Legislature(1995 - 1996)
08/19/1996 01:00 PM Senate MHS
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE TASK FORCE ON THE ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
Seward, Alaska
August 19, 1996
1:00 p.m.
TASK FORCE MEMBERS
Senator Robin Taylor
Senator Drue Pearce
Senator John Torgerson
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE
Representative Gary Davis
Patty Walen, City Manager & Port Director, Homer, AK
John Burns, representing the Alaska Railroad
WITNESS REGISTER
Gary Hayden, System Director
Alaska Marine Highway System
Damon Jorgensen, Port Engineer
Alaska Marine Highway System
Mike Downing, Marine Superintendent
Alaska Marine Highway System
Captain Kelly Mitchell
Alaska Marine Highway System
Mayor Tim Volstad
Seldovia, AK
Mayor Louis Bencardino
Seward, AK
Jim Pruitt, President of Seward Ship's Drydock, Inc.
Seward, AK
Dennis Erlandson, Port Harbor Director
Homer, AK
Don Braun, City Administrator
Chignik, AK
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE ONE, SIDE A
SENATOR TAYLOR , chairing the Senate Task Force on the Alaska Marine
Highway System in Seward, called the meeting to order and announced
the presence of Senator Torgerson, as well as noting that Myrna
Maynard would be representing Senator Pearce and participating via
teleconference from Anchorage. He said the task force would first
go over questions that were raised at the last meeting and the
responses sent back by Mr. Hayden.
SENATOR TORGERSON referred to a packet of requested information
including the 1991 master plan, the shore condition survey, the bar
survey, service alternatives, etc., which he had just recently
received from Mr. Hayden. He said he had not had an opportunity to
completely go through all of the material so he would defer a lot
of his questions until he could look it over.
SENATOR TORGERSON said he had requested the meeting to be held in
Seward and he, personally, wanted to focus on some of the issues
raised on the Tustemena and also the ocean going vessel that will
be coming on line in a few years. He noted he recently traveled on
the Tustemena from Valdez to Seward which gave him the opportunity
to speak with the crew about the system and to get their input on
issues they would like to see addressed by the task force. He
added it is his intent to write a letter to Mr. Haden outlining
those concerns. He would also like some discussion on the issue of
home porting in Seward, as well as discussion on the construction
of the new dock facility, which is a partnership project between
the City of Seward, the cruise ship industry, the Alaska Railroad,
and a requested $3,000,000 in federal funds that was requested in
the budget.
GARY HAYDEN , System Director, Alaska Marine Highway System,
Department of Transportation & Pubic Facilities, speaking to the
home porting issue, stated he currently does not have any plans,
nor is he making plans to recommend the home port of Seward be
changed. He said it is an issue that seems to come up every once
in awhile, but he reiterated that it is not an issue that is being
worked on today.
Addressing the new dock facility in Seward, Mr. Hayden said the
Tustemena originally was docking in downtown Seward and was later
moved out to the railroad dock. He said when that move was made,
there was a deterioration in the facilities and service to the
city, so he agrees that the facilities need to be upgraded,
however, it then comes to the question of how it is going to be
paid for. Currently, it is in the Surface Transportation
Improvement Priority list (STIP), however, it is in one of the
outer years, which he understands is inconsistent with what the
city's needs are for the cruise ship dock, as well as the
railroad's needs. He said it is a matter of finding money within
the federal highway system appropriation to move that project
along. However, all of the capital monies that the department will
be receiving next year from the federal highway system will be
going into the new vessel, so he doesn't see that happening in
1998.
SENATOR TORGERSON said the money was approved in the budget, but
what was needed from the Administration was to amend the STIP to
put it in there. MR. HAYDEN related that on the previous day he
asked Tom Brigham, Director of the Division of Statewide Planning,
about the project. He was told there will be a meeting at the end
of the month to look at the STIP projects for next year, and Mr.
Brigham offered that if they have more updated information than
they had last year, it will be taken to the table and talked about
again. He added that the last time he saw the project there were
preliminary drawings that were sketches to that point, and he does
not know where the project has evolved to in the last 12 months.
SENATOR TORGERSON pointed out that the dock expansion isn't just a
ferry expansion; the cruise ships that come through that port feed
all of Alaska economically. He reiterated that the marine highway
portion qualifies for the $3,000,000 that is already in the budget,
and it comes down to amending the STIP. MR. HAYDEN assured Senator
Torgerson that if there is more information available, he will take
it back to the commissioner and the people who make the decisions
about the priorities.
