The Port of Coupeville plans to partner with the Port of South Whidbey to administer CARES relief funds for businesses located in the unincorporated areas of the island.

“We’re partnering on this together so it’s not going to be me fighting for my business and him fighting for his,” said Port of Coupeville Director Chris Michalopoulos.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the Port of Coupeville discussed how it would distribute the federal dollars.

The ports are expected to receive about $200,000 in relief funding from Island County. Michalopoulos said he wants to target businesses that have not had the opportunity to apply for a payroll protection program or Small Business Association Fund.

“You have this unincorporated area that doesn’t pay utility taxes and so forth,” he said.

“So there isn’t a vat of money that is going to be put into a grant program for those businesses to be reimbursed for COVID-19 related expenses.”

Michalopoulos said he expects to have the applications ready for businesses next week.

Businesses impacted by COVID-19 can use the funds for any expense that not already been reimbursed by a different fund, which includes payroll, rent, PPE and plexiglass. As long as a business has receipts, the reimbursements could date back to March.

The two ports have not signed an interdistrict agreement, South Whidbey Port Director Stan Reeves said, and are still waiting on Island County for an interagency agreement.

“The latest word is that we’ll have a draft of this interagency agreement with Island County on Monday,” he said.