Council votes down mid-season port tariff adjustment

By Diana Haecker
The better part of Mondays’ Nome Common Council meeting was spent on a discussion relating to a port tariff adjustment request brought to the panel by the Port Commission.
Chair of the Port Commission and owner of Board of Trade Jim West Jr. requested in April a meeting to discuss wharfage rates for a big rock sand and gravel project he won the contract for, exporting Nome material to Cape Blossom near Kotzebue.
The Port of Nome has tiered wharfage rates up to 40,000 tons and over (at $1.85 per ton) and West needed to move 250,000 tons of rock across the causeway. In his request, West quoted a section of the Port of Nome Tariff that provides for “negotiable rates.” However, Port Director Joy Baker clarified  at the Council meeting that tariff rates are not negotiable, as confirmed by the city’s attorney, who also advised City Manager Glenn Steckman to the same effect. Baker gave an example of a negotiable fee, which is when projects need storage space on the port’s upland facilities.
Baker said the port has never seen this kind of volume of rock moved throught the port, and thus the port commission hasn’t addressed tariffs for significantly more than 40,000 tons of gravel being exported. Steckman added that city or port staff does not have the authority of negotiate rates.
The Port Commission, hamstrung by the fact that three of the seven commissioners declared a conflict of interest on the matter, brought the issue to the Council. Before the Council on Monday was a resolution that sought to temporarily add a tier of 200,000 tons and over with a wharfage fee of $1.70 per ton. Discussion centered on the ethics of allowing a port director to seek a special rate when tariffs were in place at the time of contract signing. The Port panel usually revisits tariff rates and mulls increases or changes in the fall or winter months, not in mid-shipping season.
In public comment, Austin Ahmasuk brought this point up, saying that the port tariffs are set to cover costs and maintenance of the port. He also said that the Council must consider the trust that the public has in their officials to have the best interest of the port at heart, not their personal interest.
After clarification that the set tariff rates are not negotiable despite the vaguely formulated tariff section allowing for “negotiable rates’ and that the  solution would be to install other tiers to allow for higher gravel volume coming over the causeway during the regular tariff revisions done in the winter, the Council unanimously voted down the resolution.
In other business, the Council passed in second reading an ordinance to purchase the empty lot at the corner of Division Street and Front Street for $203,000 for the purpose of economic development.
The Council passed a resolution to allow the Nome Winter Association to place a building on city-owned land near the future ice rink near the Rec Center.
The Council passed a resolution to enter into an agreement with Tundra Tinkerer for cleaning services at City Hall and the Richard Foster Building at $50 per hour. When Councilman Adam Martinson asked why the city doesn’t hire a janitor, Steckman said that no suitable candidate was found and that contracting with the private sector seemed a good alternative to clean City Hall three times a week and the Richard Foster Building five times a week to let city staff focus on building maintenance, not cleaning.
In the NJUS manager report, Ken Morton said that the PCE program has been restored and NJUS would retroactively apply last month’s PCE to the August bills. He said NJUS fuel delivery is anticipated for mid-September.
In Councilmember comments, Jennifer Reader reminded folks to file their candidacy by August 31 to run for city office. She announced she won’t run again for her seat on the Common Council.
Mayor John Handeland re-appointed Jana Hoggan and Tracy McGarry to the Public Safety Advisory Commission. The Council confirmed the appointments.