The letter is non-binding but initiates further conversation between both parties and enables Make Waves – a group with 2,300 supporters – to proceed with hiring an architect, drawing up conceptual designs, constructing a budget and raising capital funds for the project.

The proposed 40,000-square-foot aquatic and recreation facility would be built on the Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park site, which is adjacent to Jefferson Transit’s Haines Place Park-and-Ride. The site is currently leased to the City of Port Townsend, but that lease expires in 2012.

The letter of intent states that Make Waves has from Aug. 1, 2012, until July 31, 2017, to begin construction on the site, “otherwise the deal could be called off and the property used for other purposes,” said port Executive Director Larry Crockett.

Preservation

The port and Make Waves also share a desire to preserve the Kah Tai site.

“We are dedicated to that concept of having native landscape” surrounding the site, said Karen Nelson, Make Waves president.

The facility itself would use less than an acre of the 21-acre site owned by the port.

“The port’s intent is to protect the rest of Kah Tai in perpetuity, possibly through a conservation easement with Jefferson Land Trust,” Crockett said.

Crockett confirmed that port staff has already met with representatives from Jefferson Land Trust about that option and will continue discussions.

Admiralty Audubon Society conservation chairman George Yount asked the port if it would consider using his group to preserve the park.

Crockett commented that Jefferson Land Trust was the first inquiry due to its long reputation in Jefferson County.

“The nice thing about the Land Trust is there are a lot of assurances going into the future,” Crockett said. Even if the organization goes bottom up, which is unlikely, there are provisions that would allow the land to stay protected, Crockett said.

According to code, Kah Tai is not specifically a nature park, Crockett said. The term “nature park” is “a persona that has been overlaid on that parcel” rather than a legal title. The site is authorized for park and recreation use, and the proposed aquatic center falls under those standards, Crockett said.

Port Townsend resident Jim Todd questioned the port’s vision in terms of preserving the site, asking whether that meant protecting it as a nature park or as a recreation site.

Crockett said there is already a 200-foot buffer around the park that has been established as critical habit, and specific details would have to be worked out through public input with Jefferson Land Trust.

Port Commissioner John Collins spoke in support of maintaining it as a nature park.

Under Beck’s watch

During his 36-year tenure as port commissioner, Herb Beck helped approve the initial lease agreement with the City of Port Townsend that allowed the Kah Tai site to become a public park. That lease expires in 2012. At his last meeting as an elected official on Monday, Beck insisted on voting for the project’s location under his watch. An aquatic center “is well-needed in this community,” he said.

The site is “in a good position for the entire community to use,” with Port Townsend’s transit hub next door, he added, joking that “there might be a day when I need to go into that facility for a soak and I won’t be able to drive.”

Beck, who has been a longtime supporter of job creation and economic development, expects the facility will generate “quite a few jobs. To me that is very important.”

He added, “I hope this project goes through, and I hope it’s a huge success.”

Replacing the pool

Make Waves was created in 2007 “to address the urgent question of how to deal with Port Townsend’s aging, substandard Mountain View public pool, the implications of its substantial maintenance costs and its possible closure,” according to a Make Waves press release.

The multi-use facility would replace the old community pool at Mountain View Commons, previously Mountain View Elementary, at 1925 Blaine St. The new pool would be 25 or 50 yards long, in contrast to the 20-yard-long pool at Mountain View.

Final project designs would require approval from the port during a public process. Permitting would go through the city.

The mission of Make Waves is to create an “affordable, financially sustainable, politically supportable” facility with amenities such as a hydrotherapy pool and warm children’s pool, a lap pool for swim teams and the public, a childcare center, and a workout center with a gym, walking track, dance and yoga studios and various exercise equipment.

“The letter of intent is a major step, following up on feasibility studies conducted for Make Waves that show the Jefferson County area underserved by health and recreation facilities and that operations of the new center would be self-sustaining from user fees if located at the Kah Tai/transit hub site,” the release states.