Legislature(2013 - 2014)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/12/2013 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB18 | |
| Department Overview: Department of Labor and Workforce Development | |
| Department Overview: Department of Transportation and Public Facilities | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 18 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE BILL NO. 18
"An Act making appropriations, including capital
appropriations and other appropriations; making
appropriations to capitalize funds; and providing for
an effective date."
9:03:06 AM
^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT
BRYNN KEITH, ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT (DLWD), introduced herself
for the record and discussed DLWD's four capital projects,
which totaled just over $9.1 million.
PALOMA HARBOUR, ACTING ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION
DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,
introduced herself for the record and began to speak to the
department's capital requests.
RN 48826
Heavy Equipment Shop/Diesel Shop/Pipe Welding Relocation-
Phase 1 of 3
$6,000,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This request will fund the first of three phases for the
Alaska Vocational Technical Center's (AVTEC) Heavy
Equipment Shop/Diesel Shop/Pipe Welding Relocation project.
This project is necessary to replace an existing facility
with known life, safety, code and ADA deficiencies. Phase
one will include site preparation and utilities hook-up,
construction of an 8,000 square foot Diesel shop, and
relocation of the Pipe Welding program from the current
deficient facility to the vacated Diesel space. This will
co-locate the Pipe Welding program with the Structural
Welding program; allowing both programs to use the same
grinding room and providing sufficient pipe storage space
for the Pipe Welding program.
Ms. Harbour related that all three phases of the project
totaled $15 million.
RN 56561
AVTEC Maritime Simulator Ice Navigation Upgrade - Phase 1
of 3
$375,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project will fund phase one of three to upgrade the
Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) maritime
simulator. These upgrades are necessary to provide ice
navigation and arctic operations training to mariners.
AVTEC's Maritime Training Center is uniquely poised to
offer training operations in a safe environment to prepare
mariners who will be operating vessels at or above the
Arctic Circle through rapidly changing ice conditions.
Currently, mariners must travel to Europe to learn ice
navigation.
Ms. Harbour stated that all three phases of the project
totaled $1,050,000 and that the upgrades would bring the
simulator's bridge controls to the latest standards. Phase
1 would fund the largest of AVTEC's three full-mission
bridge simulators.
RN 56893
Mobile Mine Machine Simulator
$1,800,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The Department of Labor and Workforce Development will
enter into an agreement with the University of Alaska
allowing them to purchase a mobile mine machine simulator
and appropriate machine inserts. The University's Mining
and Petroleum Training Service program will use the
simulator to provide mechanized mining job training to
prospective Alaskan miners in rural and other regions of
the state. It is anticipated the demand for employees will
increase significantly in 2014 and 2015, and beyond, due to
new mines scheduled to become operational including Bokan
Mountain and Niblack in Ketchikan, Tower Hill in the
Interior and Donlin Gold in western Alaska among others yet
in development.
9:08:04 AM
RN 48821
Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment - AVTEC
$968,000
Ms. Harbour stated that the funding would allow AVTEC to
continue to make progress on its deferred maintenance
backlog. She pointed out that AVTEC had 16 state-owned
facilities, which were all rather old. She concluded that
although AVTEC had been able to make progress on its
backlog through the governor's initiative, there was still
more work to be done.
Co-Chair Kelly noted that he was experienced at dealing
with deferred maintenance with the University of Alaska and
that deferred maintenance was very important issue to the
state. He mentioned AVTEC's deferred maintenance and
inquired if there were other facilities within DLWD that
had a backlog that needed to be dealt with. He requested a
total figure of the deferred maintenance in DWLD
facilities. Ms. Harbor responded that AVTEC was the
division within DLWD that had state-owned facilities, but
that the total deferred maintenance backlog was
approximately $15 million.
Co-Chair Kelly inquired if DLWD's other buildings were
owned by the administration. Ms. Harbor responded that the
department leased the majority of its buildings. Co-Chair
Kelly inquired if the leasing was done through the
administration. Ms. Harbour responded in the affirmative.
Co-Chair Meyer pointed out that he did not like phased
projects and noted that there were two on the DLWD's list.
He discussed the two phased projects in the department's
budget; he inquired if it made sense to ask for the full
funding now and why the projects were being phased. Ms.
Harbor replied that the reason the department had phased
the heavy equipment shop project was because it required a
facility to be constructed before programs could be moved
in. She stated that the smaller project, which was AVTEC's
maritime simulator upgrade, was phased because it could be
phased; there were three full-mission bridges at AVTEC that
could be upgraded one at a time.
Co-Chair Meyer inquired what would happen to AVTEC's phased
projects if there was no capital budget the next year. Ms.
Harbor responded that if that were the case, AVTEC could
run one of its three simulators; however, it would not be
ideal because one of the benefits of having three bridges
was that they were able to interact with each other.
