29 May Commission Meeting Minutes 5-13-19
PORT COMMISSION OF THE PORT OF EDMONDS MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 13, 2019
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Steve Johnston, President, Jim Orvis, Vice President, Angela Harris, Secretary, Bruce Faires, David Preston
STAFF PRESENT
Bob McChesney, Executive Director, Marla Kempf, Deputy Director, Tina Drennan, Finance Manager
OTHERS PRESENT
Bradford Cattle, Port Attorney
CALL TO ORDER
President Johnston called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
All those in attendance participated in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
CONSENT AGENDA
COMMISSIONER FAIRES MOVED THAT THE CONSENT AGENDA BE APPROVED TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
A. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
B. APPROVAL OF APRIL 29, 2019 MEETING MINUTES AS AMENDED
C. APPROVAL OF PAYMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $278,079.82
D. AUTHORIZATION FOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO WRITE OFF $10,058.11 AND SEND ACCOUNT TO COLLECTIONS
E. DRY STORAGE LAUNCH REPAIRS
F. CITY OF EDMONDS UTILITY LEASE
COMMISSIONER ORVIS SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments.
HARBOR SQUARE HVAC REPLACEMENT CONTRACT NO. 2019-312
Mr. McChesney reported that 12 HVAC units at Harbor Square were scheduled for replacement in the 2019 budget, and the budget amount was $160,000. The project was put out to bid on April 5th for 12 units on Building 2. A pre-bid walkthrough took place on April 11th, with 11 attendees. They received four qualified bids on April 25th. The apparent low bid was roughly half of the next lowest bid, and staff was concerned that it might not be realistic. The bidder was given three business days to confirm the bid amount and present a detailed explanation, and the bid was eventually withdrawn. The next lowest bidder was D.K. Systems, a company that has done quite a lot of work for the Port in the past. He briefly reviewed each of the bids and recommended the Commission authorize him to enter into a contract with D. K. Systems in the amount of $123,504 plus sales tax for the base bid for the Harbor Square Property HVAC Replacement Project (Contract No. 2019-312).
Commissioner Preston asked how many remaining units will need to be replaced after the proposed project is completed. Ms. Drennan said there will be 24 units left to do.
COMMISSIONER ORVIS MOVED THAT THE COMMISSION AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH D.K. SYSTEMS, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $123,504 PLUS SALES TAX FOR THE BASE BID FOR THE HARBOR SQUARE PROPERTY HVAC REPLACEMENT CONTRACT NUMBER 2019-312. COMMISSIONER FAIRES SECONDED THE MOTION
Commissioner Preston asked if the units that are replaced would have any salvage value, and Mr. McChesney answered no. Commissioner Johnston asked if the project would replace all of the remaining units in Building 2, and Mr. McChesney answered affirmatively.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
ACCEPT CONTRACT AS COMPLETE, PRESSURE WASH PAD RESURFACING NO. 2018-305
Mr. McChesney reviewed that the Commission was previously briefed on maintenance issues and the deteriorating state of the vault lids and asphalt pad used by the Travelift for boat washing and haul out. The project was put out to bid on December 5, 2018, and a contract was awarded to Glacier Peak Construction, LLC. While $35,000 was budgeted in 2019 for asphalt resurfacing, the scope of the project was increased to include concrete pad installation, curb repair, sidewalk repair, Travelift lane path reinforcement, fence replacement and two new vault lids/strainers. The job start date was delayed until April 1st due to heavy Travelift usage and pre-scheduled appointments in March, as well as winter weather. The contractor completed the work on time, based on the revised substantial completion date of April 19th. Staff is pleased with the contractor’s work, which only required the Travelift to be shut down for a few days. He recommended the Commission accept the project as complete.
