The City of Port Orchard approached the Port of Bremerton several months ago with problem.
Their boat launch, at the base of Water Street, had deteriorated and it needed to be fixed.
They suggested a three-way partnership between the city, the port and SAFE Boats, a company that uses the ramp regularly and leases building space from the Port of Bremerton, to fix the damage.
The Port hired PND Engineers, Inc., to estimate how much it would cost to repair the ramp.
PND said that the port should replace the ramp instead of fixing it.
“Providing interim repairs to the current system would not be fiscally responsible,” they wrote in an estimate, since, “there would be very little of the current system that could be saved.”
The port suggested that they’d build a new ramp, if the “city will vacate the entire length of Water Street from Bay Street to the street end and transfer this property to the Port by a Quit Claim Deed.”
If the port takes over the ramp, it will end a partnership between the city and the port that has lasted for “many years,” according to background information from the port.
The port currently maintains the parking lot and restroom on Bay Street next to the boat ramp facility, and the city takes care of the dual boat ramp and boat launch at next to the parking lot.
“The bottom line is, we serve the same people,” said Port Commissioner Bill Mahan, “and if we can figure out a way to take care of those folks and have the public win, in having a very nicely located boat ramp, then we all come out of this having done our job.”
