With a 2018 budget of $68.5 million, the Port of Vancouver is a significant player in the economy and the life of Vancouver. With little attention from the public, the port has fulfilled it foreign trade and economic development mission for more than a century.
Attention has grown over the past four years, however, with the port being at the center of a lengthy controversy over a proposed oil terminal. While the terminal plan has been rejected, it is important for local residents to retain their newfound interest in a facility that last year transferred 7.5 million metric tons of cargo — the fourth consecutive year of record-setting activity.
In other words, it is time for a reinvigorated relationship between the port and the public that owns it. For a fresh start. For an agreement that the facility and the community can work in concert to provide economic, environmental and development benefits that enhance our quality of life.
Thanks to the contentious arguments and intense public input that surrounded the now-defunct oil terminal, local residents have a better understanding of what the port does and the assets it provides for Clark County. Equally important, port officials have a better understanding of their role as public stewards, and elected port commissioners know that accountability rather than anonymity comes with the job.
To their credit, port officials are acting upon that understanding. In reconfiguring their strategic plan for the first time in a decade, they are seeking public input to align their goals with the desires of the community. One open house has been held to discuss the plan; port commissioners will discuss it Wednesday (8:30 a.m. at the Port of Vancouver, 3103 N.W. Lower River Road); and a second open house is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 12 at Clark College’s Gaiser Student Center, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver.
While the public played a role in defeating the proposed oil terminal, that victory does not lessen the port’s role in building our region’s economy. We hope that those who were outspoken in opposition to the terminal will be equally active in helping to shape the port’s future.
It is a future that appears robust, starting with development of Terminal 1. The site, where the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay used to be, is being developed for possible community, commercial and retail space that will help connect the city to the amenity that is the Columbia River. Nestled between the Interstate 5 Bridge and the Vancouver Waterfront development, Terminal 1 will help create the Vancouver of the future.
Meanwhile, port officials are close to finishing work on a West Vancouver Freight Access rail line; are developing the 108-acre Centennial Industrial Park; and are finalizing a new water system at the port. Overseeing all of this is Julianna Marler, who was appointed as port CEO in January 2017 and has led the organization in becoming more responsive to the public.
Each of these projects will better position the port to tend to the needs of local residents, providing commerce, jobs and strong tax base while reflecting the region’s deep attachment to environmental concerns. That duty was overlooked in the misguided attempt to bring an oil terminal to Vancouver, but it should not define the future of the Port of Vancouver. With a fresh start and with input from an engaged public, the port is prepared to work for the benefit of Vancouver.