COMMISSIONER PRESTON MOVED THAT THE COMMISSION ACCEPT THE COMPLETE CONTRACT 2018-305 WITH GLACIER PEAK CONSTRUCTION, LLC, IN THE AMOUNT OF $66,400 PLUS SALES TAX FOR THE PRESSURE WASH PAD RESURFACING CONTRACT. COMMISSIONER HARRIS SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Commissioner Faires commented that he visited the area while the project was being done and also after the project was completed. He said the contractor did a great job. The area looks nice and should work better than what was there before. Mr. McChesney agreed and noted that one of the critical elements of the project was replacement of the damaged vault lids.
2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Ms. Drennan reviewed that the Preliminary 2018 Year End Financial Statements were presented to the Commission on March 11th. Following that presentation, the statements were prepared in the format required by the State of Washington, and the intent is to submit them to the State Auditor’s Office this week. She advised that the Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Fund Net Position shows the same data as the Income Statement that was presented on March 11th, but it is less detailed. There was a minor change in the March 11th Financial Statements, as the contributions from the City of Edmonds and Puget Sound Express ($4,000) for the Port of Seattle Marketing Project were moved from “grants” to “miscellaneous revenue.”
Ms. Drennan said the 2018 Statement of Cash Flows (Page 13 of the report), which shows the sources and uses of cash in 2018, was not presented at the March 11th meeting. She summarized the report as follows:
• Operating activities provided net cash of $3,687,000. It is important that organizations regularly produce positive cash flow from operations, as it represents daily activity.
• Noncapital financing activities used net cash of $1,911,000. Cash flows include purchases and construction of capital assets, and principal and interest paid on debt.
• Investing activities used net cash of $988,000. Cash flows from investing activities include the maturity and purchases of long-term investments and interest from the Port’s investments.
• Total cash increased by $1.2 million in 2018, and total cash and investments increased by $2,187,000. As per the Cash Flow Model, these funds have been moved into the Capital Replacement Reserve to pay for future capital improvements.
Ms. Drennan briefly reviewed the 2018 Annual Report, which was attached to the Staff Report. It includes the Management’s Discussion and Analysis, Financial Statements, Notes, and Supplementary Information to the Financial Statements.
Ms. Drennan advised that State Auditor’s Office has put together a work group to address reporting requirements for leases. Right now, it looks like each lease that exceeds one year will require a 3-page Excel document. This will be a significant challenge to implement.
Commissioner Faires thanked and commended Ms. Drennan for her work preparing and presenting the annual report in a manner that is both accurate and easy to understand. It requires a lot of work, which she primarily does by herself.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Mr. McChesney reported that he attended the third meeting of the Sound Transit (ST) Interagency Committee to discuss parking and access issues. Sound Transit has allocated a budget of $40 million to address parking and access in both Mukilteo and Edmonds. They have completed Phase I (outreach) and they are starting to screen potential projects that include pedestrian improvements, transit connections, parking and vehicle access and each will be rated on a set of criteria to decide which will be funded.
Commissioner Johnston asked if there has been good public participation in ST’s process. Mr. McChesney answered no. While the meetings are open to the public, ST has not advertised them. Commissioner Orvis noted that just three citizens attended the informational meetings that ST held at the Edmonds Library. Mr. McChesney advised that no decisions have been made as to how the money will be allocated between the two jurisdictions, but representatives from both Mukilteo and Edmonds have been involved in the process.
Ms. Kempf reported that there were equipment issues over the past weekend with both the public launch and the Travelift. She said the shrimp opening was Saturday, and it was a busy weekend. Because the launcher doesn’t open until 7 a.m., a large number of fishermen launched their boats on Friday and tied up at Guest Moorage so they could get out early. On Friday afternoon, the south launch broke down over the water and the only way to access it was from a man lift. Brian Menard called and had a man lift delivered to the facility so that he could trouble shoot the problems with the launcher. In the meantime, the Travelift broke down while a boat was in the slings. K.C. Martin was called to assist in the Travelift repair, but Brian was able to get it started about the time that they showed up at the facility. The launcher broke down again on Saturday afternoon around 4:00pm. The maintenance staff believes that they have identified the problem with both the launcher and the travelift, and parts have been ordered and some experimental solutions will be implemented.
