Letter: Port should focus on wharf, farm, not buying airport

Editor,

It is disturbing that the Port of Coupeville is in the process of purchasing an airport well outside of the district’s boundaries, and well outside of its mission statement and values. Currently their two main responsibilities, the Coupeville Wharf and the Greenbank Farm, are woefully in need of maintenance, repairs, and improvements. For example, the barn roof at the farm has been in the process of being repaired for a number of years, a project which though sorely needed has never been completed.

Why would the port commissioners opt for an expensive new project that will benefit very few residents of the Port of Coupeville, while requiring huge investments of resources to upgrade the infrastructure and address hazardous waste removal when the Wharf and the Farm, two treasures that benefit the whole community, languish for lack of attention? We urge the commissioners to reconsider their obligations to the community, hold open meetings, and engage their constituents in a discussion of this project.

Diana Butler

David Paull

Greenbank