HomeMy WebLinkAbout100421ca08 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
CONSENT AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Mark McCauley, Interim County Administrator
DATE: October 4, 2021
SUBJECT: Request for Board of County Commissioners Approval of a Grant
Agreement with the Jefferson County Historical Society to Perform In-depth
Research Regarding the County Cemetery Located Adjacent to the Laurel Grove
Cemetery in Port Townsend
STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The County owns land adjacent to Laurel Grove Cemetery just off Discovery
Road between 25`h and 27th Streets in Port Townsend that formerly served as a County cemetery. The
County obtained a Washington State Department of Commerce grant to perform a Phase One Environmental
Site Assessment and Cultural Resources Survey. This was done because then Commissioner David Sullivan
thought the site might be suitable for affordable housing. The assessment and survey indicated that there
were very likely many gravesites in the cemetery with some having historical significance. This makes the
site unsuitable for affordable housing.
The Jefferson County Historical Society approached the County to gauge interest in helping fund additional
research on the site, which would include the following:
• documenting all discovery done to-date on the site,
sourcing additional documentation on references to the cemetery in other archives or
repositories, including translation of documents if necessary,
• locating and connecting with the descendants of families of known persons from the 1985
list and headstones identified by Ed Arthur,
• accessing burial and census records throughout the region,
• connecting with regional experts on abandoned cemeteries,
• working with an AAPI Advisory Council to understand the community's interests in
interpretation,
• providing reports on findings to the County,
• working with the JCHS grants team to source funding for additional work at the cemetery
if deemed appropriate by the descendants and the community once thorough research is
concluded.
The grant proposal was briefed to the Board of County Commissioners in open session on June 14,
2021. At that time the Board expressed support for the grant in the amount of$10,000 and authorized
the Interim County Administrator to prepare the grant agreement and submit it to the Board for formal
consideration and approval.
ANALYSIS: The attached grant agreement funds one full year of the Historical Society's two year
research project. The Historical Society will provide the County quarterly reports documented their progress
and findings.
FISCAL IMPACT: Fiscal impact to the General Fund is $10,000.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of County Commissioners approve the grant agreement with the
Jefferson County Historical Society for intensive research regarding the County cemetery.
REVIEWED BY:
/O l Z i
Mark McCau , Interim County A 'stator to