KTUU News
By Dan Carpenter
An amendment to city land use and zoning rules now allows the Port of Anchorage to maintain its storage tanks near Government Hill but requires a public process before any new tanks can be built.
“It is challenging having this amount of chemical, toxic, flammable materials in one location,” said assembly member Amy Demboski as the Anchorage Assembly considered amending Title 21.
On Tuesday, the body approved a proposal from the city to delete the 1,000 foot buffer for the port and require a conditional use permit from the city.
Read the full story here:
http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Rules-scaled-back-for-the-Port-by-Anchorage-Assembly-423979384.html
KTUU News
By: Travis Khachatoorian
After an outcry from the Government Hill neighborhood, the municipality is adding an amendment to a proposed ordinance that would roll back regulations on constructing new fuel tanks at the Port of Anchorage.
The city said the problem stems from changes to the Title 21 zoning laws. The rewrite, enacted in 2016, caused what the municipality described as “unintended consequences,” where the development of new storage containers for hazardous materials, like fuel, could only be constructed within 1,000 feet of residential neighborhoods after a conditional use permitting process.
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http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/City-compromises-on-fuel-tank-controversy-in-Government-Hill-423774033.html
Petroleum News
The Municipality of Anchorage, which sued PND Engineers Inc. in 2013 over the failed Port of Anchorage intermodal expansion project and sought more than $100 million in damages, has settled with PND for $750,000.
PND was the designer of record on the project, which was halted before completion of the construction. “We are happy to settle this meritless suit against us for less than the cost of going to trial, and move on with the business of engineering,” said Jim Campbell, PND president.
PND’s Open Cell Sheet Pile design was originally selected for the Port of Anchorage expansion project after a lengthy review by multiple local, state and federal agencies, and subject experts in soil mechanics and seismic design. To combat the municipality’s subsequent contention that the project suffered design problems, PND and other design defendants brought in additional top internationally recognized experts in engineering, soil mechanics and seismic stability, who were able to clearly explain why the municipality’s contentions were wrong, and that the design was suitable, the company said.
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http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/52009648.shtml
Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer
The Municipality of Anchorage has settled its lawsuit against all the private contractors involved in the bungled and scrapped Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project, clearing the way for a renewed court showdown with the federal government.
In less than a week starting Jan. 26, municipal attorneys filed documents in U.S. District Court of Alaska announcing settlements with four defendants — CH2M, GeoEngineers Inc., Integrated Concepts and Research Corp., and PND Engineers Inc. — stemming from the lawsuit filed in early 2013 seeking damages for the failed construction project.
The municipality started resolving the case last June when it settled with MKB Constructors, a construction company that partnered with Quality Asphalt Pavement to install the PND’s proprietary Open Cell Sheet Pile dock design, which was at the heart of the court dispute.
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http://www.alaskajournal.com/2017-02-01/anchorage-settles-port-contractors-marad-suit-ongoing
KTVA News
By Daniella Rivera
A municipal attorney says Anchorage has taken a major step forward, settling with the last three of the seven companies involved in the failed Port of Anchorage expansion project.
Robert Owens says what happens to the port happens to Alaskans, because 85 percent of the goods sold in southcentral and western Alaska come through the Port of Anchorage. But the port is in bad shape.
An assessment’s findings — filling three large binders — details the roughly $329 million in damages, and includes images of one of the biggest issues, the sheet pilings.
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http://www.ktva.com/municipality-settles-3-companies-port-anchorage-lawsuits-562/
Anchorage Dispatch News
By Devin Kelly
The city of Anchorage has reached settlements with three remaining contractors involved in the botched Port of Anchorage expansion project, ending a lawsuit that stretched nearly three years and recouped only a fraction of what the city had sought in damages.
Engineering firm CH2M Hill Alaska Inc. paid the city $1.5 million, according to the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. CH2M Hill was sued because it acquired Veco Corp. after Veco became mired in a corruption scandal. Veco actually worked on the port project.
The port designer, PND Engineers Inc., and another designer, GeoEngineers Inc., each settled for $750,000.
In all, seven private contractors settled with the city for about $19 million total. The city had sought more than $100 million in damages. The port expansion cost more than $300 million and left the city with a dock that couldn't be used or fixed.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2017/01/31/anchorage-settles-with-remaining-contractors-in-port-lawsuit-for-a-fraction-of-claimed-loss/
Popular Mechanics
By Tim Newcomb
The American Society of Civil Engineers has given U.S. infrastructure a D+ rating. Although that's technically passing, it's not exactly the grade you want for the bridges needed to get you to work, the power grids that charge your home, or the levees that keep you nice and dry.
Donald Trump has proposed fixing America's infrastructure as a major goal of his presidency, and highlighted his own list of trouble spots. We conducted our own state-by-state diagnosis to find out the places that need help right now.
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http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/g2932/50-states-infrastructure/
KTVA
By Emily Carlson
The Municipality of Anchorage will get $3.75 million from one of the contractors who worked on the failed port of Anchorage expansion project. Municipal attorney Bob Owens says Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC) was one of several companies that caused $329 million in damages at the port.
Assembly members have argued there were design failures. The municipality abandoned the project in 2010 and is left with a failed dock after spending more than $300 million of city, state and federal money.
This is the fourth settlement for Anchorage. The first three settled for a total of $12.5 million: engineering firm Terracon Consultants for 1.9 million; MKB Constructors for $5.5 million; and sub-contractor Quality Asphalt Paving for $5.1 million. Under the terms of the settlement, none of the companies have to admit fault.
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http://www.ktva.com/another-port-lawsuit-settled-anchorage-one-step-closer-possible-big-payout-botched-plans-814/
Alaska Dispatch News
By: Devin Kelly
A key contractor in the botched Port of Anchorage expansion project has settled with the city of Anchorage for $3.75 million, clearing what one city attorney described as a roadblock to other settlements in the case.
Integrated Concepts and Research Corp., a subsidiary of the Virginia-based engineering and technical services corporation VSE Corp., filed a settlement notice Thursday in U.S. district court
ICRC was the construction project manager in the expansion project, which cost more than $300 million and left Anchorage with a dock that couldn't be used.
This is the fourth settlement reached in the port litigation, but ICRC is at the center of the web of contractors. The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration contracted with ICRC as the project manager, which then procured the contracts with all the construction and design companies that worked on the project, said Robert Owens, assistant Anchorage city attorney.
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https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2017/01/26/anchorage-reaches-settlement-with-key-contractor-in-port-lawsuit/
Associated Press
Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz plans to ask state lawmakers to fund nearly $300 million in improvements for the Port of Anchorage and to make several law changes designed to give local governments more financial flexibility.
Berkowitz submitted his legislative request Friday to the city’s assembly. The document includes a list of funding items and bills that Anchorage is seeking from the state Legislature, The Alaska Public Radio Network reported.
The one major capital budget project included on the list is the $298 in funding for the Port of Anchorage, which city officials say is beneficial to the entire state and in need of repair. The request comes after Berkowitz tried to get lawmakers to add $290 million for the port improvement project to the statewide bond package last year.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/14/anchorage-seeks-money-for-port-financial-flexibili/
