News from Patrick Flynn

For those unable to attend, here’s an update from most recent Port committee meeting:

Budget:

Total funds “obligated” to date are $257 million.  Obligated funds mean they’ve been designated to pay for work and contracts for that work have been let but the dollars have not necessarily changed hands, some of which occurs after work is complete, inspected, etc.

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Tomorrow’s Port committee meeting has been postponed.  Here’s the message I sent to committee members and stakeholders:

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The next meeting of the Assembly’s Port committee will take place on Tuesday, August 10, from 10 am to noon at City Hall in the first floor conference room (suite 155).  The agenda will be as follows:

1. Updated project schedule:

a. Port/ICRC/MARAD update on project timeline and projected effects on Port users.

b. Army Corps of Engineers comments related to dredging.

c. Port user comments.

2. Review and discussion of project budget distributed at June 10 meeting.

3. Synopsis of port-related discussions at the recent joint work session of the Anchorage & Mat-Su Assemblies (this item may go first).

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For only the second time during my tenure on the Assembly, this afternoon we conducted a joint work session with our colleagues on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.  The meeting, which was open to the public, occurred at a very nice B&B off Fairview Loop Road (just a little southeast of Wasilla).  And, since a neighbor called today to say he couldn’t make the meeting but was interested in a report of the proceedings, here’s a quick synopsis of what we discussed:

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As promised, the Port committee’s June 10 meeting focused on dredging (underwater excavation) issues and featured an extensive presentation from local representatives of the US Army Corps of Engineers.  We covered a lot of ground, and here are some highlights:

• Anchorage’s port is one of the only, if not the only, ports where the Corps is permitted to dredge right up to the dock face where ships berth.  In other locations the Corps dredges shipping channels but not ship berths, and the anomaly appears to stem from the port’s former status as an Army port.
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Yes, the moment you’ve been waiting for – another meandering blog post!  Away we go…

Next Port committee meeting:

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A newly-constituted Assembly Port committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, May 18.  Prior to that, there were three stories in the local paper discussing the subject:

• The first, which ran on May 10, provided an overview of last month’s work session.
• The second, which ran on May 18, focused on the growth of the “Port MacKenzie” shoal (not my description – that came from someone who knows Cook Inlet hydrology far better than me).
• The third, which also ran on May 18, describes the immediate problem faced by TOTE that attracted my attention back in April.

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On a quiet afternoon last month – I think it was a Sunday – I happened to take a look at Knik Arm and noticed one of Totem Ocean Trailer Express‘ steamships departing the Port of Anchorage more than a little bit early.  To explain a bit, two steamship companies (Horizon Lines and the aforementioned TOTE) have ships that sail from Tacoma to Anchorage, typically arriving early each Sunday & Tuesday morning.  Those vessels generally depart in the evening so it struck me as odd that TOTE’s ship had cast off shortly after noon, especially since the tide looked low enough that it seemed unlikely it could clear a mid-channel shoal.

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I received a postcard in the mail today.  It read as follows:

Notice to property owners

Freeway alternative recommended for further study: (more…)

I believe it was Emerson who originally said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…”  How correct he was; all among us can and should reserve the right to learn more about the issues before us and, based on that additional information, reflect upon whether our initially held views were correct.

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