I just came from a meeting where the state auditor once again gave the Port of Kingston a clean audit report with no findings.

In the eight years I have been on the board, this is the third or fourth time that has happened.

In the course of the evaluation, the auditor goes over hundreds of transactions and projects that the port is involved in and scrutinizes them to make sure that we are following all of the appropriate state and federal regulations in our procurement practices. Port Business Manager Scott Coulter and Commissioners’ Project Manager Kori Henry are to be commended for their attention to detail in all of the work they do down at the port.

You may have noticed that this column was missing last month. Very early in August, when I was in my own boat up in the San Juans, I was called and asked to go to Petersburg, Alaska and operate a boat for a small local sport fishing charter business there.  I still have some family up there and a cousin who is the harbormaster for the town of Petersburg, so I took the opportunity and two days after I got the call my own boat was tied up here in Kingston and I was on a plane to Alaska. It was time well spent.

The Concerts on the Cove this year were very successful and for the first time, in spite of some of the marginal weather we had this summer, it didn’t rain on any of the concert days. I hope that everyone enjoyed the shows.

The feel of fall is in the air, now the flower baskets are starting to come down and it won’t be long before we start to see the trees change color. I hope we get another stretch or two of nice weather before the rain and cold set in for the season.

When the “season” does get here though, the holiday light show down at the port will return in a bigger fashion than last year. I have seen some herons and turtles and other seashore-friendly creatures being created and assembled by the folks that are coming to help Kori’s classes and light-building sessions. Thanks to all of you who come and help with this fun project.

You may remember that this time last year we were going to begin the process of updating the port’s master plan. That effort was delayed because of complications that sprung up with the SoundRunner program.  We are ready to begin again and have employed a professional facilitator to help us get the process started.

Everyone who responded last year on our inquiry will be contacted and advised that there will be two public kick-off meetings/workshops to gather citizen input and ideas for the future of the port. The meetings are tentatively scheduled for Oct. 24 and 25.

The first meeting will be to gather input from the business community within the port district. The second will be a general public working meeting where our facilitator will take ideas and questions from citizens and begin to draft the plan that will guide the port through the next half-decade.  The 2007 plan was developed with extensive citizen participation and the port is proud to have completed most all of the goals that were set during that project.  I don’t believe there are many who would dispute that the kayak facility, the performing arts gazebo, new fuel tanks, rebuilding of the marina docks, trail repair to North Beach access and the enhanced park area in the marina were good ideas.  They were all developed in our master planning update process.

Keep an eye on the local papers for further details, press releases and details on scheduling of the upcoming meetings.

Nautical termIn finding old nautical words and terms, I get surprised once in a while. Have you ever worked someplace where a small Slush Fund was kept to pay for incidental things needed by all in the staff, like coffee or drinks in the fridge?  Well, here is the origin of the term.

A slushy slurry of fat was obtained by boiling or scraping the empty salted meat storage barrels. This stuff called “slush” was often sold ashore by the ship’s cook for the benefit of himself or the crew. The money so derived became known as a “slush fund.” I wonder who bought that stuff and for what!

Now, if you are going to any Seahawks home games, there is no better way to do it than get on the SoundRunner passenger ferry for the trip down and back. Please check www.SoundRunnerFerry.com for details. For proper good planning, the staff needs to know how many are going each week well in advance.  Please support this valuable service.

That’s about it for this month. I hope you are enjoying the early fall and that we continue to have a dozen or more mild days before winter. As always, thanks for taking time to read this stuff. I enjoy writing it for you.