PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty has asked Gov. Christine Gregoire to involve the state in formal negotiations with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe over building some Hood Canal Bridge components.
The Port Angeles Democrat wrote to Gregoire and Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles on Monday to try to revive the chance of building concrete anchors in Port Angeles for the floating bridge’s eastern half.
The Lower Elwha on Thursday said formal negotiations on a variety of issues were necessary for the tribe to support anchor construction on the shoreward slice of the former graving yard site still owned by the state Department of Transportation.
The inland part of the property is where hundreds of skeletal remains and thousands of artifacts from the former Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen dating back 2,700 years were found, causing shutdown of dry dock construction a year ago.
Formal negotiations
Formal negotiations are conducted under policies like those of the American Arbitration Association. Nearly a year of informal negotiations failed to resolve the graving yard issues.
Attorneys for the tribe declined to say whether Doherty’s letter could break the impasse.
State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said Thursday that the Department of Transportation had no time to formally negotiate but must choose an anchor construction site soon.
