An organizing committee created to develop goals and funding for a possible future maritime commerce task force may itself become the advisory body that will recommend actions to revitalize the industrial waterfront to the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay.

Meeting for the third time Thursday afternoon, the five-member committee discussed keeping the task force small and more functional rather than delegating advisory authority to more than 10 industry representatives.

Under an organizational structure developed by the members, the task force would include the port general manager, one port commissioner and three industry representatives. It also would enlist the help of port staff to record meeting minutes or other specialized needs.

"I don't see our group having a structured staff other than the people in this room," said committee member John Knutson, owner of Knutson Towboat Company.

Port General Manager Allan Rumbaugh said the port would arrange to have staff time allocated for the task force but that the group would have to pay for any special staffing requirements out of its own budget, if the commissioners agree to provide the group with funding.

Commissioner Ingvar Doessing said the task force should keep in close contact with the industry representatives to leverage their experience in the business. He also said the group's current membership should remain the same in order to provide continuity to its economic development efforts.

"Right now, the issue is so important that the people who are here are the people who should carry it for a long, long time," Doessing said.

The task force met for months as an independent organization of private business representatives. Members said they want the port commission to shuffle its priorities and make maritime commerce the port's primary focus.

In a September letter addressed to the commissioners, the group's members asked the port to legitimize the task force by sanctioning the members as an official advisory committee. They also asked the port to allow the group to develop a strategic plan to increase maritime commerce opportunities in Coos Bay.

Instead, the Board of Commissioners created an organizing committee and charged it with justifying the creation of a port-sanctioned maritime commerce advisory committee. They also asked the group to establish the committee's budget and determining its staffing needs.

The task force represents a first for the local area, a partnership between local industry representatives and the port, something that both sides said has been missing in years past.

In other action on Thursday the committee:

n discussed possible ways to handle economic development leads and how to share the information between the port and the task force. Committee member Jim Lyons, owner of Ocean Terminals, said the port already has an established way of handling business leads and that the maritime commerce committee should recognize that methodology and work to augment it rather than supplant it.

n began preliminary discussions on funding. Fiscal needs were not determined although the committee discussed asking the port to allocate enough money to help pay for one dedicated maritime commerce expert. Preliminary funding needs will be debated at the committee's next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20.

The group has struggled to determine its funding needs because there has been no prior spending history. Moderator Ron Opitz stressed that the group will need to come up with an accounting method to determine how and where its funds will be spent.

"If this is a legitimate group, it should be an accountable group," Opitz said.

The committee is expected to make a recommendation to port commissioners by February that will include the group's funding needs and its staffing requirements.