By Corey Morris

GH Newspaper Group

The Grays Harbor County commissioners on Monday approved an agreement for a sewer pump station at Seabrook and also contributed funding to the Green Lantern Lunch Program.

Commissioners approved $400,000 from the distressed area capital fund (also known as the .09 fund) for the construction of a sewer pump station at Seabrook. The agreement notes that Seabrook will cover all costs exceeding $400,000. County public facilities director Mark Cox said Seabrook’s contribution is estimated to be about $600,000.

Commissioner Vickie Raines explained that the county had been discussing the agreement for several years and the $400,000 had been budgeted for the past few years but held over. Discussions had been ongoing since before former public works director Kevin Varness retired in early 2016.

Also on Monday, the commissioners approved $3,000 to the North Beach area Green Lantern Lunch Program. The program prepares and delivers lunches to children of low-income families who live in the North Beach area.

Cities like Aberdeen and Hoquiam have a centralized population and can host similar summer lunch programs at parks, but communities like North Beach are spread over a large area, Raines explained.

During the morning meeting, Raines said the county’s contribution would come from the general fund.

Organizer Phyllis Shaughnessy attended the afternoon meeting.

For June 2016 through September 2016, the Green Lantern Lunch Program provided 16,919 lunches. The total cost was $35,281.71 for the lunches. In addition to the Grays Harbor County funding, the program also has received funding from the KIND Foundation as well as from the Grays Harbor Community Foundation.

Shaughnessy also provided numbers for a backpack program that runs during the school year. Through the backpack program, 12,894 lunches were provided from Sept. 2016 to date.

Both Ross and Raines voted in favor of contributing funds to the Green Lantern Lunch program.