MR. HAYDEN noted that in addition to the packet he sent out to the
task force members on August 13, he was also providing them with a
summary of the Southwest Alaska ferry traffic analysis, a copy of
the system's budget briefing, and an explanation of his goal of
$1.6 million in cost reductions.
SENATOR TAYLOR said in looking back through the budget from the
year before, Mr. Hayden's numbers show a $259,200 general fund
reduction by the legislature, when, in fact, the total amount
appropriated by the legislature this year to the ferry system was
$20,000 higher than in the previous year. He asked if they were
using different numbers. MR. HAYDEN explained the $1.6 million is
made up of two things. One was reductions in the appropriation
that goes to the front part of the budget. Also there were cost
increases in risk management and labor that the system faced which
were partially funded. He said Senator Taylor is correct that the
number is larger, however, when they went through the whole
budgeting process, they had cuts at two points, and then they also
had the two points of partially funded cost increases. Since that
time, the arbitrator's decision on unearned wages is having cost
increases that weren't even considered during the budget cycle.
SENATOR TAYLOR commented that as this is being explained to the
public, we probably should be more accurate and should be
reflecting that they have had increased costs, not budget
reduction. MR. HAYDEN agreed, and said he has been fairly cautious
in trying to use the term of "cost containment," which is, in his
mind, a combination of a little less to spend and higher costs that
were not fully funded. He added that he does not want to
characterize this as a budget cut and that is why he prepared the
new document. SENATOR TAYLOR said he just wanted to make it clear
that the majority did not go in and dramatically cut the ferry
system; the majority may not have appropriated an additional
increase of $1.69 million that the governor would have liked to
have had, but the actual number of dollars appropriated was higher.
SENATOR TORGERSON said during budget hearings concern was expressed
about the $997,000 increase in the Alaska Marine Highway's share to
Risk Management, and he asked if Mr. Hayden got any additional
back-up, or if he thinks it is a good number. MR. HAYDEN explained
that it is his understanding from Risk Management that the Marine
Highway's expenditures resulting from personal injuries were going
up; that more was being paid out than was being paid in and the
reserve had been depleted. Therefore, they increased the risk
management charge by $997,000. He added that if there is some way
to lower that number, he would like to work on it. There are a
couple of things the legislature hasn't had the opportunity to talk
about, but there would need to be a public discussion about it
because some of the employee unions are opposed to it. One option
would be having AMS employees covered by Workers Compensation.
SENATOR TORGERSON asked if there was a liability savings with the
closing of the bars on the system. MR. HAYDEN responded that there
wasn't.
SENATOR TORGERSON noted that a lot of ferry workers aren't in any
kind of RIP program, and he asked which unions the RIP program
applies to within his department. MR. HAYDEN answered that he has
asked that question of the DOT administrative director, but he does
not have a complete answer at this point. However, he said he
would be real surprised if the vessel employees would qualify under
the four basic tests that have to be met, particularly when there
has to be a savings shown. He said he hoped to have that
information by the next meeting of the task force.
SENATOR TAYLOR said he received a copy of a memorandum dated April
30 from Gary Egan, who is the ocean class vessel project manager,
and in the memo it clearly indicates that he had been advised by
Mr. Hayden that the ferries would no longer be providing full bar
service and that included the ocean class vessel. Mr. Egan then
issued a letter to HMI advising them to have their subcontractor
stop any further work on the design, procurement and markup of the
bar, and he had proposed that the area previously occupied by the
bar be reconfigured into a reading room. Senator Taylor pointed
out that was several days before the legislature adjourned, and he
asked Mr. Hayden why wasn't the Transportation Committee or the
Finance Committee or any of the people interested in a $85 million
ferry told about this decision during the legislative session. MR.
HAYDEN replied that the issue of whether or not they would be able
to provide bar service on the ferries was discussed during the
legislative session at the Senate and House finance subcommittee
level, and it was mentioned as one of the possibilities for cost
reduction if their budget was at a certain level. He didn't know
the date the commissioner signed the decision document on closing
the bars, but he had the direction that that was the way they were
going and that is why that decision was made at this particular
time.
SENATOR TAYLOR said he checked with the people on the Senate
Finance Subcommittee, and they didn't indicate to him that they
felt it was an either/or situation or that a choice was being made.
