By Kathie Meyer For Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — A decision by the state Recreation and Conservation Office could be the beginning of the end for a proposed aquatic center in Port Townsend’s Kah Tai Nature Lagoon Park.

The state office, known as RCO, has recommended to the National Park Service that 78.5 acres of the park be protected from development, citing the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, or LWCF Act, of 1965.

The recommendation means the nonprofit group Make Waves! might have to find another site for its proposed $10 million, 35,000-square-foot aquatic center.

“I’m disappointed in the decision, and we’ll have to look at our options,” Make Waves! board member David Hero said.

According to the 6(f) rule written into the LWCF Act, property purchased with its grant money is federally protected for passive recreation use only and must “be retained for public outdoor recreation use in perpetuity.”

The Kah Tai park property was purchased in part with $113,977 from the LWCF in 1981.

In a letter addressed to Heather Ramsay of the National Park Service, RCO Director Kaleen Cottingham wrote, “After extensive staff research and meetings with several different parties, I have decided to recommend 6(f) protection for approximately 78.5 acres . . . “[which] includes the property currently leased by the Port [of Port Townsend] to the city.”

The final decision rests with the director of the National Park Service.

Decision in October?

Ramsay said, “Realistically, I’m guessing it will probably be the beginning of October before we get a response back” to the state.

The recommendation is a victory for Friends of Kah Tai, which has opposed any development of the park and which provided documentation to back the idea that it is federally protected.

Rick Jahnke was a leader in the Friends of Kah Tai’s effort to provide this documentation to prove the park was federally protected.

“This was a major step toward honoring the agreements and the efforts of countless people who worked to create this park,” said Rick Jahnke, a member of the group.

The port land is leased to the city of Port Townsend until July 31.

City Manager David Timmons, who raised the question of federal protection early last year, said he “assumes that [the National Park Service is] going to concur with the recommendation.”

When the lease expires in 2012, he said, “We’ll hand [the port] the keys to the restroom, and they’ll have a park.”

Port of Port Townsend Executive Director Larry Crockett said he had sent the information to the port’s attorney.

“The only thing I saw was the RCO’s recommendation,” he said.

“There’s nothing binding in it.”

The port could apply to see if the aquatic center can meet approval under the 6(f) condition or remove the property from the 6(f) boundary.

Both options, if approved, would allow the aquatic center to move forward.

Port commissioners renewed in December a nonbinding letter of intent with Make Waves! to keep options open for another five years the possible construction of an aquatic center within Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park on 1.9 acres.

Prior to the vote, Timm­ons raised the 6(f) issue regarding the aquatic center proposal.

The proposed swim center would accommodate more than 2,000 swimmers a year with a public pool and other recreational options on port land next to Kah Tai Lagoon and Jefferson Transit’s Haines Place Park and Ride on 12th Street.

It was proposed because the existing pool located at 1919 Blaine St. on the Mountain View campus is considered inadequate.

The freshwater lagoon at Kah Tai is what remains of an original broad saltwater marsh that extended inland from Port Townsend Bay and was used by the Klall­am tribe for portage.

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Kathie Meyer is a freelance writer living in Port Townsend.