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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04152015 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Minutes April 15, 2015 Volume 3, Page 272 CALL TO ORDER The April 15,2015 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Chair Deborah Altermatt. OPENING CEREMONY Board Member Dan Oliver led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Deborah Altermatt,presiding, and Darryl Schaefermeyer* Carl Hughes Steve Fink Daniel Oliver *Schaefermeyer arrived at 12:07 p.ni. Comprising a quorum of the Board; and Mack Funk, Harbor Master Norm Regis, Deputy Harbor Master Jackie Wilde, Executive Liaison Johanna Kinney,City Clerk Absent—Bruce Jaffa, Bob Linville SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Altermatt welcomed Jackie Wilde as the board's new Executive Liaison and thanked City Clerk Johanna Kinney for coming today. Chamber of Commerce Report—Cindy Clock. Altermatt announced Clock was currently in Seattle with the Mayor on the annual Economic Partner's Trip. Alaska Railroad Report—Louis Bencardino. Bencardino stated the railroad was fairly busy so far this year. They were hosting the Research Vessel Sikuliaq again at the cruise ship dock as it waited to go to the shipyard on April 19,2015 for planned repairs. The Sikuliaq would come back again to the dock in July. A response barge was in town for the annual Alyeska Ship Escort/Response Vessel System (SERVS) training. Seaview Community Services held its third annual Kids Carnival in the terminal on April 11,2015 and the railroad donated a portion of their event fees to the cause. Starting April 17, 2015, coal trains would be coming to Seward every Wednesday and Friday. A pipe ship was arriving April 17 or 18,2015 and would be in Seward for about four days. They would be loading directly on to the train approximately 45 cars worth of material. The coastal trains would start May 9,2015 and run through September 15,2015 from their downtown harbor station. Bencardino announced the first cruise ship of the season would arrive in City of Sewar4 Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Minutes April 15, 2015 Volume 3, Page 273 Seward on May 6,2015,with the official season starting May 17,2015. The schedule called for 64 ships total for the season. Norwegian Cruise Lines would be new to Seward this year, and Bencardino hoped they would stay in Seward beyond this summer. Premier Alaska Tours recently awarded Seward with the title of being the best place to travel to in Alaska. Harbormaster Report — Mack Funk. Funk said $2.7 million of warranty work was scheduled at the shipyard for the R/V Sikuliaq. A lease extension document had been executed by Alaska Logistics at the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC). All delinquent boat accounts had been remedied. At the April 27,2015 City Council meeting,administration would be recommending approval of a construction contract with Harmon Construction for the Northeast Fish Cleaning Station. On April 13, 2015, council directed administration to work with PACAB on potential locations for a grid and funding options for a grid engineering project. Funk answered questions regarding the$2.6 million in the state budget for harbor repairs in Seward and explained the funding was at risk, but currently appeared to be secure. In response to Schaefermeyer, Funk stated a Motion to Reconsider had been filed on City Council Resolution 2015-028 amending the harbor tariff, so that would be coming back to the council at their next meeting. There was struggle regarding the fee increase for the Travelift at SMIC. Schaefermeyer asked if there was any consideration to split out the various issues with that resolution,as there were some minor changes proposed in addition to the fee increase. Funk stated one way or another;staff would find a way to take care of the other issues that weren't as concerning. In response to Oliver, Funk stated administration was moving forward with engineering studies on "up to a 5 ton crane", although PACAB had recommended an 8 ton crane. Because administration said they didn't have funding for any of it, council compromised by authorizing a study for the possibility of either a 2.5 ton crane or a 5 ton crane. Schaefermeyer recalled at the April 1,2015 joint work session with the City Council that Assistant City Manager Ron Long was wanting to pursue a five ton crane boomed out, as many cranes lost tonnage when they were fully boomed out. Administration Report — Ron Long. Alterman noted Long was currently traveling on behalf of the city in Washington, D.C. and Seattle with the Mayor. CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Schaefermeyer/Fink) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda City Clerk Johanna Kinney noted for the record that the approval of the March 4, 2015 minutes were advertised to be on today's agenda, but with the change in staff, they were not yet prepared. Because of this,administration pulled them from the agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous City of Seward, Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Minutes April 15, 2015 Volume 3, Page 274 There were no consent agenda items. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS,REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS—None UNFINISHED BUSINESS—None NEW BUSINESS .Pulled by Administration Continue discussion of attracting more fishing vessels to Seward. Altermatt noted the past joint work session with City Council on April 1,2015 really focused on obtaining a crane and a grid. Since that time council,had given direction for administration and PACAB to research a grid locations for Seward. Funk handed out a study by PN&D Engineers regarding the feasibility of grids and announced the formal direction given by council from the April 13,2015 meeting: Administration was directed to work with the Port And Commerce Advisory Board to develop potential tidal grid site recommendations to provide to Council. Recommendations should include pro and con listings/discussions for each proposed site. These pro and cons should include for Council deliberation, but are not limited to, future planning, cost, location, accessibility, community desires, environmental, permitting, and other factors that evolve during the review and recommendation process. Locations can be examined in the Small Boat Harbor and also the Seward Marine Industrial Center, or other City Tidelands. Final recommendations provided to Council can include a PACAB ranking of recommended sites. It was