Mr. McChesney said the south launcher is a relatively new piece of equipment that was funded largely by a grant from the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The total cost was over $200,000, but it has been trouble from the very beginning, even during installation. From an operations point of view, reliability is the better part of quality. It creates problems when the Port cannot rely on the machines to serve customers. He explained that the main apparatus that runs along the rails was not designed to be outside, and the motor fills up with water. The motor has been rebuilt twice, and now they have issues with the control modules because the housing around them heats up. At some point, they will need to come up with a better solution in order to have reliable equipment. There hasn’t been a single year of fail-safe operations since the launcher was purchased. Commissioner Orvis suggested it might be smarter to design a piece of equipment that meets all of the Port’s requirements.
Mr. McChesney said the north launcher has performed well. He reminded them that the south launcher was altered to handle larger boats, but it has not been reliable. He would like to discuss a variety of options going forward. Staff will present the maintenance records for the machine as part of future discussions.
Ms. Kempf reported that there were 81 launches over the weekend, and 84 boats in guest moorage. They sold about $5,000 more fuel than last year on the same weekend, and did a total of 235 moves with the forklifts in Dry Storage. Shrimp season will be open again on Wednesday, and they anticipate another busy day.
Commissioner Preston asked if the Port could approach the original engineer to help address the problems with the south launcher. Mr. McChesney reviewed that the engineer was recommended by Everett Engineering, and all of the plans looked great on paper. However, Everett Engineering couldn’t do the install because they were too busy, and the Port was up against a timeline to get the work done before the spring fish opening. The low bidder was not experienced with the equipment, and it turned into one of the worst projects he has been around. Parts were delivered out of sequence, the crane rail had gaps in it and had to be reworked, and the contractor was having disagreements with the equipment supplier.
Mr. Cattle suggested the Commission and staff do an analysis of potential claims at some point in the future rather than discussing the issue during a public meeting.
COMMISSIONER’S COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
Commissioner Faires announced that he will attend the Washington Public Port Association’s (WPPA) Spring Meeting in Spokane on May 15th through 17th, and Mr. McChesney will attend the Edmonds Economic Development Commission (EDC) Meeting on May 15th on his behalf. The EDC will have a continued discussion about parking in Edmonds and the City’s quest to hire a consultant to study parking in the entire City.
Commissioner Preston announced that he will attend the WPPA Spring Meeting. He will also attend an Edmonds Chamber of Commerce meeting on May 22nd and the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County (EASC) meeting on May 23rd. Commissioner Orvis said he will attend the WPPA Spring Meeting and the EASC’s annual meeting on May 23rd, as well.
Commissioner Johnston said he will attend the WPPA Spring Meeting, and he will also make a “State of the Port” presentation at the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce meeting on May 22nd. Mr. McChesney advised that staff would assist him as he prepares the presentation.
Commissioner Johnston announced that he will attend the next Orca Recovery Task Force meeting on June 8th. He recalled that he was involved in the Vessel Regulations for Puget Sound many years ago, and one of the issues was whether it was better to have bigger newer ships bringing in oil or older smaller ships. After much risk assessment, the answer was to diminish the amount of time that any amount of oil passes over the water. Bigger and newer was the answer. That wasn’t the answer a certain senator wanted, so the project was squashed. However, the Marine Mammal Protection Act went on to protect marine mammals in the Salish Sea. There were 8,000 pinniped in the Salish Sea in 1978, and there are now 88,000 (an 11-fold increase). The transit orcas are welcome because they eat the pinniped, which are significant predators for Chinook Salmon.
Commissioner Harris advised that she would attend the EASC meeting on May 23rd, as well.
ADJOURNMENT
The Commission meeting was adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Angela Harris Port Commission Secretary