The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About08062009 City Council MinutesCity of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes August 6, 2009 volume 38, Page 128 CALL TO ORDER The August 6, 2009 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice Mayor Willard Dunham. OPENING CEREMONY City Manager Phillip Oates led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Willard Dunham, presiding and Bob Valdatta Betsy Kellar Marianna Keil Tom Smith Jean Bardarson comprising a quorum of the Council; and Phillip Oates, City Manager Jean Lewis, City Clerk Kris Erchinger, Finance Director Jim Lewis, Deputy Harbormaster ABSENT -Clark Corbridge CITIZENS' COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEllULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Dan McDonald, Acting President of the Chamber of Commerce, commented that the Chamber thought finishing the SMIC basin was a good project and they were 100% behind it, but council had allocated that money to them and tasked the chamber to do an economic study based on last fall's efficiency study. He was concerned this money was now being taken away and stressed although not yet complete, the Chamber had spent months of efforts, worked with professionals, and had found this study to be more involved than anticipated. McDonald reported that video production needed to be reimbursed and funds had been committed with contractors. Although he and the Chamber believed strongly in finishing this project, he asked the city to look for other fund sources for Resolution 2009-077 and keep the chamber marketing money in place. Jim Pruitt, was in favor of spending the dollars to do a study for the SMIC basin area and said it was a long time coming. He remembers it being 28 years ago the city would be putting lease incentives and infrastructure to bring people in and create jobs. Pruitt stated this never occurred because the project was never finished. He thought the people would come if this basin was ever finished. DJ Whitman, expressed his gratitude for the administration bringing this forward. It was 23 years ago visionaries came up with the plan to have employment for the community and the Seward Ciry of~Seward, Alaska Ciry Council Minutes August 6, 2009 volume 38, Page 129 Marine Industrial Center. Whitman approved going forward with this TIGER grant for the future of the community. He stated this would bring in marine operators to a great seaport. He recommended council authorize the funding to have this grant written. Dan Oliver, was the Director of the Seward Marine Center and project manager for the new Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV) project. He thought the idea of continuing with plans to develop the SMIC basin area and seeing its potential was a tremendous asset for Resurrection Bay because of the nice homeport and all-weather facility for the ship. Oliver saw this as a great step forward. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion (Bardarson/Smith) Amendment (Kell/Bardarson) Amendment Passed Main Motion Passed NEW BUSINESS Approval of Agenda Adopt the laydown version of Resolution 2009-077 as supplied by the Administration. Unanimous Unanimous Consent Resolution 2009-077, Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into A Contractual Agreement With PND Engineers, Inc., And Re-Appropriating Funds Not To Exceed $26,100.00, For The Purpose Of Developing A Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant Request For Construction Of The Seward Marine Industrial Center Basin. Motion (Bardarson/Keil) Approve Resolution 2009-077 Oates substituted money appropriated from the marketing plan account to money being appropriated from the records software and sound system upgrade monies in the city clerk's budget. He stated the city clerk could not use this money by the end of the year. Oates stated this project needed to be completed. All agreed completion of the SMIC basin was important and this grant could supercharge efforts in that area. Oates thought it was also important to send a signal that the city was taking concrete steps and committing money to find a long term solution to moor the ARRV with competition to homeport the vessel heating up from both Kodiak and Juneau. He hoped to attract more ships, but the real issue was to provide adequate facilities for the ARRV. Oates noted the city did not have success in finishing this basin in the past because of the total dollars involved. He expressed this was a unique moment in time because of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). This grant had to be submitted by September 15, 2009 and needed to be backed up by sound engineering and people that could devote their entire time formulating this grant. Oates agreed this train was moving fast, and time was of the essence. This project was on the ~' state legislative priority list and a "Notice to Proceed" needed to be issued. Although there were not City of Seward, Alaska City Council Minutes August 6, 2009 yolurne 38 Page 130 many options available in the budget, the clerk's office volunteered their funds, thus alleviating the need to pull it out of the marketing account. Keil was glad an alternate funding option was found. Smith was concerned and wanted the contractor to know about the different dock basins and problems other harbors were having with wave action. He thought it was important to be sure everything was located properly. He wished for this to be included in this request. Valdatta also was concerned with the older diagram presented and design must be upfront in the engineering discussion. Kellar appreciated the laydown version and was thankful the administration came up with the money from a different source. She was opposed to taking this money from the marketing account because the Chamber was very important to the business community. Bardarson concurred but asked about attorney review. City Clerk Jean Lewis had spoken briefly with the city attorney in-between court hearings and stated the attorney was only able to give this agreement very minimal review. Dunham was delighted PND got the bid. He thought they were aware of the problems with the users of the dock and the impossible usage and problems with the North dock. .... Valdatta wanted the city to make sure PND didn't design the flawed dock in the first place. Clerk's Note: It was a concurrence of the council that final engineering ora this project ultimately address the concerns of the entrance to this harbor to accomplish the goals to prevent wave action since the cztrrent dock was now un-usable because of past wave damage. Motion Passed Unanimous COUNCIL COMMENTS Valdatta wanted more dock space added and the wave barrier addressed. Oates told of the tragic accident on the Seward highway today where two Soldotna teenagers were killed and reminded everyone to drive safe on the highway. He also would be on vacation for two weeks but would have access to email. Dunham announced he had attended the Railbelt Utility meeting this week in Kenai and said talks had deteriorated. He thought hard times were coming and was anxious for the Silver Salmon Derby. CITIZENS' COMMENTS City of Seward, Alnska City Council Minutes August 6, 2009 volume 38, Page 131 DJ Whitman spoke on behalf of all marine users when he thanked the council for the beginning steps to fund this basin. He said everyone who participated in a survey years ago wanted this project finished. Dan McDonald thanked everyone for finding an alternate funding source. Jim Pruitt stated this start was a long time coming and stated this was the best $25,000 the city had spent in the last 30 years. He congratulated the council and administration for the step in the right direction. Pruitt had been amazed the city had never finished the facility. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' COMMENTS Bardarson was also happy both projects were moving forward. She asked for the time of the Enterprise Fund Rate Review work session to be moved up to 4:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. ~ ~-, Jean Lewis, CMC Cit~ Clerk ~' Willard Dunham Vice Mayor (City Seal) ~~~N ~ :`~~1~~ *~~ o~ .~ ~ pcs+xaY, , . ~~ ~C~'S~ ~ Y~YyN~,~t+C3:'~~'~' '~'1 L~ 1 w+.YY ~t ,~~cn , ~~,±, y~3 3 c..l , e ~ 9 ~ 3.r.t".,±~ s ~.. ~~ ~•Y~p y : YpyA, ~~,,0