Legislature(2001 - 2002)
03/26/2002 01:35 PM Senate TRA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 26, 2002
1:35 p.m.
HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mary Kapsner
HOUSE MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Vic Kohring, Chair
Representative Beverly Masek, Vice Chair
Representative Scott Ogan
Representative Drew Scalzi
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Albert Kookesh
SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Jerry Ward, Vice Chair
Senator Robin Taylor
Senator Gary Wilken
Senator Kim Elton
SENATE MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator John Cowdery, Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: PORT OF BELLINGHAM
PREVIOUS ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JIM DARLING, Executive Director
Port of Bellingham
P.O. Box 1677
Bellingham, Washington 98227-1677
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview of the Port of
Bellingham.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 02-8, SIDE A [House TRA tape]
Number 001
CHAIR JERRY WARD called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Transportation Standing Committees to order at 1:35 p.m.
Representative Kapsner and Senators Ward, Wilken, Elton, and
Taylor were present at the call to order.
OVERVIEW: PORT OF BELLINGHAM
JIM DARLING, Executive Director, Port of Bellingham, presented a
PowerPoint presentation. He informed the committees that the
Port of Bellingham and Alaska are in the 13th year of a 20-year
arrangement with Alaska. He explained that this arrangement
comes in a number of agreements, one of which is the base
agreement in which the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) pays
$100,000 a year for use of the terminal in Bellingham. There is
also a facility agreement that covers custodial work.
Furthermore, the Port of Bellingham performs all the ticketing
for the North bound passengers. He noted that [ticketing] costs
are less than when the agreement started in 1989.
Number 0204
MR. DARLING pointed out that the ferry was in Seattle,
Washington, up until 1989 when the Port of Bellingham made a bid
and won it. One of the reasons the Port of Bellingham won the
bid was because of the shorter sailing times. Ridership levels
have ranged from about 25,000 to 42,000 a year; the ridership is
a function of how many vessels sail a year. Mr. Darling
informed the committees that of all the runs [AMHS] does, the
run to the Port of Bellingham is the one that generates a
positive cash flow into the system.
MR. DARLING showed the committees a slide of the terminal at the
Port of Bellingham, which was built at a cost of about $10
million. The terminal was recently remodeled and improved,
which cost about $800,000. Connected to the terminal is a
transportation center that provides access to Amtrak and
Greyhound as well as city bus service. The advantage of the
city bus service is that the terminal is only about ten minutes
from Bellingham International Airport, which offers commercial
carriers such as Horizon that would connect with Alaska. Mr.
Darling noted that the port operates other facilities some of
which have connections with Alaska. He informed the committees
that in Squalicum and Blaine there are marinas
, which are home to a number of Alaska fishermen. Furthermore,
the [port's] shipping terminal has historically done barge work
with Alaska. [The port] also owns a number of industrial and
commercial properties that have connections with Alaskan
markets, such as the Bellingham cold storage. [The port] is
linked to the community in that Bellingham is home for many of
the ferry workers. Moreover, Western Washington University is
located in the area and the vast majority of its out-of-state
students are from Alaska. Also, St. Joseph Hospital is in the
area. This hospital is part of the "Peace Health Group" that
also operates Ketchikan General Hospital, and therefore they
share a number of services such as oncology. So, a patient from
Ketchikan who needs oncology services would likely take the
ferry to Bellingham in order to access St. Joseph Hospital.
Number 0422
MR. DARLING turned to the national security measures taken at
the terminal. He informed the committees that passenger
identification checks have increased and all the vehicles are
searched before entering the ferry. In response to Vice Chair
Ward, Mr. Darling explained that the Bellingham Police
Department provides uniform law enforcement to meet every vessel
arrival and departure. The identification of embarking
passengers is checked carefully. If someone is of a suspicious
nature, that person's bags are checked. All vehicles [embarking
on the ferry] are being checked. Mr. Darling pointed out that
[the port authority] operates the airport and thus is very
familiar with the security standards. The same types of
security measures implemented at the airport are being
implemented at the ferry terminal, with the exception of the
baggage checking. Regionally, the U.S. Coast Guard is working
with regional marine facilities to develop standards similar to
those at airports. Hopefully, that process will result in
reasonable standards that everyone will use in marine
transportation.
MR. DARLING informed the committees that the port does joint
marketing with Alaska. Port [officials] visit communities in
Southeast Alaska every few years in order to work on promoting
the tourism and visitor industry. Mr. Darling mentioned that
[Bellingham] like every other waterfront community has an
economy that is in transition from a natural resource base to
more of a tourism, visitor economy. Alaskans are a large part
of that tourism industry. Mr. Darling noted that he reviewed
the 1988 port proposal this morning and [Bellingham] has done
all that it said it would, part of which was to develop some
waterfront facilities. In closing, Mr. Darling mentioned that
the highway system has applied for a scenic byway connotation
from the Federal Highway Administration in order to make the
route a federal scenic highway. If that is approved, the [port]
expects additional funds to promote that. Mr. Darling offered
to take questions.
Number 0685
SENATOR TAYLOR inquired as to any restrictions that would apply
with the scenic highway designation.
MR. DARLING related his understanding that there are no
restrictions.
