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MembersLetter
First Port Day in
Olympia Well Attended by Port Colleagues “Celebrating Washington’s
Ports” kicked off Tuesday afternoon with a reception at the
Governor’s Mansion. Over 125 port colleagues attended the event making
it a great success! Governor Gregoire welcomed the ports and thanked them for
coming to Olympia and was then surprised with a round of Happy Birthday by her guests. The Governor thanked all of the
state’s ports for their contributions to the economy. “Now, more
than ever, we need you to continue your role as drivers of our
economy,” she emphasized. The official lobbying day for ports began
Wednesday morning with a legislative briefing in the Senate Rules that
included a welcome from Lt. Governor Brad Owen. WPPA Public Relations Committee members
surrounded the 3rd floor of the Legislative Building with displays
of all sizes. The displays focused on the jobs that are created by Washington
ports and their importance in our state’s economy. A fair amount of
foot traffic visited the displays during the day and passersby were often
surprised to learn about the many varied ports throughout our state and the
economic benefit they provide. Port officials met for lunch in the Cherberg
Building where Rep. Kelli Linville and Sen. Jim Kastama gave brief remarks
and explained some of the “inside” happenings at the Legislature,
including the difficult budget situation.
WPPA thanks its ports for attending our first
“Port Day” event at the Legislature. The incredible turnout was
gratifying to everyone and we hope you enjoyed the events as much as we did! Monthly Features Issues Watch Court Halts LA/Long Beach Clean
Trucks Plan The
9th District U.S. Court of Appeals granted a temporary injunction
against the Clean Trucks Program at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The
court’s decision is just the latest in a multi-faceted legal dispute
over the ports’ program to reduce air emissions associated with port
operations by mandating a switch to newer, cleaner trucks. The American Trucking Association
filed suit over the component of the Clean Trucks Program that effectively
bans owner-operated truckers. The
Court of Appeals ruling gives a temporary victory to the American Trucking
Association, but overall the issue remains unresolved until further decision
by the courts. Knowing the Waters By Robert Goodstein, WPPA Counsel RCW Chapter 42.30 sets forth the law regarding meetings. In any discussion regarding executive
sessions, it is important to note that the law expresses a strong preference
for doing business in public (RCW 42.30.010). Executive sessions are allowable and limited to the circumstances and
conditions set forth in RCW 42.30.110.
Most typically, port districts use executive sessions pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(b)
and (c) to consider real estate sales and leases when public knowledge
regarding such consideration would cause a likelihood of increased/decreased
price, to discuss
potential litigation matters with legal counsel, and to consider employment performance
and candidate qualification subject to limitations described in the statute. Executive sessions may be held in the context of a regular or special
meeting. Further, no final
actions should be taken in executive session. Although, there is no specific prohibition regarding executive session
attendance found in RCW 42.30.110, given the limited purposes of executive
sessions, it is considered wise to limit attendance to commissioners and
those absolutely necessary to carry out the purpose of the executive
session. For example, the real
estate consideration provisions should not be read as an opportunity to
conduct negotiations with a buyer or seller and the litigation consideration
provisions should not be so broadly read as to be for general discussion of
port matters simply because an attorney is present and “anything may
result in litigation.”