Vice-Chair Fairclough spoke to the first project and stated
that she had toured the AVTEC facilities. She pointed out
that an engineer had indicated that there was a problem
with the roof and inquired if the problem was with the
structural framework. Ms. Harbor responded that the
structure of the roof was the problem. She explained that
the roof leaked and that because of a lack of insulation,
it shed its ice and posed a hazard. She relayed that the
frame was not sufficient hold an improved roof and that as
a result, the insulation could not be improved.
9:13:00 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough queried how old the existing AVTEC
building was. Ms. Harbour replied that she did not have
that information with her. Vice-Chair Fairclough noted that
Senator Bishop had stated that it was built in 1969, but
requested confirmation of the structure's age.
Senator Bishop pointed to the request for AVTEC's maritime
ice navigation simulator and inquired if the SHELL Oil
Company and others had been continuing a dialogue with
AVTEC on training. Ms. Harbour responded in the affirmative
and related that it was still an area of interest for
training. She concluded that given the level of anticipated
growth in the Arctic, it was important for the pilots to
know how to navigate in ice conditions.
Co-Chair Meyer inquired if the Coast Guard was involved in
the ice navigation simulator process. Ms. Harbour replied
in the affirmative and relayed that AVTEC currently trained
Coast Guard staff.
Co-Chair Meyer queried if the Coast Guard was financially
contributing to the simulator process. Ms. Harbour believed
that the Coast Guard contributions were on the operating
side; the Coast Guard supported the training programs and
paid for students' tuition fees.
Co-Chair Meyer inquired why the mobile mine simulator was
being purchased for the University of Alaska. Ms. Harbour
replied that DLWD saw the simulator as a partnership
opportunity in a high growth area and that it was
partnering with the University of Alaska to meet a demand.
Co-Chair Meyer further inquired if the university wanted
the mine simulator. Ms. Harbour responded that the Mining
and Petroleum Training Program wanted it.
Senator Bishop discussed an initiative that created
"centers of excellence" to cut out duplication requests
that came into state government. The centers had worked
closely with the University of Alaska so that it would be
the expert in mine training. He recalled that he had
directed people to the University for mine training in
order to eliminate duplicative funding. He inquired if the
simulator request would finish out the underground mobile
mine training simulator "package" for maps. Ms. Harbour
replied that the request was for surface mine training
simulations.
Senator Hoffman queried if the University of Alaska had the
funds to operate all nine of the mining simulators. He
expressed concern regarding a lack of funding to operate
the simulators. Ms. Harbor stated that the university
believed it had the existing funds, faculty, and resources,
but that ideally, it would like an additional instructor to
support the simulation program.
9:18:22 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough believed that there was a cut to the
University of Alaska's mining program and indicated she
would look into the matter further. She addressed the mine
simulator request for $1.8 million and inquired when the
last time there was a software upgrade to the system. Ms.
Harbour responded that the request did not represent an
existing system with a software upgrade, but that the
maritime simulator had not seen a software upgrade since it
was purchased in 2000.
Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered how many students over the
lifecycle of the software had benefited from the program.
She related that she was attempting to do a cost-benefit
analysis for the investment. She inquired how long the $1.8
million would last and how many students it would serve.
Ms. Harbour responded that she had some additional
information that provided a useful lifespan, but that she
was unable to find it. She furthered that the mobile mine
simulator was expected to train 400 individuals a year
without additional instructors, but that if additional
instructors were added, the number could increase to 1200
per year. She offered that she could get the useful life
and how many total individuals the mine simulator would
serve, but that she could not find the information at the
moment.
Vice-Chair Fairclough requested the useful life and how
many total individuals would be trained to be provided for
the marine simulator ice navigator and the mine machine
simulator. She appreciated that the mine simulator could
move throughout the state and understood why the ice
navigation simulator was not mobile; however, she wanted to
understand the cost-benefit of the programs.
Co-Chair Meyer requested that the information that Vice-
Chair Fairclough asked for be routed to his office and
indicated that he would distribute the materials to the
committee members. Ms. Harbour interjected that she had
found some of the requested information and that with
proper maintenance and service, the expected useful life of
the mobile mine simulator was 10 to 15 years.
Senator Bishop encouraged continued participation between
DLWD, the University of Alaska, and the mining industry to
continue to increase Alaskan hires in the mines.
Vice-Chair Fairclough stated that she was in charge of the
University of Alaska's budget and expressed concern that it
contained an operational decrement that lost an instructor.
9:22:34 AM
AT EASE
9:25:52 AM
RECONVENED
^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
PUBLIC FACILITIES
PAT KEMP, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND
PUBLIC FACILITIES, introduced himself and staff for the
record. He stated that the Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities' (DOT) budget was about $200 million less
in general funds than it was the prior year. He related
that regarding federal aid, the budget reflected the
effects of the highway bill "MAP-21" and the new aviation
bill that passed. He shared that there were some changes to
the makeup of the "bill" and that there would be a
transition from the local community projects and the Alaska
Highway System to the national highway system. He noted
that under MAP-21, 58 percent of Alaska's federal aid would
be diverted to 18 percent of the state's highway use.
