Glenn Taggart has resigned from the Astoria Port Commission.

Taggart was not present at the port meeting Tuesday, but commission President Don McDaniel read a letter of resignation in which Taggart listed 20 accomplishments during his 13 years on the commission.

“Because of the many investments in the private sector the port has made over the past years, the port has a bright future ahead of it,” the letter states.

He is resigning because he is considering running for another political office in the future, the letter stated, although it did not reveal which one. Taggart, who lives in the Knappa area, ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a state representative position in 1998. The position in his district is held by former union executive Brad Witt, a Democrat. Taggart was not available for comment this morning.

The port commission is advertising for an interim replacement to fill his seat until a new commissioner can be elected next spring.

“We owe him a lot,” McDaniel said after reading the letter. “He had a lot of expertise.”

In other business, Commissioners McDaniel, Larry Pfund, Jim Bergeron and Dan Hess reported on a dinner meeting Monday with Col. Thomas O’Donovan and other representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The port has been involved in a controversy over high DDT concentrations in its dredge spoils. Bergeron reported that the Corps was willing to work with the port on the issue.

The port’s location at mouth of the Columbia River means contaminants from agriculture and industry flow downstream from hundreds of miles away and settle in the slips near Astoria, leaving port officials with the task of handling dredge material that contains higher than normal DDT concentrations. The Corps conducts channel dredging in the Columbia River and is authorized to handle material with higher DDT levels.

“We laid our hearts on the table and said ‘Please come help us,'” said Pfund. “It seemed like you could see the light bulbs coming on in their heads.”

Bergeron welcomed the Corps’ help and commended O’Donovan.

“It was a frank discussion of all issues that have to do with dredging and the port,” he said. “He came to the conclusion that he would work with us to go for the higher DDT level. The Corps of Engineers is concerned about the same things the port is. Hopefully we can work together on that.”

Director of operations Ron Larsen said because of high DDT concentrations there are many areas in the port that cannot be flow lane dredged, or piped out to the main channel of the Columbia River on the outgoing tide. Instead, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration requires upland disposal of the dredge spoils, but the port does not have an upland location cleared for disposal.

Bergeron said that at the Monday meeting O’Donovan had told commissioners the Corps would accompany the port in meeting with NOAA to request a higher concentration allowance for the port’s annual dredging, which begins Nov. 1. No date has been set for that meeting.

“We’re getting down to the last resort,” Larsen told the board. “Nov. 1 will be here in the blink of an eye. Flow lane is critical for port dredging.”

Bergeron said the port could pay the Corps to do some of its dredging, as other ports commonly do.

“They would do it faster and better than we could with our equipment,” he said.

Larsen said that solution would work for some areas, but not for the smaller slips. He said another option would be to pump the dredge spoils out to Desdemona Sands.

Port Executive Director Peter Gearin attended the meeting with O’Donovan, but was not present at the commission meeting Tuesday.

No action was taken.

In other action, members:

? Heard a cruise ship scheduled to arrive in Astoria Aug. 30 has canceled its visit because of a problem with its propulsion thruster;

? Voted unanimously to approve the creation of a separate money market account at the Bank of Astoria to handle the $11 million Bornstein Fish Processing project. Larsen said the separate account would simplify the port’s finances;

? Approved a five-year extension of a 15-year lease with Charter Communications on port land near the Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton.