ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SENATE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE  February 10, 2005 1:37 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Charlie Huggins, Chair Senator Gene Therriault Senator Hollis French MEMBERS ABSENT  Senator John Cowdery, Vice Chair Senator Albert Kookesh OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT  Senator Donny Olson COMMITTEE CALENDAR Overview Presentation: Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION No previous action to record. WITNESS REGISTER Mike Barton, Commissioner Department of Transportation & Public Facilities 3132 Channel Dr. Juneau, AK 99801-7898 POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview of DOTPF activities. ACTION NARRATIVE CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS called the Senate Transportation Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:37:55 PM. Present were Senator Hollis French and Chair Charlie Huggins. ^Overview Presentation Alaska Department Of Transportation and  Public Facilities  Commissioner Mike Barton introduced Frank Richards, Jeff Ottesen, Nancy Slagle, John MacKinnon and Kip Knudson. 1:39:36 PM Slide Presentation: Alaska DOT & PF Overview presented by Commissioner Mike Barton, Alaska DOT&PF. The following time stamps will reflect the slide pages presented during the overview: Department overview: pages 1-12. 1:43:34 PM Operations: pages 13-17. 1:46:06 PM Maintenance: pages 18-19. 1:47:03 PM Disasters: pages 20-23. 1:48:29 PM Airports: pages 24-27. 1:51:39 PM SENATOR THERRIAULT joined the committee. Marine highway, ports and harbors, and commercial vehicles: pages 28-30. 1:56:36 PM Capitol programs: pages 31-36. 2:01:04 PM Funding categories: pages 37-38. 2:04:46 PM SENATOR DONNY OLSON joined the committee. 2:06:03 PM Metropolitan planning organizations: pages 39-41. 2:09:06 PM Construction funding: pages 42-44. 2:09:35 PM Programs and projects: pages 45-46. Discussed Copper River highway and Stampede Road project. 2:17:20 PM Discussion involved the Glenn Highway corridor project and Anchorage mid-town congestion. 2:27:21 PM Further Anchorage mid-town congestion discussion using map visuals. 2:32:19 PM North side of Merrill Field, airport property Glenn Highway expansion discussion. Recess from 2:33:52 PM to 2:44:01 PM. TEA-21 Reauthorization: pages 47-48. 2:48:20 PM SENATOR HOLLIS FRENCH expressed concern that the upgrades to the Ted Stevens airport cost substantially more than agreed upon. He asked if an investigation had been done. MR. BARTON replied considerable analysis was done. Three major factors were involved in the overrun. First, the post 911 regulations added to the project. Second, the airlines requested a significant increase in square footage. Third, the permitting processes and design changes contributed to delays and increased cost. He said he would provide the particular cost information. 2:52:04 PM SENATOR FRENCH said thank you. He was particularly interested in the permitting aspect and recruiting. MR. BARTON responded a big problem is that they are no longer competitive in the marketplace. SENATOR FRENCH asked if workers are going to other states for work or straight to the private sectors. MR. BARTON replied both and added that 31% of the DOT engineers will be retiring in the next five years and recruitment is difficult. 2:55:27 PM CHAIR HUGGINS mentioned retiree rehire and asked if he was supportive. MR. BARTON said yes. CHAIR HUGGINS asked if there was anything in particular that he would suggest the committee address at the Wasilla meeting. MR. BARTON replied he would get back with that information. 2:58:09 PM CHAIR HUGGINS asked for a comment on de-icing. MR. BARTON said there are a number of de-icing techniques. Using sensors to trigger a spray system is one such technique and the use of fog sensors is another. There were no further questions. CHAIR HUGGINS said thanks for the presentation and adjourned the meeting at 3:01:26 PM.