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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09012021 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 1,2021 Volume 4,Page 24 CALL TO ORDER The September 1, 2021 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Vice Chair Bruce Jaffa. OPENING CEREMONY Harbormaster Norm Regis led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Bruce Jaffa,presiding; and Carl Hughes Colby Lawrence Benjamin Smith (telephonic) Lynda Paquette comprising a quorum of the Board; and Norm Regis, Harbormaster Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None Vacant—Two CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Paquette/Hughes) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approve the May 5,2021 Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations& Awards—None Alaska Railroad Report. Christy Terry said the cruise ship terminal would be used • I during the first weekend of December for a holiday craft fair. The Alaska Railroad would be daylighting another tunnel near Seward,and they would be building a new bridge and doing track y City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 1, 2021 Volume 4,Page 25 repairs.Seward's port would be receiving three pipe ships soon.The last Coastal Classic passenger train would be on September 12, 2021. Terry reported that the railroad expected to announce the developer partner within the next month. Clerk's Note: Daylighting a tunnel is to remove its "roof' of overlying rock and soil, exposing the railway or roadway to daylight and converting it to a railway or roadway cut. Hughes wondered if the cruise ship schedule for 2022 had been announced yet.In response, Terry said there were almost 100 ships scheduled,and between six and eight days would be double ship days. Paquette asked what would happen to tunnels that could not be daylighted. Terry said they would be converted to overpasses in the future. Jaffa wondered if the tunnel district would be renamed, and Terry said she was not sure. In response to Jaffa's inquiry about the port and cruise ship terminal expansion, Terry said the railroad created a Seward Community Partnership Team, and they were going down the road on negotiations.Jaffa appreciated having the plans included in the report.Terry added that the new dock would not result in additional cruise ships coming into Seward, but would accommodate larger cruise ships, which was the trend in the industry. In response to Lawrence, Terry said the port and terminal expansion project was not expected to have an impact on the cruise ships coming to Seward. Chamber of Commerce Report. Jason Bickling said the new position for the Small Business Development Center would be posted in September, and the office would be located inside the Chamber of Commerce building. Bickling stated the Chamber was working on its first ever Marine Guide for Seward, and was expected to be ready in time for the Pacific Marine Expo on November 18-20,2021;he would plan to update the guide every three years or so. Bickling said the Chamber was also looking into obtaining tracking information for marketing purposes; he explained it would be behavior tracking data that was available through phone applications that showed whether people were locals or visitors,where they gathered to eat, shop, and partake in various activities. Jaffa wondered what business information was available through the Chamber's website. Bickling stated there was a marine-specific area on the website, and the new Marine Guide would be posted online as well. Jaffa mentioned there was a new tug boat coming to Seward; Bickling said he would include that information in the guide. Jaffa asked what the role of the State Chamber of Commerce was in developing the workforce. Bickling said the Seward Chamber was involved, as well as the Department of Labor, the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, and AVTEC. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 1, 2021 Volume 4,Page 26 Hughes stated that it appeared 2022 reservations were already up for many businesses, earlier than usual. In response, Bickling said local businesses were reporting reservations were coming in stronger than ever. Harbormaster Report. Harbormaster Norm Regis said the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC)was filling up already; there was a two week waitlist for boat lifts. Hughes asked if the wash down pad at SMIC would be open during the winter. Regis stated the building had not been finished at the wash down pad, so the water would be turned off this winter. Paquette wondered how the gut barge worked. In response, Regis said the harbor crew pulled it out to a certain area in the bay and emptied it. Paquette wondered if the city would consider getting a fish grinder; she had recently seen fish carcass waste on the beach. Regis stated the harbor emptied the gut barge in accordance with their permit, and the city was not the only entity who emptied fish waste into the bay. Jaffa asked if Regis would look into what the cost of a fish grinder would be. In response to Jaffa,Regis said the Request for Proposals(RFP)for GKL Float Project was out on the street,and an extension had been granted to allow vendors to obtain pricing on materials. Regis added that another RFP to replace the anodes on the city docks. In response to Jaffa, Regis said there were several shovel-ready projects for the harbor, including adding a 5 Ton Lift to I Dock,having a wash down pad on the city side, and improving the South Harbor Uplands. Hughes wondered if L Float would be extended. In response, Regis said L Float would be extended by 75 feet,and K Float would be extended by 75 to 100 feet.Jaffa asked what the impact would be to moorage slips,and Regis said it would result in losing some slips to increase transient moorage. Other Reports and Announcements —None Presentations—None UNFINISHED BUSINESS — None NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Items Nominate and elect a Chair. Jaffa thanked Laura Schneider and Erin Lemas for their service to PACAB.Jaffa asked the board to consider having another election for chair and vice chair in a few months, after the board ham had a chance to fill the two vacancies. