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Home My WebLink About01042023 PACAB Minutes City of Seward, Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes January 4, 2023 Volume 4, Page 97 CALL TO ORDER The January 4,2023 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by 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 comprising a quorum of the Board; and Stephen Sowell, Assistant City Manager Norm Regis, Harbormaster 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: There were no items on the consent agenda. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards None Administration Report, City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board:'Meeting Minutes January 4, 2023 Folumc 4, Page 98 Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell announced the upcoming City Council Special Meeting on January 23, 2023 would cover the roles and responsibilities of each board and commission. Planning & Zoning Commission would go first, followed by Historic Preservation Commission and lastly PACAB. Sowell encouraged every board member to attend,because it was an opportunity to interact directly with city council. Paquette asked if there was a specific time slot for each board & commission. Sowell responded the times were not set in stone. Paquette mentioned the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon was starting to smell badly and made it difficult to enjoy the natural ocean scent of the area. She pointed out the lagoon was currently frozen which was a sign of lack of air circulation. Paquette expressed concern that the issue had become a static display in the council packets, because the most recent engineering updates were from October 2021. According to Paquette, there was a multitude of testing that never happened in 2022 and she wanted to get those items back on the schedule. Sowell thanked her for the information and said he would look into it further. Jaffa attempted to ask a follow-up question about the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon, but O'Reagan quickly intervened and ruled him out of order. Jaffa noted in the meeting packet that the new Public Works building design phase was scheduled to reach 15% completion by February 2023. As a contractor, the figure of 15% seemed unusual to him, as 35% was a more commonly used percentage. Jaffa also wondered if there was a groundbreaking date set and Sowell responded that would still be a be at least 24 months away. Jaffa mentioned the 1.7 trillion-dollar federal package and noted that 2 million dollars was allocated to Seward. Jaffa asked how the 2 million dollars would be spent. Sowell responded the funds would go towards sludge removal at the Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon and the Spring Creek Sewage Lagoon. Woelkers asked if the sludge would be shipped out or stored on a city site. Sowell responded that decision had not been made yet. Woelkers emphasized that decision was critical. Paquette asked if the May 2022 landslide along Lowell Point Road had caused the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider the Lowell Creek Tunnel Project. Sowell responded he had not heard of any reconsiderations. Harbormaster Norm Regis encouraged everyone to tune in to the January 9, 2023 City Council meeting for more information on the US Coast Guard land sale. O'Reagan praised the city for keeping the side roads plowed at the Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC). Other Reports and Announcements Alaska Railroad Report.Port Operations Manager Dwayne Atwood said on December 22, 2022 a large shipment of sand bags was delivered to the port and were currently being loaded onto rail cars. Atwood was still processing the 2023 cruise ship applications and so far,there were City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes January 4, 2023 Volume 4,Page 99 92 cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Seward. The cruise ship terminal was currently being used by seniors for indoor walking during the winter. Atwood would have an announcement soon on the hiring of an assistant port manager. Woelkers asked if the cruise ship terminal had oil spill response equipment. Atwood responded they had containerized response equipment on site. Regis added the harbor department had two CONEXs full of oil spill response materials. Presentations—None NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Items 2023 Harbor Tariff Regis thanked PACAB for their time spent reviewing the tariffs, and it would go before city council on January 9, 2023. If there was a still a change needed, the harbor tariff could be amended at the council meeting. Woelkers asked how Seward prices compared to other Alaskan cities such as Homer.Regis responded that Seward prices were lower in the categories of travel lift and storage. i E Hughes inquired if the harbor department was able to cover their own expenses. Regis responded affirmatively that the harbor was all caught up on bond payments. Paquette thought some of the dollar amounts like $9.19 were odd and wondered if the harbor could use flat rates like $10. Regis responded there was an automatic percentage increase that resulted in the unusual numbers. Rounding the figures up or down was not a feasible option. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None CITIZEN COMMENTS—None BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sowell said he would come back with more information at the next meeting in regard to the Lowell Canyon Diversion Tunnel and the infrastructure for the sewage lagoon Regis thanked Catalyst Marine for their assistance in the removal of a sunken vehicle in the harbor. Their quick actions helped prevent contamination of fuel and oil in the water. Atwood appreciated having a full PACAB meeting with all members present to start the new year. i City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes January 4, 2023 volume 4, Page 100 Jaffa said it was nice to start the year with a quorum. He felt the 36-minute meeting was too short and they had plenty of extra time left to discuss more items. Jaffa hoped PACAB would not become irrelevant with a diminished role. Jaffa felt the city was well managed and thanked the current administration for their concise reports. Paquette noted that PACAB had two hours scheduled for their meetings and felt there was more they could have discussed today. She praised city staff for their excellent holiday decorations around town and inside city hall. She thanked the Chamber of Commerce for moving the time of the fireworks to 8 p.m. instead of midnight. The time change made it much more accessible for the community to enjoy the show. Hughes wished everyone a Happy New Year. He recalled that PACAB meetings used to go the full two hours and perhaps it was a measure of their success that meetings were shorter now. On the other hand, it was possible they weren't being given enough material to work on. Hughes wanted more information on the potential sale of the electric utilities. Woelkers said it was good to see everyone to start off the new year. He had a feeling that the City of Seward was not addressing long term waste water disposal.At times,the odor at Lowell Point Sewage Lagoon was quite strong and was noticeable from Railway Avenue. O'Reagan announced she was unsure of how much longer she would remain on PACAB. Her employer was moving out of Seward and she would also be relocating to their corporate headquarters. O'Reagan would provide more updates as they became known. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m. Kris Peck r i 'Reagan Deputy City Clerk Chair (City Seal) .0� of SCi FLy'% i ■ w ® . SEAL ■ � w r r + 4 aP nn ,�O lilts", ilt",fit