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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06082022 PACAB Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes June 8,2022 Volume 4,Page 69 CALL TO ORDER The June 8,2022 special meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Chair Brandii O'Reagan. OPENING CEREMONY The board led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Brandii O'Reagan,presiding; and Lynda Paquette Bruce Jaffa Colby Lawrence Carl Hughes Benjamin Smith Fred Woelkers comprising a quorum of the Board; and Stephen Sowell,Assistant City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Deborah Altermatt thought PACAB was doing a great job. She said there was a Seward resident named Sue Canta who had gifted the city with $100,000 upon her passing in 2010 with the request that the funds be put towards beautifying Seward; specifically, Canta wished for the city to install a year-round public toilet facility at Wellington Park. Altermatt believed the heat loop project would dovetail well with Canta's endowment to provide energy efficiencies. Unfortunately, Altermatt said, in 2021 the city put the funds towards temporary portable toilet facilities; she didn't know where they had been set up,but hadn't seen any at Wellington Park. Darryl Schaefermeyer supported Resolution 2022-006,and thought it was very important to keep Your Clean Energy available as a technical resource. Bob Linville also supported Resolution 2022-006. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Paquette/Hughes) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes June 8, 2022 Volume 4, Page 70 Motion Passed Unanimous There were no consent agenda items. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-006, Requesting Authorization From The City Council To Direct The Manager To Issue A Purchase Order To Your Clean Energy To Consult With The Heat Loop Ad Hoc Committee And Provide Services As Authorized By The Manager And As Requested By The Ad Hoc Committee In Its Effort To Identify Available Funding Sources To Continue The Ground Source/Seward District Heat System Project To Completion. Motion (Jaffa/Lawrence) Approve Resolution 2022-006 O'Reagan stated that there were some amendments that had been requested and she wished to start with those. Motion to Amend (Jaffa/Paquette) Amend Resolution 2022-006 in the title as follows (strikethroughs are deletions and underlines are additions): Requesting Recommending The City Council To Direct The City Manager To Issue A Purehas„ Order To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Your Clean Energy To Consult With The Heat Loop Ad Hoc Committee And Provide Services As Authorized By The City Manager And As Requested By The Ad Hoc Committee In Its Effort To Identify a-ilabll e—Fundi-ng—S epees--To Continue The rroun Source Seward District Heat System Project To Completion In An Amount Not To Exceed $19,520, And Appropriating Funds. Jaffa said this amendment would clean up the language. Paquette wanted to clarify that the purpose of contracting with Your Clean Energy was to have his support and assistance in seeking funding opportunities. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous O'Reagan said she strongly supported grass roots efforts that lightened the burden on elected officials and the city, and she was extremely impressed with the committee taking on this City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes June 8,2022 Volume 4,Page 71 challenge. She added that she did not support this resolution because she believed the board's charge to the committee in PACAB Resolution 2022-004 was not in keeping with what was proposed in the resolution before them right now. She said the committee was formed to find funding sources, and that was not the purpose of the resolution before them; she believed the process of engaging Your Clean Energy as a resource should come after a potential funding opportunity was identified by the committee, and after the committee brought the opportunity to the attention of PACAB and, subsequently, city council. Once council gave approval to pursue the funding opportunity,then it would make sense to engage Your Clean Energy to assist as a technical resource in completing a grant application. Paquette said her understanding was that Your Clean Energy had information about potential funding sources that were available, and if this contract was approved, YCE could help the city obtain funding. O'Reagan said there was nothing in front of PACAB right now that spoke to YCE helping the committee to find funding;what was written and in front of PACAB was that YCE would help apply for grants. Jaffa was the chair of the committee, and said the committee unanimously believed that YCE would provide significant contributions to accomplishing the mission of the committee. He believed the intent of the resolution before them was to have an expert available as a resource. He said there will come a time when the committee's work will require counsel from YCE to be successful. Jaffa said the city already had access to grant writing resources, but it was important to have access to YCE for technical support and input. Smith thought this resolution was not necessarily a contract for$19,520 worth of services as much as it was an hourly estimate. Hughes believed YCE was instrumental in obtaining and creating the heat loop system at the Alaska SeaLife Center, and thought engaging him in this capacity would be to the benefit of this project. O'Reagan wholeheartedly agreed with the assertions that YCE was an expert in the field of heat loop systems, but reiterated that the committee's charge was to identify funding sources. This resolution specifically says the committee was requesting funding for the purpose of applying for grants,which was not something the committee had been tasked to do. She felt strongly that is the board approved this resolution, then PACAB would be approving something that was outside the scope of the original resolution that defined the mission of the committee. Paquette wondered if the city administration was supportive of this resolution. In response, Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell said he thought the process would be that the committee would identify a potential funding source, would bring that information to PACAB and city administration, PACAB would bring it to city council, and then administration would engage the grant writers on contract with the city to pursue the application, and would at that time engage YCE for technical information. Sowell said,in order to pursue a grant,both a subject matter expert, as well as a technical resource, were required. He wondered,based on this resolution, who would City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes June 8,2022 Volume 4,Page 72 be responsible for writing a grant application. Sowell said he was supportive of this concept, but wanted to make sure YCE had a clear understanding of the role they would play. Paquette wondered what the committee's expectation was for who would be writing grant applications. In response O'Reagan said her understanding was that, once potential funding opportunities were identified, the city manager and city council would be utilizing whatever resources they saw fit to pursue the opportunity, including the possibility of engaging YCE as a technical resource. O'Reagan said the committee's deliverable was to provide potential funding opportunities,either as a list or as they found them,and it would be up to city council to determine the best way to respond. Motion to Amend (O'Reagan/Paquette) Amend Resolution 2022-006 by adding a new Section 3 that reads, "Funding in the amount of$19,520 is hereby appropriated from General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance account no. 01000-0000-3400 to Finance Department Contracted Services account no. 01000-1140-7009 within the 2022 operating budget." and moving all other sections down. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Yes: Jaffa, Paquette, Smith, Woelkers, Lawrence,Hughes No: O'Reagan INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None CITIZEN COMMENTS Bob Linville thanked PACAB for approving the resolution. Darryl Schaefermeyer appreciated the support and the discussion today. Regarding the restroom concern,he believed the heat loop project could provide an opportunity to have a heated public restroom and shower facility. Casie Warner appreciated the resolution being approved,and looked forward to the future outcome. BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Smith thought this resolution would help move the project forward, and he appreciated hearing about the restroom concern. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes June 8, 2022 Volume 4,Page 73 Hughes was pleased to move this project forward. He knew Sue Canta, and wished that her gift would be honored. Paquette was glad the resolution passed, and said Andy Baker from Your Clean Energy had told her he could not help without being paid. She announced she had been selected to attend an Ocean Scientific Drilling Workshop next week in Washington, DC. Jaffa thanked everyone for attending the meeting today, and said he appreciated all the comments and concerns that were expressed.He said the committee met every two weeks,and had been diligently searching for grant opportunities and had been working on community outreach. Lawrence was happy to see this project move forward. Woelkers said he would be open to the possibility of expanding the scope of the committee. O'Reagan appreciated learning about the restroom gift, and said she was glad to see citizens being involved. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:55 p.m. Br nda Ballou, M Brandii O'Reagan City Clerk Chair (City Seal) .,t OF SE e .ss":„ "•• • oft oitepL-r,„‘ • SEAL • = ••,* Ng, • • '% �OF ALP'