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September I, 2021 Volume 4, Page 27 Motion (Jaffa/Hughes) Conduct an election today for chair and 1.]vice chair with terms to serve through January, 2022, then conduct another election. Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (Hughes/Paquette) Elect Bruce Jaffa as Chair for a term to expire January, 2022. Motion Passed Unanimous Nominate and elect a Vice Chair. Motion (Jaffa/Lawrence) Elect Lynda Paquette as Vice Chair for a term to expire January, 2022. Motion Passed Unanimous Monitor and provide recommendations to council regarding all fisheries impacting the community. Hughes wished to get survey results for the 2021 season. Regis said United Fisheries of Alaska would send a report, and he would pass it along to the board when he received it. Jaffa thought Seward should be taking part in these discussions. Discuss budget-related items. Motion (Jaffa/Hughes) Maintain the same budget amount for 2022 as for 2021. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss planning a joint work session to form a tourism/hospitality education track that could help overcome summer worker shortages. Paquette wished to form a coalition between PACAB, the Chamber of Commerce, the schools, and AVTEC to attract high school students into the hospitality industry. She suggested that AVTEC could even develop a hospitality program. She wanted to encourage young locals to work. Lawrence said AVTEC had a maritime advisory board; the apprentice program allowed students to work in the summer to accrue sea time. He agreed that getting high school students engaged would be helpful. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 1, 2021 Volume 4,Page 28 Jaffa suggested that Paquette create a list of organizations she would like to involve, and draft a memo to provide an overview. Smith stated that AVTEC had created a new position for an Apprentice Coordinator that would work across all sectors. Discuss the Lowell Point Wastewater Treatment Facility. Jaffa thought that Lowell Point residents deserved to have a voice in this matter. Paquette said she was right to bring her concerns forward to council in June,2020;she felt she was owed an apology and had been disrespected by the Public Works director. Hughes asked if council had requested that PACAB address this issue. He believed it was a matter between the city's administration and city council. In response, Paquette said this pertained to PACAB because it had an impact on the economy. Lawrence asked if the city was already working on these issues. In response, Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell said the city was working on it;the city manager supported Public Works engaging R&M Consultants to do a study. In response to Jaffa, Public Works Director Doug Schoessler stated the sewage lagoon was working. He said in October, 2020 there was an underground air line that was discovered to have been broken; repairs had been initiated,but then interrupted by the crews getting COVID-19 and then freezing weather. Schoessler said in the spring this year, the odors had been bad, but he had not received any complaints for many months now. Jaffa stated he did not believe that relocation was an option, but wondered if a different system might work better. Schoessler said that R&M Consultants was currently doing a small study,but he hoped to engage them in creating a Master Plan that would be viable for many years to come. Hughes commended Schoessler for trying to find solutions. Sowell said he would furnish the report to PACAB as soon as it became available. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Port& Commerce Advisory Board Priorities (as approved by City Council). Port& Commerce Advisory Board 2021 Goals Calendar. October 14, 2021 HP&PACAB Joint Work Session Memo. City of Seward, Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 1, 2021 Volume 4,Page 29 CITIZEN COMMENTS Christy Terry said the schools had a program called Connections where students could sign up for internships, either paid or for school credit. She also encouraged PACAB members to draft memos or agenda statements for the packets when they wished to bring forward discussion items so that everyone understood the topic. BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Smith was looking forward to having a discussion about education. Lawrence encouraged everyone to reach out to fill the two vacancies on the board. Paquette thanked everyone for attending, and said if anyone was interested in applying for a seat on the board they did not have to be a resident of Seward. Hughes said he would have to participate telephonically throughout October and November as he would be out of state. Regis had been encouraging people to apply for the vacancies. He stated that the US Coast Guard had released the name of the Fast Response Cutter(FRC)that would be stationed in Seward; it would be Frederick Mann. Sowell stated administration supported all the efforts being made to address the sewage lagoon. Jaffa appreciated all the board members, and encouraged new people to get involved. He said there were lots of varying topics and issues that PACAB addressed. Regis said that JAG had received the sole source contract to replace the engine on the US Coast Guard Mustang. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:47 p.m. 4/&j \%.17 Brenda Ballou, C Bruce Jaffa City Clerk 60.3i67i:7Bd"B•° Vice Chair (City Seal) r • .ems. u L • • A ° > r� � �''••�. OF A`': ;o•' ifti