added to research proposing fees to offset the costs if necessary. Regarding a grid,Funk said engineers have said it was possible to get a permit for a grid but it would not be easy. It would be time consuming and expensive. Factors of trying to find the best location, applying for and obtaining a permit, funding construction and maintenance—all of these things would take time. In response to Altermatt,Funk said it would definitely be a matter of more than a few months,and estimated it taking about a year,possibly more. He reiterated that digging up the bottom of the ocean floor was always expensive. Funk said possible locations previously discussed were at SMIC and in the harbor. Currently the city was contracted with the Alaska Industry Development and Export Authority(AIDEA)for the SMIC expansion project, and in turn AIDEA was working with the consulting firm Arcadis, but Funk didn't think consideration for a grid was currently in the scope of their work and assumed a separate permit would be needed to move forward at that location. Deputy Harbormaster Norman Regis recalled the pervious grid was hard to maintain. Many harbors now won't allow painting and scraping in a grid due to environmental laws in place. The use would likely be limited to lift the vessel and pull lines out. Because of this,staff was unsure City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Minutes April 15, 2015 Volume 3, Page 275 the grid would pay for itself with user fees, and Regis didn't think this could be bonded. Altermatt stated she was more concerned about obtaining a crane,and worried that adding the grid to their priority lists might take away from that. Schaefermeyer said at a minimum, PACAB, as directed, could help determine potential locations for a grid,but funding would need to be appropriated to go beyond that. Hughes echoed the uncertainty if a grid was feasible due to environmental concerns and how to pay for it because it likely couldn't pay for itself. Schaefermeyer wasn't sure if this was worth looking at. Altermatt said on PACAB's priority list was a 50 ton haul out wash down pad which would support a cleaner harbor. Schaefermeyer felt that should be a higher priority and added he would be surprised if there was grant money out there to build a grid. Funk said from the administration's perspective, he felt they needed to work on this, but perhaps they should all agree the crane and the wash down pad should be higher priorities. Altermatt said they would look into this, and if they find it was not fiscally responsible to move forward,that very well may be the conclusion and opinion of the board. The body asked the Harbormaster to bring back some cost estimates on a grid at the next meeting. Altermatt said on attracting fishing vessels to Seward,there were other things discussed at the joint work session such as economic development of private industry such as a chandlery or a gear shed. She noted it was hard to attract these businesses with such a small fishing fleet in Seward so it was a bit of a predicament.The Chamber of Commerce and the city were both looking respectively on how to further encourage business in Seward. Fink said Raibow's business across the bay was a good start for equipment, and Storm Chasers was moving in the direction of providing more marine supplies in town as well. Fink mentioned he had commented before on the ranking of how much money Seward brought in from fishing. He thought Seward ranked fairly low,making up about 6%of the economy in the fishing industry. Other communities were at least double. Regis said the big issue coming back would be the flat tax,which could attract more outside vessels. A lot of people docked their boats elsewhere because they could pay a flat sales tax on moorage. Schaefermeyer said another positive factor was Seward had a cap on their sales tax,which a lot of places didn't. Altermatt thought the work session with council was positive, and noted a lot of younger fishermen attended,so it wasn't just an older industry. She agreed with the thinking to work hard to retain the fishermen already in Seward,and then more would follow. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Minutes April 15, 2015 Volume 3, Page 276 Regis said,if supported by administration,a flat tax would be a good start,as well as a crane. Picking a grid spot likely wouldn't be difficult, but he was not sure about the logistics of constructing and maintaining it. Altermatt asked for an update on the Coast Guard in Seward. Funk said the latest report from Washington,D.C.(Long and Bardarson were currently there),was a lot of rumors seemed to swirling about the USCG Cutter Mustang leaving Seward,but it didn't seem like there was a lot of stock in that. Funk said it sounded like those in D.C. weren't too concerned about it. There has been discussion about replacing the vessel in the near future for a faster, more improved vessel. CORRESPONDENCE,INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS(No Action Required)— None BOARD COMMENTS Fink stated he apologized for having to leave these meetings by 1:00 p.m.He announced he would be resigning from his seat on the board when his term expired this July as he would be taking a new position at the middle school which would not allow him to attend noon meetings. Hughes welcomed further information from the Harbormaster in reference to the grid and to see if the city could come up with financial justification. Schaefermeyer said his first name was misspelled on the agenda. Based on some of the communication he had seen, it was possible Board Member Jaffa may not be able to stay on the board due to his work conflicts. If that was the case,Schaefermeyer said he would be sad to lose him as a board member. He also was considering stepping off the board when his term expired,but he wasn't sure what he would do. He reminded everyone that Friday was the inauguration of the new buzz saw shark exhibit and the skate tank at the Alaska SeaLife Center. Altermatt welcomed Wilde as their new Executive Liaison and thanked Kinney for participating today. She announced she would be travelling to join Chamber Director Cindy Clock and Mayor Bardarson in Seattle for their annual Economic Partners Trip. CITIZENS' COMMENTS—None BOARD AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS—None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 p.m. • s%%�•�i GGl Cl � �•� J hanua Ki ey, CM p�F SE Deborah A/'ltermatt ity Clerk ;•��'� .••rhF, 4 ``, Chair t• o o • 44 • • SEAL a � (City Seal) • • • ▪ : ry•� •p • .#4,1•E64. O F .... e ail Bii4►\\`♦