The Port of South Whidbey is back to square one when it comes to a feasibility study for workforce housing.

During a meeting this week, port commissioners discussed the study, which is funded by $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act dollars from Island County. For the past few years, the port has been considering the possibility of building workforce housing on top of new concession stands, which has generated a strong reaction from community members concerned about the Whidbey Island Fair being negatively impacted.

Seeing an opportunity to include nearby South Whidbey School District land in the feasibility study, the port commissioners met with the school board in November to ask if the entity would like to be part of the study. School board members were amenable to the idea, but have apparently had a change of heart since then, as Port Executive Director Angi Mozer shared this week.

Island County commissioners asked Mozer last month to obtain a letter of support from the school district, since they were unsure of their approval. Yet when Mozer approached Superintendent Jo Moccia about the letter, she indicated that it would likely not come forward.

Commissioner Curt Gordon said he spoke at the last school board meeting on March 26 about the issue. As he told the members, port property does not encroach on school district property as previously believed. He encouraged them to send the letter of support, but Mozer said she received an email after the meeting from the superintendent reiterating that they were not planning on sending one.

Yet Brook Willeford, the board’s chair, seemed to suggest something different in an email to the Record this week.

“Upon receiving the inquiry of the Port Commissioners, the South Whidbey School Board stated that we had no complaints with school district land being included in feasibility studies, but have repeated at each opportunity that we have no interest in selling, leasing or giving away land at the Community Center at this time,” Willeford said.

Moccia did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Gordon said it was disappointing that the port was led to believe the school board was okay with the study but acknowledged that they have a lot on their plate currently, including a new superintendent who’s coming on board and an $80 million bond project to build. He expressed frustration about a lack of urgency when it comes to workforce and affordable housing and said it cannot be done by private industry. The port, he added, is trying to maintain economic vitality specifically by building workforce housing in the midst of a shortage.

“People need to get past the lip service of, ‘Yes, we need more middle-class families on South Whidbey’ and actually do something about it,” he said.

Commissioner Greg Easton agreed it was an economic emergency and said lack of affordable housing is the biggest impediment for Whidbey businesses’ growth, as employees need someplace to live.

“So if we can find a solution where we can provide a site for workforce housing that, combined with the other forms of subsidy — subsidy from public and private sectors — we can make something work,” Easton said.

Commissioner Jack Ng was also perturbed by the recent change of events and said it was pretty upsetting to him as a taxpayer.

“We’re not asking to lease the land, we’re not asking to buy the land, we’re just asking to get some permission to simply study,” he said.

He added that he couldn’t believe the school district won’t help when teachers have been struggling to find housing.

“Not being a good neighbor and not being open-minded,” he said.

Gordon recommended getting back to the city of Langley about the boundary line issue since the existing food booths might currently be located on city property. The feasibility study will only focus on land owned by the port district.

“It is what it is,” Gordon said.