They said at the meeting Mr. Hayden outlined a whole series of
different things that would occur to the system if certain funding
levels weren't met. The people that he talked with did not feel
that they were making any intentional decision through the funding
level that a specific activity would no longer take place. He said
several of the vessels currently operating have been around for
about 33 years, and the decision that Mr. Hayden made was
apparently based upon some overall thoughts about the budget at
that time. Now he and the commissioner have made a decision that
is going to affect the new $85 million vessel for the next 30 some
years of its operation by intentionally removing the bar from it
and reconfiguring the space for something else. He told Mr. Hayden
he thinks it's a very dramatic and major decision that he has made,
and the people involved on finance at the subcommittee level
certainly did not feel they were briefed that if, in fact, he
didn't get a sufficient level of funding, that the bars were going
to disappear and that the bar on the new ferry was going to
disappear.
MR. HAYDEN said during the budget deliberation talks that was on
the list of budget impacts. The charge they have is to live within
their means, and so they look for strategies as to how to reduce
their costs. One of the ways to reduce the costs was to reduce the
manning levels. He said there aren't a lot of tools available to
the system when you take into consideration the contracts, the
mandatory service levels as to where you can make decisions to
reduce costs. The closing of the bars was one of those as there
are several other action items that are their list that they are
working on to do. He said he is sorry that the legislative people
who were reviewing it didn't understand what they were talking
about, but they did talk about it.
SENATOR TAYLOR reiterated that he doesn't think anybody in the
legislature, at least anyone he is aware of, had the least idea
that a major change was going to made in the design of the services
to be provided on that new $85 million ferry. He told Mr. Hayden
if he can find somebody in the legislature that he thinks knew that
and would be willing to testify or write a letter to him to that
effect, he would be happy to reverse that comment publicly. MR.
HAYDEN responded that he doesn't make threats, that he tries to go
the legislature and speak the truth on these budget impacts.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked Mr. Hayden if he would agree that as far as he
knows nobody in the legislature was aware of the fact that he
pulled the bar off of the new ferry before that session adjourned.
MR. HAYDEN agreed with his statement.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked Mr. Hayden what revenue source he is looking
to on the new vessel that will replace the revenues lost off the
bar. MR. HAYDEN responded it would be in food service.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked Mr. Hayden what savings the system had after
they reduced the bar service on the Aurora. He noted at the last
hearing a captain on the Aurora said they had lost revenue of
$3,000 a week since the bar went down. MR. HAYDEN responded that
they saved on the time that the person was doing bartending and
that person is now doing food services, which saves in overtime in
that department. He added they could have reduced the manning by
one person on both the Aurora and the LaConte and still have met
Coast Guard requirements, however, they didn't do so. Mr. Hayden
also pointed out that in 1995, overall the system lost $127,000
through providing bar service.
There was extensive discussion on information provided by Mr.
Hayden relating to figures representing personnel costs, as well as
a breakdown on the revenue and expense by vessel.
SENATOR TORGERSON asked why the bar was being closed on the
Columbia if it is making money. MR. HAYDEN clarified that the bar
isn't being closed on the Columbia. He also noted that the
Bartlett and the Tustemena will continue to sell beer and wine, but
they will not have full-time bartenders or bartender positions; a
steward will make the sale on those two vessels.
SENATOR TAYLOR suggested that if they are really looking to save
money off of some personnel within the system and they have people
who do specific functions, it would seem if there were an
accounting method by which a cost could be attached to those
functions and a revenue source from them, that the person to be
laid would be the person who costs the most and generates the least
amount of money. Instead, it appears to him they are going at it
backwards. He said he doesn't know of an employee on the vessel
who generates as much money as the bartender does from services
provided on board the vessel and who takes less money to subsidize
his or her position. He said he is trying to figure out why we
would want to have less revenue for our ferry service, and this
will have a significant impact on revenues. MR. HAYDEN responded
that the revenue will go down, but so will the costs.
TAPE ONE, SIDE B
Number 001
SENATOR TORGERSON inquired as to the number of lay-offs on the
vessels Mr. Hayden anticipates to realize his goal of $1.6 million
in cost reduction. MR. HAYDEN responded that he is not
necessarily looking at vessels for laying off people. He is
looking at other items such as overtime reductions, spending less
money in overall operations, food services, manning levels during
the winter months, as well as one other vessel position.
SENATOR TAYLOR then opened the meeting to public comment.
TIM VOLSTAD , Mayor of Seldovia, referring to a handout relating to
Southwest Alaska ports, observed that Cordova and Kodiak need the
Tustemena; however, Valdez, Homer and Seward have a road. He said
Seldovia needs the Tustemena. He questioned why, when the Bartlett
and other ferries are running in Prince William Sound, the
Tustemena needs to come to Seward in the summer months. He
pointed out that Seldovia has had very little service during the
winter months for the last five years, and he questioned how much
service it will have this coming winter season. He also asked if
the new $85 million ocean class vessel will be servicing the Kenai
Peninsula.
