Port updating strategic plan

HOOD RIVER — Public engagement begins in May for the Port of Hood River’s next Strategic Business Plan (SBP), which will update a planning document last completed in 2021, just after the COVID pandemic.

Oregon’s port districts operate under state statutory authority, including a requirement for business plan updates at least every 10 years. State funding from Business Oregon and other agencies is contingent on updated business plans. As their name implies, strategic business plans project costs and revenues, weaknesses and threats, business opportunities and multiple other factors affecting port financial performance. All of the port’s property assets will be considered.

Port commissioners began the latest update with a Request for Proposals this past January. This elicited eight qualifying proposals. Following evaluations and scored criteria, the board last month selected Points Consulting, citing the Moscow, Idaho, based firm’s recent experience in developing business plans for Port of The Dalles in 2023 and International Port of Coos Bay in 2025. The firm also understood the port’s operational structure and financial transition following anticipated replacement of the Hood River Bridge, according to a staff report presented during the March meeting.

The consulting contract is for $124,000, of which $50,000 is covered through a Business Oregon grant to the port. The port’s cash reserves cover the $75,000 balance.

Points Consulting is partnering with an engineering firm, J-U-B, of Meridian, Idaho, to develop the new plan. Brian Points, principal of Points Consulting, presented an overview of next steps and requested port commission feedback at the board’s April 21 meeting. Proposed timeline includes:

• May 19: Mission and vision workshop, including assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), a routine process during long-range public planning initiatives. Background findings and a public survey also are tentatively scheduled for May 19.

• June 23: Stakeholder engagement summary.

• July 10: Needs assessment.

• July 21: Goals and actions workshop. Public engagement would review draft plan components.

• August 18: Public engagement returns for review of the business plan’s final draft. Also projected for this date is an economic impact report on the port district. This would update the last economic impact report completed in 2014.

• Sept. 15: Presentation of the final strategic business plan.

“Public outreach is extremely important to the commission, so the consultant will be interviewing our tenants, waterfront users, wind and waves sports, cruise ship companies, bridge users, and residents of the port district who may have never used a port asset,” explained Kevin Greenwood, the port’s executive director, after the meeting.  That will include outreach to Klickitat County residents, recognizing regional usage of port assets such as the marina and airfield. “We’re trying to improve transparency and also find out from the public how we can do better.”

The resulting strategic business plan will cover a six-year period, aligned with the port commission election cycle.

The April 21 port meeting followed an annual spring planning workshop that afternoon. There were no formal decisions, but commissioners reached consensus on several items:

• Current toll rates are sufficient to cover bridge operations, so rates will not increase this coming fiscal year. After July 1, 2026, all toll revenues will be dedicated to bridge operations, maintenance and eventual replacement. This will result in the loss of about $2 million annually to the port’s general fund — roughly a third of the port’s total revenues. Bridge replacement is the responsibility of a separate entity, the bi-state Hood River–White Salmon Bridge Authority, which receives about 40% of toll revenues dedicated toward the project. Contingent on major federal funding requests, construction is scheduled to start in October 2027.

• Minor upgrades will occur at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield, including wetland inspections and improving access for emergency vehicles. Plans for a new terminal building are still in place, contingent on federal funding.

• Debbie Smith-Wager, finance director, described plans to establish a capital reserve fund, anticipating maintenance, replacement and repair costs associated with port-owned buildings. One example is the Big 7 building, a former industrial building named for seven of the region’s historic fruit producers. (The building served as Columbia Gorge Community College’s Hood River location before most of Hood River County, Cascade Locks excluded, became part of the college service district in 2001.) Water infiltration is a challenge with the Big 7 structure, projected under a worst case to cost as much as $530,000 in various repairs and mitigation efforts. While the port may eventually sell the building, repairs will be needed regardless.

• The port will continue to seek federal funding for improving waterfront transportation infrastructure, including a traffic roundabout. Anticipated project cost is $7.5 million.