Kalama council grants port permit for dredging

KALAMA — The Kalama City Council on Thursday approved a 10-year permit for the Port of Kalama’s harbor maintenance dredging.

The port regularly dredges its boat basins in the Columbia River to maintain proper depths. Dredge spoils will be used for beach nourishment on the shoreline and north of Louis Rasmussen Day Use Park.

The city previously exempted the dredging from the permit process because it is maintenance. But City Administrator Adam Smee said the state Department of Ecology told the city it needs to permit the action because it is not defined as maintenance in the city’s Shoreline Master Program.

The city is working on updating its shoreline program and plans to classify the dredging as a maintenance activity to simplify the process in the future, Smee said.

The council also approved an addendum to a development agreement with the Port of Kalama to include 10 new properties. This allows their development to be consistent, Smee said.

The agreement was created in 2014 to set regulations for the East Port Property to set standards, regulations and public improvements for the area to create stability and predictability for the city and port, according to the staff report.

In other business, the council:

• Changed the speed limit on East Frontage Road from the southernmost intersection of Maruhn Park to the intersection with Oak Street from 45 mph to 25 mph.