Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11162022 PACAB Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes November 16, 2022 Volume 4,Page 89 ............ CALL TO ORDER The November 16, 2022 special meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Vice Chair Lynda Paquette OPENING CEREMONY Bruce Jaffa led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: O'Reagaa,presiding; and Lynda Paquette (presiding) Bruce Jaffa r^N'� es Benjamin Smith Fred Woelkers Dwayne Atwood comprising a quorum of the Board; and Stephen Sowell, Assistant City Manager Tony Sieminski, Deputy Harbormaster Kris Peck, Deputy City Clerk Excused—O'Reagan, Atwood, Hughes Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Darryl Schaefermeyer, inside city limits,hoped city council appreciated all of PACAB's hard work. He wished to see heated sidewalks taken into consideration for all future sidewalk projects; heated sidewalks would be an ideal heat pump project and great benefit for the community members who used the sidewalks over the winter. Schaefermeyer was disappointed to learn the US Geological Survey had ended their three-year monitoring of the water flows with an inconclusive report. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Paquette/Jaffa) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous There were no consent agenda items. NEW BUSINESS City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes November 16, 2022 Volume 4,Page 90 Action Memoranda Action Memorandum 2022-001, Recommending City Council Updates To The 2023-2028 Capital Improvement Plan List Motion (Jaffa/Smith) Approve Action Memorandum 2022-001 Paquette noted this item was originally intended to be a resolution, but was changed by administration to be an action memorandum. Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell said an action memorandum was a better format for a recommendation to city council. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Discuss the Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) Development Plan. Jaffa hoped there would still be public access to the Fourth of July Creek with JAG shipyard expanding their footprint; the city had a responsibility to provide access to the popular beach destination. Deputy Harbormaster Tony Sieminski said there was an effort made to maintain the roads during the winter. The city attempted to direct the flow of traffic to the beach around Olga Road to keep vehicle traffic away from the industrial zone and ship lift. Sowell said the Fourth of July Beach circular parking lot was also up for discussion and expansion. Once the parking lot filled up with vehicles, there tended to be an overflow of parking that clogged the right-of-way along Sorrel Road. Woelkers noted the State of Alaska Department of Corrections had some bordering property in the area and wondered if the city would be interested in acquiring the land. Jaffa supported the idea of acquiring the land. Woelkers asked about adding"camels"to the North Dock,which were floating logs along the dock that rose and fell with the tide. Camels helped prevent damage to the dock and pilings. Sieminski responded he would discuss it with the harbormaster. Sowell mentioned this SMIC plan would not come back to council until 2023,but PACAB reviewed it annually. If edits were made now it would not come back formal adoption until 2023. This discussion would be for the benefit of the harbormaster. Smith asked for a more specific goal would be for the line"providing additional restrooms as needed." Sowell noted in the Legislative Priorities brochure, it was listed to make a full public restroom. ... City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes November 16, 2022 Volume 4,Page 91 Smith asked if the city would be interested in buying land in SMIC if it was available. Sowell responded he would look into which lots were privately owned. Jaffa felt paving the interior SMIC roads would be a huge mistake. Sieminski agreed and said the outer road would be more desirable for paving. Paquette thought the paving the interior roads should be removed completely from the plan. Paquette wanted to see the SMIC fire station on the list of legislative priorities. Sowell said a site for a fire station had not yet been determined. Jaffa questioned if there was enough staff to keep the fire station operational. Jaffa said he had been around harbors and felt there was always going to be a criminal element and there needed to be police presence. He was curious what the police and fire departments felt about current response times to emergencies in the SMIC area. Smith recalled the fire chief estimated 40 minutes as a response time to SMIC. Paquette was interested in recruiting other local workers in the area to be trained to respond to emergencies. She wanted to explore the potential of building a volunteer fire dept with JAG workers and nearby residents of Nash Road. Jaffa recalled that ship fires required very specialized training and it was not something to be taken lightly. Woelkers felt that historic vessels should be taken into consideration for their historical value before they were scrapped or destroyed. There was public interest in commercial fishing and nautical history in the area and there could be plaques and signs for visitors. There were state statues and federal code that pertained to boats of historical significance. Paquette wondered how the city would go about taking historic vessels into consideration and if it would directly involve the Historic Preservation Commission. Sowell said the only time the city would destroy a vessel is if it was derelict and storage fees had not been paid. The issue of historic vessels was outside the scope of what this SMIC Development Plan covered. CITIZEN COMMENTS Darryl Schaefermeyer, inside city limits, said he was surprised to hear the city council decision to select Homer Electric Association (HEA) as the preferred electric utility to purchase Seward electric. All discussions had been in executive session up to this point and Schaefermeyer wanted more public information as to why HEA was the preferred choice. Schaefermeyer hoped PACAB would have an opportunity to take a look at that the electric utility sale.He was concerned about how to replace the divot in the general fund that the city electric department would no longer provide. BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sowell thanked PACAB for reviewing the CIP and SMIC Development Plan. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes November 16, 2022 Volume 4,Page 92 Woelkers thanked everyone for taking his comments into consideration. Smith said the 2023 Legislative Priorities magazine looked very professional. He thanked ..r Schaefermeyer for his comments on the proposed electric utility sale. He encouraged voters to review the terms carefully. Jaffa said it was now up to Homer Electric Association to make their case to the Seward voters. Jaffa would be looking into the impacts of the sale for residents living outside city limits and Moose Pass. At the November 14, 2022 city council meeting, the PACAB priorities list was amended to remove PACAB's top two priorities; he didn't agree with the decision to remove the priority regarding energy alternatives. The other item removed was to promote the quality of life for Seward residents, and he pointed out this item was in the Charter and city code. Paquette thanked PACAB and the public for their input. She said PACAB and administration had finalized PACAB's list of priorities prior to the city council meeting on November 14,2022 and she was surprised that administration recommended that two of PACAB's top priorities be removed; she felt blindsided that administration recommended these changes to council without PACAB's involvement or knowledge. Paquette also noted her name was brought up at the council meeting in such a way that that unfairly gave the impression she was taking up too much of administration's time. Paquette requested that both the city manager and assistant city manager attend the upcoming PACAB work session on December 14, 2022 to discuss the future of PACAB. Paquette proposed that PACAB would have two actual meetings per month; one a regular meeting and one committee of the whole format. She wished to phase out work sessions because PACAB could not take any action in work sessions. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Kris Peck qVi KChair uette Deputy City Clerk �baaea¢aaer (City Seal) O SEAL � ® • � a . r OF XOL ,b'a1 ...6,yddR®lai,}9�a