LADD

KRANICH

PORT DIRECTOR

CITY OF HOMER

HOMER, ALASKA

RESOLUTION 03-44

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HOMER, ALASKA, SUPPORTING THE GENERAL WELFARE AND HOMELAND SECURITY OF THE NATION AND ALASKA THROUGH REQUESTING $12 MILLION TO CONSTRUCT PHASE II OF THE PORT OF HOMER’S DEEP WATER DOCK

WHEREAS, the welfare of Alaska and the Nation is dependent upon the capacity of its ports and harbors to move and handle tons of marine container cargo on a daily basis, and

WHEREAS, the Port of Anchorage has expanded rapidly from a single pier in 1961, handling 200 tons a year, to a modern facility with more than 2.5 million tons a year moving across its 2,524 foot dock, and

WHEREAS, the Port of Anchorage is a $65 million facility that provides freight needs of 80% of all Alaskans, and

WHEREAS, the City of Homer is located 220 highway miles and 143 nautical miles south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula, and

WHEREAS, the Port of Homer is within 14 miles of Cook Inlet, the direct shipping lane to the Port of Anchorage, and

WHEREAS, the Port of Homer is a regional port facility serving northern Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay, and the Lower Kenai Peninsula, and it is a contingency, back-up port for Anchorage and Railbelt destined cargo, and

WHEREAS, in the event of blockage of Cook Inlet shipping lanes or closure of the Port of Anchorage due to natural disaster or enemy activity, alternative ice-free, deep water ports such as Homer, Seward, and Whittier will be called upon to support the health and well being of not only the 260,000 residents of Anchorage, but of all Alaskans dependent upon goods and services provided through Anchorage, and

WHEREAS, the Port of Anchorage moves and is capable of handling more than 50 million barrels of petroleum products in which Alaskan citizens and military are dependent for national security and all aspects of Homeland security, and

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Resolution 03-44

City of Homer

WHEREAS, Lower 48 metropolitan areas are able to mitigate the impact of disaster and stoppage of goods and services due to loss of a major port through the regional support of numerous well equipped and maintained marine harbors and ports located in close proximity of each other, and

WHEREAS, the State of Alaska and the City of Anchorage are the “Air Crossroads” of the world and by geographic location key to the national security and defense of our Nation, and

WHEREAS, in order to mitigate the vulnerability of Alaska and the United States to acts of aggression,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Homer City Council that:

1. The ice-free Deep Water Dock and accompanying facilities at the Port of Homer be further upgraded to support the civil and military needs of Alaska should the Port of Anchorage be closed, and
2. The construction of Phase II of the Homer Deep Water Dock that presently has berthing limits on ships to 800 feet LOA and 65,000 displacement tons be immediately funded and that work commence as soon as possible to allow an additional 600 linear feet of berthing, a second access trestle, and the installation of a loading crane to allow containerized cargo loading and offloading operations, (see attachments A and B), and
3. Along with the Port of Homer’s recently completed Pioneer Dock and its staging area, this regional port will be able to handle TOTE and CSX (Sealand) ships until the Port of Anchorage is reopened, (see attachments C, D, and E), and
4. The City of Homer urgently requests the Federal Government to recognize the vulnerability of the Nation’s northern region which is so dependent upon the single Port of Anchorage with no regional ports presently prepared to handle shipping needs should that port be closed, and that the Federal Government authorize the emergency allocation of $12 million to upgrade the Port of Homer to a level of preparedness necessary for Homeland Security.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Homer City Council this 10th day of March, 2003.

CITY OF HOMER

Jack Cushing, Mayor

ATTEST:

Mary L. Calhoun, City Clerk

Fiscal Impact: Not identified.