Jetties top congressional wish-list
LeeAnn Neal
Headlight-Herald Staff
TILLAMOOK - As it did last year, the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners rated the $20 million renovation of the Tillamook Bay jetties as the county's highest priority for congressional funding.
Jetty repair "has been our No. 1 goal for a number of years and until we get it done, we'll have to keep it there," said Commissioner Chuck Hurliman.
Commissioners met with those requesting funding during a Jan. 14 prioritization session.
The Port of Garibaldi is seeking $6 million to fund repairs to the north jetty, and potentially another $14 million to restore the south jetty.
"It might be that they'll spend $20 million and do both jetties, but the north jetty has always been the priority," said Don Bacon, port manager.
Either way, "It will create a lot of jobs in the county," he said. "We have 1,000 rocks to place and each rock takes up a whole truck. We've got enough work to keep them busy for eight months."
Other items to make this year's list include Project Exodus ($20 million in Tillamook-area flood-mitigation projects), replacement of the splaying Lommen Bridge over the Nehalem River on Miami-Foley Road ($5 million) and upgrades to the Port of Tillamook Bay methane digester ($3.5 million), which converts dairy waste into electrical power.
So-called federal earmarks are offered to local governments annually through "regular federal appropriations, which are part of the normal federal budget process," said Commissioner Mark Labhart. Such funding will be distributed between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30, 2010.
Other projects submitted as potentials for congressional funding include a new Nehalem City Hall, Tillamook Lightwave connection improvements and a water system "inter-tie" between the City of Bay City and Kilchis Regional Water District.
Although they listed the above projects as priorities for congressional funding, commissioners won't leave anyone out, said Chairman Tim Josi. "We'll list all submitted projects as projects we would dearly love to have funded."
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