Construction Alert No. 14
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

July 21, 2011

City, Tribes, State Scheduled to Meet Next Week

The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP), the agency with responsibility to review, issue and manage archaeological permits in Washington, will convene a meeting next week with representatives of DAHP, consulting Tribes and the City. Originally scheduled for late this week, the meeting was moved to accommodate scheduling conflicts. The main topic of the discussion will be Oak Harbor’s two Emergency Archaeological Excavation Permit applications – one for the Pioneer Way project area and one for the gravel pit north of town where the excavated materials were taken. The permits cover boundary delineation of the archaeological site, recovery of disturbed ancestral remains and a plan for the ultimate disposition of those remains.

We can also provide an update on our request to the State to allow some limited placement of gravel to make the sidewalks and curb transitions safer for pedestrians. There are continuing concerns that this work could cause additional ground disturbances prior to the subsurface materials sampling effort that will determine the extent of the archaeological site. That said, there is recognition that site safety is also essential so the City has been asked to provide additional details on the methods and equipment to be used in performing this work. We expect to have this information back to the State on Monday.

Key City Contact People

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org