The Board of Port of Olympia Commissioners convened for its regular evening meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, at the Rochester School District, welcoming back Executive Director Alex Smith.
The session highlighted regional community partnerships, employee performance awards and key administrative decisions.
During the partner spotlight, the Grand Mound/Rochester Chamber of Commerce was awarded a City Fund award related to their new community archive and research space in partnership with the Rochester School District, which was the meeting space for the night.
Grand Mound/Rochester Chamber of Commerce leaders Diane Weaver and Donna Wheelers thanked the port for funding a heritage project that digitized 166 local oral history recordings spanning from 1970 to 2000.
The centerpiece of the meeting was an after-action report on the Olympia Lacey FIFA World Cup Fan Zone presented by Thurston County Chamber of Commerce CEO David Schaffert and Project Manager Jennie Foglia-Jones.
Staged at Port Plaza, the fan zone welcomed 7,700 total visitors across four featured match days, showcasing the working waterfront as a premier regional gathering place.
The fan zone attracted attendees from 50 Washington communities, 17 U.S. states, and four foreign nations, Finland, Taiwan, Egypt, and Kenya. In addition to driving local economic activity, the event achieved notable environmental milestones through volunteer efforts that diverted 620 pounds of recyclable material from landfills, accomplishing a 30 percent waste diversion rate without plastic bag contamination. To mark community contributions, local partner Well 80 Brewery received a Seattle FIFA "whale tail" beacon, while a permanent neon sculpture donated by Puget Sound Energy will remain installed at Port Plaza.
Executive port leadership also celebrated internal staff accomplishments and historical preservation projects. Smith highlighted the port's summer employee appreciation gathering, where staff from Swantown Boatworks and the finance department earned top trophy honors in team competitions.
Smith also commended staff for delivering free public marine terminal tours and participating in Harbor Days festivities.
In formal business, the commission voted 5-0 to authorize Smith to execute a two-year contract not to exceed $250,000 with Gig Harbor-based firm The Beckett Group to provide strategic grant writing, lifecycle administration and funding strategy services.
The board also appointed a complete 15-member roster to the Port of Olympia Community Advisory Committee. For the first time since the commission expanded to five districts, the advisory body includes representation across all five Thurston County commission districts.
In advisory matters, Cascade Pole Site Manager Don Bache, presented an update regarding ongoing environmental remediation at the Cascade Pole site.
Bache explained that unexpected testing directives and new analytical expectations from the Department of Ecology required expanded groundwater sampling and complex data evaluation by consultant Landau Associates, prompting a requested $300,000 budget increase to raise the contract ceiling to $780,000.
