Port Angeles to mull Eighth Street bridge fencing, plastic bag ban

The Port Angeles City Council will consider awarding a bid for Eighth Street bridge fencing when it meets Tuesday.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in City Council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St., Port Angeles. An executive session is planned at 5 p.m. to discuss potential litigation.

City staff has recommended that the council award a $770,770 contract to Interwest Construction, Inc. of Sequim, which submitted the lowest of three bids that the city opened Thursday.

The contractor will raise eight to nine-foot-tall fencing with aluminum posts attached to the outside of the existing concrete barriers.

The goal is to help prevent more suicides from the 100-foot-tall spans over Tumwater and Valley creeks, where eight people have jumped to their deaths since 2009.

At 6:30 p.m., the City Council will conduct a third public hearing on a proposal to ban single-use plastic bags at the point of sale at stores within the city.

After the hearing, the council will consider three options: a plastic bag ban and 5-cent charge for recycled paper bags, a ban on plastic bags and a hybrid than bans plastic bags and imposes a 5-cent minimum charge on any bag supplied to a customer.

Other action items on the City Council agenda include:

• A second reading of a budget amendment.

• A state Department of Natural Resources presentation on urban and community forestry.

• The purchase of a cardiac defibrillator.

• A cultural resource services award.

• A state Traffic Commission interagency highway safety grant.

• A memorandum of agreement with U.S. Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles.

• An amendment to a professional services agreement with Sargent Engineers, the firm designing the Eighth Street bridge safety project.

• An appointment to the city Planning Commission.

Clallam County

Clallam County commissioners will discuss and review executive search firms for the county administrator’s position Monday.

The work session will begin at 9 a.m. in the commissioners’ board room (160) at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

Current County Administrator Jim Jones announced in February that he plans to retire in September.

Other discussion items for the work session include.

• An update on the lawsuit that Clallam County filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

• A proposed resolution establishing salary and benefits for elected officials.

• An update on the county’s Shoreline Master Program.

• Agreements with Clallam Mosaic for services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

• A request to modify a part-time Drug Court extra help position to an administrative assistant therapeutic court position.

• A discussion on Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, or OPNET, funding.

• A grant application to the state Department of Transportation for bicycle and pedestrian safety.

• An agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for a transfer of funds for initial construction of a segment of the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent.

Commissioners will hold their regular business meeting 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Scheduled action items include:

• A proclamation recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

• Agreement with Peninsula Daily News for printing legal publications through June 2019.

• An amended agreement with Anchor QEA, LLC for engineering and design to improve fish passage at the McDonald Creek outtake of the Agnew Irrigation District project.

• Agreements with Morningside and Concerned Citizens for classes focused on teaching workforce readiness skills to youth and other job seekers with developmental disabilities.

• An agreement with Concerned Citizens for classes focused on teaching individuals with developmental disabilities and their families how to set goals.

• A contract amendment with the state Department of Health to add statements of work and to increase funding for three programs.

Public Utility District

Clallam County Public Utility District commissioners will consider establishing the current electric service regulations and requirements at a meeting at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

The meeting will be in the Lake Crescent Boardroom at the Carlsborg main office at 104 Hooker Road.

Other agenda items include an invitation to bid for 32 fiberglass poles to be used on transmission and distribution lines from Laird’s Corner to the Airport Substation and the removal of delinquent accounts from the active accounts receivable.

Olympic Medical Center

Olympic Medical Center commissioners will hear of hospital recognition by the National Rural Hospital Association when they meet at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The meeting will be in Linkletter Hall in the basement of the hospital at 939 E. Caroline St., Port Angeles.

Commissioners also will consider a Sequim School Board proposal.

Fire District 3

Clallam County Fire District 3 commissioners will consider a joint resolution with the city of Sequim when they meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Commissioners will meet at 323 N. Fifth Ave., Sequim.

They also will consider an auditor’s report, mandated training requirements standard operating procedure, and the 2016 annual report.

The district covers the east side of Clallam County with a small portion in Jefferson County.

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