a contract in September with construction to follow immediately.

It would be the second time the project has been put out to bid.

A previous round this spring yielded bids upward of $600,000 which prompted port officials to scale down the project.

“We had a Cadillac of a bid and found out we couldn’t afford it,” Pivarnik said.

The original bid called for extending the ramp to a 6-foot depth.

That was changed to 4 feet after input from port customers that the shorter distance was enough.

Also changed was the original design of two separate 16-foot ramps divided by a walkway.

The new design calls for a single ramp with raised dividers to separate the lanes.

The walkway would be at the side of the ramp — also a cost saving measure, Pivarnik said.

This offers an unexpected advantage, Pivarnik said, because it means the ramp can accommodate wider boats.

“Right now we need the lift for the larger boats to get them in and out of the water,” he said.

“They will be able to use the new ramp as long as they weigh less than 100 tons.”

The current access cost for the boat ramp is $10 per day or $45 a year although that will be revisited once the new ramp is in place, Pivarnik said.

The ramp is unsupervised on evenings and weekends. Payment is on the honor system using an on-site drop box, Pivarnik said.

Enforcement is accomplished by checking the tags of trailers in the parking lot adjacent to the ramp, but the port has no estimation as to how many people use the ramp without paying, Pivarnik said.

________

Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.