Alaska Public Media
By: Zachariah Hughes
The Port of Anchorage is literally coming apart, threatening to upend the state’s essential supply chain in what officials have called “a slow motion disaster.”
Every year, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent simply coping with the aggressive corrosion of the port’s most basic infrastructure. But without hundreds of millions to pay for major rehabilitation work, the nexus point for most of the state’s fuel, food, and building supplies could be wiped out by a minor earthquake or long-term decay.
At the very bottom of low tide in Cook Inlet, a small group of representatives from a shipping company, the port, and the mayor’s office climbed into a little v-hull boat equipped with two outboard motors. They came for an up-close look at the latest damage to the steel beams propping up the port.
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http://www.alaskapublic.org/interactive/?p=752
Alaska Public Media
By: Zachariah Hughes
An enormous share of Alaska’s food, fuel, and supplies come into the state through just a single access point: the Port of Anchorage. Even small communities in distant parts of the state rely on the steady flow of goods over the port’s docks. It’s a critical supply-chain that connects hundreds of communities, and is under threat from deteriorating infrastructure.
On a recent crystal clear morning, semi-trucks barreled up and down long drawbridges connecting the asphalt docks of the port to the belly of a massive container ship. Tractor-trailers hauled full 40-foot metal containers out from within.
Twice a week, two cargo ships travel 66 hours from Tacoma, Washington to dock at the port. This one is run by Tote Maritime, and for hours a frenzy of heavy equipment moves 485 containers onto shore. According to officials with the city, the port, and the shipping companies, the unloading process here is fundamental for Alaska’s main supply chain.
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http://www.alaskapublic.org/interactive/?p=650
KTUU News
By: Austin Baird
JUNEAU -- Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is in the state Capitol meeting with lawmakers and members of Gov. Bill Walker's administration, making a last-minute push for funding and policies favorable to the municipality on the final day of the regular legislative session -- at least the final day approved by voters.
Despite the voter initiative approving a 90-day limit, the session can last up to 121 days without a special session, and leading lawmakers have said it will drag on at least a while longer. At issue is the battle over oil and gas tax credit reform, proposed new taxes and tax hikes, and conflicting plans to use Permanent Fund earnings to pay for government.
Berkowitz in an interview with KTUU said his top interest now is to see how the capital budget shapes up, in particular, whether there will be funds he has requested for the Port of Anchorage and what a state community revenue sharing will look like.
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http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/qa-anchorage-mayor-makes-endofsession-push-in-state-capitol/39077020
KSKA - Anchorage
By: Zachariah Hughes
The Senate Finance Committee has released its first version of the capital budget, which tracks closely to the governor’s version with a few notable exceptions.
Silt build up around the pilings at the Port of Anchorage. Photo courtesy of Jim Jager, Port of Anchorage.
The total amount of unrestricted general fund spending is $79.7, according to a staffer for Sen. Anna McKinnon, R-Eagle River, who co-chairs the finance committee. That figure pales in comparison to capital spending under the Parnell administration, when high oil prices pushed the capital budget as high as $2.1 billion.
One departure from the Governor’s plan, is $32.5 million dollars set aside for the purchase of the Legislative Information Office in downtown Anchorage. Developer Mark Pfeffer said he is willing to sell at that price, even though it means a $4.5 million dollar loss for the property’s owners.
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http://www.alaskapublic.org/2016/04/12/small-capital-budget-keeps-32-5m-for-lio-purchase-no-mega-projects-or-port/
YourAlaskaLink.com
By: Gretchen Parsons
With only two weeks left in session, some Alaskans are wondering if lawmakers will set aside any funding for the Port of Anchorage, which according to the POA, two of three terminals are in deteriorating condition, while the third is 50 years old.
An estimated 90 percent of food, for 85 percent of Alaska's population, comes through the facility.
Despite the Port's significance, money is tight, and Rep. Donny Olson says throwing cash at the POA this year isn't likely.
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http://www.youralaskalink.com/news/lawmakers-don-t-anticipate-any-funding-for-port-of-anchorage/article_d1d3882c-fac3-11e5-873e-77f32f90bfc1.html
Alaska Dispatch News
By: Nathaniel Herz
JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate released its proposed capital budget Monday, and one of its few big projects was a line item to buy the Legislature’s Anchorage offices for $32.5 million, the price approved by a legislative committee two weeks ago.
Missing from the Senate’s capital budget: a request from Gov. Bill Walker to spend $7.2 million for a new school in the Northwest Alaska village of Kivalina.
The Anchorage Legislative Information Office purchase would use money outside the state’s unrestricted general fund — the typical yardstick used to measure state spending. Instead, it would come out of the Alaska Capital Income Fund if the Senate’s capital budget is approved. That’s according to a new version unveiled Monday that was drafted by the office of Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, who co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee.
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https://www.adn.com/article/20160411/senate-s-capital-budget-buys-anchorage-lio-won-t-build-kivalina-school
KTUU News
By: Travis Khachatoorian
With legislators running out of time, officials at the Port of Anchorage are beginning to worry their efforts to secure funding to fix the crumbling infrastructure at the state’s most productive dock will be pushed aside by lawmakers.
House Bill 329 is stuck in a House finance committee with no signs it will see a vote by the end of the session. It's a bill backed by Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz to put the modernization of the port to a statewide vote on the Nov. ballot, asking Alaska to take on $290 million in new debt on a general obligation bond.
Some in the legislature have vocally opposed issuing any more state bonds this year. Meantime, the Port of Anchorage is haunted by legal troubles stemming from a previous expansion project that began in the early 2000’s.
The municipality currently is involved in two federal lawsuits from the previous construction effort, one pending against the federal agency the U.S Maritime Administration “for its failure to properly supervise and manage the [previous] project,” said director of port external affairs Jim Jager.
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http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/city-renews-push-for-funding-of-embattled-port-of-anchorage-project/38976712
Alaska Dispatch News
By: Annie Zak
Dredging at the Port of Anchorage, the perpetual task of digging silt out of the port's waters so ships can dock without hitting bottom, started early again this year to handle the extra silt built up because of the current configuration of the port.
A lack of ice this past winter in Cook Inlet allowed dredging equipment to come in and start the process months ahead of the usual schedule, ramping up March 23.
Previously, the dredging started around May and ran through October, but the past three winters it has started earlier and run longer since the port was reconfigured during a now-stalled modernization program. This year, it will run through mid-November.
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http://www.adn.com/article/20160402/lack-cook-inlet-ice-allows-port-anchorage-dredging-start-early
Business View Magazine
By: BVMLLADMIN
It would be hard to make the case that anything good could ever come out of an earthquake. Especially an earthquake of enormous destructive power, like the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964, the most powerful tremor ever recorded in U.S. and North American history. Registering a magnitude of 9.2 on the Richter scale, it caused widespread desolation across the south-central part of the state. And yet, perhaps, if it wasn’t for that devastating natural disaster, the Port of Anchorage (POA) may never have become the economic engine that it is today, as well as one of Alaska’s most important maritime ports, responsible for supporting a vast majority of the Frontier State’s population with the goods they need to survive.
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https://www.businessviewmagazine.com/the-port-of-anchorage/
KTUU News
View The Video At:
http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/risk-readiness-part-i-earthquake-preparedness-at-the-port-of-anchorage/37893976