Finally, if members of the “public” are allowed to attend
an executive session arguably no members of the public should be excluded. As always, consult with your own counsel for
advice on your individual situations. Port News Port of
Moses Lake Announces Non-Stop Flights The Port of
Moses Lake announced that United Airlines will provide non-stop service from
Moses Lake to Seattle beginning in June 2009. “We
are very excited to have commercial air service operating out of the Grant
County International Airport again,” said Craig Baldwin, Manager of the
Port of Moses Lake. “We
are looking forward to flying locally again,” said Baldwin. “We
have a large group of committed flyers and believe this air service will be a
win-win for everyone. Ferguson
Joins Port of Olympia Going the Extra Mile Norm
Krehbiel, Director of Facilities and Engineering,
Port of Longview, served as the port representative on the Local
Trans Stimulus Team that was discussed in last month’s MembersLetter. Governor Christine Gregoire recently appointed
Larry Paulson to serve as the port’s west side representative on the
Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board. Thank you to both for their willingness to represent
ports on these important issues. In Memoriam Longtime
Bellingham port commissioner and civic leader T. B. "Tut" Asmundson
passed away on March 11. He was 102. An
attorney, Asmundson first ran for a Port Commission seat in 1954. He won that
election, and many more, serving a total of 35 years. For
many of those years, Asmundson was part of a long-term trio of commissioners,
with Pete Zuanich serving 43 years and Ken McAulay serving 21. Accomplishments
during his tenure at the port included siting the aluminum smelter at Cherry
Point, increased shipping, expansion of the Bellingham Cold Storage
facilities, enlargement of Squalicum and Blaine marinas, improvements to
Bellingham International Airport, and bringing the southern terminus of the
Alaska ferry system to Fairhaven. |
Marine Cargo Forecast Calls
for Infrastructure Investment At a press conference
with Governor Gregoire, WPPA released the results of the 2009 Marine Cargo
Forecast. The results of the report offer good news: our state is poised to
continue and strengthen its role as a major gateway for international and
domestic trade if we make the right investments and policy choices. Despite a
slumping world economy – which the report predicts will last until 2010
– long-term prospects for international trade are very strong. Growth is
projected for nearly all types of cargo, including the following highlights: ·
Containers will remain the fastest growing cargo
type. Containerized trade in
Washington State is projected to grow by an average of more than four percent
per year, reaching 9.7 million TEUs in 2030. ·
Breakbulk volumes will exhibit slow but steady
growth. As ports diversify
commodities, breakbulk traffic through Washington ports is projected to grow
from 2.3 million metric tons in 2007 to around 3.0 million metric tons in
2030. ·
Fully assembled autos will exhibit rapid growth
throughout the state, and are projected to reach 542,000 units in 2030. ·
Grain shipments will post modest but steady
gains. Exports have experienced peaks and valleys due to harvest levels, the
strength of the dollar, and international competition. The prospects for
continued growth appear favorable. The report
also assesses the impact of cargo growth on our state’s transportation system,
and points to the need for continued infrastructure investment. Among many needed transportation
improvements, the report identifies a handful of rail projects that are of
particular importance in the short term.
These include: ·
Vancouver, Washington
Freight Rail Bypass. ·
Point Defiance Bypass
from Tacoma to Nisqually. ·
Partial third main
line from Kalama to Kelso. ·
Port of Vancouver USA
West Freight Access Project. ·
Siding extensions at
Mount Vernon and Stanwood, new siding at Swift. ·
Blakeslee Junction at
Centralia. ·
High Speed Crossover
Plan from Nisqually to Centralia. ·
East Marginal Way
Grade Separation and Duwamish Rail Corridor at Seattle. ·
Bullfrog Junction
Realignment at Tacoma. The report
points to infrastructure investment as the key to maintaining and expanding
Washington’s place in the global economy. Our state’s participation in
trade brings with it thousands of jobs and greater collective wealth, but state
and regional leaders must make wise investments in order to maximize the
benefits of anticipated trade growth. Infrastructure
is especially important in light of the competitive threats facing Washington
ports. Southern California
attracts huge volumes of cargo because of its large population base and
because of its rail capacity.
Canada’s government has recently increased the competitiveness
of its ports with a multi-billion dollar effort to attract trade with Asia,
improving the Port of Prince Rupert and Port Metro Vancouver, as well as rail
infrastructure between Canada’s West Coast and the U.S. Midwest. And the Panama Canal expansion is set
to finish in 2014, which will allow more ships to bypass the West Coast
entirely and take their cargo directly to East Coast ports in closer proximity
to major U.S. population centers. WPPA conducted the
project in partnership with the Washington State Department of
Transportation. The 2009 study is
the seventh in a series of studies conducted in five-year intervals since
1980. The purpose of the
Marine Cargo Forecast is to assess expected flows of waterborne trade through
our state’s port system and to evaluate the distribution of that cargo
over our roads, rail lines, and waterways. Fourteen ports participated in the project, including the ports of
Anacortes, Clarkston, Everett, Grays Harbor, Kalama, Longview, Olympia,
Pasco, Port Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, Walla Walla, and Whitman
County. BST Associates conducted
the forecasts with input from a technical advisory group led by Larry Paulson
of the Port of Vancouver. For more information on the 2009 Marine Cargo Forecast, or to read
the full report, visit the WPPA website.
