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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09182019 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019 Volume 3,Page 387 CALL TO ORDER imo The September 18, 2019 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Chair Christy Terry. OPENING CEREMONY Erin Lemas led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Christy Terry presiding, and Bruce Jaffa Colby Lawrence Carl Hughes Laura Schneider Lynda Paquette Erin Lemas comprising a quorum of the board; and Scott Meszaros, City Manager Norm Regis, Harbormaster Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused— Lawrence, Jaffa Absent—None CITIZEN'S COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Hughes/Paquette) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous Consent The city clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the August 14, 2019 PACAB Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Alaska Railroad Report by Christy Terry Chamber of Commerce Report by Cindy Clock Mr Harbormaster Report by Norm Regis City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019 Volume 3,Page 388 Administration Report—None Update from the Climate Action Plan Committee Presentation on the Lowell Canyon Hydro Study by Andy Baker (telephonically) UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions—None Other New Business Discuss the options for proceeding with the Lowell Canyon Hydro Project, and give direction to administration to draft a resolution for council recommendation. Motion (Paquette/Hughes) Recommend to city council that administration hold a meeting in October with Andy Baker, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey to have a weir designed and three gauges installed for a water flow study for the Lowell Canyon Hydro Project. Terry supported this motion because funds had already been allocated within Andy Baker's study contract. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss the status of the city's Interconnect Policy, and give direction to administration to bring PACAB Resolution 2019-003, approved on May 15, 2019, to city council. Terry recalled that when PACAB passed this resolution in May, it was agreed that it would be provided to council before the end of October. The reason that PACAB allowed the delay was to enable the Electric Department to review the resolution with Dryden & LaRue; Terry said Dryden & LaRue had subsequently informed the city that they would be unable to review the resolution, but Dryden & LaRue did furnish some information about transfer switches. Electric Utility Manager John Foutz said he appreciated PACAB's patience with the Electric Department, and he supported the direction that PACAB was going. Schneider said PACAB had previously discussed the possibility of rewriting this resolution to accommodate new language for the transfer switch, but ultimately decided to move City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18,2019 Volume 3,Page 389 forward with the resolution as it was; Foutz could make his case to council if he felt like changes were necessary. The board directed administration to bring PACAB Resolution 2019-003 forward to council. Meszaros said administration and the Electric Department had met with Phil Kaluza to review and discuss the city's Interconnect Policy, and he thought it had been a productive meeting. In response to Paquette, Foutz said his interpretation of the current situation was that there were some citizens who wanted the Electric Department to do the work for them, at the expense of the rate payers. Foutz said he did not think that was appropriate, and that the citizens needed to do the legwork, not the city. Schneider suggested there was a balance to be struck between the city and the citizens because Seward handled this differently than every other place in the world, and so the city should be responsible for sharing the legwork and helping citizens to understand how things had to be done. Foutz said council could give administration direction to that effect. Terry said one thing that made interconnection attractive for the city's utility was that people could generate power at a lesser cost than the$0.12 it cost for Chugach to furnish it to the city; plus, if the line loss was also taken into consideration, the result would be even more beneficial to the rate payers. Terry suggested the city's expectations should be reasonable. Paquette concurred and said the goal should be enabling the city to buy power cheaper from the local citizens. Discuss the City Council Public Forum regarding the Seward airport held September 16, 2019. Paquette said, if there was a parcel of land of 5,000 feet anywhere in the Seward area that could be developed into a long runway, then perhaps the community should just let the Alaska Department of Transportation do what they wished with the current airport and the community could establish its own airport authority. Schneider said it would be beneficial for the airport committee, after the committee was formed by council next week, to get ahold of the state's report to the governor which outlined what the state's recommendations were regarding the disposition of the Seward airport. She also thought it would be valuable to examine the requirements of the Section 14 grant that was discussed at the forum; perhaps that grant could be used to address the long runway in a separate project. Schneider cautioned that it was important for the community to be prepared with a back- up plan in the event the DOT moved ahead with their plans regardless, including, at the very least, an insistence that the long runway be left in its current state and not torn up or removed. Hughes wondered if administration had reached out to Kenai or Soldotna to learn how they managed their airports. He wasn't sure if enough revenue could be generated right away if Seward could have a commercial airport because the airport would also be required to have an instrument landing strip, among other things. