PORT ANGELES — The Harbor-Works Public Development Authority wants to have a purchase and sales agreement signed with Rayonier Inc. for the company’s 75-acre property on the Port Angeles Harbor waterfront by April, according to its 2009 work plan.

The work plan, which the Harbor-Works board will use to create a 2009 budget, was presented by board member Jerry Hendricks at its Wednesday meeting.

Orville Campbell, board chairman, has said that Rayonier executives have said they are ready to begin this process.

He said on Tuesday that the budget will take between two weeks and a month to develop.

The board also discussed hiring an attorney with experience in environmental cleanup law to assist it in negotiations with Rayonier.

Campbell said after the meeting that the budget will include additional funding requests from the city of Port Angeles and Port of Port Angeles because it expects to spend the two $150,000 loans from the public entities, intended to cover start-up costs, and then some to accomplish the goals in the work plan.

“There is more research that has to be done in terms of putting together a budget around that work plan,” he said.

The work plan also includes:

•âÇHiring an executive director in March or April.

•âÇDeveloping a working relationship with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe by April.

To accomplish this goal, the board discussed hiring another attorney with tribal law experience.

•âÇBeginning the due diligence process in May and completing it within a year.

•âÇApplying for and receiving approval for grants in May.

•âÇBeginning work on a market analysis and site master plan for the Rayonier property in October, and completing it in three months.

The board did not make a decision on hiring any further legal consultation at the meeting, but did decide a few board members should meet with three law firms in Seattle and Tacoma identified by Harbor-Works attorney Rob Tulloch of Port Angeles as experienced candidates with tribal and environmental law sometime this month.

Permanent director

The board unanimously decided to hire a firm for no more than $15,000 to find additional candidates for a permanent executive director. The position is budgeted at $144,000 a year.

The board originally planned to select a permanent executive director during the first week of December, but decided to hold off until the Port Angeles City Council held a meeting that same month to resolve the questions of some of its members about the formation and goals of the public development authority.

The City Council officially announced it had resolved those questions by unanimously voting in support of Harbor-Works on Jan. 27.

Campbell told the board that two additional candidates from Port Angeles have applied for the permanent executive director position.

Bob Coons, city human resources director, told the board that seeking additional candidates would extend the selection process for another three months.

Board member Bart Irwin proposed seeking additional candidates through a search firm, adding that he thinks finding the best candidate is worth the wait.

Irwin said the delays in selecting an executive director resulted from the City Council’s decision to hold the meeting on Harbor-Works in December.

“We have to play the cards we are dealt with,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean our time tables have to speed up as if nothing happened.”

Campbell said the finalists in November are still up or consideration.

Board member Jerry Hendricks, a former port executive director, said those candidates don’t have all the skills he now wants in a selection.

“It appears that those kind of skills are hard to find in one package,” he said.

The City Council and port commission approved the formation of Harbor-Works on May 20, and each has loaned the public development authority $150,000 from its economic development fund.

Harbor-Works is chartered by the city and port with assisting in the environmental cleanup of the Rayonier property, directing its redevelopment and assisting with harbor-wide planning.

The Rayonier property is contaminated with PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins from the 68 years Rayonier’s pulp mill operated on the property before closing in 1997.

It has been an Ecology cleanup site since 2000, with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe as a partner.

Remnants of an ancient Klallam village are buried under some of the property.

Hendricks, who acts as the board’s treasurer, presented a draft 2009 work plan at the meeting.

In other business, the board unanimously approved $7,542.61 in expenditures at the meeting, and it unanimously chose to hire Double Click Productions for $2,500 to develop a Web site for Harbor-Works.

Campbell said the board did not approve $11,832.76 for city staff time because the voucher did not provide enough detailed information.

Harbor-Works’ spending now totals $38,167.23.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.