You may also call the WPPA office to request a hardcopy of the
executive summary or technical report. Plan Now to
Attend the Washington’s
current employment outlook, working with your tenants to provide rent relief
and the 2009 Marine Cargo Forecast (see
lead story) are a few of the General Sessions planned for this
year’s Spring Meeting at the Pasco Red Lion. Registration materials
have been mailed out and are available online. During these
unprecedented economic times it is important for commissioners and staff to
take this opportunity to network and share ideas. The ports of
Ephrata, Longview and Skagit County will tell their stories during this
year’s Port Reports. Wednesday
evening will feature the President’s Reception honoring WPPA President
Dick Marzano, a Port of Tacoma Commissioner and Thursday afternoon we will
announce the winner of the 2009 Lewis R. Holcomb Scholarship. Roundtables
discussions will cover a wide variety of issues important to your ports, such
as wind energy, rail grants, CERB loans and the new Personal Service Contracting
Manual. The Spring
Meeting promises to be full of educational opportunities as well as time to
connect with your port colleagues. Mark it on your calendar! WPPA Welcomes New Associate Member §
Martin Nelson & Company - infrastructure
finance 2009 WPPA Associate Member Resource Directory Now
Online The
2009 Associate
Member Resource Directory is now available online. The directory listings contain helpful
information on the services provided by WPPA’s newest Associate
Members. A
table of contents listing Associate Members by the services makes it easy to
find the appropriate company for your port’s next project. The listings, linked to the
company’s name, contain detailed service descriptions, information on
firm history and geographic service area, and contact information. Having
the Resource Directory online gives Associate Members more flexibility in
designing their listing and allows for interactivity at the click of a mouse. Public
Invited to Comment on Draft Aviation Alternative Strategies The public is invited to comment on
Washington’s aviation alternative
strategies. The Aviation Planning Council, with support
from the Washington State Department of Transportation, has developed these
draft strategies as part of the Long-Term Air Transportation Study
(LATS). Also available for public review is the Aviation
System Plan Summary Report, which presents the LATS key findings and
policies upon which the alternative strategies are based. |
March
2009 Upcoming
Events January 12 –
April 26 May 13-14
Four inland
ports in the Inland Northwest are demonstrating how a creative and nimble approach to specialization can yield
significant economic development results. Instead of competing, the ports are
collaborating and working together as each defines a specialty that
differentiates it from its neighbors. This has allowed the ports to grow,
creating jobs and stimulating economic activity. Port of Whitman The
Port of Whitman’s off-river business park, located near Washington
State University and the University of Idaho, focuses on transferring
knowledge, not cargo. Instead of cranes and pulleys, the port has invested in
a campus-like business park and thick fiber-optics to create a fertile ground
for young, start-up companies built on the intellectual property of
professors and research scientists. Capitalizing
on the assets of the two land grant universities just 8 miles apart along the
Knowledge Corridor, the park was recently designated an “innovation
partnership zone” by the state of Washington, which brings with it
additional development funds. The
technology park is anchored by Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, a world
leader in the electric power protection/efficiency, which has added more than 1,000 jobs over the
past five years. The
Port has also taken the lead in securing telecommunications infrastructure
throughout the entire County of Whitman, capitalizing on the significant
investments made by and through the universities for high-speed
connectivity. Port of Columbia Blending the
community’s desire for a renewable future with their treasured history
of agriculture and food processing, the Port of Columbia is heading up a new
eco-industrial park called Blue Mountain Station that focuses on organic and
natural value-added food processing companies. The port also provides a
marketing umbrella program to help these small-to- medium-sized artisan food
processing companies succeed in the fastest growing sector of the food
market. Blue
Mountain Station is in the initial stages of development, searching for the
best location for the cutting-edge industrial park. The next step will be to
target existing natural, organic and small artisan food processors to
relocate to the park. The plan is to break ground within the next year. The
port has been very successful in advocating for and supporting the
development of renewable energy
in Dayton and Columbia County. The construction of wind farms in the sparsely
populated areas of the county has resulted in 40 new jobs in the last three
years, 33 of which are housed in the port’s existing industrial
park. Port of Clarkston Building on
increased interest in experiential
tourism – the gentle relaxation of a river cruise and the
thrill of white-water rafting – the Port of Clarkston is one of the
Pacific coasts’ newest tourist ports. The Port