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019 Volume 3, Page 390 Meszaros said the DOT and FAA came to the public forum meeting thinking they were delivering everything to the community that Seward wanted. The Seward airport was state- owned property; some of the other airports on the Kenai Peninsula were privately owned. Meszaros said, in order to get a longer runway than the FAA was willing to pay for, there had to be demonstrated landings and operational capacity, not just future needs and desires. Meszaros thought the right approach was to enhance collaboration with the DOT. The board suspended the rules to speak with Council Member Suzi Towsley. Council Member Suzi Towsley said she was interested in forming a citizen committee to work on the issues surrounding the Seward airport, and believed she would have support from council. She appreciated all the public input that council received at the forum. The board went back on the rules. Paquette said the idea of having a new runway somewhere else would allow the city to talk to private fenders. She was frustrated that the FAA wanted to see demonstrable need for a longer runway because those numbers couldn't be produced; the current runway would not support the traffic. She had every reason to believe that the city could find funding partners to create a commercial airport in Seward. Reschedule to October 2, 2019 PACAB meeting, and review and revise the topic for the 1 October 16, 2019 PACAB work session. Terry said she would be in Juneau the first week of October for the Harbormasters Conference, along with Harbormaster Norm Regis and Deputy Harbormaster Matt Chase. Motion (Terry/Lomas) Reschedule the October 16, 2019 work session to October 2, 2019 with the topic to review the Harbor Tariff and the SMIC Development Plan. Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (Terry/Lemas) Reschedule the October 2, 2019 regular meeting to October 23, 2019. Motion Passed Unanimous INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS PACAB 2019 Goals Calendar. PACAB Resolution 2019-01, PACAB Priorities from February, 2019 to February, 2020. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18,2019 Volume 3,Page 391 City Clerk memo regarding the renumbering of PACAB Resolutions 2019-003 and 2019-004. BOARD COMMENTS Lemas thanked everyone for coming to the meeting, and said she was excited that the Seward Music &Arts Festival would be this weekend. Paquette thanked everyone for coming. She was excited for the airport committee, as well as the flow study for Lowell Canyon. Schneider thanked everyone for coming. She believed the Interconnect Policy would improve customer relations. Hughes had attended the public form for the airport, and thought the citizen committee was a good idea. He appreciated Andy Baker's suggestion to engage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to save the city money. Terry welcomed the U.S.S. Comstock to port; she thanked the American Legion for their hospitality towards the 300 member crew. She thanked Towsley for coming to the meeting and speaking. Terry was excited about hosting the Climate Action Plan public forum. CITIZEN COMMENTS Carol Griswold thought PACAB covered a lot of interesting topics, and it was a great board. She was disappointed that Andy Baker's presentation was telephonic, and she had a lot of reservations about the Lowell Canyon Hydro Project. She said she wished Seward would keep the airport small so the town could stay small, and she didn't support mega cruise ships. Joe Tougas was happy to attend his first PACAB meeting today; he was impressed with how many topics the board covered. He thought the Lowell Canyon Hydro Project was super cool,he supported the Interconnect Policy,he wanted to move the 50 Ton Travelift to SMIC, and he wanted to have small boat storage available at SMIC. Darryl Schaefermeyer told the board to have the courage to keep going and take risks. Every advancement made in this community had to be fought for, criticism had to be endured, and it was hard,but that was the only way to get things done. Lemas left the dais to take an emergency phone call. Suzi Towsley had met Admiral Gray this morning, and would be touring the Comstock later today. She reminded everyone that absentee voting started on Monday, and she pointed out that there would be a resolution at council on Monday addressing the state's closure of the Silvertip Maintenance Station. Lemas returned to the dais. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 18, 2019 Volume 3,Page 392 BOARD AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Terry said the meeting that Andy Baker proposed having would be included in the current alai contract, and would not cost the city anything extra. She thought moving the 50 Ton Travelift to SMIC could be a discussion item for PACAB in the future. Hughes thanked everyone for speaking, and thought Tougas had some interesting ideas. Paquette said if the Seward airport had commercial services, she imagined the planes would be smaller sized. Schneider thanked Tougas for bringing up the idea about moving the 50 Ton Travelift. Regis said, in order to have the 50 Ton Travelift at SMIC, a new pit would have to be created for it and also new land would have to be designated for small boat storage. Regis added that derelict vessels remained a problem. ADJOURNMENT This meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m. Brenda J. Balloyj MC riste Terry City Clerk Chair (City Seal) �� . �� Cr o. " . <<Y ' • 1• SEAL ° o fy •ip'1P. F OF AV,,e°`5 Mite....- ,':;4