Crescent Bar residents may be asked to leave

Lease expires in 2012; no decisions made

CRESCENT BAR - A staff report recently presented to Grant County PUD commissioners shows the utility could end a lease in 2012 that allows about 1,000 people to live on Crescent Bar island.

The report details two options: not renew the 50-year lease between the PUD and the Port of Quincy and evacuate the island or renew the lease.

Staff does not recommend the utility restart the lease, a move that would save the PUD money, the report states.

The presentation was given to start PUD commissioners thinking about the "tough decisions that will be coming," and was not driven by a PUD agenda, said Joe Lukas, Grant PUD's interim natural resources director and a senior policy advisor.

"The regulatory environment is going to be driving the policy change," Lukas said.

A complicating matter is the recent renewal of the PUD's license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to own and operate the PUD's Columbia River dams.

Crescent Bar lies within the dams' boundary area on the river about 10 miles north of Vantage.

The new FERC license requires a 75-foot shoreline buffer zone and a flood control zone that would raise the water by 3.5 feet, Lukas said.

That means part of the trailer park on the island would be flooded if the water was raised, said Port of Quincy Commissioner Patric Connelly.

"We're just really sitting back and watching at the moment," Connelly said. "I think the PUD has to make up their mind on what they want to do."

He said if the utility made changes to any future agreements, the port would have to evaluate if it's still interested.

Crescent Bar's North Park Homeowners' Association President JoAnn Hanson said there would be a great deal of revenue lost in Grant County and nearby Quincy if the island was vacated.

"We generate a lot of income to Quincy and the county," she said. "We support the businesses up town and vote on the issues. We have a big impact on the city."

Hanson said feedback from PUD commissioners was very positive during a recent meeting.

"We came away feeling positive there was a solution to the problem," she said. "We're going to continue having meetings with them to resolve the situation."

"Our interest at this point is to have a continued relationship with the PUD and a positive relationship," she said. "We'll do whatever we need to do to continue working with them."

The full-time population of the island is between 50 to 75 people.

And roughly 406 spaces for lots, units and condos are used by about 1,000 people in the summer, estimated Hanson.

Grant County PUD Commission President Tom Flint said he has no "preconceived outcome" about the future decisions over the island.

"We need to make sure that we're very receptive to everyone's concerns and we take our time to do the right thing there," he said.

Flint said he's a huge proponent of a public recreation area and he thinks there's an opportunity to maintain the public's access to that.

He said public access hasn't been achieved on the island and the surrounding area.

"Even though they have a public area and a restroom there, it's not on the same scale as everything else," he said.

A future meeting is planned between the PUD and Grant County commissioners to discuss the issue, but hasn't yet been scheduled, he said. There will be public hearings in the future as well, he added.

If the lease isn't renewed, it's expected that "new and improved public use and economic development opportunities can be realized by the PUD," according to the report.

The report also states a sewage system upgrade is required on the island.

But the report also acknowledges that such a decision would be "difficult politically in the near term."

The PUD receives $100 annually from the port as part of the lease agreement, Lukas said.