This area of South Beach on Yaquina Bay is destined to become the homeport of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Operations Center - Pacific. NOAA officials announced Tuesday they had selected Newport to berth their four-vessel fleet over the current site at Lake Union (Seattle) and proposed sites at Port Angeles and Bellingham. The state offered $19.5 million in bonding capacity to back the $44 million, 18-month project to transform the site into the facility NOAA requires by May 2011. (Courtesy photo from Port of Newport, News-Times staff graphic)

The wait is over.

After a lengthy, closely watched, intensely lobbied, and eagerly anticipated process, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials deemed Newport as the best fit for the agency’s Marine Operations Center - Pacific (MOC-P), announcing the selection Tuesday morning.

Port of Newport officials were figuratively dancing on the docks, giddy about a sense of destiny, and what Port Commissioner Ginny Goblirsch called “a pivotal point in our history.”

Port General Manager Don Mann said initial permitting and work on a $44 million, 18-month project to build a new facility to berth NOAA’s four-vessel operations fleet should weigh anchor on the south side of Yaquina Bay within the next two weeks. The site in South Beach adjacent to Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center features about five acres of upland area, and about 1.2 acres of Yaquina Bay in an area “zoned for water-dependent and water-related activities,” according to the environmental assessment NOAA commissioned for this and the three competing sites at Lake Union (Seattle), Port Angeles, and Bellingham - all in Washington.



Newport site

The Newport site contains a former pumping station, several container storage units, two docks, and a former fish farming complex, with abandoned fish ladders, flumes, and ponds. Yaquina Bay Fruit Processors currently lease and use the southwestern section, and adjacent land to the south. Carvahlo Fishing leases and uses the northern section, including the westernmost dock for fish-buying operations. Prior to the mid-1980s, the site - located adjacent to HMSC, which operates a dock east of the site for OSU research vessels - was used as a salmon rearing operation.

Work can begin on the upland area as soon as the 20-year lease is signed, sealed, and delivered by port and NOAA representatives. Port commissioners scheduled a special session at noon today (Wednesday) to discuss the lease and will most likely approve a resolution authorizing Mann to sign it.

Mann called the port’s final revised proposal the “best and final offer” to land the 20-year renewable lease, and the economic benefits that would follow in its wake. A potential economic boost of more than $370 million for Newport and Oregon for the 20-year lease is propelling the port’s proposal.

Waiting for NOAA’s decision after submitting their final revamped bid June 2 does not mean port officials were idle.

Mann said discussions with regulatory agencies were “on-going,” and they were gathering preliminary environmental and other site-related information, including a two-day dive in June “to assess existing structural footprints and bay bottom samples.”

To build the required docks and other structures, the port would issue $24.76 million in revenue bonds to cover half the cost of the new facility, supplemented by $19.5 million in bonding capacity from the state.

The state responded to what Mann called a “tag team lobbying effort” by him and the port commissioners. The project bid had widespread support.

The City of Newport, Lincoln County, and the port commissioners all passed resolutions supporting it. Local officials cited the collaborative work among scientific agencies at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), commercial fishers, vessel owners, state and federal regulatory agencies, and Oregon Coast Aquarium as a compelling reason making Newport “uniquely qualified” as the homeport that would enable NOAA “to more effectively pursue its mission.”

In the end, NOAA’s “source selection” committee agreed, making a decision based on what Rear Admiral Jonathan W. Bailey, director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Corps, called “the best combination of price and technical qualifications.”



‘Best value’

“NOAA is committed to providing the highest level of science, service, and value to the nation,” Bailey said in announcing Newport’s selection as the new homeport for the research fleet.

NOAA began the selection process in 2007, looking to possibly relocate from their current long-time site at Lake Union, Seattle. A pier fire in July 2006 caused irreparable damage that forced NOAA to berth a vessel or two elsewhere since then. The Lake Union lease expires June 30, 2011.

“We look forward to reuniting NOAA’s West Coast research ships and support personnel at one facility,” Bailey noted.

NOAA initially evaluated about 80 sites in the Puget Sound region and along the Oregon coast, narrowed the field to about 30, then selected 11 - Newport among them - for a February 2008 visit from the agency’s fact-finding evaluation team. Newport weathered another winnowing after NOAA sent out a request for bids in November 2008 - due by February 2009 - then pared the list geographically to Lake Union, Newport, Astoria, Bellingham, and Port Angeles. Astoria dropped out before submitting a final bid in June, leaving Newport as the only Oregon site among the final four.

In addition to lease cost, selection considerations under what is known as a “best value process” included NOAA’s infrastructure needs; proximity to maritime industry resources and NOAA labs; quality of life for civilian employees, officers and crew; and the ability to meet the July 2011 occupancy deadline.

They need berthing for four NOAA ships, plus up to two visiting ships, along with office and warehouse space. The NOAA MOC-P features about 175 employees, more than 110 officers and crew assigned to NOAA vessels McArthur II, Miller Freeman, Rainier, and the Bell M. Shimada - a new fisheries survey vessel expected to join the fleet in 2010.

NOAA officials want a ready-to-dock facility in place by May of 2011.



Gloom and glee

Washington officials were expectedly glum. They questioned the selection process and alluded to possible undue influence from folks such as NOAA Director Jane Lubchenco, who has long-term ties to OSU and HMSC, and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, expressed disappointment and said the process did not allow for input from the public or elected officials.

Bailey said each site “was evaluated on the same criteria,” and - while a tsunami of lobbying occurred from all directions - appointed and elected officials like Lubchenco or DeFazio “had no (direct) influence” on, or say in the final decision.

A protest process is in place by which officials at the three sites that did not get the nod can lodge a challenge to Newport’s selection either through NOAA, the Government Accountability Office, or the United States Court of Federal Claims. Each venue has a different timetable.

Meanwhile, Oregon’s local, state, and federal officials were understandably gleeful.

“This is big,” said Mann. “All the hours we put in trying to get the best offer we could paid off. It means a lot to the port, and the economic spin-off is tremendous for this community.”

Goblirsch said she is “thrilled beyond words.”

What makes the decision “especially sweet” to her is the overall community effort - locally and from the state - that landed what is arguably the port’s biggest catch in its history with a potentially huge return on investment. She said it’s “such a perfect fit,” poising Newport to become even more of a worldwide leader in marine science, education, and research.

“This isn’t a port project, it’s a community project,” Goblirsch concluded. “We all did this together.”



Terry Dillman is the assistant editor of the News-Times. Contact him at (541) 265-8571, ext 225, or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.



Share on Facebook