Vice-Chair Fairclough noted that there were a substantial
amount of requests in the DOT's budget and requested that
the page numbers be used instead of reference numbers when
a specific project was referenced. She additionally
requested that the presenters pause if they were moving
multiple pages ahead.
JEFF OTTESEN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES,
introduced himself and discussed the structure that the
presentation would follow.
MIKE COFFEY, CHIEF OF STATEWIDE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES,
discussed the department's requests and related that the
first group of projects fell under the safety heading.
RN 54164
Safety
$5,500,000
9:29:25 AM
RN 52034
Alaska Aviation Safety Program
$1,500,000
Mr. Coffey related that this program was a partnership with
the Medallion Foundation and that the funding would provide
for a 3D mapping simulation of the Iditarod flying route;
it was a multi-year project to increase pilot safety around
the state.
Vice-Chair Fairclough clarified that the $5.5 million was
on page 1 and inquired if that was accurate. Mr. Coffey
responded in the affirmative. Vice-Chair Fairclough
inquired if the $5.5 million was a "rollup" of the safety
projects instead of an addition. Mr. Coffee replied in the
affirmative.
RN 45197
Measurement Standards and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
Equipment Replacement
$400,000
Mr. Coffey discussed the funding and related that it
provided for an 800 gallon volumetric prover, which was
vital equipment for measuring and certifying pumps on
docks, fuel delivery trucks, etc. He shared that the
current prover in South-Central Alaska was inoperable and
that bringing another online would increase efficiency.
Part of the project would also provide for a forklift and
HVAC system for the metrology lab.
RN 41394
Statewide Anti-Icing Program
$600,000
Mr. Coffey stated that the anti-icing project was very
important and that DOT had been implementing a proactive
way of maintaining the state's highways. DOT had already
implemented the anti-icing program in several cities and
the funding would allow DOT to expand the project to Kodiak
and the Mat-Su Valley. He explained that the project
involved proactively putting chemicals on the road to
prevent the ice and snow from bonding to the highway;
nationally, it was a major way to reduce accidents and save
lives.
RN 42072
Statewide Rural Airport Safety Improvements
$3,000,000
Mr. Coffey related that this project provided benefits to
several rural airports and allowed DOT to perform gravel
resurfacing, pavement repairs, electrical repairs, and
provide windsocks. He added that the project would fund
smaller projects at numerous airports in Rural Alaska.
9:33:25 AM
RN 54165
Asset Management
$43,000,000
Mr. Coffey stated that the asset management projects
allowed the department to extend the life of a facility. He
pointed out that doing routine preventative maintenance on
highways, airports, ferries, buildings, etc. would enable
the state to get more life from its initial investment.
RN 33853
Aggregate Surfacing Materials
$2,000,000
Mr. Coffey related that this project would provide gravel
resources stock piles on several of Alaska's major gravel
highways, such as the Taylor Highway, the Dalton Highway,
the Denali Highway, McCarthy Road, and the Nebesna Road. He
shared that DOT liked to have strategically located stock
piles that allowed them to continue doing maintenance on a
routine basis.
RN 30634
Emergency and Non-Routine Repairs
$2,000,000
Mr. Coffey stated that the project would allow DOT to
respond quickly to natural disasters or the aging of
infrastructure. He shared that the funding would allow the
department to be proactive in repairing a culvert before it
damaged and closed down a major highway. He stated that the
department had used funding in the current year in the Mat-
Su Valley on the old Glenn Highway next to the Matanuska
River; the river was encroaching on the highway and would
take out the highway without further action. He concluded
that the funding was allowing DOT to be proactive in
providing shore protection to keep the river away from the
facility.
Senator Hoffman directed the presentation back page 13.
RN 30624
Alaska Marine Highway System - Vessel and Terminal Overhaul
and Rehabilitation
$12,000,000
Senator Hoffman noted that the community of Metlakatla had
completed its road and was in the process of making a
shorter ferry run from Annette Island to "hopefully Saxman
if that gets worked out or the present terminal." He
related that he had recently visited Metlakatla and
expressed that there were concerns in the community that
"this run" was one of the very few that was profitable. He
stated that the rumors in Metlakatla were that the number
of routes and the price would stay the same even though the
time was being reduced by two-thirds. He inquired if the
department could examine the issue and get back to him. He
noted that the area was now in Senator Stedman's district,
but that he had taken a keen interest in the issue. He was
interested in what the department was doing regarding the
route in Metlakatla. He expressed an additional concern
that Metlakatla's afternoon ferry schedule did not coincide
with connecting Alaska Airlines flights and that people had
been unable to make the connection from the ferry to Alaska
Airlines as a result. He opined that a 30 or 45 minute
adjustment to the route could address the issue with
connecting flights. Mr. Ottesen replied that Deputy
Commissioner Yost would attempt to get answers to all of
Senator Hoffman's questions and related that the questions
were largely operational in nature.
Co-Chair Meyer noted that although he had requested that
the questions be held till the end of the meeting, it would
be appropriate to take a break for questions as the
presentation got through various sections.
