UPDATE: This post has been changed since first published. A copy of the letter to Gary Locke has been attached and detail has been added.
The City Council and the Mayor's Office have released the letter to Gary Locke (see attached PDF). In it, the council and mayor say that locating at either NOAA's Sand Point base (the Western Regional Center) or the Federal Center South could be done "at a very small fraction of the cost of moving to Newport."
The letter notes that ships could be berthed at both Sand Point and the Federal Center South, and that "industrial work" that can't be done at Sand Point could be done at the FCS where maritime support services are close by.
The letter concludes:
Our proposal represents tens of millions of dollars in savings for the Department of Commerce, NOAA and, most importantly, federal taxpayers, compared to the alternative of moving from Seattle and building new facilities on leased property. These savings include approximately $7 million in one-time moving costs, more than $20 million in construction costs, and more than $1 million in increased annual operating costs (e.g., transportation costs, provisioning, ship repair, etc.) incurred by locating in a rural area far removed from a necessary maritime support system.
The letter is signed by all nine Seattle City Council members and Mayor McGinn.
An accompanying press release notes that "retaining the marine center in Seattle would preserve approximately 1,200 well paid direct and indirect jobs and $180 million in economic activity in the area."
ORIGINAL POST:
Joe Copeland at Crosscut has a post up this morning about an effort by the Seattle City Council and Mayor Mike McGinn to keep NOAA in Seattle.
But, the options the council is offering don't include Lake Union, NOAA's base for over three decades. According to Copeland, the options -- NOAA's research facility at Sand Point or the Duwamish -- would be less expensive than Lake Union.
NOAA announced last summer that it was leaving Lake Union for a new base in Newport, Oregon. That decision has drawn fire from Bellingham, one of the other ports bidding for the NOAA base, and is currently being appealed and reviewed by NOAA.
A letter that is expected to be signed by the entire council and the mayor is being sent to Gary Locke, the former Washington governor who is now Commerce secretary, Copeland writes. NOAA falls under his jurisdiction.
Copeland quotes Council Member Jean Godden as saying the two alternate sites have community support:
Godden said community support has already been voiced for the sites. That could have been a particular issue for Sand Point, where nearby neighborhood groups are often active defending their areas and Magnuson Park. Godden said the idea got a positive reception when it was laid out to the Friends of Magnuson Park the other night.
The city's letter won't be released until Locke receives it. Read more of the Crosscut piece here.
For past Eastlake Ave. Blog coverage of the NOAA move, click here.