MR. HAYDEN responding to the Seward and Valdez issue, said he would
provide Mayor Volstad with a copy of the systems' annual traffic
volume report that shows what the volume is in that area. He also
said this winter the Tustemena will be serving Homer, Kodiak and
Seldovia, as well as the Cordova/Valdez run. The Tustemena just
finished a five-phase project and there is no federal project
planned for it this winter. It was out of service last year for
the installation of a new engine. He added that the thing that
will affect the Tustemena in the future will be regulatory projects
and demands that get placed on the system. Concerning the new
vessel, it will serve Southeast Alaska as a mainline vessel,
primarily in the summer months, and it will be available and is
being designed to fill in for the Tustemena when the Tustemena is
off line like it was last winter, but it will not initiate any new
service on the Kenai Peninsula.
SENATOR TORGERSON commented that Seldovia is land locked and not
having ferry service seven months a year is a major concern to the
mayor.
LOUIS BENCARDINO , Mayor of Seward, said over the years the ferry
system has put in docks in other communities, whereas Seward has
always leased docking facilities to the system. Now, when they
want to upgrade and build a new facility, they seem to have a
problem getting the support from the ferry system. The City of
Seward has been working on a partnership project that involves the
cruise ship industry and the Alaska Railroad, and the only they
needed was a portion from the state. He referred to the money that
was allocated for a project in his area, the Hope Bridge that came
in at $10 million under bid, and expressed his displeasure that the
$10 million was quickly reallocated to another district before his
community had a chance to secure that money for a project in their
own district like the docking facility.
Mayor Bencardino also spoke to his concern with taking the vessels
of the Alaska Marine Highway System out of state for maintenance.
He said it doesn't make sense to spend money to take care of people
in Louisiana when there are people in Alaska out of jobs.
Mayor Bencardino said he knows the STIP program for the dock could
have been moved up if the Administration had wanted to do so, but
it seems like when we have something that makes sense, we have a
hard time getting the state working with us. He reiterated that
the City of Seward has got private enterprise working with them and
then the state lets them down.
MR. HAYDEN said he understands Seward's desire to have the state
fund their joint-use facility, which he doesn't disagree with. The
dilemma he and DOT find themselves in is that the state gets $220
million a year in federal highway funds, however, the list of
priorities and needs and concerns is pretty significant. He thinks
it is over a billion dollars worth of competition that goes into
that, so it is a matter of setting those priorities for competing
needs, which is a difficult task to do. MAYOR BENCARDINO
interjected that the $10 million from the Hope Bridge project
should have keyed in to take care of problems in his district, but
that didn't happen. He said when he talked to the commissioner
about the dock project, he felt that the commissioner thought it
was a good idea, but that he didn't get the support from either the
people under him or the people above him. MR. HAYDEN responded
that he doesn't make those decisions, although he does get to
participate in the scoring and discussion about the community road
projects.
MR. HAYDEN asked Mayor Bencardino where the project is in securing
the other funds. MAYOR BENCARDINO responded that everything came
to stop when the state failed to support the project, although they
still have got the commitment from the other entities. He also
restated his concern that the City of Seward was not able to retain
at least part of the $10 million from the Hope Bridge project so
that they could have gone forward with this project. MR. HAYDEN
assured Mayor Bencardino that he would talk to the commissioner
about his concern about the out-of-district movement of funds.
The discussion then turned to Mayor Bencardino's concern that
vessels are being sent out of state for maintenance. He questioned
why Washington State can do its own maintenance, and yet Alaska
sends its vessels to Louisiana. MR. HAYDEN pointed out that Alaska
uses federal monies for maintenance and the Federal Highway
Administration requires that the project has to be competitively
bid. DAMON JORGENSEN , Port Engineer, Alaska Marine Highway System,
clarified that the Washington State ferries do not use any federal
money whatsoever for the overhaul or the construction of their
ferry system; they use state tax money and all of their federal
money goes towards the highway projects. MIKE DOWNING , Marine
Superintendent, Alaska Marine Highway System, added that last year
the largest single federal project that the system did, outside of
the ocean class vessel, was in Seward, which was a $7.8 million
contract on the repowering of the Tustemena.