9:39:27 AM
RN 54169
Regulatory Compliance
$3,435,000
Mr. Coffey related that this grouping of projects allowed
DOT to stay compliant with new Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) mandates and regulations.
RN 50874
Central Region - Sand Storage Buildings
$2,000,000
Mr. Coffey stated that the department was required by its
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit to have
covered sand storage in Anchorage, Girdwood, and Birchwood.
Vice-Chair Fairclough inquired if the project was for the
Anchorage Road and Drainage Service Area (ARDSA) group and
noted that the Chugiak, Birchwood, Eagle River Rural Road
Service Area (CBERRRSA) group was included under Birchwood.
She thought she recalled giving an appropriation the prior
year for covered sand storage in the Chugiak/Eagle River
area. Mr. Coffey responded that he was unaware of what
Vice-Chair Fairclough was referring to and that the first
project that the department had completed was in Girdwood,
which now had covered sand storage; the $2 million was for
the Birchwood sand storage. Vice-Chair Fairclough pointed
out that she would look into the matter because an
appropriation had been altered the previous year in order
to make "this" the higher priority. She added that she was
not sure if the appropriation was for this particular
location, but that one facility in the area had been
addressed with funding.
RN 50790
Environmental Protection Agency Injection Well
Compliance/Remediation Project
$1,200,000
Mr. Coffey related that this project was another EPA
enforcement action that was taken against the department.
He explained that DOT had about 40 of the class 5 injection
wells, which were simply oil-water separators in a
maintenance shop. The class 5 injection wells were banned
in 2005 and the funding would represent the first year of a
two year project to decommission the wells in compliance in
EPA mandates.
RN 56603
Environmental Protection Agency Mandated Airport Deicing
Conversation to Potassium Acetate
$235,000
Mr. Coffey stated that this project reflected another EPA
Mandate in which the use of urea had been banned for use in
airports. Urea had been the number one anti-icing/de-icing
agent that was used on the majority of DOT's airports. He
added that the project affected Kodiak, Bethel, Sitka, and
Barrow. He explained that urea was a solid chemical, but
that potassium acetate, which was the alternative, was a
liquid chemical; the funding would provide for storage,
pumping, and other things in order to facilitate the
conversion to potassium acetate.
9:43:33 AM
Co-Chair Meyer inquired if the conversion to potassium
acetate represented a federal mandate without any funding.
Mr. Coffey responded in the affirmative.
Vice-Chair Fairclough stated that her staff had checked
into her questions regarding RN 50874 and related that
"what we had was a city sand storage issue versus a state
sand storage issue."
RN 49780
Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Fund
$8,993,500
Mr. Ottesen stated that every year, DOT sought nominations
from communities and that essentially, the state was
agreeing to pay half of the cost of upgrading a harbor in
return for the community taking the harbor over. He added
that there was a chart that showed how many requests in
dollars the department had over the years, as well as how
many dollars had been appropriated by year. He shared that
in the current year, $14,713,000 had been appropriated. The
budget request was for two of the four projects that were
in the request for "just a little less than $9 million." He
offered that the program had been very successful and was
ongoing; DOT was proposing to fund the Homer and Ketchikan
projects this year and to defer the projects in Sitka and
Akutan.
RN 42968
Community Harbor and Transfer Program
$2,000,000
Mr. Ottesen shared that this program was somewhat related
to the last appropriation, but was for much smaller
facilities such as boat ramps or small floats; the funding
would go towards two projects in Ketchikan and one in
Wrangell.
RN 41670
Juneau Access
$10,000,000
Mr. Ottesen related that the request was for starting the
Juneau Access Project; the plan was to try building the
project with roughly half federal funds and half state
funds in order to accomplish the project without reducing
the federal program to other areas of the state. He
explained that the reason the money was needed now was
because it was a large project in the eyes of the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA). He explained that the Juneau
Access Project was over $100 million and that projects over
that size had to have a detailed financial plan prepared
and updated annually. He furthered that one of the rules in
"that whole process" is that you have to present a
realistic funding source; the state needed to demonstrate
that the money would be forthcoming.
Co-Chair Meyer stated that the committee had some questions
on the Juneau Access Project, but would wait until Mr.
Ottesen was finished with his presentation.
9:47:14 AM
RN 56677
Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) Project
$10,000,000
Mr. Ottesen related that this project was meant to
establish a reserve fund for years when the toll revenue
was not sufficient to reimburse the public-private
partnership that was building the project. He shared that
the project was a matter of showing good faith to the
markets and the FHWA. FHWA had the ability to bestow on the
project a type of funding known as "TIFIA," which was a
very low-interest patient capital that was willing to wait
last to be repaid. He shared that Congress had recently
increased the amount of TIFIA funds that were available, as
well as the amount of TIFIA funding that could be bestowed
on one project.
