Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
01/24/2006 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB222 | |
| SB207 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 222 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 207 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 207-AK AEROSPACE DEVEL. CORP BD MEMBERSHIP
CHAIR CON BUNDE announced SB 207 to be up for consideration.
2:21:48 PM recess 2:22:52 PM
SENATOR GARY STEVENS, sponsor of SB 207, explained that it would
expand membership on the board of directors of the Alaska
Aerospace Development Corporation to include two members from
Kodiak. It presently has nine members. Currently, only one
member of the board is from Kodiak and it has historically had
two members. This island is where all the activities occur and
the launch pad has substantial impacts on the community. The
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED)
estimates that the two added members would cost about $9,700 per
year (from the rocket launch budget).
2:25:28 PM
CHAIR BUNDE asked if the same thing could be accomplished by
designating that two of the existing members be from Kodiak.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS replied yes, but he explained there were
two members from Kodiak and one resigned. The replacement was
not from Kodiak and that brought up this issue.
2:26:30 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked why Kodiak lost one position in the first
place.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS replied that Ron Acarregui resigned or
reached the end of his term and his replacement was not from
Kodiak.
2:27:43 PM
SENATOR JOHNNY ELLIS asked what kind of decisions the board
members actually make.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS responded that the board sits in an
advisory capacity and doesn't impact the number of launches,
safety or things like that. One of the main issues it deals with
is access to Fossil Beach, a popular area for people to visit,
that is closed when there is a launch.
2:30:22 PM
MIKE MILLIGAN, Kodiak resident, favored SB 207. He related that
Kodiak did not have a lot of homesteading that other communities
had primarily because its opportunities were on the water. So,
private land is greatly restricted there and the commons are
looked at differently. The launch facility is on state land.
Kodiak has an active (Not In My Back Yard) NIMBY force due to
fear over the military launches. Some of that could be
alleviated with another person from Kodiak being on the board.
He thought the state would be better served by an 11-member
board as opposed to a nine-member board.
2:33:42 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS pointed out that language in Section 1 says
the board goes from three to five members with two from Kodiak,
but one is left undesignated.
CHAIR BUNDE clarified that all five have to be state residents
that have a significant level of experience in the private
business sector and two of them have to be from Kodiak, the
other three can be from across the state.
2:36:16 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if there are any requirements of the
people from Kodiak other than being from Kodiak.
CHAIR BUNDE replied that he understood that all members must
have the experience in private business, but also be from
Kodiak.
2:37:35 PM
NORM WOOTEN, Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber passed
a resolution in support of this idea. It is committed to the
success of the launch complex under the ownership of AADC and of
any other industry that would broaden the economic base in
Kodiak. He explained that currently the corporate offices of
AADC are off of Kodiak Island and considering the huge impact
that the launch facility has on it, members from Kodiak on the
board would go a long way in allaying the mistrust that might be
present.
DAVE WOODRUFF, AADC Board of Directors, explained they serve in
a capacity that is greater than just advisory. They monitor
budgets, make decisions on equipment purchases and oversee what
is happening at the launch site.
2:41:51 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS mused that the board is going from three
state residents to five and before when there was three, two
were from Kodiak (although not in statute), but now they are
going to three from outside Kodiak. It seemed that if they
wanted representation from the community that is most impacted
from the operations, they would want to have three members from
Kodiak and two from other business interests in the state.
CHAIR BUNDE commented that he thought if you have two designated
out of nine, there would be more impact than having two out of
11 members.
SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked Mr. Woodruff if he would want three
instead of two out of five.
MR. WOODRUFF responded that it would be nice to have three from
Kodiak, but the bigger the board, the more ungainly it is to get
people to it. The board has operated fine with nine members with
two being from Kodiak. If the board goes to 11 members, he
thought it would be nice to have three from Kodiak.
2:44:23 PM
LINDA FREED, Manager, City of Kodiak, said a city council
resolution supported SB 207, but didn't address increasing the
size of the board as long as there are two members from Kodiak.
She has worked hard to make sure that the facility works with
the community.
2:46:20 PM
CHAIR BUNDE asked if there is any opposition to the numbers on
the board.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS replied he hadn't heard of any opposition.
It just seemed cleaner to increase the size of the board; and to
keep the current number, someone would have to be taken off.
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if the board terms are staggered and if
the main reason for increasing the size is so that someone does
not have to be removed.
DOUG LETCH, aide to Senator Gary Stevens, explained that page 2,
section 2, sets forth the members' terms.
SENATOR SEEKINS said it appears that there is one member from
Kodiak now and asked when his term expires and if that
expediency why two more members were added as opposed to just
waiting for natural attrition.
MR. LETCH replied that his term expires in June and that they
were looking for the best way to not have to kick someone off
the board.
2:51:13 PM
CHAIR BUNDE announced he would hold the bill for further hearing
and adjourned the meeting at 2:51:39 PM.
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