SENATOR TAYLOR related his belief that in other locations with
established corridors or byways, there were some restrictions
due to the narrow definition for byway. He expressed concern
that a designated scenic byway may come with restrictions that
don't allow it to ever be upgraded to a highway.
MR. DARLING said he has asked the same question and has been
assured [that there are no restrictions]. Mr. Darling pointed
out that the Bellingham community has made a tremendous
investment in this facility and the community continues to
support this. He noted his appreciation of the relationship
between Bellingham and Alaska.
Number 0880
VICE CHAIR WARD inquired as to the structure of [the Port of
Bellingham] and how it works.
MR. DARLING explained that in 1911 Washington law created the
ability to form port authorities, which are municipal
corporations. There are about 82 such entities in the State of
Washington, which amounts to about a quarter of the port
authorities in the United States. The port authorities have
powers of taxation and eminent domain. However, the port
authorities have no regulatory authority or responsibility. The
responsibility that the port authorities have from the state
deals principally with transportation. In the 1950s the power
of the port authorities was expanded to include economic
development. Therefore, the ports in the State of Washington
operate airports and train stations. Due to the economic
development component, the Port of Bellingham is involved in
real estate. Mr. Darling noted that the port has three elected
commissioners that serve on a board, and much like school
districts the board appoints a Chief Executive Officer.
VICE CHAIR WARD inquired as to how much income is derived from
economic development.
MR. DARLING explained that the [Port of Bellingham] is organized
such that a quarter of its revenue is from property taxes and 75
percent is from operating income. All the port's tax dollars
are returned to environmental cleanup projects, public access
projects, and economic development. Those are reinvestments
into the community. Mr. Darling highlighted that the operating
side operates financially independent of taxes. Therefore, the
port operates under whatever the gross revenue is and that is
where the debt service is covered. He explained that the
operating side includes marinas, small boat harbors, the cargo
facility, the passenger terminal, the port's real estate
portfolio, and the airport. The Port of Bellingham is one of
the few port authorities that operates an airport without tax
dollars.
Number 1076
SENATOR ELTON related his assumption that the port authority's
land base is co-located with the port facilities and thus is
near the harbor and the airport.
MR. DARLING specified that the port authority's political
boundaries are coterminus with Whatcom County, but the port
authority's facilities are generally located around the [port's]
transportation facilities. However, the port authority has an
industrial park at a border town of Canada.
VICE CHAIR WARD asked if the port authority was given a land
grant or the authority to tax land.
MR. DARLING answered that the port authority was given the
authority to tax land. The port authority pays a property tax
in lieu of taxes, a leasehold tax. The port authority amounts
to approximately 3 percent of the property tax bill. The bulk
of the port authority's income comes from the authority's
business.
Number 1158
SENATOR WILKEN inquired as to Mr. Darling's thoughts on the
Vancouver port in regard to growth.
MR. DARLING noted that although market forces have pushed the
Port of Bellingham farther away from marine cargo, it is still
familiar with it. He estimated that the Vancouver Port
Authority does about 78 million tons [of cargo a year]. To put
that in perspective, all the ports in the State of Washington do
about 72 million tons of cargo a year. The Vancouver Port
Authority competes with Washington ports and some other West
Coast ports because [Vancouver] has a really good East-West rail
lines whereas Washington only has one [rail line].
Number 1234
SENATOR WILKEN inquired as to changes in security since Black
Tuesday.
MR. DARLING said that [the Bellingham International Airport] did
what every other airport did due to the Federal Aviation
Association's (FAA) alert system. On the marine side, the U.S.
Coast Guard didn't have an alert system. In Washington, the
U.S. Coast Guard quickly surveyed all the marine facilities and
made specific recommendations for each facility. The port
implemented those recommendations. Now the U.S. Coast Guard is
creating a marine security system with various levels of [alert]
that have specific guidelines. Federally, 15 cargo ports are
being selected to do extraordinary security. The Port of
Bellingham doesn't handle enough cargo to be chosen.
VICE CHAIR WARD posed a situation in which someone goes through
security at the [Port of Bellingham]. He asked if the fact that
the individual went through security carries through to the next
port.
MR. DARLING said it does in a sense, because once the individual
is on the vessel the individual has went through some security
clearance to go on the vessel. He said he couldn't speak to
what happens if there are layovers, although he felt that the
marine highway system is checking that.
VICE CHAIR WARD remarked that not everyone wants to go through a
complete screening process at every port.
MR. DARLING turned to the expense of the [screening] technology.
For example, the port's operating budget has increased by 50
percent with this first year of security measures.
Number 1399
SENATOR ELTON related his understanding that the Port of
Bellingham's facilities is making a payment to Bellingham in
lieu of taxes.
MR. DARLING answered yes, and clarified that the payment is made
through the state to the local municipal jurisdiction. He
specified that there is no payment on facilities that the port
authority operates. The payment is made on any income that is
derived. He noted that there is a debate on this in relation to
how to treat cargo.
VICE CHAIR WARD thanked Mr. Darling. He related his belief that
the Port of Bellingham has been a good partner.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committees, the joint
meeting of the House and Senate Transportation Standing
Committees was adjourned at 1:58 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|