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Home My WebLink About09072022 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2022 Volume 4,Page 74 CALL TO ORDER The September 7, 2022 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m.by Chair Brandii O'Reagan OPENING CEREMONY Brandii O'Reagan led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Brandii O'Reagan,presiding; and Lynda Paquette Bruce Jaffa Carl Hughes Benjamin Smith Fred Woelkers Dwayne Atwood (arrived 12:06) comprising a quorum of the Board; and Stephen Sowell,Assistant City Manager(telephonically) Norm Regis, Harbormaster(telephonically) Kris Peck, Deputy City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None CITIZEN 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 The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approve the May 4,2022 Regular Meeting Minutes. Approve the June 8,2022 Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations &Awards—None City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2022 Volume 4,Page 75 Administration Report. Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell reported the Seward community wanted a multi-use recreational facility that included a basketball court,movie theater and child care facility. Atwood arrived 12:06 Paquette asked if the four vessels that recently sank were all participating in the Silver Salmon Derby. Harbormaster Norm Regis (telephonically) responded that two of those vessels were in the Silver Salmon Derby. Other Reports and Announcements Chamber of Commerce Report.Executive Director Kat Sorensen stated that the Silver Salmon Derby weather was pretty wild, but she still considered the event a success. The Mount Marathon Race and 4th of July Festival were also a success. Overall, the festival numbers were lower than pre-COVID,but it was still an impressive turnout. The chamber had recorded a tally of their phone calls and received about 400 calls a month for visitor information.Next year the harbor derby booth could become a full-time mini visitor center. Jaffa asked if there was any plans for expanding the 5G network capabilities in Seward. Sorensen responded that they were testing the speeds of 5G in various locations to help with expansion at a federal level.Jaffa was curious if the Seward Highway projects had affected visitors. Sorensen responded that locals seemed more affected by the road construction than the visitors. Alaska Railroad Report. Port Operations Manager Dwayne Atwood provided a written report as a laydown. Atwood said the Snow River water level had prevented the Coastal Classic train from advancing farther than Moose Pass. Train passengers were shuttled back and forth in motorcoaches between Moose Pass and Seward.Next year there would be 94 cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Seward. The cruise dock replacement project was slated to begin at the end of the 2023 cruise ship season. Presentations—None NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Items Nominate and elect a Chair. Jaffa nominated Brandii O'Reagan as Chair. There were no other nominations. Motion(Jaffa/Paquette) Elect Brandii O'Reagan as Chair with a term to expire July,2023. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2022 Volume 4,Page 76 Motion Passed Unanimous Nominate and elect a Vice Chair. O'Reagan nominated Linda Paquette as Vice Chair. There were no other nominations. Motion (O'Reagan/Hughes) Elect Linda Paquette as Vice Chair with a term to expire July,2023. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss the status of the Heat Loop Project. PACAB suspended the rules to speak with committee representatives.Ad Hoc Committee Member Bob Linville reported the Ad Hoc Committee had 10 meetings which equated to 100 hours of volunteer time. All meetings had attendance from all members and sometimes the city manager or assistant city manager. Zoom technology had allowed participation from Your Clean Energy and R&M Consultants. The Ad Hoc Committee had registered with all available grant sources and continued to look for new opportunities. There was lot of money coming out of Congress that heavily supported energy efficiency projects. Progress needed to be demonstrated every three months in order to keep grant funding. Linville mentioned the committee had started a website at www.heatloopseward.weebly.com. Discuss the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC)Bench Housing Feasibility Report. Sowell said R&M consultants would be down on September 26th, 2022 to present their feasibility study to City Council at 5:30 p.m. It was a very expensive project and would likely end up on legislative priority list for several years. Smith said $169,000 per lot plus the building costs would not address the affordable housing need. Sowell responded the study was looking at feasibility rather than affordability. Sowell said it would be a council decision as how to proceed. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS PACAB Meeting Schedule O'Reagan said she was approached by administration to have one scheduled meeting per month and only conduct the work sessions as needed. Paquette wanted to clarify if that meant dropping all the scheduled work sessions.Jaffa felt it would be hard to accomplish their goals with a reduced meeting schedule. Regis clarified that the work sessions wouldn't be dropped completely, but rather added on an individual basis. O'Reagan said this idea would be discussed as PACAB filled their calendar. Paquette proposed that PACAB could utilize Committee of the Whole so action could be taken on the spot without having to wait until the next regular meeting. City Clerk Brenda Ballou clarified that Special Meetings would require 24 hour notice. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2022 Volume 4,Page 77 PACAB Priorities & Goals O'Reagan felt PACAB priorities should be the things they do every single year as it was the core of their job. Whereas, the goals would reflect the actions that went beyond PACAB's basic job functions. The list of priorities& goals needed to be re-evaluated. O'Reagan asked administration about the city financial calendar in relation to PACAB. Sowell responded it would come back as a discussion item in October and a resolution in November. This schedule would allow PACAB priorities to be passed before the new year. O'Reagan clarified this would give PACAB the option to budget for projects that required finances. Atwood asked how many of PACAB's priorities were set by council. O'Reagan responded that it was a back-and-forth working relationship to set the priorities and then council would put the final approval on them. O'Reagan asked about the work sessions not being included on the PACAB calendar. Ballou responded that the City Clerk's office received direction to remove the work sessions,but they would be re-instated until further notice. Smith asked if PACAB could reach out to community members who had installed solar panels. He hoped some residents would be willing to share their solar panel experience at the next city council meeting. O'Reagan wondered if the utility department could provide information on how many people were connected with solar panels. Hughes mentioned that some residents also had geo-thermal systems and he knew a few people that might be interested to share their experience. Jaffa said this board had encouraged development in the renewable energy field and he would be willing to ask other local resources to present to PACAB. • CITIZEN COMMENTS—None BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Woelkers said he was glad everybody was back and it was time to get to work. Hughes was also glad everyone was back. He announced he would miss the October and November meetings. Paquette said it was nice to be back. She thanked everyone for electing her as vice chair. Atwood said he was happy to be onboard with PACAB. This was his first meeting and it was already an interesting body of work. He said the SMIC Bench study was certainly ambitious. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 7, 2022 Volume 4,Page 78 Smith said the SMIC Bench study was an interesting exercise in feasibility. He wondered what the next step would be for the heat loop Ad Hoc Committee. Jaffa encouraged Hughes to stay in touch via email during his vacation. In regard to the SMIC Bench project he felt, if nothing else, it was certainly ambitious. A remote hillside in Washington where he grew up was now covered with houses. Things can be done, whether they are justified needed to be determined. O'Reagan announced she would be going on vacation for six weeks. She emphasized the importance of making decisions that reflect our vision of what Seward would be like 25 years from now. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:26 p.m. `L/li 6_0(2; Kris Peck Brandii O'Reagan Deputy City Clerk Chair (City Seal) , 0'SE, 9 l*,., SElbad P •• %gTEOFP