Minutes
Inter-island Ferry Authority Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
January 13, 2010
Chairman Dennis Watson called the meeting to order at 10:00 am.
Roll Call – Coffman Cove (Elaine Price), present; Craig (Otis Gibbons), present; At-Large
(Dennis Watson), present; Thorne Bay (Harvey McDonald), present; Wrangell (Bernie Massin)
present via telephone; Klawock (Jeff Nickerson) was absent with prior permission and
Petersburg (Kathy O’Rear) joined the meeting shortly after roll call was taken.
Staff Present – Bruce Jones, Lonnie Adams(via phone), Roberta Landgren, and Len
Laurance(via phone), Donna Halvorsen (via phone).
Public Present – Denise Daniels (Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce), Darryl Harmon,
Heather Phillips, Caroline Duncan.
Approval of Minutes –
Harvey moved that the minutes be approved. Bernie seconded. Motion approved.
Approval of Agenda –
Dennis asked to add Resolution 2010-02, “Open an Account for Earmark
Reimbursement” as Item B under number 6 of the agenda. He then asked for any other additions
or changes to the agenda. Elaine said she would like to talk about the Human Resources
position. Dennis said it would be added as Item C under New Business. Dennis asked for a vote
to change the agenda as amended. Motion approved.
Correspondence – No correspondence.
New Business
Capital Projects Priorities – Dennis asked Bruce to begin the presentation. Bruce
emailed each member of the board the Capital Projects Priority List as the management sees it.
Is discussions with Steve Silver, it was suggested that three projects be turned in, and he
suggested that the passenger walkway and waiting area be combined with the vessel requests into
one project. This list is being presented to the board for final priority listing and approval.
Bruce said another option could be to combine the three Hollis projects into one project. He then
deferred back to the chair. Dennis requested a round of comments from the board. Elaine agrees
with combining the Hollis projects, but has issues with proceeding with that project. Her
understanding is that the AMHS location is free; if we built Ward Cove there would be utilities
and other cost that the IFA cannot afford. In addition she has been told by James Beattle and
others that AMHS is not abandoning its present location in Ketchikan, so it would still be
available to us and she does not feel that the Captains’ concerns should warrant this change.
Dennis stated that the early negotiations for the Ketchikan ferry terminal included the IFA
deadheading state employees. That is no longer happening. The IFA will have to begin paying
for the terminal usage. Bruce said that the state officials have discussed several different options
of different locations, the IFA knows that the Lituya may be going down towards Saxman. It’s
no secret that the Alaska Shipyard wants more room; the money the IFA is paying Kent
Halvorsen could be expended on power and he feels that in some ways it is a money saver. As
far as passengers are concerned, it provides them with an extra hour in Ketchikan. If traffic
picks up, it will provide a second run with a single crew. A few days ago the IFA was over an
hour late because the captain could not safely get the vessel out between the tides and winds until
the Malispina moved. The IFA’s first concern is passenger safety and he doesn’t feel that the
captains’ concerns should be ignored.
Harvey said he agreed with the changes that Steve Silver suggested. Bernie asked about the
passenger waiting area in Item #3, where would it be? Bruce said at the head of the ramp. So
why would we improve the AMHS structure? Bruce said need to consider the passengers in the
event we do not get the Ward Cove project monies. We’ve asked for those funds many times;
until that happens we still need to care for our passengers. The project would be labeled “IFA
Infra-structure and Vessel Improvements.” Otis asked if we were going to use a modular or off
the shelf design for the passenger waiting area. Harvey asked if we increase the m/v POW
seating capacity to 200, are we going into another class vessel. Bruce answered no; it would
only be the same as the m/v Stikine, as would the controllers request for the m/v POW. Dennis
asked if they were staying with Cats generators; Lonnie said yes.
Bernie asked about the security system. Bruce said we have recently had an issue with pilfering
on the m/v POW; this proposal would match the m/v POW with the same features now on the
m/v Stikine. Bernie asked about the size of the Ward Cove building. Bruce and Lonnie said that
the total of both sections would be 7500 sf. Are there plans to move the main office to
Ketchikan? Bruce said no, but there are people that need offices in Ketchikan. Lonnie said that
Ward Cove would save an hour in running time, about $92,000 in fuel. Harvey asked whether
this was a state or federal request. Bruce said these were federal requests, once the IFA receive
the federal funding, then management would go to the state for the match. Bernie asked if the
property had been donated to us; Bruce said no, the price of the land is included in the request.
