The new optical cables have been laid, and Port personnel and their tenants are working with the various Internet service providers to make optimal use of this new, high-speed data communications facility.

The transfer of 10 acres of land at the Olympic View Industrial Park to the County will be completed by July 26. As reported previously, this land will be used as a new transfer station for collected waste. Waste Management, Inc. will operate the facility, thus eliminating the need for the landfill site.

Late in March, the Kitsap Trade Development Committee and the Canadian Consulate General jointly hosted a luncheon to discuss the ins and outs of international trade between the two countries. The Kitsap committee is lead by the Port of Bremerton, with the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council (KREDC) as one of its founding members.

Andrea Olson, of the KREDC, reported that Rick Flaherty, president of Leader International, presented his views on the practical problems of doing business here, for the benefit of the Canadians.

While praising Kitsap as a great place to do business, Flaherty stressed the importance of providing adequate transportation routes to and from the area. He noted the recent approval of the plan to build a second Tacoma Narrows bridge to eliminate the late-afternoon traffic snarls, which cause frequent breakdowns in shipping times.

The most newsworthy event at the Bremerton National Airport recently was the award of a $1.45 million contract to Granquist Construction, of Port Orchard, to build the new 21,000 square foot maintenance hangar, which will replace the 1940s-vintage building currently occupied by Avian Aeronautics. The old hangar, used for the past 16 years by Avian, will be demolished to make way for the new Avian Flight Center. Fred Salisbury, speaking before the Port board, described the new development as “the most significant event at this airport since (it) was built.”

Avian will become the new facility’s first Fixed Base Operator (FBO), which provides maintenance and servicing facilities to private and commercial aviation. This will mean the end of the current practice of pilots having to do their own refueling at the self-service pumps.

The new hangar will have two stories. The ground floor will feature a 9,000-square-foot maintenance floor, large enough to accommodate either a twin-engine corporate jet or up to ten smaller aircraft. Also on the ground floor will be 4,400 square feet of engine repair facilities and 3,500 square feet of miscellaneous shops to provide room for Avian’s flight simulators, pilot supplies, offices, and refueling services. On the second floor there will be an additional 3000 square feet for office space for future tenants.

Granquist, who built the recently completed Quinalt building in the Port’s Olympic View Industrial Park in February, expects to begin construction of the new hangar immediately. Design of the hangar was carried out by Washington Engineering, of Bremerton.

At the Port Commissioners’ meeting, held on May 13, Mike Gustafson, of the Kitsap Planning Commission, discussed the seaplane runway that has been a subject of investigation recently. The concept involves excavation of a runway trough of sufficient length, filling it with water, and allowing visiting seaplanes to land there. The concept holds promise of bringing a significant increase in airport business, as pilots from all over the territory might be induced to bring their planes here for maintenance and repairs.

As yet the FAA has not approved the idea, due in part to the danger of waterfowl adopting the new landing strip as a nesting area. Large birds around an airport are a hazard to aircraft landing and taking off.

The construction of such a facility would not be unique. Similar water runways are in use at Ketchikan, Alaska, and Houston, Texas, for example. The concept is included in the Scope of Services being prepared for the Bremerton National Airport Master Plan.

Commissioner Bill Mahan and newly appointed Port CEO Ken Attebery presented a summary of investigations into the Port’s participation in the currently developing Regional Economic Development Plan. The plan would involve mutual cooperation between Kitsap and its four neighboring peninsula counties, with the objective of developing strategic means for improving the economic condition of the entire Olympic Peninsula. The plan would be created, supported, and implemented by the Peninsula’s organizations and leaders. Leadership would be expected to include local elected officials and their staffs, and individual business leaders concerned about the economic health of their communities. The goal would be to mount a regional effort aimed at identifying key strategies to improve the existing and emerging economic development “clusters” in the five counties of the peninsula. These cluster industries would include tourism, health care, wood products, food production, metal work, maritime activities, and software development, for example.