By Mai Ling Slaughter, The Chronicle, 8/4/2000
Chehalis River Basin Partnership members will continue with a loan-application process, after member John Penberth on Monday lifted the block he placed on the process.
At last Friday's monthly partnership meeting, Penberth, a member of the Chehalis Fisheries Task Force executive board, placed a block on the grant process for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board because of the frustration it has caused his and other agencies.
The task force agreed last month a block was necessary to convince the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to simplify its process, disagreeing with the majority of the Chehalis River Basin Partnership.
The partnership, a consortium of government agencies and others interested in preserving the river basin, operates only under consensus.
Over the weekend, the five-member Chehalis Fisheries Task Force executive board met and decided to lift the block.
"We felt that we got enough help for Grays Harbor at this time," said Penberth, a Pe Ell resident. "More needs to be done. But rather than stalemate it, we decided to go ahead."
The partnership must receive and set priorities for all grant applications from the agencies involved by Oct. 30. Its next regular meeting is Aug. 25.
Some members expressed concern the partnership would not be able to meet the deadline. But Mike Daniels, lead agency representative in Grays Harbor, seems optimistic agencies will be able to apply for the state grants.
"I think the local jurisdictions that were putting together projects were continuing to put their applications together based on the results of the meeting," Daniels said. "I don't think the meeting itself slowed the force of the process."
Daniels is Grays Harbor County's director of public services.
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Mai Ling Slaughter covers municipal government for The Chronicle. She can be reached by e-mail at mslaughter@chronline.com or by telephoning 807-8237.
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