Dewatto opens campground, replaces old blinds

Kirk Boxleitner | May 04, 20230

Gordon Weeks count

A biologist who recently visited the Port of Dewatto campground determined the port could not remove old and new downed trees on the Dewatto River because it would disrupt the habitat.

Gordon Weeks count

Jean Quintens of Port Orchard rakes leaves as a volunteer in March to clean up the campground.

Even as the Port of Dewatto opened up the Dewatto River Campground on April 1 after conducting a campground cleanup March 25, it faced another significant piece of maintenance.

While Port Manager Jeana Crosby readied for the campground's opening by ordering "Danger" and "Keep off the Fence" signs, and four fire rings for the campground, she also supplied estimates from multiple businesses for the cost to replace all the existing sets of blinds at the port offices, which are overdue to be replaced.

Crosby's list of estimates included three she'd already compiled last year, albeit with adjustments for how those costs rose.

When she reconnected with Blinds.com, Crosby found costs had increased to more than $300 since 2022, and she noted the company's services do not include on-site installations.

That company sends the parts and replacements, so the port would need to secure the services of someone who could install them, for which there would be a minimal warranty.

"American Blinds did not respond, after three phone calls," Crosby said. "Home Depot and Lowe's do not come out to do estimates; however you can schedule an appointment to go in and talk to a blind specialist."

Home Depot blinds that would meet the port's requirements start at $178, "and go up from there," in Crosby's words, "with everything you need from parts to installation."

Lowe's estimates were comparable, since they start at $154, and increase from there to include materials, installation and tax.

Crosby said Budget Blinds came out to the port at the end of 2022, where the company's representative measured all the windows, presented samples and reviewed the costs for materials, installation and tax.

"He provided three tiers to choose from, going from lowest to highest, and what was included in each one," Crosby said. "The first tier is a three-year warranty plan, with some replacement parts included, for $3,569.95. This includes tax and installation as well."

Tier two has a five-year warranty for replacement of parts, "with no questions asked" for repairs and installation, at $3,709.62, while tier three was the highest estimate, at $3,724.20, with the same five-year warranty, no-questions-asked repairs and no-cost installation.

"However, the materials were a bit more expensive," Crosby said.

During the port commissioners' discussions, port commissioner Ted Edwards floated the idea of replacing the slats to the existing blinds, to which Crosby responded enough slats weren't available to repair all the windows, as some of the slats are not reusable.

Commission Chair Ray Mow expressed his preference for having all the windows match, and the new blinds comply with regulations by having no dangling strings, so he recommended Budget Blinds install new blinds throughout the building.

Crosby and that company's representative deemed tier two to be best for the port, with which the commissioners concurred, since they'd budgeted up to $4,000 for new blinds this year.

"The current blinds are, at a minimum, 26 years old, and in poor condition," Crosby said.