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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02162022 PACAB Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes February 16, 2022 Volume 4, Page 46 CALL TO ORDER The February 16, 2022 special meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Chair Brandii Holmdahl. OPENING CEREMONY • The board led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Brandii Holmdahl, presiding; and Lynda Paquette Bruce Jaffa Carl Hughes Benjamin Smith Fred Woelkers comprising a quorum of the Board; and Nancy Hulbert, Acting Harbormaster (arrived at 12:04 p.m.) Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused— Lawrence Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Jaffa/Paquette) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous There were no consent agenda items. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards—None Administration Report—None Other Reports and Announcements—None Presentations—None City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes February 16,2022 Volume 4, Page 47 NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-004, Requesting Authorization From The City Council For The Board To Appoint And Lead An Ad Hoc Committee Of Interested Community Members To Identify Available Funding Sources To Continue The Ground Source/Seward District Heat System Project To Completion. Motion (Jaffa/Hughes) Approve Resolution 2022-004 Jaffa said this project was initiated in 2015 and had moved through various stages of grants and budgets; it had also lay fallow for some time. He said since the project started, the cost had increased and the original $750,000 grant would not cover the current cost, so additional funding needed to be obtained. Jaffa had been approached by a variety of community members that were concerned about the project, and asked him if PACAB could help move things forward. Jaffa stated he had received emails, as recent as this morning, that indicated the city could find additional funding. However, he believed that the city was maxed out, and he didn't believe this project was a priority for the city. Jaffa was also concerned about the extra work this project would potentially burden the Electric Department with. He said the priorities for this project were to secure additional funding, and to create a long range plan on how to implement and maintain the installation of the heat loop system. He wished to create a group to assist the city administration,rather than burden them with extra work.Jaffa highlighted the positive results from implementing this project, including reduced carbon, heat extraction from an inextinguishable source, and reduced operating costs for the library building. PACAB suspended the rules to hear from Darryl Schaefermeyer. Darryl Schaefermeyer said Andy Baker was the designer for this project, and would be available to speak to PACAB and answer questions. PACAB went back on the rules. Holmdahl suggested that, if the board believed more information about this project was necessary or desired, perhaps the resolution should be postponed until that information could be provided. Paquette thought this resolution should come back at the next regular meeting so that Andy Baker could be included as a speaker on the agenda;she thought more information might be helpful to have before the decision was made on this resolution. Motion to Postpone(Paquette/Holmdahl) Postpone Resolution 2022-004 to March 2, 2022 and invite Andy Baker to make a presentation. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes February 16,2022 Volume 4,Page 48 Holmdahl supported postponing this resolution because she had spent a considerable amount of time yesterday with administration and learned more about this project; she didn't feel comfortable speaking on their behalf,though,and they were not present for this meeting. Jaffa was concerned about delaying this resolution because he believed this was a time- sensitive issue. Holmdahl was uncomfortable bringing this request to council because it was unclear where the city was in the 90-day grant extension cycle; she believed the extension had just been applied for, which would afford the city a fresh 90 days to consider its next steps. Holmdahl said the extension did not prevent individuals in the community who wanted to start doing the work of grant research, but she wanted to have more information about the project before making a final decision. Hughes did not support postponing this resolution because he believed the city needed to be proactively progressive and thought this project should move forward. Paquette felt rushed and thought she didn't have enough information. She wanted to have enough time to perform due diligence. Smith said he believed the board would benefit from having more information on the economic benefit of the project, and perhaps a cost analysis before making a decision. Jaffa recalled that this project had been discussed at PACAB a number of times, and Andy Baker had made a presentation in the past to the board. He said the numbers by themselves would not pencil out on this project; the only way to move this forward was to find additional funding sources.He was tired of people looking to the government to fund everything, and said there were lots of millionaires out there that would be delighted to support this project, but they would only be willing to work with a group that included non-city people. Motion to Postpone Failed Yes: Smith, Paquette,Holmdahl No: Woelkers,Jaffa, Hughes Motion to Amend (Holmdahl/Paquette) Amend Resolution 2022-004 in Section 1 by striking the words "...to include representatives of city council and administration." Holmdahl said she preferred to leave the composition of the committee, should council approve its formation, to be open. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Jaffa stated this resolution was not doing anything except getting something started; there would be a lot of work to do. He believed the community should be involved. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes February 16,2022 Volume 4,Page 49 Holmdahl thought this was a great project which would have a lot of benefit, although she was concerned about this approach. She didn't believe this project fit with the board's priorities, and council had not asked PACAB to take this action. She would be more amendable if council has directed PACAB to form a committee. Holmdahl added that the city contracted with a grant writer, and she wanted to make sure that efforts were not being duplicated in this regard. She pointed out that this project was not listed on the city's current legislative priority list. Hughes recalled that PACAB had been given direction by city council to address this topic. What slowed down this project was the increase in the financial requirement. Jaffa concurred with Hughes and said this topic had been before the board a number of times. He said he had approached individual council members about moving this forward, and it didn't go anywhere. He was trying to get this project moving again. He sponsored this resolution because members of the community asked him to be their voice. He thought it should have been included on the legislative priority list. Jaffa said PACAB's priorities included alternative energy projects, and this could be a banner project. Paquette asked if this heat loop project was related to the water flow study being conducted in Lowell Canyon.Jaffa said no. Paquette said she believed this project fit into PACAB's priorities and aligned with previous direction from council. Main Motion Passed Unanimous INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS—None CITIZEN COMMENTS Darryl Schaefermeyer appreciated what PACAB did today. He emphatically stated that right now, today, there was funding available for this project; Andy Baker would be able to tell the board about those options.He said the Department of Energy had contacted Andy Baker today, because of their interest in this project, saying that funds were available. There was also funding available from the Denali Commission. The city had grant writing resources available to them,but the grant writers needed to be told what direction to go. Casie Warner was very interested in the heat loop project. She was interested in obtaining more information than what she could gather from meetings and administration. She said the heat loop project was included on the city's Capital Improvement Plan that was recently approved. BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Jaffa was disappointed that city administration was not present for this meeting. He recalled a time when the former city manager and assistant city manager regularly attended the PACAB meetings. He encouraged administration to attend the PACAB meetings in the future. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes February 16,2022 Volume 4,Page 50 Paquette echoed those sentiments,saying it was disappointing that administration was not present for this meeting. She was interested in having Andy Baker speak at the next PACAB meeting and talk about the heat loop project. She thanked the citizens for attending the meeting and for their input. Hughes thanked the citizens for coming to the meeting; he appreciated all the comments. If the heat loop project came to fruition,it would take a tremendous burden off the city. He agreed that it would be good to invite Andy Baker to the next meeting so they could learn about the funding sources that were available. Smith thanked everyone for the good discussion. He appreciated that this technology was proven to be effective and beneficial by the Alaska SeaLife Center. The benefits included displacing diesel fuel at the point of use, decreased carbon dioxide production, and new construction and maintenance jobs. He looked forward to seeing what council decides. Holmdahl thanked the board members for their comments during deliberations, and the public for speaking up and providing their input. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:44 p.m. rends Ballou, M Brandii Holm• Chair ahl City Clerk (City Seal) *.y OF BEylf.,• • . a .,; 0 :• *? —+— • SEAL • % • • , of