This discussion was suspended while Elaine received and email with more information.
Resolution 2010 – 01 “Opening of Separate Account for HRA/FSA Reimbursement” Kathy moved and Otis seconded to accept the resolution as read. Motion approved.
Resolution 2010-02 “Open an Account for Earmark Reimbursement” - Kathy moved and
Otis seconded. Bernie asked if these were interest bearing accounts. Bruce said yes. Motion
approved.
Dennis confirmed that Elaine had received her email and the discussion returned to the Capital
Priority Projects List. Elaine had no other questions. Elaine would like to either remove the
Ward Cove terminal or make it the last item. Dennis asked for any support for that; no response.
He then asked Bruce to recap the list as a result of the discussion: #1 Ward Cove terminal; #2
combining all Hollis projects together, the dredging, parking expansion, and equipment shed; #3
all the vessel projects and Ketchikan passenger waiting area and covered walkway. That leaves
the Wrangell terminal but the IFA has federal monies for that and the preliminary designs are
already underway. Dennis asked for a motion. Harvey moved to accept the Capital Priority List
as amended. Otis seconded. Dennis asked for a roll call vote.
Craig
Wrangell
Yes
Yes
Thorne Bay
At-Large
Yes
Yes
Coffman Cove
Petersburg
No
Yes
HR Position. - Dennis asked if Elaine would like to lead off the discussion. Elaine said she did
not notice that this position was in the budget originally but she is amazed that we would add
another administrative position given the current financial position of the authority. Bruce
responded that it was brought out in the budget meeting; it was also brought to the attention of
the OMB when the request for $1.5 million was made. Members of the board, particularly from
Petersburg, know that Bruce would not spend money on another position if he wasn’t convinced
that it was needed. Dennis said that he also had questions about it, but after a long discussion he
can see the rationale for this position, particularly for legal reasons.
Kathy supports this position because she herself did not understand how important this position
was until she got involved with these issues. Now she cannot stress enough how important a
person dedicated to these issues, this person would keep the IFA out of a lot of hot spots.
Roberta stated that in reviewing the personnel files, there have been gaps in hiring, disciplinary,
and termination documentation since the beginning of the IFA. Even the original IFA employees
have errors and gaps in their hiring paperwork. The HR position would address these issues and
make sure that they do not happen again. Additionally, when we changed insurance plans, which
resulted in about $175,000 per year savings to the IFA, more assistance is needed to help the
employees navigate the three tier system that the IFA uses. That usually takes up between 5-10
hours a week off her schedule, at a minimum. By getting the assistance of a human resource
clerk, the IFA will be able to take advantage of more state and federal grants opportunities and
training.
Kathy needs to log off to another meeting. Elaine asked if Caroline Duncan could speak.
Caroline asked if the board would consider the human resource position a part-time position.
Bruce responded that there is enough work to make this a full-time position; the management did
kick it around for awhile, but like Roberta said, the changing of the health benefit package saved
us well over $100,000 a year, which would also cover the cost of the position. Moreover, this
position really needs to be full-time as Roberta currently uses a lot of her time assisting
employees with their health benefits. Caroline then asked if AML couldn’t handle the lawsuit
part of this position. Bruce responded that the IFA was not part of AML. Dennis added that in
the City of Craig’s two lawsuits, AML had a gap in their coverage and the city suffered a
considerable loss. Dennis asked for further discussion on the issues. There was no further
discussion.
Bernie commented that the web site needed to be updated. Bruce asked Len to address that. Len
said that the IFA was in the process of transferring the web site from a contractor to Carolyn
Chapman and the transfer should take place this week, then the IFA will have full control of the
web site.
Public Comment – No comment
Next Meeting – Will be in April.
Adjournment – Harvey moved and Otis seconded to adjourn; motion approved. Meeting
adjourned at 11:10 am.