Bob Elsner resigns Port post

Port Commissioners recently thanked Elsner Elsner and honored him with a plaque and presentation denoting that service at their regular meeting of December 2, 2010. He will begin a new career as a private consultant, assisting with the management of environmental cleanups. Elsner has become a sought after leader and expert in this field and the Port Commission thanked him for his expertise in championing the Port’s series of cleanup projects under Focus Fidalgo, a Puget Sound Initiative, and in partnership with the Department of Ecology.

Elsner was initially hired by the Port in January 1995. In reviewing the legacy of projects that Bob has headed in his tenure, Port Executive Director Bob Hyde praised him for not only managing the Port’s significant environmental projects, but for improving the Port’s physical infrastructure and facilities maintenance practices, championing better design for the best price.

Among the projects completed by the Port managed or overseen by Elsner were the development of Curtis Wharf, extensive improvements to Pier 2, including the truck washing station and stormwater retention practices, a new barge dock and dolphin mooring system, the public/private partnership with Port tenant Dakota Creek Industries in the dredging and construction of  a new pier at the Marine Terminal, replacement of all warehouse roofs, runway, lighting, drainage, and noise reduction improvements at the Anacortes Airport, the replacement of “B”, “C”, and “D” Docks at the Cap Sante Boat Haven, a new esplanade, outdoor room, trailer boat launch, small craft hoist, and fuel dock, and the cleanups of  the Cap Sante Marine site, the shipyard, the Former Scott Paper Mill site, including installation of wave attenuators at the Boat Haven and a recreational pier at the Seafarers’ Memorial Park, and the remediation of the “O” Avenue beach, all the while improving public access and recreational opportunities, and paving the way for new business partnerships.

Executive Director Hyde noted the Port was acknowledged by both the Washington Public Ports Association as Port of the Year for 2008, and the American Association of Port Authorities as winner of that national association’s Environmental Award of Excellence, due in large part to Bob Elsner’s contributions and work on the Port’s behalf.
   
Elsner voiced his appreciation for his 16 years at the Port, noting the success of these and other projects could not have been accomplished without the support of the Port Commission, its trust in the Port staff, and in Executive Director Hyde. He thanked the Commission for that trust, and for the experience and education they had allowed him to develop while at the Port. Elsner noted he was leaving with pride for the Port’s accomplishments and excited about its future.