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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04052023 PACAB Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 5, 2023 Volume 4,Page 120 CALL TO ORDER The April 5, 2023 regular meeting of the Port and Commerce Advisory Board was called to order at 12:00 p.m.by Chair Bruce Jaffa. OPENING CEREMONY Chair Bruce Jaffa led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Bruce Jaffa,presiding; and Lynda Paquette 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, Acting City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Phil Kaluza, inside city limits, implored PACAB to encourage the public works building designers to provide the city with something that would stand the test of time. Otherwise, the city will be stuck with the same outdated designs the engineers had been selling for the past 30 years. On another topic,Kaluza believed heat pump technology was the way of the future. Kaluza would be interested in giving a presentation on the real nuts and bolts of heat pumps technology. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Hughes/Woelkers) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous There were no items on the consent agenda. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 5, 2023 Volume 4,Page 121 SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations & Awards—None Administration Report. Assistant City Manager Stephen Sowell announced that he, along with the Harbormaster Norm Regis, were going to meet with a Navy commander on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Due to this engagement, Sowell and Regis would not able to attend the PACAB work session that day. Sowell noted he would also miss the May 3, 2023 PACAB regular meeting. Lastly, Sowell reminded the board of the required quarterly update to council. Paquette asked if the April 19, 2023 work session could be rescheduled to April 26, 2023 to include administration. There was unanimous consent from the board to reschedule the work session to Wednesday,April 26, 2023. Hughes asked for more information on the meeting with the Navy commander. Sowell responded the purpose of the visit wasn't clear other than a general tour of the facilities. Jaffa said he had done quarterly reports to council in the past and he would be happy to report to council. Jaffa selected the May 8,2023 council meeting to give the quarterly report. Other Reports and Announcements Alaska Railroad Report. Port Operations Manager Dwayne Atwood summarized his Alaska Railroad report provided in the PACAB meeting packet. Jaffa asked about the ballooning cost of the dock expansion and asked if there was anything PACAB could do to help promote the project. Atwood responded there was ample support within the community,however there were simply other factors at play. Sowell asked if the Whittier Totem Corporation cruise ship dock would have any negative impact on the number of cruise ships visiting Seward. Atwood responded he wasn't aware of any impacts. Atwood felt there was enough business to go around, but Seward needed to do the right thing and expand the cruise ship dock here. Presentations Discuss Utility Infrastructure by City of Seward Electric Department Operations Supervisor Patrick Burnett. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions—None Other New Business Items City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 5, 2023 Volume 4,Page 122 Discuss Attorney's Notes on Ordinance 2.3. Sowell advised that the version approved by PACAB would go to council as a public hearing item. Any recommendations for changes should be submitted to council before the May 8, 2023 council meeting. Discuss Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC) Plan. Jaffa felt there was not a strong enough reference for future U.S. Coast Guard activity at SMIC. Deputy Harbormaster Tony Sieminski responded there were no new updates on the USCG fast cutter. Smith noted the maps and images were updated to include current lease holders. Jaffa asked how the commercial development of the SMIC area tied in with the public use of the beach areas. Sieminski said public works was maintaining the public access roads to the beaches. Sowell added the city was looking at ways to improve the parking and access to Fourth of July Beach. Paquette asked if JAG shipyard had adequate employee parking area on their own leased land and Sowell confirmed they did. Sowell noted if the city could clear out alders it would double the parking area for visitors. Paquette questioned if JAG employees would take advantage of the additional space and the public would once again struggle to find parking. Discuss Utility Infrastructure. Paquette recalled that R&M Engineering did an assessment of the Lowell Point Wastewater lagoon in 2021. That status report had since disappeared from the public eye and she hoped for an update. Paquette noted the the lagoon never froze during the winter during the first 20 years of service. A series of cold winters had caused the lagoon to freeze and the lagoon had not been the same since then. More recently, the lagoon had smelled badly over the winter despite relatively little use. Hughes asked if administration or public works knew what exactly had changed with the lagoon. Sowell said he would look into that and also include the 2021 R&M Engineering report in the next city council packet. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS —None CITIZEN COMMENTS Phil Kaluza,inside city limits,said his entire career had been devoted to energy efficiency. In the past eight years he had been involved with heat pumps in Seward. Kaluza said he was happy to offer information and was open to give a presentation on heat pumps.He wished to continue his pursuit of heat pumps and was delighted to discuss any level of detail about them. City of Seward,Alaska Port and Commerce Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 5,2023 Volume 4,Page 123 BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sowell said a friend from Juneau recently flew up to Seward to install heat pumps and there was tremendous local demand. Homer Electric Association (HEA) was doing a variety of presentations around town, and it was a great opportunity to learn more about the potential sale of the electric utility. Sowell thanked PACAB for a good meeting Atwood noted the railroad dock had Navy vessels scheduled for potential docking this summer. Woelkers said it was great to see everybody. Smith said the government was held to the lowest costs when it came to construction for new buildings. Unfortunately, this meant the construction was not as good as it could be. Smith wished the city could install solar panels on all their buildings, rather than sticking with ancient technology. Smith asked administration what the new animal shelter was heated with. Administration responded the animal shelter had two heat pumps. Hughes announced he would not be renewing his participation with PACAB once his term expired in July. Hughes said he had enjoyed every minute of being on PACAB. Paquette noted the harbor office was still closed on Sundays. Sieminski responded the harbor office would be open seven days a week starting on May 7, 2023. Paquette announced the Chamber of Commerce would be hosting an HEA presentation on Thursday,April 6,2023 at noon. Lastly, Paquette said her calculations for hospitality revenue in March were among the worst ever and April was not looking much better. Jaffa said it was a pleasure to serve with Hughes over the years. Jaffa felt the City of Seward was in a very important transitional phase with a high turnover rate. Jaffa hoped for more stability within the city ranks and was inspired to continue as a member of PACAB. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourn at 2:07 p.m. /4C }\/1) Kris Peck Bruce Jaffa Acting City Clerk �����",",,,,,0. 1 Chair (City Seal) ;`:,von .4 ^"••7 iF �'••,�47E OF PAP•`.