REPRESENTATIVE GARY DAVIS asked Mayor Bencardino where the City of
Seward is at as far as detailed drawings on the new docking
facility. MAYOR BENCARDINO said they had P&D do a draft plan, but
they have been hesitant to spend any more money until they know
they are getting the support from the state. REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS
advised that he thought it would be beneficial to have at least a
cost estimate on the specifications for the project ready.
JIM PRUITT , President of Seward Ship's Drydock, Inc., in Seward,
said Seward Ship's Drydock and Seward's facility is capable of
drydocking all of the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries except
the Aurora and the LaConte, which are inland ferries.
He spoke to an incident where his company was the successful low
bidder for a maintenance project on the Aurora a few years ago.
However, on its way to Seward the Aurora got into heavy seas in the
Gulf of Alaska and was directed to go to Ketchikan for repairs.
Since then the Aurora and LaConte have come up for bid with federal
money in them and overhaul state money, however, Seward Ship's
Drydock was told it was not going to be allowed to bid on the
Aurora because it is an inland ferry and it can't make that
crossing. His company has talked to masters that have been with
the Alaska Marine Highway System, as well as having had a lot of
sea time experience, and they have been told that the Aurora can
safety be brought across the gulf. They have also talked to the
Alaska Marine Highway System numerous times and they get varying
opinions, depending on who they talk to, whether this vessel can be
brought across or can't.
Mr. Pruitt said the reason for building the Ketchikan facility and
the Seward facility was to keep these vessels in state, and there
has been legislation passed to keep accomplish this as well, but
unfortunately, because of the wording in the legislation in it can
be interpreted in different ways. He suggested there needs to
clarification on that legislation to where those vessels can be
kept in state. He said his company would like the opportunity to
participate in the fair bidding process and be able to work on
Alaska ferries with Alaskans.
MR. HAYDEN said he talked to the port captain the previous week
about the Aurora crossing the gulf and he received an explanation
that it was a safety issue, and it was also a safety issue in
conjunction with the sponsons and the structural integrity of the
vessel. He had asked Captain Sande, who was bringing the Aurora
across the gulf the last time, if he would bring it across this
time. Captain Sande said there was no way he was going to bring
that vessel across the gulf because of the slamming, because of the
sponsons sticking out and catching water and slamming. The captain
thought that last time that he was going to lose the ship.
Mr. Hayden pointed out it is a matter of not only bringing it
across the gulf but also taking it back. Also, the window of
opportunity on the Aurora project is very tight schedule to the
fire safety work and get it back so that they can then do the
LaConte. These projects have to be done in a timely manner so that
there isn't an interruption in service.
TAPE 2, SIDE A
Number 001
SENATOR TAYLOR asked how they can justify sending a vessel to
Portland if they are worried about an inland ferry in outside
waters. MR. HAYDEN responded that he has been with the system for
two years and he hasn't seen a vessel go to Portland, but he said
he would research the passage time, the sea states, wave heights,
windows of opportunity, etc., all the factors that go into it. The
problem he has is ordering the captain of the Aurora to put his
vessel in what he considers to be an unsafe condition.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked that if there are some federal dollars
involved, but the low bid on the Aurora turns out to be Seward, do
they lose the federal money because they refuse to bring the Aurora
across the gulf. MR. HAYDEN answered no, because it was written in
the bid specs that way.
SENATOR TORGERSON asked if Mr. Hayden could get a second opinion on
the safety of crossing the gulf. MR. HAYDEN agreed that he would
get another opinion in writing.
CAPTAIN KELLY MITCHELL , Alaska Marine Highway System, testifying
from Juneau, clarified it was not Captain Sande that attempted to
cross the gulf on the Aurora, it was Captain Hopkins, who he
respects as an ocean master that has also sailed on the Tustemena.
He said he has discussed this issue a number of times with Mr.
Pruitt, and the issue is a matter of safety and the delivery and
redelivery of the vessel back to Southeast. It is not a matter of
length or size of the vessel, it's the whole configuration. A 35
foot fishing vessel is much more seaworthy in open ocean conditions
than a sponson hull ferry vessel that's certificated for inland
lakes and bays.
SENATOR TAYLOR observed that since the new vessel will be using up
the federal funds allocated to the system for a period of two
years, maintenance during that two-year period will be all general
fund dollars. He then asked why it would be necessary to send a
vessel outside for the next two years. MR. HADEN answered that he
hasn't entered those years when he has all state general fund
monies. This winter the Aurora and the LaConte are receiving fire
safety, as well as an upgrade to the Matanuska. Those three
vessels, for this winter, are federally funded. Two of them are
funded out of FY 96 funds and one is funded in FY 97 funds.