RN 54136
Project Acceleration Account
$3,000,000
Mr. Ottesen stated that the department had asked for a
similar amount the prior year, but that the legislature had
enlarged the request from $3 million to $4.5 million. He
explained that federally funded projects could sometimes go
quicker with added state money added to the project and
offered that this way, tasks could be done out of sequence,
which federal funds would not permit. He offered that using
state funds to supplement federal projects could often save
a year or two off a project's timeline. He pointed out that
a lot of projects had benefited from the acceleration
account. He mentioned that one of the reasons the fund was
enlarged the previous year was to get a start on several of
the GO Bond projects. A list of GO Bond projects had been
approved by the legislature in the budget the prior spring;
however, it did not go to the voters until November and the
bonds for the GO funded projects had not been sold. There
were no dollars yet to start the GO Bond projects; however,
due to project acceleration funds, several of the projects
were underway with field and design work. He offered that
the acceleration fund had saved substantial time.
9:50:25 AM
RN 39356
Resource Roads Program
$2,000,000
Mr. Ottesen mentioned that the request was for the
administrative and small project amount for the program. He
discussed the roads to Ambler and Umiat, as well as work on
the Shelter Cove Road and the Klondike Highway; the funding
would cover staff time and "early investigations." He
recalled meeting with the department's consultant, who was
working on a West-Susitna access project. He shared that a
dock study was currently under way to see if the IFA ferry
could serve as a crew delivery vessel to the mine and
discussed the benefits of the potential ferry use.
RN 50770
Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative Elevation Component
$4,000,000
Mr. Ottesen stated that the project was a request by DOT on
behalf of several other state agencies and was intended to
modernize Alaska's maps. He related that Alaska's maps were
very old and depicted inaccuracies in the terrain.
RN 54074
United States Army Corps of Engineers-Arctic Ports Study
$500,000
Mr. Ottesen related that this project was an ongoing study
with the Army Corps of Engineers to identify port sights on
the Arctic Coast in order to enable the state to better
benefit from offshore oil and gas, as well as Arctic
shipping.
RN 6764
Statewide Federal Programs
$96,050,000
RN 52032
Alaska Mobility Coalition- Public and Community
Transportation State Match
$1,000,000
Mr. Ottesen related that this appropriation would help
communities provide match to their bus systems.
RN 34752
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Program
$3,650,000
Mr. Ottesen stated that this request was ongoing to receive
federal money for insuring that the trucking industry was
operating safely on our highways, but that there were
several subprograms that were listed through page 47.
9:54:11 AM
RN 31375
Cooperative Reimbursable Projects
$17,000,000
Mr. Ottesen shared that this project gave the state the
ability to send its money to another federal agency to have
them help Alaska or vice versa.
RN 31376
Federal Contingency Projects
$25,000,000
Mr. Ottesen relayed that this request was essentially
federal authority to receive federal funds when DOT did not
have the named authority in the budget; furthermore, if a
project's budget was larger than the authority received in
the budget, the department took some of the contingent
authority, which allowed the project to proceed in the same
year.
RN 38424
Federal Emergency Projects
$10,000,000
Mr. Ottesen stated that this funding gave DOT authority
when there was a declared emergency such as a flood or
forest fire; in an emergency where some of DOT's
transportation assets were harmed, the funding would allow
the department to start work immediately and perform long-
term repairs.
RN 30643
Federal Transit Administration Grants
$9,000,000
Mr. Ottesen stated that this federal funding was for bus
systems for all communities of the state except Anchorage
and Fairbanks. He added that Anchorage and Fairbanks
receive their transit funding directly from the Federal
Transit Administration, while Juneau, Sitka, Bethel, and
many others were receiving their money through this
program.
RN 33485
Highway Safety Grant Program
$8,000,000
Mr. Ottesen stated this was federal money that was received
from National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
He related that this program was largely focused on the
behavioral side of safety and did not build things or make
the road safer in a physical sense; the program focused on
education and enforcement. He concluded that the program
was ongoing and did really good things.
RN 41923
Other Federal Program Match
$900,000
Mr. Ottesen related that this match amount was for all the
federal programs that he just covered.
RN 34018
Statewide Safety Program
$21,500,000
Mr. Ottesen pointed out that every year part of Alaska's
federal highway money was sanctioned because the state had
two laws that did not meet federal requirements. The
federal government took some funding away and gave it back
to the state as safety dollars.
Co-Chair Meyer noted that there appeared to be a lot of
federal money in DOT's budget and inquired what the spilt
was between federal and state funding. Mr. Ottesen
responded that the split varied, but that each category of
federal funding was somewhere between 80 percent to 20
percent and 91 percent to 9 percent. He shared that even in
the federal highway program, not every category of funding
had the same percentage ratio.
9:58:52 AM
Co-Chair Meyer requested a copy of the project acceleration
list. Mr. Ottesen responded in the affirmative and stated
that the list was well over a dozen projects; the funding
did a variety of things that were not allowed to occur
under federal rules. He added that federal rules were very
procedural and that the acceleration list had allowed DOT
to skip some steps.
