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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04062022 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4,Page 56 CALL TO ORDER The April 6, 2022 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m.by Chair Brandii Holmdahl. OPENING CEREMONY Chair Brandii Holmdahl led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Brandii Holmdahl,presiding; and Lynda Paquette Bruce Jaffa Colby Lawrence Carl Hughes Benjamin Smith Fred--Weelkers comprising a quorum of the Board; and Stephen Sowell,Assistant City Manager Norm Regis, Harbormaster Kris Peck, Acting City Clerk Excused—Woelkers Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Carol Griswold said best management practices would put the washdown pad as far away from the water and businesses as possible. The washdown pad system should be contained so nothing entered the water. The proposed small building would not block overspray. The proposed system would not protect the pedestrians and coffee shops nearby. The location was too close to both water and people and needed to be relocated. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Paquette/Lawrence) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approve the February 16,2022 PACAB Special Meeting Minutes. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4,Page 57 Approve the March 2, 2022 PACAB Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards—None Administration Report.Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell said he was interested in feedback about how to differentiate between the harbormaster report and the administration report. Specifically, he wanted feedback about what type of information PACAB would like to hear from administration. Holmdahl suggested that administration could provide information about topics that would impact PACAB so the board had advance warning. Smith referenced PACAB's priorities list and felt it would be helpful to have administration's input on tracking progress. Jaffa requested from administration a heads up of impending problems or successes. Jaffa wanted affirmation that the efforts of the board were helpful to council and administration. Ideally, he would also like to avoid surprises about administration's direction. Paquette wanted to clarify how exactly the harbor and administration reports would be separated. Jaffa brought up that the harbormaster had often been in Acting City Manager status and, therefore, his reports were unique because the reported had combined administration and harbormaster information together. Regis announced that Deputy Harbor Master Matt Chase was retiring at the end of the month and flyers would be posted for his retirement party. All projects were moving forward in regards to the new floats. Paquette asked about update on some Styrofoam that had become separated from the floats. Regis responded that he called the contractor and all floats were accounted for. It remained unsolved where any loose Styrofoam could be coming from. The floats located at the airport and Lowell Point were still intact on the beach. The contractor had collected signed waivers stating that if any Styrofoam floats broke free the owner was required to retrieve them. Other Reports and Announcements Alaska Railroad Report. Port Operations Manager Christy Terry was not present. Chamber of Commerce Report. Executive Director Kat Sorenson reported the Chamber just sent out a community and membership survey to get a better understanding of the housing issues and what people were looking for. The chamber's new Hometown Guide would be City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4,Page 58 111 printed later this week. The chamber had been working with the city to install electric vehicle charging stations. Overall, everything was moving along smoothly. Presentations—None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-005, Recommending That City Council Amend The Port & Harbor Tariff Regulations To Increase The Wait List Fee,Labor And Personnel Charges, Boat Tow Fees, Travelift Fees And Wharf Demurrage Rates Effective January 1,2023 Motion (Jaffa/Paquette) Approve Resolution 2022-005 Regis wanted to clarify that on the fees in the right hand column were rounded to the nearest dollar. Hughes asked about the Travelift fees being set. Regis clarified that in 2015, the 330-ton Travelift fee was raised,but the 50-ton lift had not been raised. Regis agreed the calculations were correct for the roughly 26%increase. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items Discuss the Harbor Washdown Pad and Creosote Floats. Regis reported the washdown pad was at 95%design and the city was waiting on the grant money to build it. In the design there are two hatches, one for washing and one for storm water, just like at SMIC. After every boat lift the owner of the boat would be required to pressure wash the pad with hot water. A mesh spray guard could be raised and lowered as needed. The spray guards would be made of a fine mesh material that was big enough to protect the Train Wreck from overspray. Regis also noted the boats in question were much smaller than the ones at SMIC. Paquette asked if a new location should be considered. Regis responded there was no more city land available in the area other than the Northeast Parking Lot. Jaffa noted that as far as overspray was concerned, the Travelift would likely not be used on windy days. Lawrence stated that in his line of work he had used the washdown pad across the bay at SMIC. The washdown pad was a game changer for cleanliness. After the 330 ton lift was used, the boat crew swept and pressure washed the pad. He fully supported the location and design. Lawrence also noted the bottom paint on boats now was more environmentally friendly than the old paint in previous years. