Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer

Faced with a looming price tag of nearly $2 billion to fix its port, unsavory funding options and competing claims, the Anchorage Assembly is again examining every aspect of rebuilding one of Alaska’s most critical pieces of infrastructure.

The Assembly began its third review of plans to rebuild the municipal-owned port, which the body officially renamed the Port of Alaska in 2017, during a Feb. 20 Assembly Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee meeting where representatives from several civil engineering firms were invited to present their thoughts on the current port modernization project.

Assemblyman and committee co-chair Christopher Constant characterized the informal meeting as a “crowd-sourcing” session for Assembly members to gather high-level design concepts and other information that could be carried forward.

Notably, Jim Campbell, president of the Anchorage-based firm PND Engineers Inc., said he believes major components of the new construction estimated to cost more than $1.4 billion can be done for just more than $300 million.

Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-02-27/assembly-begins-critical-look-anchorage-port-plan#.XHh8WIhKjtV

KTUU News
By Rebecca Palsha

Many Alaskans had sticker shock when they saw the updated cost for the Port of Alaska: Almost $2 billion.

It prompted many lawmakers and city leaders to rally behind what is essentially an audit of the project.

Anchorage Assemblyman Chris Constant organized a special meeting of Municipality of Anchorage Utility and Enterprise Committee on the Port Modernization Project. He invited Jacobs Engineering, Moffatt Nichol, R&M Consulting, PND Engineers and DOWL. Constant says DOWL couldn't attend.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Anchorage-Assembly-looks-to-reduce-costs-to-fix-the-Port-of-Alaska-506132561.html

Anchorage Daily News
Author: Elwood Brehmer, Alaska Journal of Commerce

Import charges levied on basic commodities at the Anchorage port could increase fivefold or more if the municipality is forced to rebuild decrepit shoreside infrastructure on its own dime, according to an analysis released last week.

The analysis looks at how much Port of Alaska tariffs on refined petroleum products and cement would have to be raised to cover the cost of borrowing $200 million to pay for replacing the port’s petroleum and cement terminal. It was prepared by the Virginia-based economic consulting firm Parrish, Blessing and Associates Inc. and presented at a Thursday Port Commission meeting.

Municipal Manager Bill Falsey said in a follow-up interview that the municipality will have to sell $200 million in revenue bonds in less than a year to stay on the construction schedule for the petroleum cement terminal.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2019/02/17/study-much-higher-fuel-cement-fees-needed-to-pay-for-anchorage-port-work/

Webcenter 11
By John Dougherty

A representative from the Port of Alaska discussed proposed dock upgrades during today's Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce Luncheon.

Officials say the Port of Alaska in Anchorage will start closing down in 9 years unless the docks are rebuilt.

The port was built in the 1960's, and has been needing upgrades for years.

Rebuilding the docks could cost as much as $2 billion over the duration of the project.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.webcenter11.com/content/news/Port-Upgrades-on-the-Menu-for-the-Chamber-of-Commerce-Luncheon-505763351.html

Anchorage Daily News
Letters to the Editor
February 11, 2019

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed giving Alaska residents an extra $3,678 as “payback” for former Gov. Bill Walker’s capping of PFD checks during the Alaska recession. At the same time, we read that the Port of Alaska — Alaska’s primary marine port for importing food and manufactured necessities — is failing rapidly.

We Alaskans need to act like adults and build the infrastructure that our families and businesses depend on for survival now. The estimated $2 billion in port upgrades, if spread equally across all 738,000 Alaskans, would represent an investment of $2,700 each. That’s still $1,000 less than Gov. Dunleavy has proposed to send us. I like cash as much as the next person, but all Alaskans depend on the Port of Alaska. The ADN reports that Alaska’s stores and warehouses contain only a 6-10 day food supply. Alaska’s best alternative marine ports, Whittier, Seward and Valdez, were destroyed within minutes and with high loss of life by our 1964 earthquake and tsunami. We also just had a serious reminder of our collective vulnerability on Nov. 30, even before the governor issued his earthquake disaster declaration.

Read Full Letter Here:
https://www.adn.com/opinions/letters/2019/02/11/letter-pay-for-the-port/

Author: Anchorage Daily News editorial board

It’s a hypothetical scenario, but one made somewhat less so by ongoing woes and ballooning cost estimates to fix the shipping terminal that supplies the majority of food, fuel and durable goods to the state: What would happen if the Port of Alaska simply failed?

It’s not a pretty picture. “Depending where you are in the state, you will run out of food in six to 10 days,” said Jim Jager, the port’s external affairs director. “For fuel, we’re a little better off ... but we ordinarily don’t have more than a week’s worth of food in-state."

In this imagined disaster, Alaskans wouldn’t likely starve, of course. In the absence of Anchorage’s port, food and fuel shipments would be diverted as best as possible to alternate ports, such as Seward or Valdez. But none have similar capacity or connectivity to high-volume transport avenues, and upgrading them would, like upgrading the Port of Alaska, be costly and time-consuming. It would take more time and fuel to get goods to Alaskans, and that would mean higher prices.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/opinions/editorials/2019/02/02/what-would-happen-if-we-didnt-fix-the-port-of-alaska/

KTUU News
By Rebecca Palsha

The price to upgrade, replace and fix the aging Port of Alaska has now grown to almost $2 billion.

The Port is vital to the state. It handles more than 3.5 million tons of food, building supplies and all things that make life enjoyable and workable for Alaskans. It is also designated as a strategic seaport for the Department of Defense.

The new price tag, from CH2M Hill, which is now owned by Jacobs Engineering, comes as a surprise the Anchorage Assembly as well as the mayor's office.

"It's certainly an uncomfortable place and what we ultimately want folks to know is that we don't have any particular interest in building a $2 billion, all-in project," city manager Bill Falsey said. "We would like this to be the least expensive port that can meet our needs."

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Port-of-Alaska-expected-to-cost-almost-2-billion-to-repair-and-replace--504997701.html

Alaska Public Media
By: Zachariah Hughes

Alaska’s biggest port is in dire need of improvements. And according to the latest estimate, those repairs will be twice as expensive as originally forecasted, leaving city officials are dismayed.

In recent years, the Municipality of Anchorage had been bracing for cost of around $1 billion to complete several different projects within a port modernization program. But the engineering firm managing the project has had to adjust that estimate upwards.

“They have given us a revised all-in price-tag of nearly $2 billion. It leaves us in a very uncomfortable place,” said City Manager Bill Falsey.

Read the full story here:
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/01/25/port-project-cost-estimate-doubles-to-nearly-2b/

Anchorage Daily News
By:  Devin Kelly

The estimated cost of replacing corroding docks and facilities at the Port of Alaska has ballooned to nearly $2 billion, the project contractor said recently — a sum that will likely translate into price increases for gas, groceries and other consumer goods in the coming years.

City officials said they were stunned by the new figure, which is double what the city expected to pay.
“When we saw that number, (we) said, how can that possibly be true? What can we do to make that not true?” said city manager Bill Falsey. “And we will figure out what to do if it is unavoidably true.”'

The new cost estimate comes as the city has been preparing to build the first phase of a “modernization” project that launched in 2014. That phase includes a new petroleum and cement terminal, which delivers gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and cement to the rest of the state. The docks at the Port of Alaska have been crippled by corrosion and will begin closing in a decade without major repairs, officials have warned.

Read full story here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2019/01/25/cost-doubles-to-2-billion-to-fix-anchorage-port-setting-stage-for-higher-gas-and-grocery-prices/