PORT ANGELES — A bid for the construction of a $1.8 million Marine Trades Industrial Park wash-down facility more accommodating than anticipated for larger vessels was approved Monday by Port of Port Angeles commissioners.

A $1.7 million bid construction bid submitted by McClure & Sons. Inc. of Mill Creek included the added feature of construction of a 175-foot-long wash-down pad for the self-service facility.

The $1.8 million total includes construction administration and bid-document revisions that had to be made after initial construction estimates came in too high.

The longer pad is nearly double the 93-foot length commissioners Connie Beauvais, Colleen McAleer and Steve Burke initially were considering and which would have required moving larger vessels during the wash-down process.

Steve Burke

The winning bid included the supplemental footage McClure said could be built for $300,000 at the 19-acre Marine Drive site of the former K-Ply, then Peninsula Ply, plywood mills west of the downtown core.

That’s $100,000 less than the port staff’s estimate, “a good value,” port Public Works Manager Chris Rasmussen said in his report to the commissioners.

The target date is Oct. 31 for completing construction of the port’s second-largest capital project for 2018 at the undeveloped site.

“This is a critical investment,” Burke, the Port Angeles-area commissioner, said at the meeting.

“If we are going to commit to a marine trades investment to diversify jobs and revenue, then this is critical that we start doing this.

“We already have some people that can use it.”

Beauvais, the board president and West End-area commissioner, is “very much in favor” of the the bid, she said at the meeting.

“I would note, however, that this does not include any [wash-down facility effluent] treatment,” Beauvais said.

The initial construction estimate of $2.46 million by Reid Middleton engineering of Everett exceeded the $1.8 million budget by a “staggering” amount, port Director of Engineering Chris Hartman said in January.

Commissioners subsequently eliminated on-site wastewater treatment in favor of transporting it to the port’s Boat Haven marina on Marine Drive west of the Marine Trades Industrial Park.

“If we do get a lot of people who use it, it makes it worthwhile to consider doing the treatment,” Beauvais said Monday.

“That will be considered at another date.”

Mega-yacht shipbuilder Westport Shipyard on Marine Drive and Platypus Marine on North Cedar are expected to join new tenants at the industrial park in using the facility.

Platypus will be the main user at the outset for vessels that average 64 feet, Executive Director Karen Goschen said Monday in a later interview.

Westport builds 164-foot yachts.

“We know the volume of the larger vessels is a handful,” Goschen said.

“We have to wait and see how much usage we get and what that break-even point is to go to a different system.

“Platypus is the primary user because of how many boats they work on.

“Westport has a handful of warranty work, but they are mostly new-built.

“As we build out the marine trades park, there will be other users.”

Business interest in locating at the industrial park has been limited to representatives of smaller marine trades entrepreneurs, Goschen added.

“I wouldn’t call any of them right now at that large anchor-tenant level,” she said.

Bids rejected by the commissioners that included the longer wash-down pad were submitted by Interwest Construction Inc. for $1.9 million and Strider Construction Co. Inc. for $1.96 million.

Both are based in Burlington.

The wash-down facility has received state and city permits.

It will be funded with port capital improvement funds.

The port has applied for a state Community Economic Revitalization Board low-interest loan over 15 to 20 years with a 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent interest rate at a 50 percent port match.

The loan will be considered at a July 26 CERB meeting, with any costs incurred by the port before then used as part of the 50 percent match.

Project expenditures include $45,000 to revise the bid documents, $40,000 for construction administration and $5,000 for archaeological surveying-monitoring.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.