Following a brief discussion about unanswered questions from the City of Aberdeen, the Grays Harbor County Commissioners have postponed an interagency agreement to fund an initial investment in the Gateway Center project.

The City of Aberdeen has asked the county to contribute some $165,000 of economic development funds (known as “.09 funds”) to match a grant that would finance the design of the parking lot for the proposed Gateway Center at downtown Aberdeen. Once completed, the Gateway Center would function as a visitors center and a “headquarters for business operations in Grays Harbor County,” possibly housing Greater Grays Harbor Inc.

There was some question during the county commissioners’ morning meeting on Monday, Oct. 17, as to whether the county would match the $165,000 or a lesser amount of about $55,000. The City of Aberdeen had sought a state grant and the county had pledged to match 10 percent of the grant. At $165,000 the county would match what the City of Aberdeen had requested ($1.6 million), or the county could fund $55,000 as a 10-percent match to what the city received ($550,000).

Commissioner and Chairwoman Vickie Raines said she believed the county pledged 10 percent of what was received. During a meeting in April, the county discussed the project in depth with Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson discussing both amounts, but the county did not take action.

Commissioner Wes Cormier had two concerns — first, Cormier was concerned the agreement was not first presented to the county’s .09 committee; second, Cormier worried about missing details regarding the project.

When the agreement first was submitted to the county in June, the county’s .09 committee was not yet created by the commissioners. Now with the city receiving some funding from the state, it was hoped the county would approve the agreement and pay for the 10-percent match so those state funds could be used. Due to the timing, the agreement was not sent before the committee, Commissioner Raines explained.

“I personally would like to pass it off to the committee,” Cormier said.

District 2 Commissioner Frank Gordon said he was comfortable approving the $55,000 match without sending the agreement before the committee (Aberdeen is in Gordon’s district). He was apprehensive about approving the larger amount without the committee.

While sending the agreement before the committee was important for Cormier, it didn’t solve his second issue.

“I just have a lot of questions about this project, and I don’t want it to be another county project because I think that would be a bad idea for the county,” Cormier said. “I’d just like to know who is going to own the building before we move forward with it.

“There are just not many projects that you spend money on when you don’t know who’s going to own it.”

The commissioners were planning to meet with officials from the City of Aberdeen on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The Vidette had gone to press before that meeting.

The Gateway Center ultimately could carry a price tag of more than $8 million.