Port Commission discusses port expansion project

By Diana Haecker
The Port Commission met for a work session and regular meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 15, canceling the scheduled Open House session that was planned for Thursday.
Present were commissioners Derek McLarty, Scot Henderson, Shane Smithhisler, Gay Sheffield and Charlie Lean, who led the meeting in the absence of port commission chair Jim West Jr.
On the agenda were no action items to be voted on.
Port Director Joy Baker informed the commission that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has closed out their accounting on the Port of Nome Modification Feasibility Study, which was published in March 2020. The Corps and the City shared the costs of the $3 million study 50/50 and has determined that there were $207,865 left over in non-federal sponsor funds. The money, a letter from the Corps says, was transferred towards the city’s 35 percent portion of the funds to be paid out for the design phase.
This summer, the planned expansion of the Port of Nome has entered the design phase when the Corps, the City and PND signed an agreement to commence design work. A port charette is planned, but the date has yet to be determined.
For the lack of action items, commissioners and port personnel reported on several issues connected to maritime issues.
Commissioner Derek McLarty announced that he and fellow commissioner Scot Henderson are running for the same seat on the Nome Common Council in the upcoming October municipal elections. City commissioners are barred from also sitting on the governing panel of the city and one of them will be vacating their seat on the port commission.
Harbormaster Lucas Stotts reported that the gravel hauling operations have been keeping traffic at the docks busy. An access road is being built at Cape Blossom near Kotzebue with Nome gravel and Nome’s BOT Inc. has secured the contract to haul over 200,000 tons of material out and requested a negotiated rate for Port of Nome tariff fees. City Manager Glenn Steckman denied the request after taking the issue to the city’s attorney and the Nome Common Council, receiving the thumbs down on offering a special rate as tariffs are non-negotiable.
Stotts also reported that this week port staff is busy night and day as about four million gallons of fuel and various petroleum products come across the docks to fill Bonanza, Crowley and Nome Joint Utilities fuel tanks for the year.
The Japanese naval training ship, the Kashima, anchored in Nome’s roadstead from Sept. 12-14. The vessel visited Nome last year, and just like 2020, COVID-19 concerns prevented their cadets to come to shore. They resupplied and offloaded their garbage. City Manager and the Mayor met with the captain and the Japanese Rear Admiral via Zoom and exchanged gifts and pleasantries.
Stotts said the UAF research vessel Sikuliaq will arrive in Nome by the end of the month. They will be assembling research buoys in Nome before sailing north and deploying them in the sea.  Also, in the earlier work session, Commissioner Sheffield said that they will change the entire engine of the Sikuliaq, bringing in parts and the crew to achieve the task.
The barge ramp replacement project has hit a snag and will be not done in time. Contractor STG has run into the problem of not being able to properly de-water the area to install the concrete ramp. STG brought in a large inflatable bladder, a so-called Aqua Dam to allow for de-watering. As fall nears and boat and dredge operators get ready to haul out their vessels, Stotts said, the ramp won’t be done in time, but STG will dress up a gravel ramp to allow port users to get their boats out of the water. “They have committed to help with hauling out vessels,” Stotts said. Will there be any cost overruns that the City will be on the hook for, asked commissioner Henderson. No, Stotts replied.

Port Expansion
Port Director Joy Baker reported that the Port of Nome is the primary sponsor for the upcoming conference of the Alaska Association of Harbormasters & Port Administrators. They were slated to hold the conference this year in Nome, but COVID prevented the gathering here. The conference will be held in Nome next year. “We want to showcase the [Port of Nome expansion] project and try to garnish interest to get them up here,” she said. Nome hosted the conference in 1994.
Baker also reported on the Governor’s whirlwind visit to Nome in late August to hear about the port project, the costs and benefits. “It was a lunch, a quick tour and a quick presentation, a quick media availability and that was it,” she said.
The port expansion is divvied up in components that the federal government via the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for and components that the City is responsible for. The split of funds to design the project is about 65 percent on the Corps and 35 percent on the City. City and port officials are trying to garner interest in the project in hopes to find funding mechanisms and grants that will help pay for City’s portion of the project.
As a massive infrastructure bill is currently mulled at Congress, Baker hopes for $250 million for the Nome port but it is yet uncertain if the bill goes through and when the money is appropriated how much of it would be going towards the port project. The hope is to secure funding from the Denali Commission, the State Dept. of Transportation programs and other agencies.
Baker also asked the port commission to begin a letter writing campaign to inform port customers, present and future, of the port expansion and to reach out to different industries and stakeholders to find out what they desire in a new port . What’s the objective of the campaign, asked Commissioner Sheffield. “Is it advertising for Nome or fact finding?”
Both, was the answer. It’s finding out what the needs or desires are for example of the cruise ship industry calling on the port of Nome, or what the research community would like to see in a port, or the fishing fleet coalitions that already are plowing the seas north of Nome.
Commissioner Henderson came up with analogy, “It’s when you build a new building, you figure out who your customers are and what they want, and then you build accordingly.”
To that end, the commissioners had a nearly two-hour long work session prior to the regular meeting, in which they discussed just that. Who will be coming to Nome once the port is expanded and what will their needs be? What fleet types, what port services would they be looking for and what ancillary businesses could provide services that would attract port users?
For example, is there opportunity for businesses specializing in marine mechanics? Commissioner Sheffield reported that the research vessel Sikuliaq is coming to Nome and is scheduled to undergo an entire engine replacement. They will bring their own parts and engineers to get it done. Is there a potential for businesses in the future that would cater to boat repair? If so, where near the port can the set up shop? Where would the City create laydown space for vessels that need to haul to be worked on? Don’t forget that this port is still operating only seasonally, so would that be a feasible undertaking for private business?
Also, since research vessels are a frequent occurrence in this region, would it behoof Nome to become a research hub and provide facilities geared towards science?
As the Bering Sea ecosystem is changing fast and entire species are on the move research is here to stay and will only intensify.
Then there is the prospect of mineral resource development and the export of minerals or gravel, evidenced of this year with record gravel exports. “The West Gold dock had nothing on this summer but gravel,” said Harbormaster Stotts. He sees double barges coming in, hauling 17,000 tons of gravel out at a time. Well then, said Commissioner Henderson, would it make sense to dedicate one dock for gravel and rock export? And should the city invest in machinery or encourage private business to rent out shoreside machinery like cranes, conveyor belts and other equipment?
Also, there is the tourism industry. Next year, it is projected that cruise ships will make 26 calls to the port of Nome. How will Nome handle potential more tourism?
While the offshore gold rush has faded, Harbormaster Stotts still sees larger gold dredges come in and smaller operations quitting.
By the end of the meeting, Commissioner Sheffield brought up that for the sake of public accountability, the body ought to rethink how it handles keeping a written record when dignitaries come to visit Nome. “If it weren’t for KNOM or the Nome Nugget, I would’ve not known that the Governor came to see the port or that the lobbyists were here,” she said. Also, when other official dignitaries, military brass or politicians come in, there should be a public record of it, but since those meetings are held with only a few commissioners or council members present, there are no minutes, no public record. “That leaves the perception that there is a lack of transparency about the port,” she said. She suggested to have a proper public meeting with commissioners when those dignitaries arrive to discuss port issues and as a quorum is reached, triggering the mechanism of minute taking and therefor creating a public record. “Let’s not be so limited and not keep a public record. We should be embracing tough questions,” she said.
Charlie Lean concurred, speaking from experience when the first jetty was built. “There was a big void what people were thinking how decisions were made,” he said. “We need to get stuff down on paper.”
The next port commission meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 with a work session preceding the regular meeting.