Senator Hoffman pointed out that he had two areas of
concern and expressed appreciation for the project
acceleration account. He mentioned an Aleknagik bond
project that had been funded years prior and inquired if
Mr. Ottesen had heard of the project. Mr. Ottesen replied
that the project was in design and was scheduled to go to a
construction bid in April; however, the project was waiting
for a permit from the Coast Guard to put the bridge in.
Senator Hoffman noted that he had been working on the
project for 20 years and that it would be good to see it
completed.
Senator Hoffman pointed to page 42 and the Arctic Port
Study. He expressed concern about the St. George harbor
project that had been funded the last two years. He opined
that the harbor should be included in the Arctic Port
Study. He noted that the project had been the
responsibility of the small community of St. George and
queried if the project should be the responsibility of the
DOT, given that the city transferred the design and the
work to the department anyway. Mr. Ottesen responded that
the Arctic Port Study had shortlisted several ports for
further study and that two of the ports that were
identified were Nome and Port Clarence. He stated that
Crowley Maritime had already chosen to start its
operational base in Port Clarence and that Nome was an
existing harbor that was close to infrastructure. He shared
that the state's policy for over 20 years was to get DOT
out of the harbor business. He added that the department
was happy to do work that was funded and came its way, but
that the it had been instructed to shed those assets for
over 20 years and get them into the hands of the
municipalities.
Senator Bishop noted that he had some questions regarding
the commercial vehicle section on page 46, but stated that
he could meet with the department after the meeting.
10:03:03 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough pointed to page 59. She noted that
Mr. Ottesen had referred to two laws that the state was not
in compliance with and queried what those laws were. Mr.
Ottesen replied that the one of the laws in question was an
open container law. Alaska's law allowed for open
containers in recreational vehicles and in a side bag of a
motorcycle; this did not meet the federal requirements. He
offered that the other law had to do with what happens to a
vehicle that was impounded. He recalled that there had been
a question as to whether an impounded vehicle should be
taken away from a driver. He opined that the legislature
had felt like taking the vehicle away was a punitive act to
rest of the family and chose not to make that a
requirement. He added that the sanction was not as harsh as
one might think, but that it could be spent on safety
projects. He discussed various potential safety projects.
He pointed out that DOT had to take the approximately $20
million and spend it on projects that it could show were
safety related.
Co-Chair Meyer observed that there was $7.5 million in the
budget for the Dalton Highway and inquired it was eligible
for any federal funding. He offered that the legislature
had always "piecemealed" that road, but that it was a
critical highway to the state. Mr. Ottesen replied that DOT
did all of its major reconstruction projects on the Dalton
Highway with federal funding, but that the $7.5 million was
for activities that were not federally eligible; the
largest task that was completed with the funding was the
production of the resurfacing aggregate. He furthered that
major reconstruction such as a widening or a bridge
replacement was all done with federal funds.
Mr. Ottesen stated that the presentation was entering two
very large sections and that DOT would highlight the bigger
projects.
Co-Chair Meyer noted that a lot of the funding remaining in
the presentation was federal.
10:07:08 AM
ROGER MAGGARD, TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, STATEWIDE AVIATION,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES,
introduced himself and discussed the department's budget.
RN 7470
Airport Improvement Program
$217,855,000
Mr. Maggard related that this program was 93.75 percent
federally funded with 6.25 percent in non-federal match. He
explained that DOT obtained grants for projects, which were
then put into construction. He furthered that the
department could pay its construction costs and be
reimbursed by the federal government. He concluded that the
program was a cost reimbursement program.
Mr. Maggard related that there were four themes, known as
the "four cornerstones," that were primary with the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) for Alaska's rural airport
system. The first theme was the Runway Safety Area
Expansion Program. He stated that Congress had passed a law
that required that all runway safety areas on certificated
Part 139 airports, which were the airports that served
aircraft with over 30 seats, be brought up to standards by
2015; the FAA was pushing this as their top priority.
RN 56963
Adak- Runway Safety Area Improvements
$6,400,000
RN 49163
Kodiak- Airport Improvements
$27,600,000
Mr. Maggard stated that the second "cornerstone" that the
FFA was pushing was improving the pavement conditions at
airports. He related that DOT liked to have the runways
meeting a pavement condition index of 70 and the taxiways
to meet an index of 60. He shared that there was an
inspection program and that each paved airport was
inspected once every three years. He stated that pavement
normally deteriorated at three points per year and that the
department tried to extend the life of pavements with
pavement preservations. He added that pavement preservation
was a major expense.
10:11:11 AM
RN 49104
Haines-Airport Drainage Improvement and Taxiway, Runway and
Apron Rehabilitation, and Fencing
$2,000,000
RN 56966
King Salmon- Runway Pavement Reconstruction
$4,000,000
RN AMD 56954
Nome Airport- Runway Apron Pavement Rehabilitation
$11,000,000
RN 40294
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport-Airfield
Pavement and Maintenance
$25,400,000
Mr. Maggard relayed that the third theme was rural access
and stated that 82 percent of Alaska's communities had no
road access; airports provided the primary or only
practical all-season access to these communities.
