03/23/1999 01:02 PM House TRA

     HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE                                                                                    
                  March 23, 1999                                                                                                
                     1:02 PM                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
  COMMITTEE CALENDAR                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
  ANNUAL PRESENTATION BY THE PORT OF BELLINGHAM                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
  TAPE(S)                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
  99-13,  SIDE A                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
  CALL TO ORDER                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
  CHAIR MASEK of the House Transportation Standing Committee                                                                    
  called the meeting to order at 1:02 PM.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
  PRESENT                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
  Members present at the call to order were Representatives                                                                     
  Masek,  Halcro, Hudson, Sanders and Kemplen.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
  JIM DARLING,  Executive Director,  Port of Bellingham, noted                                                                  
  that this marked the tenth year of the port's twenty year                                                                     
  relationship with Alaska.  He then presented Chair Masek and                                                                  
  the committee with a poster commemorating the port's work.  He                                                                
  went over the history of the port, the present operations                                                                     
  (32-35,000 passengers per year), the Amtrak station, and his                                                                  
  hopes for a productive future with the state of Alaska.  He                                                                   
  concluded by saying that there was an open invitation for the                                                                 
  legislators to visit and tour the port.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
  SCOTT WALKER,  President, Board of Commissioners, on his                                                                      
  eighth trip to visit the committee, thanked the committee for                                                                 
  the great relationship with the state of Alaska.  He reflected                                                                
  on what the Alaska Marine Highway has meant for Alaska over                                                                   
  the last ten years.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
  REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON reflected on his years with the ferry                                                                   
  system and the change to the Port of Bellingham from the Port                                                                 
  of Seattle.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
  REPRESENTATIVE MASEK reflected on the previous years'                                                                         
  presentations, thanked the port for the framed poster.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
  ADJOURNMENT                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
  There being no further business before the committee, the                                                                     
  Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
  NOTE:  The meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes                                                                     
  were taken.  A copy of the tape(s) and log notes may be                                                                       
  obtained by contacting the House Records Office at 130                                                                        
  Seward Street, Suite 211, Juneau, Alaska  99801-1182, (907)                                                                   
  465-2214, and after adjournment of the second session of the                                                                  
  Twenty-first Alaska State Legislature, in the Legislative                                                                     
  Reference Library.