Under the agreement, the port will exchange 6. Two public hearings on the proposed property exchange were held. Port commissioners unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday surplussing the 6.
The two sides have been seeking a resolution off and on since at least It has not been an easy path. We kept coming back to the table and it worked. One part of the property is no more or less important than any other, she said. The log yard property lies on top of Tse-whit-zen, an important ancestral Klallam village occupied for more than 2, years that was uncovered during a state Department of Transportation graving dock project for the repair of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Cultural artifacts as well as human remains were found during excavations. The project was abandoned in December S Department of Transportation Maritime Administration funding to make improvements to the log yard and cofferdam.
MARAD, in consultation with the state Historic Preservation Office and the tribe, determined construction could have a negative impact on the site. The agreement they reached, the port and the tribe said, balance the cultural significance of the site and the overall benefits of improvements that include connecting the stormwater ponds constructed as part of the WSDOT project to new infrastructure at a future date that will help manage stormwater.
The MOA outlines steps the port must take to mitigate any adverse effects its actions might have. Among them are retaining professional archaeologists and cultural resource staff from the tribe to monitor ground-disturbing activities for possible damage to cultural resources, implementing protocols for the discovery of artifacts or human remains and a commitment from the port that the stormwater infrastructure also will protect adjacent burial sites.
