Haugen floats bill for Oak Harbor marina

OLYMPIA — Many people might be surprised to learn that a place with such a strong nautical tradition as Whidbey Island doesn’t have all that many places where visiting tourists can tie their boat up for the day, or that a town with a name like Oak Harbor is struggling to improve its public marina.

But that may soon change if Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, is successful in changing some of the regulations used by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for managing the state's aquatic lands on the public’s behalf.

Senate Bill 6532 would allow the DNR to enter into aquatic lands management agreements with cities under the same regulations it uses to lease lands to port districts.

“This is crucial for Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island,” said Haugen while presenting the bill to the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation Committee. “These communities have limited opportunities for economic development, and a simple step like this could make a huge difference to allowing them to develop their marina into one that would increase tourism.”

Under the new guidelines, towns and cities with a population of 20,000 to 40,000 may enter into aquatic lands management agreements with DNR for the purposes of establishing a public marina. The result would be that a city like Oak Harbor would not have to pay rent to DNR for aquatic lands they lease for their marina. The city hopes to use the savings in rent to improve and expand marina services.

Haugen introduced members of the Oak Harbor City Council to provide testimony about how the proposal would benefit their town.

“As a city marina, we don’t enjoy the same breaks that public ports get,” said Mayor Jim Slowik, who pointed out that the city can’t afford to maintain their marina infrastructure, let alone make improvements that might attract more tourists. “This bill would give us just enough of a break to help us expand and offer the services that people want in a public marina.”

“As things stand now, port districts enjoy a lower rent on the aquatic lands they lease from DNR than a small town like Oak Harbor,” said City Administrator Paul Schmidt, who points out that the city has to pay DNR around $50,000 a year to lease aquatic lands. “All we’re looking for is equal consideration.”

Also in attendance were City Council members Jim Campbell, Eric Gerber, Rick Almberg, and Beth Munns.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (right) introduces City Administrator Paul Schmidt (center) and Oak Harbor Mayor Jim Slowik (left) to the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation Committee

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