The municipality of Skagway is working to tighten up its plans for the port as its longstanding waterfront lease nears expiration. Two new ordinances to structure the waterfront will go before the assembly Thursday, August 20th.
Three cruise ship docked in Skagway’s port in Sept. 2016. (Emily Files)
The assembly will consider first readings of ordinances to create a port director position and redefine the port’s governance structure in city code at its regular meeting.
By code, borough manager Brad Ryan is the acting port director when no one is named for the job. But with all the potential changes as the Tidelands lease expires in 2023, directing the port would take his attention away from other aspects of managing the borough.
“Really, what I’m hoping for is a port director that can take over the bigger planning of the entire port: implement the tariff documents, negotiate agreements with cruise ships or businesses that are down there, lease properties or come in for ore shipments or any of that. So, I see it as a tight package down there, the port of Skagway, and one person overseeing all of the operations,” said Ryan.
He said the assembly favors a director position over a larger port authority group for ease of management. And he’s not the only one who thinks creating a dedicated role is overdue.
“My hair is turned white while we’ve worked on getting the port director,” said Port Commission secretary Steve Hites.
He was in support of implementing a the role and moving forward with changes to the port’s structure in city code at last week’s meeting.
“Let’s see if it works. We can always change it back again. But right now is the time, you know, this moment in the time between, is the time when we can make some changes. And I’m also making changes I’m all for getting the board director and I’m and turn the page and get the next thing going,” he said.
Title 12 is the part of code that governs the waterfront. Ordinance 20-21 would repeal and replace it. At the last port commission meeting, Businesses that operate on the Uplands balked at the proposed tariff structure in the draft of the new Title 12. Ryan described the tariff document as a business model for the port; tariffs are fees on different uses of the port.
Operators like Petro Marine manager Tim Cochran voiced concern that the tariffs in the draft were high enough to discourage industrial uses of the port.
“Let’s just keep in mind we wanted to diversify for we’ve been wanting that for quite a while,” he said.
“But let’s really think about doing research on the fee structure on the tariff side, that we don’t discourage the tenants down there from being able to do business in the long term.”
Manager Ryan reminded the group that Title 12 is a draft and the proposed fee structure is based on other nearby ports. He said the numbers are a starting point and he will continue to seek feedback from uplands users. He said the tariff document can be modified easily since it isn’t borough code.
Manger Ryan said if the assembly adopts 20-21 on Thursday night, he recommends they adopt the 2005 tariff document so he can work to get a more complete set of tariffs refined over the winter.
