ENRNorthwest
By: James Leggate
In a step toward funding over $2 billion worth of needed projects, Alaska officials have approved more than $400 million for port upgrades and construction of a cruise ship passenger dock.
The state’s fiscal year 2023 capital budget, which Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) signed June 30, includes $200 million for the Port of Alaska modernization program in Anchorage, with half of the funds contingent on the port finding matching money. Jim Jager, director of business continuity and external affairs for Port of Alaska, says the port has already applied for federal funding it could use to match the state funds.
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https://www.enr.com/articles/54406-alaska-oks-funds-for-185b-port-upgrade-other-projects
It’s a busy summer at the Port of Alaska with its modernization program in full swing as they look to secure funding to help keep the five-phase project moving forward.
This summer, Port of Alaska External Affairs Director Jim Jager said they will begin construction on a new administrative office onshore in August allowing them to demolish the dock where it previously stood.
The Port of Alaska Modernization Program is broken down into five phases, and next summer the North Extension Stabilization project will kick off phase 2A of their five-phase plan. Jager said the North Extension Stabilization is going to be in the neighborhood of $130 million and anticipates funding to come from a combination of places.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/06/10/port-alaska-money-raising-mode-fund-modernization-program/
By Anchorage Daily News editorial board
If you had been in Juneau this past week, mixed in with the bustle of committee hearings and the chatter of visitors streaming off the first cruise ship of the summer season, you might have heard something else: Lawmakers trying to tamp down expectations for funds to repair and upgrade the Port of Alaska.
Meanwhile, ebullience about a big election-year Permanent Fund dividend check is high. The PFD might tip the scales at $2,600, if the most recent numbers in the Alaska Senate hold up. On the House side, the PFD check amount passed in the operating budget was lower, at $1,250, but it was paired with a $1,300 “energy rebate” that would be a de facto PFD supplement. That would make the total allocation for the two checks roughly $1.7 billion — nearly three times the amount being sought for the port. The “energy rebate” on its own would cost about $875 million, 50% more than the port improvements.
It’s always more fun to hand out candy than vegetables, particularly when it might make the recipients more favorably inclined to reelect you. But have our elected representatives considered that rather than a one-time cash payout, it might be better for Alaska’s future to invest in infrastructure that will serve all Alaskans for generations to come?
Anchorage officials are seeking $600 million for the Port of Alaska, to replace the aging cargo docks that see goods bound for 90% of Alaska — fully half of all freight that enters our state. Granted, that’s no small ask. As recently as a year ago, the prospect of a $600 million infrastructure project funded by the state would have gotten you laughed out of the Capitol Building. But oil prices in excess of $100 per barrel have forecasts for state revenue in a place where such a project is not only possible, it makes more sense than some of the state’s other big spending priorities.
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https://www.adn.com/opinions/editorials/2022/04/30/editorial-lawmakers-are-happy-to-fight-for-a-big-pfd-wheres-that-attitude-when-it-comes-to-the-port-of-alaska/
By James Brooks, Emily Goodykoontz
Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson traveled to the state Capitol last week with a big request: $600 million to help rebuild the Port of Alaska.
As recently as last year, that kind of request would have been outlandish, but a wartime surge in oil prices has Alaska expecting billions in new revenue. But despite the state’s improved financial picture, members of the House and Senate say the state’s largest city isn’t likely to get what it’s asking for.
“I don’t think we will get that,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage. “I think we could theoretically afford that if oil prices stay as high as forecasted, but I think that if (the port) got $200 million to $300 million for (the next fiscal year), we’d have to mark that as a win.”
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https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2022/04/25/anchorage-asks-for-600m-to-help-rebuild-port-but-state-legislators-say-its-no-sure-thing/
By Wesley Early
Alaska Public Media
The federal Department of Transportation will have to pay $367,446,809 to the Municipality of Anchorage due to various failures with the Port of Alaska expansion project.
A judge issued the order Thursday.
The municipality sued the federal government over the various design and construction defects with the port project more than a decade ago.
In December, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of the municipality, stating that because of various defects, the DOT’s Maritime Administration breached its contract with the city.
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https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/02/24/municipality-of-anchorage-awarded-360m-from-lawsuit-over-port-expansion-project/
By Megan Pacer
KTUU News
A federal judge with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has awarded the Municipality of Anchorage more than $367 million in damages for failed construction performed during an expansion project for the city’s port.
