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Home My WebLink About03082023 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4,Page 111 CALL TO ORDER The March 8, 2023 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m.by Vice Chair Lynda Paquette. OPENING CEREMONY Board Member Benjamin Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Chair(Vacant), presiding; and Lynda Paquette(presiding) Carl Hughes (arrived at 12:05) 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—Jaffa Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Resolution 2023-001 was postponed with no objection due to the resolution sponsor Bruce Jaffa not being present at the meeting. Motion (Smith/Woelkers) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the January 4,2023 PACAB Meeting Minutes Approval of the February 1,2023 PACAB Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4,Page 112 Approval of the February 15,2023 PACAB Special Meeting Minutes SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards—None Administration Report. Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell said most of his time lately had been with the purchase agreement and due diligence with Homer Electric Association. Another project he was working on was planning the road access for the new public works facility. Administration had been working with the Department of Transportation(DOT)to approve separate driveway access for all the buildings in the Fort Raymond parcel.To move this project forward,the city would need voter approval in October for a general obligation bond. Hughes arrived at 12:05 Harbormaster Norm Regis said the only thing that had changed from his written report was the fire extinguisher and life ring boxes had been completed by the contractor. The harbor department was adding latches to the boxes as a safeguard against the high winds. These latches were only$8 apiece and would prevent the$300 lids from blowing away in extreme weather. Other Reports and Announcements Alaska Railroad Report. Port Operations Manager Dwayne Atwood said the Director of External Affairs Christy Terry was working on securing funding for the cruise ship dock expansion. Terry was in the process of obtaining legislative approval for an additional$90 million in bonds to fund the $150 million project. On another topic, there were potential changes for Seward's non-functional coal facility equipment. The conveyor system has been damaged in a couple sections and there was a budget for$1 million to address some of these issues. The last coal ship was in 2016 and since then the facility has been in a deep sleep mode. The dormant facility was checked regularly to make sure nothing had been tampered with. However, weather, age and idleness had taken its toll. Paquette asked if the coal facility equipment would be needed in the future. Atwood responded the railroad was looking into potential uses. Exporting coal was not currently economically feasible. Atwood said that at a certain point, an asset could become a liability if it wasn't maintained. Woelkers asked if there was any current activity at the Roundhouse Pond that had been filled in. Atwood said there had been some inquiries such as stockpiling aggregate for dock projects. The property would likely be more utilized than it was now,but no agreements had been made. The same status applied to the land that had been cleared between the railroad property and the airport. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4, Page 113 Presentations—None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2023-001, Amending the 2023 PACAB Priorities Postponed during approval of the agenda. Resolution 2023-002, Recommending City Council Amend Seward City Code Chapter 2.30 Boards and Commissions Motion (Atwood/Smith) Approve Resolution 2023-002 Paquette wanted to replace the word "shall"with"may"under 2.30.315 —Terms of office; filling vacancies item C. Motion to Amend (Hughes/Atwood) Amend Resolution 2023-002 under 2.30.315- Terms of office; filling vacancies item C by replacing the word `shall' with II `may'. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous City Clerk Brenda Ballou advised the best practice for the removal of a board member would be to elevate the matter to city council. After some deliberation on the language, PACAB wanted item C to read, "Following a member's absence from three consecutive meetings or 25% of scheduled meetings of the board, the remaining board members may decide whether the board member should be retained or dismissed. Any recommendation for dismissal shall be forwarded to city council for action." Motion to Amend (Atwood/Smith) Amend Resolution 2023-002 under 2.30.315- Terms of office; filling vacancies item C by striking "whether to request council appointment of a new member." and adding the word "dismissed" and adding a sentence "Any recommendation for dismissal shall be forwarded to city council for action." Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4,Page 114 Regis cautioned against adding the word "infrastructure" in the list of 2.30.325 —Powers and Duties. However, PACAB felt it was important to keep the addition of the word. Main Motion Passed Unanimous Action Memorandum Action Memorandum 2023-001,Electing a Chair and Vice Chair to the Port and Commerce Advisory Board Nominate and elect a Chair. Atwood nominated Bruce Jaffa as chair. There were no other nominations. Motion (Atwood/Hughes) Elect Bruce Jaffa as Chair with a term to expire July,2023. Motion Passed Unanimous Clerk's Note- There was no need to elect a Vice Chair as Paquette remained Vice Chair. Action Memorandum 2023-002, Formulate the 2023 PACAB Work Session Meeting Topics Regis noted the City of Seward Special Election on May 2, 2023 could affect the topics. He also suggested the work session topic for April be legislative priorities. Sowell wanted to clarify if they would be work sessions or special meetings. Hughes said the intent was to follow the work session format unless a special meeting was called for. Paquette concurred. Atwood suggested to have the work session topic included in each meeting agenda and be decided at that time rather than blueprint the entire year in advance. Other New Business Items Discuss the 2023 SMIC Development Plan Regis said the city wanted to put road signs for the Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) along both sides of the Seward Highway by the three bridges. However, the Department of Transportation (DOT) would not allow the signs to be placed. Regis said DOT's objection to the sign placement was unknown. Hughes asked if the Raibow leased property was back in city possession. Regis said it was in the process of being cleaned up and re-platted. Regis said he would ask Arcadis to update their maps with current names. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4,Page 115 Regis said grant money would be required to build a new fire station across the bay. Sowell added they were looking into new public safety buildings for Police and Fire,but a satellite facility across the bay was not on their priority list. Also, combining multiple departments into one building would severely complicate the funding process. Woelkers asked about safety and security of the infrastructure during emergencies. Regis said the emergency plan was approved last year by the fire chief. When new infrastructure was added, the security plan would be updated accordingly. Overall, PACAB liked the way the SMIC Development Plan was written in the packet. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None CITIZEN COMMENTS—None BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sowell thanked the board for their work and said he would personally congratulate Bruce Jaffa on being elected chair. Regis said he was still looking for a funding source for the harbor wash-down pad. He was waiting to see what the city's portion would be. In the big scheme of things, $800,000 was not a lot of money in compared to other projects. Woelkers thanked the harbor department for all their hard work. Hughes thanked the board for their discussions. Atwood thanked city staff for informing Bruce Jaffa on being elected Chair. He wondered what hurdles preventing the installation of a SMIC road sign on the DOT right of way. Smith thanked everyone for a good meeting. Paquette said the SMIC road sign issue had been going on for years. She encouraged everyone to try to stay open and positive when discussing the sign with DOT. There might be a creative solution. The next PACAB work session would be on March 22, 2023 and HEA would be giving a presentation. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes March 8, 2023 Volume 4, Page 116 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1. 8 p.m. "2�./ 1 Kris Peck Paquette Deputy City Clerk �,,,�� Vice Chair (City Seal) �..esy 0..o �q,Q*,, .w,V` V3Ap ft4I Q ,,i - f �r • • i SEAL g • • ....", " 1• '.•�+- : #4,,' q7 � ' `t,'•' • OF P- • ' ••..II '* t