Longview port delays wetlands sale

Longview port delays wetlands sale Port of Longview, Wash. commissioners on Tuesday put off a decision on the sale of 237 acres of wetlands in Willow Grove to allow port legal counsel time more time to review the sale.
   Despite the delay, port officials said the $335,000 sale to the Vancouver-based conservation group the Columbia Land Trust could come before the port commissioners by mid-May. As part of the deal, the port would also donate 75 acres of the parcel to the trust.
   Originally purchased by the port in three deals from 1959 to 1974, the 388-acre parcel of forested wetland has become a maintenance burden, according to port officials, and is a better fit for the CLT.
   In addition, the sale would give the port mitigation credits from the state Department of Ecology, allowing the port to offset the development of other property into maritime facilities. The port would retain 76 acres of the parcel for future disposition to receive additional mitigation credits from the state.
   'We do get money for it, and we obtain the mitigation credits. That's what helped change my mind,' Port Commissioner Darold Dietz told the Daily News Online.
   The commissioners on Tuesday decided to table a vote on the sale to allow procedural question from the board to be fully reviewed by the port attorney, who was on vacation.
   The CLT has been trying to acquire the property for more than three years, and needs a port decision on the deal by mid-June to qualify for grant funding to cover the purchase.
   Despite Tuesday's delays, officials from the group said they were confident that the deal would move forward and the group would be able to meet the grant funding deadline.
   'I'm hearing a lot of positive feedback from the commissioners, and they're taking their responsibilities seriously,' CLT stewardship manager Ian Sinks told the Daily News Online.