Resolution 14-123 Support Full Funding for the State of Alaska Harbor Facility Grant Program in the FY 2016 State Capital Budget

CITY OF HOMER

HOMER, ALASKA

City Manager/

Port and Harbor Director

RESOLUTION 14-123

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HOMER, ALASKA, IN SUPPORT OF FULL FUNDING FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA HARBOR FACILITY GRANT PROGRAM IN THE FY 2016 STATE CAPITAL BUDGET.

WHEREAS, The majority of the public boat harbors in Alaska were constructed by the State in the 1960’s and 1970’s and serve as critical transportation links and the hubs for waterfront commerce and economic development in Alaskan coastal communities; and

WHEREAS, These harbor facilities are ports of refuge and areas for protection for ocean-going vessels and fishermen throughout the State of Alaska, especially in coastal Alaskan communities; and

WHEREAS, Over the past 30 years the State of Alaska has transferred ownership of most of these State-owned harbors to local municipalities with many of these harbor facilities in poor condition due to failure to keep up with maintenance; and

WHEREAS, When local municipal harbormasters formulated their annual harbor facility budgets they inherited a major financial burden that their local municipal governments could not afford; and

WHEREAS, In response to this financial burden, the Governor and Alaska Legislature passed legislation supported by the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators (AAHPA) to create the Harbor Facility Grant Program, AS 29.60.800; and

WHEREAS, The AAHPA endorses the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities administrative review process to review, score, and rank applicants to the Harbor Facility Grant Program since State funds may be limited; and

               WHEREAS, For each harbor facility grant application these municipalities have committed to invest 100% of the design and permitting costs and 50% of the construction cost; and

WHEREAS, The City of Homer is currently performing a large harbor float refurbishment project that received 50% of its funding through this program and recognizes that this critical harbor infrastructure maintenance improvement would not have been possible without the State’s assistance; and 

WHEREAS, The City of Homer recognizes the value of investing tax dollars into ports and harbors in Alaska as a good investment that produces far reaching regional benefits to the tax payers; and

WHEREAS, The State of Alaska Municipal Harbors Grant program vets good solid projects though its application process that achieve these regional benefits and help communities maintain this high value harbor infrastructure in perpetuity; and  

               WHEREAS, Municipalities of the Aleutians East Borough, the City and Borough of Sitka, the City of Seward, the City of Ketchikan, the City of Coffman Cove, and the Municipality of Anchorage have offered to contribute over $14,262,722 in local match funding for FY 2016 towards seven harbor projects of significant importance locally as required in the Harbor Facility Grant Program; and

               WHEREAS, Completion of these harbor facility projects is all dependent on the 50% match from the State of Alaska’s Harbor Facility Grant Program; and

               WHEREAS, During the last eight years the Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Program has only been fully funded twice, creating a backlog of projects necessary to repair and replace these former State-owned harbors in excess of $90,000,000.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Homer, Alaska, by this Resolution, urges full funding in the amount of $14,262,722 by the Governor and the Alaska Legislature for the State of Alaska’s Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Program in the FY 2016 State Capital Budget in order to ensure enhanced safety and economic prosperity among Alaskan coastal communities.

PASSED and ADOPTED by the City Council of Homer, Alaska this 8th day of December, 2014.

CITY OF HOMER

                                                                                                         ____________________

                                                                                                         MARY E. WYTHE, MAYOR

ATTEST:

___________________________

JO JOHNSON, MMC, CITY CLERK

Fiscal Note: N/A