City offers land swap with port

The City of Shelton is offering to trade 3 or 4 acres of wooded land north of the Huff'n'Puff Trail to the Port of Shelton for 25 acres on the south end of Sanderson Field to expand its satellite wastewater treatment system.

The city also expressed interest in annexing the Sanderson Field area from Mason County into the city limits during a joint session with the Port of Shelton Commission on Friday morning at the Ridge Motorsports. That land is part of the Shelton urban growth area.

The two-hour conversation between the two government entities was designed "to talk about issues that are beneficial to both organizations" and to plan for successful economic development, said City Manager Jeff Niten.

"I know there's been some concern about annexation from previous years," Niten said. "This isn't a 'This is what we're going to do' conversation. I want it to be a 'mutually beneficial' conversation, and just make sure the concerns you have are addressed."

The city wants the port property, some of it on the former site of the Mason County Fairgrounds, to triple the capacity of the current satellite wastewater treatment plant from 400,000 gallons per day to 1.2 million a day, Niten said.

"These are the places future employment opportunities are going to happen," he said.

In exchange, the city is offering about 3 or 4 acres of woods near the Huff'n'Puff Trail and Island Lake. A proposed neighborhood development on the site fell through a couple years ago.

The three members of the Port of Shelton Commission and port staff didn't share their preferences on either proposal.

"I think it will be very interesting to find out what kind of response we get from the community ... I think we probably need to have a discussion among ourselves," said Port of Shelton Commissioner Sue Patterson.

"With the three of us, we'll need to have a public meeting ... I have no idea about how the other two commissioners feel about this," said Port Commissioner Dick Taylor.

The members of the commission had questions and concerns about how annexing into the city would affect Sanderson Field and the other Port properties on the site, including water, sewer and taxes.

The sole purpose of a port district is economic development.

"Economic development is going to happen whether it's city or county property," said Port Executive Director Wendy Smith.

Niten said that if the port property was annexed into the city, the city would provide police services; fire from Central Mason; and street maintenance such as chip and crack sealing. When he said the city would provide snowplowing, Taylor mentioned the port has snowplowing operations at Sanderson Field.

The port would not be required to take city water, or the two systems could be combined, Niten said.

"The water is kind of a concern," Smith said. The city's water contains chlorine, while the port's water comes directly from a well, which is preferred by some of the port's agricultural tenants, she said.

The land the city is offering is zoned residential. The port could maintain the trees and allow the site to be used for recreation, Niten said.