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4,Page 59 Jaffa mentioned his surprise at the big jump on the wash down pad design progress from 65% to 95% since last month. He suggested a sign for the washdown pad to help with public relations with pedestrians. Lawrence brought up the Alaska Railroad train arrived daily at 11:30 a.m. right across the street and large crowds of people walked from the train depot into the harbor. He hoped the washdown pad schedule would take things like that into consideration and refrain from use during peak times. Paquette felt the city was doing their best to address public concerns and took all feedback into consideration. Hughes believed that with Regis at the helm, Seward had one of the most progressive harbors in the country in terms of being environmentally friendly. He thought the washdown pad was in the perfect location. Smith wondered if the concerns that PACAB and citizens had discussed were ever relayed back to the design team and engineers. He wanted to make a recommendation to have a spotter to be on the lookout for overspray and safety. Smith recalled his experience using the fine mesh material and found it effective, but also extremely fragile and advised the Harbormaster to have spares readily available. Holmdahl wanted to touch upon the location being next to the seafood processing plant. As a processor herself, she didn't have concerns with the washdown pad. She was happy with the progress being made and wanted to move the discussion to the creosote floats. Regis explained the floats were protected by a plastic rub rail. Even on a hot day there would be no leeching of creosote into the water. In the old days, the creosote on the pilings were much worse. These new beams would have a 50 year lifespan. Holmdahl thanked Regis for the clarification that the creosote would not actually be submerged in the water. Paquette noted the packet for this meeting had all the backup documentation in it. This project went through proper permitting and proper evaluation. Historically, there have been concerned citizens who were very upset about creosote in the water.Previous administrations were not as transparent as they were now and citizens had become more skeptical. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS PACAB's 2022 Priorities & Goals as approved by City Council. CITIZEN COMMENTS—None City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4,Page 60 BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Smith thanked the harbormaster for the updates. He wanted to comment on a letter published in the Seward Journal by a local realtor; she wrote about realtors in this town receiving a lot of unfair flak about the housing crisis. Hughes wanted to thank citizens for bringing their concerns,but he felt these projects were being done correctly. Paquette said PACAB often received letters from citizens,and wondered if PACAB would like to see the correspondence on the agenda so they would be discussed as-a group. Sowell recommended the PACAB chair advise administration about what items they wanted to see on the agenda. Paquette mentioned the Robert's Rules of Order books were available for check out from the city clerk's office. She congratulated Chase on his upcoming retirement. Lawrence wanted to thank Regis for all the information. Lawrence voiced his 100% support in favor for both the washdown pad and the new floats. He emphasized that he valued citizen feedback and opinions. Jaffa was sorry to hear that the realtor was getting any flak for being in the real estate business. He also pointed out some irony of the giant agenda packet that killed trees in order to discuss the creosote pilings environmental impact. Jaffa wanted to invite builders and bankers to PACAB to do presentations on the housing crisis. He reported Senator Murkowski was in support of types of projects like the heat loop project. Jaffa felt that all future construction involving sidewalks should include heat loop technology. Holmdahl was under the impression that PACAB had agreed to stop the housing presentations and focus on summarizing what they had heard so far. She expressed gratitude to both citizens and administration for being involved in these projects. Regis had recently conducted interviews to replace Chase. Regis was pleased to announce that current harbor employee Tony Sieminski had accepted the job as Deputy Harbormaster. Sowell reported he attended the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD)meeting in Soldotna on Monday. Sowell learned that Homer had no bed tax or business licenses for short term rentals, so Seward was better positioned in those regards. The Homer chamber director said they were dealing with a same type of housing crisis as Seward. Sowell added there were a lot of similar conversations taking place along the peninsula in regards to housing issues. Paquette mentioned Girdwood was recently in the news for having a housing crisis. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 6, 2022 Volume 4, Page 61 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:59 p.m. '2"1 ..N.. /f- e.... .j.A.A -_, ..,,L(..,„\4 Kris Peck B andii Holmdahl Acting City Clerk Chair (City Seal) .�•of SEWS•,„ e `� —•" � •'• • •sr i= SEAL • s• _._. sit a