TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA Thursday, May 14, :00AM Denny s Restaurant

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1 The Transportation Committee advocates for improvement and growth in the transportation infrastructure for the Northern Region including roads, railroad, aviation, terminals, water access, pipelines, and communication and transmission lines, with the goal of enhancing Fairbanks as the Alaska and Northern Region transportation hub, and increase the capability to service International traffic TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA Thursday, May 14, :00AM Denny s Restaurant I. Call to Order / Establish Quorum Sarah Lefebvre, Chair II. III. IV. Call for Conflict of Interest Disclosures Sarah Lefebvre, Chair Approval of the Agenda Approval of Minutes A. May 7, 2015 Minutes V. Presentation A. UAF Community & Technical College: Construction Management & Drafting Technology Present & Future VI. VII. VIII. IX. New Business A. None Unfinished Business A. Legislative Priority: Support Creation of an Alaska Transportation Infrastructure Funding Program B. Highway Trust Fund/Fuel Tax Discussion Other Communication A. Committee Attendance Report B. Committee Member Reports/Comments (highway, rail, aviation, marine) C. Executive Director & Staff Reports/Comments D. Committee Chair Report/Comments E. Guest Comments Next Committee Meeting May 21, 2015: Yukon Quest

2 Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, May 7, :00AM Denny s Restaurant Call to Order: The regular meeting of the Transportation Committee was called to order on Thursday May 7, 2015 at 7:00AM by Sarah Lefebvre, Chair. Attendance: The following committee members were present: Bill Brophy, Roger Burggraf, Cliff Everts, Donna Gardino, Stan Halvarson, Sarah Lefebvre, Jim Little, Katrina Martolano, John Phillips, Ray Richards and Jeff Roach. The following staff were present Lisa Herbert and Liz Wolfe. Brian Lindamood was present as the guest speaker. Quorum was established. Agenda: Chair Lefebvre announced approval of Highway Trust Fund letter to Congress as a new agenda item. Hearing no objections, the agenda was approved as amended. Minutes of Previous Meeting: The minutes of the April 30, 2015 meeting were approved as read. Presentation: The Chair introduced the guest speaker, Brian Lindamood with the Alaska Railroad, who gave a presentation on the successful impact that the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC) relationship had on the Tanana River Bridge Project. Unfinished Business: There was no unfinished business discussed at this meeting. New Business: The Chair distributed copies of a draft Highway Trust Fund letter to Congress for committee consideration. Additionally, the Chair provided the committee with an overview of what U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations across the country are doing to encourage Congress to address funding for Highway Trust Fund. John Phillips moved and was seconded to adopt the letter as presented with grammatical changes brought forward during discussion. The Chair will incorporate changes suggested and forward the letter to the Executive Director by 4PM on May 7. Letter will be considered by the Board of Directors at their meeting on May 11. The motion carried without objection. Other Communication: Staff provided an update on upcoming events. Members provided updates relating to highway, rail, aviation and marine. Next Meeting: The Chair reported that the next regular meeting of the Transportation Committee will be on Thursday, May 14 at 7:00AM. Adjournment: The Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:04AM. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the committee, Liz Wolfe

3 A needed compromise for railroad - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Editorials Page 1 of 2 A needed compromise for railroad Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial Posted: Friday, May 8, :00 am News-Miner opinion: Gov. Bill Walker signed a trio of bills into law this week with little fanfare. Two of the bills honored a prominent Alaskan and firefighters, but the third was critically important to the operation of the Alaska Railroad. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, House Bill 140 will allow for the issuing of bonds to fund safety improvements necessary for the railroad to continue passenger service. The safety improvements funded by HB 140 are part of a system called Positive Train Control that U.S. rail lines are required to implement in the near future some by the end of this year, while others, including the Alaska Railroad, have until 2018 to have the system in place. Positive Train Control, adopted as a requirement for lines by Congress in 2008, contains several important services for safe operation of rail lines. PTC systems are designed to be able to automatically slow or stop trains to avoid train-to-train collisions, derailments due to unsafe speed and train movement through switches left in the wrong position. The issue, for the Alaska Railroad and other railroads in the process of implementing PTC systems, is that while Congress passed the law requiring the safety improvements, they made no move to help lines with the cost of adopting them. For the past several years, the Alaska Railroad has been piecing together funds with the help of the state and Alaska s congressional delegation. But the railroad s struggle to find the money to make PTC upgrades has been hampered of late. Low revenue for the railroad has led to cutbacks in operations and staffing, leaving precious little money for the line to spend on non-essential services. More recently, the state s revenue picture also went south with the collapsing price of oil, leaving Gov. Walker and the Legislature in a position where devoting state capital funds to the PTC system was difficult to justify. Fortunately, the railroad was able to work out a compromise with the state. HB 140 allows the railroad to issue tax-exempt bonds against its own assets for up to $37 million to pay for PTC improvements. It s a solution that didn t add to the state s budget woes but will also let the railroad lay in the funds it needs. Most of the safety improvements implemented by PTC show greater benefit to rail operators in busier locales than Alaska. Compared to the Lower 48, train-to-train accidents and derailments due to speed are rare. But it s hard to make a good argument that a system won t prevent an accident in the future just because it wouldn t have prevented many in the past. 5/11/2015

4 A needed compromise for railroad - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Editorials Page 2 of 2 5/11/2015 And for the railroad, the question of how many accidents the system might prevent is largely academic, as Congress mandated it be in place for the line to continue with passenger traffic. The safety improvements of PTC will help the Alaska Railroad continue to serve the state. It s good to see cooperation between the railroad corporation, Gov. Walker and the Legislature to make that happen, even in tough budget times.