invested in tourism studies to lay the foundation for its expanding role, and
plans are under development to expand its services and improve infrastructure
to accommodate anticipated growth. Tourist
amenities are multiplying, with wineries, breweries, river-side restaurants,
shopping – even helicopter tours of nearby mountain regions coming
on-line over the past year. According to Clarkston’s port manager
Wanda Keefer, cruise boat traffic is up with almost 300 dockings and more
than 15,000 passengers in 2008. The
Port continues to make itself tourist friendly. Currently, it is designing a
boat dock for private watercraft, which will connect to a public park. Port of Lewiston The Port of
Lewiston, Idaho’s only water access point to the Pacific Ocean, plays
the traditional port role, off-loading the region’s significant exports in timber, grain
and other agricultural products, as well as containerized cargo, including
plastics, jet boats, log homes and more. The port represents 60 percent
of the export containers on the Columbia. Last
summer the port played a key role in the shipment of a large pressure vessel
to Fort McMurray in the Alberta oil sands via the Columbia/Snake River
system. Korean equipment manufacturers had been looking for an efficient
route to get their machinery to Canada. They found that they could bring the
equipment to the Port of Vancouver, U.S., then up river to Lewiston (435
miles) and lastly by land through Montana and up to Alberta. The route cuts
5,300 nautical miles plus 1,400 road miles off the traditional route via
Houston, Texas. The Port of
Lewiston was able to successfully demonstrate the dimensional cargo and
overweight cargo shipment opportunities available via the Columbia/Snake
system. As a result, Dargas
Shipping is currently exporting the world’s third largest dragline from
the oil sands to Australia via the same route. The Port of
Lewiston also has successfully created a business incubator service to help
young companies lay a strategic foundation for growth. In addition, the Port
recently began development of an off-water, 42-acre business and technology
park, presenting a campus setting, fiber optics and infrastructure for light
manufacturing, professional services and R&D operations. Collaboration is Key These
flexible ports are generating impact
in the face of national economic downturn by strategically and innovatively
identifying opportunities for growth. They are delivering ROI to
taxpayers and building capacity for further expansion. The
key to success is collaboration between neighboring ports rather than
competition and duplication of services. Thinking creatively and finding a
niche will set ports apart, positioning them for growth. FMSIB
Call for Projects The
Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board will issue the 2009 Call for
Projects on April 27, 2009.
Applications and instructions are online at www.fmsib.wa.gov Freight
projects may be submitted by WSDOT, cities, counties and ports. Projects must be on a strategic
freight corridor (annual tonnage minimums: 4 M tons for roadways, 5 M tons
for railways & 2.5 M tons for waterways). Projects planned for construction
after 2011 are being sought to maintain a six year list of active
projects. Additional statutory
requirements may be found on our website or in RCW 47.06A After
selection, the board works with project sponsors to develop and advocate for
additional partner participation and in development of needed
agreements. For
more information, please call 360-586-9695. Local Airport Aid
Grant Applications Being Accepted Washington State
Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Aviation is now accepting applications
from airport sponsors for a new round of Local Airport Aid grants. This
will be the first round of airport grants offered during the 2009-2011
biennium. Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2009. Airport sponsors can
use the online form, which allows applicants to fill in their
information electronically. Since a signature is required, sponsors will
still have to print, sign and mail the form with supporting
documentation. WSDOT will also continue to accept handwritten
applications. WSDOT Aviation also
reminds airport sponsors with existing open grants that the close out date is
June 30, 2009. Sponsors should be making significant progress on their
projects in order to meet this deadline. WSDOT anticipates
announcing the grant awards by July 2, 2009. Airports are
encouraged to contact their designated WSDOT Airport Construction Project
Manager, Eric Johnson at (360) 651-6303 or
More information on
the Local Airport Aid Grant Program is available at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation/ RCO Grant Materials Online The Recreation and
Conservation Office (RCO) is not doing its traditional Application Workshops
this year. In the interest of efficiency and saving travel costs and time, they
are using their website disseminate the information previously given out at
the workshops. To find the application materials and an instructional
application overview visit:
http://www.rco.wa.gov/rcfb/ For more information, please contact the RCO
at 360-902-3000 or info@rco.wa.gov |
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© 2006 Washington Public
Ports Association. All rights reserved |
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