SENATOR TAYLOR again asked if there is any reason why the vessels
that will require maintenance during that two-year period will have
to go outside of the state. MR. HAYDEN responded that they are
going to live under the terms of their statute, and that's what
they have been doing. SENATOR TAYLOR commented that he was the
person who drafted that statute and this state has never lived
under the terms of that statute. MR. HAYDEN said where the vessels
go depends to some extent on what type of work is being done on
them. He doesn't know what the maintenance schedule during that
time period is, but he thinks the probability of going out from
competitive bid is pretty low.
DENNIS ERLANDSON , Port Harbor Director, City of Homer, said one of
the questions and one of the concerns the City of Homer has is the
condition of the ferry dock, which is now part of the city's
responsibility. This past February a letter was sent to the
commissioner expressing the concern and also the possibility of a
design team being formed with the city and the other users of the
dock. He said as he reads the CIP for the ferry service there is
a reconnaissance project identified at the end of the century to
start the process of deciding whether or not a dock has to be
built. He expressed concern that by the year 2000 the dock may be
at a point where it is not usable and serviceable, and he suggested
looking at that time line and trying to speed it up. His concern
for the city is how long do they have to keep the dock going before
they start working together as a group and go after a design
project.
Mr. Erlandson also pointed out that the new ferry will be larger
than the Tustemena, which now services Homer on a regular basis,
and if the Tustemena was to be out service and had to be replaced
with the new vessel, there would be concern about bringing the
larger ferry into the existing facility.
MR. HAYDEN said as result a of Mr. Erlandson's letter, the dock got
placed on the reconnaissance phase. He added there is nothing that
inhibits them from sitting down and talking about those needs
whenever the city wants to. It's a matter of getting the need
identified, coming up with some solutions and getting in line.
DON BRAUN , City Administrator, City of Chignik, said the Tustemena
serves the City of Chignik and the four other surrounding
communities and they consider it a vital link in their economy. He
said they share Seldovia's concern about the uncertainty of
scheduling. He said, in general, the AMS has attempted to address
their concerns and they are appreciative of that. He pointed out
that right now fishing drives Chignik's economy, but he envisions
that tourism will eventually come more into play, and he asked that
be factored into the scheduling of ferry service to their area.
Mr. Braun said the City of Chignik has a partnership with the Corps
of Engineers that involves state funds for a boat harbor; however,
they can't get the state highway people to talk to the state boat
harbor people. He suggested they work to integrate programs even
if there is a slippage in time. He also noted the City of Chignik
has been working on getting a new docking facility in Chignik and
that DOT has been responsive and has been working with them in this
effort.
MR. HAYDEN said in developing the winter schedule they tried to
identify all the community needs and to have the communities
understand the other community needs. He stressed the need to keep
working together so that everybody understands what those feeding
powers are in the Tustemena because it can only make so many port
calls in a 7-day period.
There being no further witnesses to testify, SENATOR TAYLOR said he
still had several questions that he would submit in writing to Mr.
Hayden. Concerning the bar removal, he like to see the survey that
was conducted on Prince of Wales Island, the one used as
justification for pulling the bar off the Aurora, as well as a
tabulation of comments cards the system has been receiving from
passengers on the ferries concerning removing the bars. He
reiterated his concern that the system can't get the winter
schedules out in a timely manner.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked if they not now moving forward to close the
bar on the Columbia, is there any likelihood they can be dissuaded
from doing that with any of the other vessels before the September
15 deadline. MR. HADEN said he asked that same question last week
in the context of how does he deal with the operation within the
revenues and the monies that he has available to him; whether or
not to change that decision, or whether or not to continue forward
with the decision. He said he took a neutral stand, and he was
given direction to continue with the closure of the bars. He added
that he would pass on the task force's comments once again.
SENATOR TAYLOR said that if they really want to lose that income
out of the bars, he could promise where he is going to take it the
next legislative session; it's all coming out of administration.
He said if we are going to start firing people that are generating
an income that's keeping that ferry running, then he is going to
start firing people that are taking money that's not keeping that
ferry running, that's tieing it up in Bellingham and other places.
He suggested Mr. Hayden take that one back up to Commissioner
Perkins, as well as suggesting that maybe the commissioner should
be at the next hearing to explain to people like Mr. Bencardino and
others how $10 million gets transferred to another district while
a project like the Seward dock goes down the drain.
There being no further business to come before the task force, the
meeting was adjourned.
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