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of the municipality back in December over the city’s port expansion project, finding that the government breached its 2003 and 2011 agreements, or memorandums of understanding, with the municipality.
Anchorage had requested more than $367 million in damages in its suit against the U.S. Maritime Administration. In Thursday’s opinion, Judge Edward Damich ordered that the city will be awarded $367,446,809 in damages over the expansion project.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/02/25/anchorage-awarded-more-than-367m-damages-failed-construction-port-alaska-expansion-project/
By Elwood Brehmer
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Anchorage is another big step closer to getting reimbursed for much of the failed construction work at the city’s port. A federal judge on Thursday awarded the city every dime of the $367.4 million Anchorage attorneys had been asking for in its years-long lawsuit against the federal government.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Edward J. Damich issued his judgment against the U.S. Maritime Administration four days shy of eight years after the Municipality of Anchorage filed suit against the federal agency for its role in managing the troubled expansion project for the then-Port of Anchorage, which started nearly two decades ago.
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https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2022/02/25/judge-awards-municipality-of-anchorage-full-367m-sought-from-feds-in-lawsuit-over-botched-port-construction/
By Anchorage Daily News editorial board
When Gov. Mike Dunleavy rolled out his proposed budget and a general obligation bond package in December, one item on the infrastructure shortlist raised eyebrows: $175 million allocated for the “Knik Arm Port.” When pressed on what that line item referred to, given that there are two ports in Knik Arm of very different scales and in two separate municipalities, the governor’s office said the money could be used by either the Port of Alaska or Port MacKenzie.
It was an answer that only raised more questions: If the money weren’t allocated specifically to one port or the other, who would decide how much money went to each port — and what it would fund? A month and a half later, we have some answers: The governor wants Anchorage and the Mat-Su to look into a regional port authority, which would govern both ports and coordinate project funding, as well as operations.
There’s a big problem with that plan: It doesn’t make any sense — fiscally or otherwise — to split resources between one port that’s bustling and another that is effectively dormant. “This isn’t a good idea, guys,” said Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, in a committee hearing on the bond proposal in late January. “We need something different than this.” Shower and other legislators appeared blindsided by the notion of funding a port authority that doesn’t exist — and worried that it would exacerbate tensions between the two ports, to the detriment of Alaskans.
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https://www.adn.com/opinions/editorials/2022/02/05/is-the-governors-peculiar-port-plan-already-dead-in-the-water/
Anchorage Daily News
By Zaz Hollander
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing a funding injection to shore up Anchorage’s bustling Port of Alaska but linked with the nearly idle port 5 miles across Knik Arm in the governor’s home base of Mat-Su.
The Dunleavy administration is suggesting the Municipality of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough look at forming a new regional port authority to decide how to spend $175 million in general obligation bond funds on repairs needed at both.
The so-called Knik Arm Port Infrastructure project currently makes up nearly two-thirds of a larger statewide $325.1 million GO bond package Dunleavy included in a state budget proposal unveiled in December. Any package faces revision and approval by the Legislature before going before voters in November.
The early stage port funding proposal is already hitting challenges: no port authority exists, there are no immediate plans for Anchorage and Mat-Su assemblies to discuss it, and the general idea is already raising questions among key legislators.
Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/mat-su/2022/01/30/gov-dunleavy-wants-to-link-175-million-in-funding-for-anchorage-and-mat-su-ports-it-may-be-a-tough-sell/
Anchorage Daily News
By Dave Bronson
When I came into office, resolving the homelessness crisis in Anchorage was my No. 1 priority. However, as my team and I assessed the dire situation at the Port of Alaska, it became quite clear that rebuilding and modernizing the port had to become the chief focus of my administration.
I know Anchorage residents, and folks across our state, have heard about problems at the port for many years. I’m not here to talk about past issues, mistakes made, or score any political points. I am focused on the future, ensuring food security for our state, and rebuilding our great Port of Alaska.
The Port of Alaska is the single most important piece of infrastructure in our state. Yes, we have the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, world-class mines, the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and other critical infrastructure that support commerce throughout our state. But without the Port of Alaska, none of these would be possible.
Read the full story here:
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2022/01/28/its-time-to-save-the-port-of-alaska/
