Port of Port Townsend commissioners have declared Point Hudson jetty rehabilitation as a top priority for this year.

Commissioners rated each of the port’s capital projects in order of importance during a retreat Jan. 16-17 at the Old Alcohol Plant in Port Hadlock. The jetty was ranked as high priority.

“In my mind, this can’t wait,” said Jim Pivarnik, the interim port director. “We need to do something this year.”

Last year, the port spent $650,000 to engineer and permit a sheet pile wall jetty but rejected all bids because it did not have the funding. This year, the port has set aside $250,000 in contingency money for possible repairs if the 80-year-old jetty has any major failures.

In the meantime, the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association has presented its own research on the jetty and asked commissioners to consider a historical preservation plan.

“If you don’t have the community with you on something, you’re not going to get it done,” Commissioner Steve Tucker said at the retreat. “We’ve got the community with us on this (historical preservation). We’ve actually gotten a lot of assistance from the community on the rehabilitation project.”

But port staff is divided on the issue because of the money that already has been spent on the project.

“There is an element of the staff that believes we’ve already got plans to move forward,” Pivarnik said. “There are others that say that the community has put a lot of time into looking at the historic significance of that breakwater. They both have very valid points.”

The original plan called for a total reconstruction of the jetty. Port Commissioner Pete Hanke wondered whether interim repairs to the historic design could be a solution.

“One of the concerns we’ve had for a long time about targeted repairs is that they have a short shelf life and high cost,” said Eric Toews, port deputy director. “There’s also the potential for those repairs to have unintentional consequences. We’d hate to be in a position where driving some piles results in further unraveling of the structure.”

Tucker said he thought it would be worth the money to hire historic preservation consultant Michael Sullivan of Tacoma-based Artifacts Consulting to discuss the potential of funding after designating the jetty as a historic site.

Commissioners did not vote on any proposal at the retreat. The port’s next regular business meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 23.

“The structure is well and truly past its anticipated life,” Toews said. “We really need a plan that we’re going to execute.”

Also at the retreat, commissioners discussed the Jefferson County International Airport runway resurfacing project and stormwater compliance at Boat Haven marina.

An emergent theme was how to handle the infrastructure problems at port facilities with a small staff.

“We are spending time and money on things that are past their due date,” said Chris Sparks, port maintenance director. “We come to work every day, we find out what broke, and we run out and fix it.”

Updating old infrastructure is on the port’s agenda, said T.J. Quandt, port business manager.

“We’re looking at new software, different ways for customer online reservation and online bill pays,” Quandt said. “We have to evolve with the times. The customers 20 years ago are different than what they’re going to be 10 years from now.”

But with a smaller staff than in previous years, port administrators have limited time to work on capital projects.

“Every day is a kind of triage,” Toews said. “It’s a matter of finding priorities and dealing with those. ... Most days offer up surprises that were not anticipated.”