Crescent Bar plans being reviewed

Residents are invited to join Grant County PUD commissioners and staff as they discuss options for the future of Crescent Bar Island at two open houses.

“We want to spend some time visiting with the community to show them our ideas and get a sense of what they would like to see on the island,” said Dorothy Harris, PUD public information officer.

EPHRATA — Residents are invited to join Grant County PUD commissioners and staff as they discuss options for the future of Crescent Bar Island at two open houses.

“We want to spend some time visiting with the community to show them our ideas and get a sense of what they would like to see on the island,” said Dorothy Harris, PUD public information officer. “We hope to discover what people feel is an asset and what they think they wouldn’t use.”

PUD staff are sharing concept drawings of public recreation amenities for development on the island after the lease with the Port of Quincy expires in 2012. There are diagrams depicting various options available for attendees to view and submit feedback on.

“Currently, the island has some public access, but there is full public use once the lease expires,” Harris explained. “Since the people are the ones we hope will be taking advantage of the new island access, it is very important we hear their ideas.”

The first open house is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Grant PUD office in Moses Lake, located at 312 W. Third Ave.

The second discussion is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 8 at the Quincy Fire Station, located at 1201 Central Ave. S.

There is no formal presentation at either open house. The public can drop by at any time.

“There will be different stations set up throughout the room for people to come to,” Harris said.

Stations include improvement and building ideas, dredging plans and boat launch plans.

“We will have a table where people can view the timeline of the project, get a sense of where things are going and learn about when construction might start,” Harris said. “Right now all plans are tentative.”

The goal is to provide some ideas for improvements and have members of the public weigh in on amenities they feel provide optimal public recreation opportunities. PUD staff’s decisions regarding condos and the golf course are set to be made after hearing from the public, Harris said.

The diagram packets contain plans for condominiums, an expanded parking and services area, and golf course improvements. The diagrams are available on the Grant PUD Web site prior to the July 30 open house at www.gcpud.org/naturalResources/shorelineManagement/crescentBar.html.

Residents unable to attend can view proposals beginning June 30 and submit feedback online. People can submit comments to lands@gcpud.org until July 9.

“We’ve been doing a lot of public outreach in connection to this project for about a year now,” Harris said. “We wanted to be sure we heard from people completely before making any formal decisions, but we are on a time-sensitive plan and that’s the reason we are getting to this early.”

PUD staff is completing a final schedule and plan to send to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by October.

For more information, call 509-793-1516.