Port turned down for broadband grant funds

DAYTON–The Broadband Project did not receive the grant from the Public Works Board with funds needed to move forward, reported Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson at the November 10 meeting.

Demand was too high with not enough funding to go around, Dickinson told Port Commissioners, so the Port will plan to work with local legislators to increase the budget for future rural broadband funding.

Dickinson plans to apply again for the same grant next year, and she said information regarding availability of project design funds will be determined in the near future.

The Port of Columbia has not received $40,000 in tax collections for the year, though more should be expected, Dickinson reported. The district is one of the smallest taxing authorities in the County, according to Dickinson, which could indicate that other county departments may be down significantly as well. The impact to the Port would only mean less cash on hand at the end of the year, until those taxes are paid, Dickinson said.

Columbia Rail owner Paul Didelius and a representative from HDR Engineering, Paul Weber, contributed to the meeting in hopes to move forward with a rehabilitation plan for the rail, especially at crossings and bridges and the replacement of some of the ties.

Also, Didelius requested the Port's assistance in pursuing building less than a mile of track, including a bridge to connect Wallula to go into the Northwest Grain Growers facility there. This would allow continued use of transporting grain from the rail to the river, which is more reliable than the rail to the coast as Union Pacific prefers.

Union Pacific owns the portion of 50 miles of rail between Wallula and Walla Walla and is leased by Columbia Rail. Building this track would allow Columbia Rail to work around Union Pacific and use the rail to the river to transport grain, rather than rail-to-coast, which would bypass use of most of the area short line all together, including that which is in the Port of Columbia district.

The needed portion of the rail line is in the Port of Walla Walla district, but they have less interest because they only have a few rail cars coming through town, according to Didelius. The Commissioners and Dickinson agreed to present the need to legislators for funding, but would like to see more involvement from the Port of Walla Walla.

The Port Commissioners scheduled a meeting with Dickinson on December 18 at 1:00 p.m. by Zoom for a Comprehensive Plan Review Workshop to go through the strategic planning and make any needed adjustments.