5 E X E C U T I V E P A R T N E R S Interior Alaska The Place To Do Business May 11, 2015 RE: Foss Maritime Port Commission Decision Dear Port of Seattle Commissioners, The Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce joins with other Alaska business groups in support of the Port Commission s recent decision to support the maritime industry, local trades and businesses by approving Foss Maritime s lease of Terminal 5. In addition to paying for the badly needed port upgrades, Foss has already employed 417 people in Port Angeles and Seattle supporting more than 1,000 jobs in the Puget Sound Region. Regulations, although sometimes necessary, should undergo stringent cost/benefit analysis to ensure compliance costs and requirements will not stifle private enterprise. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray s pressuring of the Port of Seattle to pause and reconsider plans to use Terminal 5 sets a dangerous precedent by creating uncertainty. Further, it sends a message to maritime companies involved with industries such as tourism, seafood, retail import/export that their lease with the port could be targeted by anti-development interests and local public officials. The State of Washington and City of Seattle have benefited greatly from Alaska s import/export economies since Alaska is the Port s #1 trading partner. It is insulting that the historical economic and business relationship between Alaska and Washington could be jeopardized by unilateral comments and decisions by a single elected leader. Alaska is directly affected by the Port Commission s decisions and the long term effects of the Port s decision are enormous. We oppose any further efforts that will prevent Foss Maritime from the use of the Port and/or Terminal 5. The Fairbanks Chamber represents the business interests of over 700 members as well as the entire business community of Interior Alaska. We support a pro-business environment that encourages private sector investment and job creation. Thank you for supporting the trades and maritime industry in Puget Sound and we hope that support will continue uninterrupted. Respectfully, GREATER FAIRBANKS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Lisa Herbert Executive Director Jennifer Imus Board of Directors, Chair 100 Cushman St., Suite 102 Fairbanks, Alaska Phone (907) Fax (907) D I A M O N D Alaska Airlines ConocoPhillips ExxonMobil Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Fairbanks Memorial Hospital & Denali Center Flint Hills Resources Alaska Mt. McKinley Bank Ravn Alaska P L A T I N U M Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. BP Exploration Doyon, Limited Fred Meyer Stores Golden Heart Utilities Wells Fargo Bank Alaska G O L D Carlson Center Denali State Bank Design Alaska Doyon Utilities LLC First National Bank Alaska GCI Kinross Fort Knox Mine Lynden Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC Usibelli Coal Mine WAL-MART Stores, Inc. Westmark Fairbanks Hotel & Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge S I L V E R Agency 49 Alaska Communications Alaska Railroad Alaska USA Henry Orthodontics Everts Air Cargo, Everts Air AK Exclusive Paving/University Redi-Mix Fairbanks Natural Gas Flowline Alaska Gene s Chrysler, Jeep & Dodge Golden Valley Electric Association Hale & Associates, Inc. JL Properties, Inc. Key Bank MAC Federal Credit Union Northrim Bank Personnel Plus Sam s Club Seekins Ford Lincoln Shell Exploration & Production Co. Sourdough Fuel Spirit of Alaska FCU State Farm Insurance Tammy Randolph, Agent Ed Randolph, Agent Tanana Valley Clinic TDL Staffing Teamsters Local 959 Totem Ocean Trailer Express Tower Hill Mines-Livengood Gold Project University of Alaska Fairbanks Verizon Wireless Vivlamore Companies Yukon Title Company

6 Transportation Committee 2015 Member Attendance 5/7/15 Total # of Meetings QUROUM = 8 Meeting Held: Yes / No Yes 18 NAME ORGANIZATION % Attend % Absent 1 Brophy, Bill Usibelli Coal Mine x 12 67% 33% 2 Burggraf, Roger Greatland River Tours x 17 94% 6% 3 Everts, Cliff Everts Air Fuel x 16 89% 11% 4 Gardino, Donna FMATS x 17 94% 6% 5 George, Tom AOPA 14 78% 22% 6 Halvarson, Stan Alaska Aerofuel x 14 78% 22% 7 Hickok, Deb Explore Fairbanks 15 83% 17% 8 Lefebvre, Sarah (CHAIR) Exclusive Paving/University Redi-Mix x 17 94% 6% 9 Little, Jim JCL Engineering x 13 72% 28% 10 Martolano, Katrina Alaska Railroad Corporation x 5 28% 72% 11 Miller, David Alaska Dept. of Transportation - Highways 11 61% 39% 12 Milne, Clark DOWL HKM 15 83% 17% 13 Phillips, John Individual Member x 8 100% 0% 14 Richards, Ray Doyon, Limited x 12 67% 33% 15 Roach, Jeff Alaska Dept. of Transportation - Aviation x 11 61% 39% Quorum Established: Yes / No Yes 18 Committees members are expected to attend at least 75% of regularly scheduled meeings. Currently, 9 of 15 members are meeting the attendance expectations