RN 56965
Hooper Bay- Airport Improvements
$25,000,000
RN 56955
Kiana- Airport Improvements and Snow Removal Equipment
Building(SREB)
$15,000,000
RN 56950
Saint Michael- Airport Improvements
$8,300,000
Mr. Maggard shared that the fourth "cornerstone" was safety
improvements, which covered a wide variety of potential
projects.
RN 40555
Cold Bay-Airport Rescue and Firefighting Building Expansion
$332,000
RN 56961
Cold Bay- Approach Lighting System Replacement
$2,900,000
RN 56956
Ketchikan Airport- Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF)
Building Remodel
$1,000,000
RN 51627
Fairbanks International Airport- Aircraft Rescue
Firefighting Facility Upgrade
$6,500,000
Senator Hoffman pointed to page 70 and requested the
department to reclassify the locations of the new election
districts. Mr. Ottesen responded that the department would
work on it.
10:15:25 AM
Mr. Ottesen related that the Federal Highway Program was
the largest individual portion of the department's capital
budget and was funded largely by the FHWA.
MIKE VIGUE, DIVISION OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES, began his
presentation of the department's requests.
RN 32610
Surface Transportation Program
$577,000,000
RN 32609
Federal-Aid Highway State Match
$48,600,000
Mr. Vigue responded to an earlier question by Co-Chair
Meyer and stated that the vast majority of the Federal
Highway Program was split at about 91 percent federal
funding to 9 percent match. He pointed out that there were
a few programs with an 80 percent to 20 percent split.
Co-Chair Meyer stated that the department did not need to
go through each item individually. Mr. Vigue responded that
he would not go through each project, but would highlight a
couple of the projects and provide information on several
of the metropolitan planning organization projects.
RN 39100
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS)- Air Quality Public and Business Awareness
Education Campaign
$300,000
RN 56933
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS)- Municipalty of Anchorage Long Range Transportation
Plan
$650,000
RN 56932
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS)-Freight Mobility Study
$250,000
RN 51556
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS)-O'Malley Road Reconstruction
$20,500,000
RN 40396
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS)- Ridesharing and Transit Marketing
$720,000
Mr. Vigue stated that these projects were prioritized by
the metropolitan planning organization in Anchorage, which
was Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions
(AMATS). He related that AMATS received an allocation of
about $22 million per year and stated that the above
projects were what AMATS had in its transportation plan for
the upcoming year. He pointed out that the largest project
in this group was the O'Malley road reconstruction.
RN 41699
Central Region- National highway System and Non-National
Highway System Pavement and Bridge Refurbishment
$25,000,000
RN 41700
Northern Region- National highway System and Non-National
Highway System Pavement and Bridge Refurbishment
RN 41701
Southeast Region- National highway System and Non-National
Highway System Pavement and Bridge Refurbishment
$5,000,000
Mr. Vigue stated that these three projects were for
preventative maintenance and were aimed at extending the
life of the facility. The funds would be used for
activities such as chip sealing, pavement overlays, crack
sealing, restoration of drainage systems, and bridge
preservations.
10:20:07 AM
RN 57060
Palmer-Wasilla Highway- Pavement Preservation- Parks
Highway to Knik-Goose Bay Road
$4,000,000
RN 49144
Parks Highway- Milepost 43.5 to 52.3 Reconstruction Lucas
Road to Big Lake Cutoff
$29,000,000
RN 54161
Parks Highway- Milepost 194-Broad Pass Railroad
Overcrossing
$20,000,000
Mr. Vigue related that the two projects on the Parks
Highway were fairly substantial and stated that the highway
was a designated highway safety corridor; it was the
department's intent to get these two projects "out in the
near-term."
Mr. Vigue related that there were a fair amount of bridge
projects on the list and relayed that under MAP-21, there
would be a performance measure on structurally deficient
bridges; as a result, DOT had been making an effort to try
to get the bridges to a better condition. He related that
if the state did not work on the bridges, there would be
penalties to the state. He explained that designated
funding would have to be used on bridges and that the
federal share on a project could go down if the state did
not meet the federal performance measures.
Senator Bishop inquired if the department had its matrix
laid out regarding the order of what bridges the state need
to improve. Mr. Vigue replied in the affirmative and
explained that DOT had a bridge management system that
required them to conduct inspections on the bridges every
two years. He furthered that the department collected data
on the bridges and assigned them a score, which was known
as a "sufficiency rating." He concluded that the department
would use the data to determine which bridges would get
capital improvements.
Mr. Ottesen followed up that DOT had published a bridge
report in 2005 and relayed that it contained the mainline
and the "off-system" bridges that needed work. He stated
that the department had been focusing on the mainline
bridges because of the prospect of gas pipelines and
because they impeded commerce for oversized and overweight
loads.
Co-Chair Meyer inquired how the intermixing of federal and
general fund money worked. He assumed the department would
continue expanding O'Malley "up the hill" with the
additional money in the GO Bond. He expressed concerns that
using federal money could slow down the project. Mr.
