KINGSTON — The Port of Kingston is trying to resolve a dispute that was created when a small float was returned to its original location at the marina.
The float had been next to Kingston Adventures’ kayak float and was being used by the company. But the float is owned by the City of Poulsbo for its summer sailing program.
Following a packed meeting of concerned residents and business owners April 23, the port issued a statement regarding the float.
“Port commissioners and staff are very interested in finding a solution … and a meeting has been scheduled with Kingston Adventure’s attorney,” the port’s statement says. “However, the sailing float in question will not be returned to that fairway location due to safety concerns and the difficulty of the float in that location to fulfill the purpose for which it was built and provided.”
Port attorney Carrie Eastman and Kingston Adventures’ attorney are “talking back and forth,” according to Port Manager David Malone.
Malone would not comment further on the matter, and Eastman did not return a phone call by deadline May 1.
The float is one of two owned by the City of Poulsbo for its recreation department’s summer sailing program in Kingston, and the city pays a fee to the port to keep the floats there.
At some point, possibly when the sailing program was on hiatus, the float was moved next to the port’s small watercraft float; two years ago, the business was told the float was theirs to use, according to Kingston Adventures owner Beth Brewster.
According to Brewster, the float proved beneficial to her business, which serves adults, children and corporate events. Kingston Adventures “absolutely needs the float back.”
The port and city have an interagency agreement for the floats, according to a document obtained by the Herald. The document states the port has floats available for use by the city to provide a sailing program. The sailing program operates during the summer.
The float was built by volunteers for the city to use. The city has operated a sailing program in Kingston for about 19 years, according to Mary McCluskey, director of Poulsbo Parks & Recreation.
The city pays the port half of the current moorage rate — based on linear foot of dock space — during the duration of the summer sailing program, plus 12.84 percent state leasehold tax, according to the agreement.
The agreement protects both parties from lawsuits the other might incur. And, the city and port agree to repair or replace property that either might damage, according to the agreement.
“Port staff estimated that [at] some point over the past several years, the small float was relocated to the outside of the port’s small watercraft facility and in the fairway between the facility and several slips,” the port’s statement states. “The Port Manager also learned that the sailing program was unable to use [its] float as intended where it had been located in the fairway.”
McCluskey was not sure when the float was moved, or who approved the move.
“That is something that is not clear to any of us,” she said. It could be the float was moved during summer 2011, when the city did not offer a sailing program in Kingston. The program was on hiatus that summer because the city couldn’t provide enough qualified staff, according to McCluskey.
The move created a safety issue, according to the port’s statement. Marina fairways, like roads, must meet minimum safety standards. The float’s location didn’t meet safety standards.
“Should a vessel back out of [its] slip and run into a small float, anyone on that small float could easily fall off and onto spinning propellers or become squeezed between the vessel and the float,” according to the statement.
“Moving the sailing float out of the fairway has also returned the fairway to its designed safety width parameters.”
The sailing program operates with a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 21. There are two types of boats used — one for young beginners and another for children 11 and older. McCluskey said the city is planning to offer the program this summer.