Ottesen replied that DOT could get back to the committee
with an answer, but that the department was mindful to
apply the type of funding that made the project go the
fastest. Co-Chair Meyer noted that the issue could be
pursued outside of the meeting.
10:24:18 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough directed the committee's attention
back to pages 149 and 150 and discussed RN 56913 and RN
54306. She inquired if the two projects would be inside the
Anchorage area. Mr. Ottesen replied that he was not certain
of the answer and would have to get back to the committee
with a response. He pointed out that the Anchorage signals
were managed by the Municipality of Anchorage; AMATS would
provide funding for Anchorage signal projects. He believed
that the projects were for the signal systems in Mat-Su and
Kenai.
Vice-Chair Fairclough pointed out the Municipality of
Anchorage was taking care of the signals and that she did
not want the state to reach in and compete with them. Mr.
Ottesen responded that DOT was not competing and was very
cooperative with AMATS and the Municipality of Anchorage.
He added that the department had signal systems in Mat-Su
and Kenai that were fully the responsibility of DOT.
Vice-Chair Fairclough referenced RN 56913 and requested a
breakdown of where the new school zone devices were being
installed.
Senator Hoffman directed the presented back to RN 51320 on
page 226. He noted that the department had identified over
$725,000,000 in deferred maintenance needs in aviation,
harbors, statewide facilities and highways, and the Alaska
Marine Highway System; he inquired if the department could
provide him with a list of those projects. Mr. Ottesen
replied in the affirmative and replied that next section
would cover the projects.
RN 51320
Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair, and Equipment
$26,230,000
Mr. Coffey related that the funding was valuable to DOT. He
reiterated that there was federal airport improvement
funding and Federal Highway Administration preventative
maintenance funding, but that the two funding sources were
limited and could only be used for certain types of
projects. He stated that the approximately $725,000,000
backlog represented projects that were deferred because the
department did not have the resources to address them in a
timely fashion.
RN 51383
Aviation Deferred Maintenance
$3,258,900
Mr. Coffey stated that these projects allowed DOT to do
repairs primarily to the rural airports for lighting
repairs, leveling of the airport, surface aggregates, brush
cutting, segmented circles, windsock repair, etc. He added
that this funding covered a wide range of typically smaller
projects and would not qualify for a federal "full blown
type project."
10:28:35 AM
RN 51539
Highways Deferred Maintenance
$1,735,700
Mr. Coffey related that there were 30 or 40 projects that
were allocated out of this funding source. He stated that
the allocations were broken down into vegetation
management, gravel resurfacing, dust control, and asphalt
repairs. He pointed out that the deferred maintenance
funding had allowed DOT to do tremendous work on asphalt
repairs in the Anchorage, Mat-Su, and Kenai areas; rather
than a federal aid project that covered miles of paving,
the department was able to strategically hit smaller
segments. He stated that the funds were also used for
luminaire and traffic signal repairs and upgrades, bridge
repairs, and culvert replacement. He added that these
projects tended to be smaller in scale, but did not
generally qualify for federal funds. He concluded that the
funding was a great way for the department to try to reduce
its backlog of deferred maintenance projects.
Senator Hoffman reiterated that he would like a list of the
$725,000,000 in deferred maintenance projects statewide.
Mr. Ottesen replied that the department would provide the
requested information.
Senator Bishop inquired if vegetation management referred
to hydro-axing, brushing, and clearing on the right-of-way.
Mr. Coffey responded in the affirmative. Senator Bishop
complimented DOT on its increased efforts at vegetation
management and offered that it represented a safety-zone
improvement on moose strikes.
Senator Dunleavy requested that the project list that
Senator Hoffman had asked for be provided to the entire
committee. Mr. Ottesen responded in the affirmative.
Co-Chair Meyer interjected that the information would be
routed through the chairman's office to be distributed to
committee members.
Mr. Ottesen responded that there were lists of the projects
behind each of the categories in the budget. He asked Mr.
Coffey if the list in the budget included the entirety of
the $725,000,000 in deferred maintenance projects in the
categories of aviation, harbors, statewide facilities and
highways, and the Alaska Marine Highway System. Mr. Coffey
responded that the lists in the budget only included the
2014 proposed allocations.
Mr. Ottesen stated that DOT would provide the complete list
of the $725,000,000 in deference maintenance projects to
the committee.
Senator Dunleavy inquired if the list of $725,000,000 in
deferred maintenance projects would be broken down by
election district. Mr. Ottesen replied that the list was
prepared prior to the district change and that DOT would
have to go through it to make sure the districts were
correct.
10:32:08 AM
SB 18 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
Co-Chair Meyer discussed the following meeting's agenda and
noted that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the committee would
try to meet until 11:00 a.m.
10:32:42 AM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Senate Finance DOLWD Capital Hearing Follow-up.pdf |
SFIN 2/12/2013 9:00:00 AM |
SB 18 |