Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners

0:00 [ Music ] >> Good morning and welcome to the Port of Vancouver meeting, commission meeting. Today is Tuesday, March 10th. I'm calling a public meeting to order at 9.30 a.m. There was no executive session held this morning. Please note this meeting is being recorded. My name is Don Orange. I'm the commission president for the Port of Vancouver. Joining me are Commissioner Eric LeBrant

0:59 and Commissioner Temple Lance. We are conducting a hybrid meeting. Along with our in-person meeting we are having here, we are also set up to take those who are physically able to provide oral testimony, can do so virtually. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:26 >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Moving to the agenda, first action item is approval of the minutes. We have before us the minutes of the February 10 meeting. Commissioner Lance, have you reviewed the minutes? >> Yes, I have and I find them to be in order. I move approval. >> I'll second the motion. >> All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. Unanimously. Next on the agenda is the open forum. >> Good morning commissioners. >> Morning. >> So we do have those joining us to speak during open forum.

2:22 We do have one virtual member that signed up. And so I think we'll do the virtual comment first. And so if we want to get that going, we have Peter Fels that has signed up to speak virtually. >> Are you ready for me? >> We are ready and we can hear you great. >> Okay, thank you. Good morning, my name is Peter Fels and I live in Vancouver. I'm going to talk about the frightening potential that warehouses on port property might be turned into jails euphemistically referred to as detention centers. It's well documented that the current federal administration has plans to create several large human impoundments around the country for immigration detainees. ICE also has plans to purchase or lease existing warehouses

3:18 and convert them to detention facilities to collect and then distribute immigration prisoners. The port is considering leasing land for large warehouses. Warehouses are not designed for human habitation. Immigration jails house hundreds of people in small spaces and have been noted to have barely livable conditions. Placing hundreds of people in a warehouse creates many problems. Warehouses are not initially built with sewage, heating and cooling capacity for housing people on a 24-hour basis. An ICE facility at the port creates the potential need for law enforcement, fire suppression, response to health emergencies, adequate sewage and potable water, and evacuation in case of floods, earthquakes, or other environmental disasters. An ICE facility at the port could bring protesters

4:15 onto port properties which would interfere with normal port operations. I personally object to the idea of mass incarceration of immigrants as being immoral and inhumane, but setting those feelings aside, I hope you will consider the practical negative implications of using warehouses at the port for housing people. If you end up leasing port land for warehouse construction, you can include prohibitions against using them for any kind of jail or detention center, and I hope you will consider doing so. Thanks for your consideration. >> Thank you, Peter. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Okay, so that's all that we had signed up to testify virtually. We do have folks in the audience, and I would like to welcome Catherine Chuddy to the podium. Good morning, Catherine.

5:14 >> Something ain't right, I can't hear her. >> Okay, good morning. It's been a rough year for climate action pursuits as the current federal administration pulls back on initiatives that lower greenhouse gas emissions and reverses course by pressing forward with extracting more fossil fuels while it rolls back climate regulations, energy rebates, and initiatives like those offered by Clark Public Utilities. And I should have said my name is Catherine Chuddy, and I'm a long time resident of Vancouver, Washington. A recent Colombian reporter focused on how local governments, public agencies, port districts, and others here in Clark County are working to reduce consumption of fossil fuel generated energy. The reporter quotes a Clark PUD spokesman saying, quote, the cleanest and the cheapest energy is the energy that you don't use.

6:13 When our customers save energy, it's that much less power that we have to either produce or that we have to purchase on their behalf. We know that energy efficiency saves money and protects the environment, and I appreciate our port putting that premise into action with renovations that not only modernize these administration offices, but also improves energy efficiency and creates a healthier environment for your employees and we, your visitors. Forecasts of rising energy demand prompts the question, how are we going to keep the lights on? And in the search for added energy resources, we sometimes forget the need to find ways to consume less energy as a way of managing that challenge. I was happy to learn that the port applied its We Can sustainability program here in these administration offices to undertake upgrades to the HVAC system and roof, significant improvements to the interior configuration,

7:11 improved ADA accessibility and other efficiency and sustainability improvements as noted by Mr. Bowman, director of communications for the port. I especially appreciate that the port made the transition from natural gas to all electric heating and cooling by removing 14 natural gas powered HVAC units and replacing these with high efficiency electric systems, resulting in a reduction of 33.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. It was good to learn that more than 160 interior light fixtures were replaced with modern long-lasting LED lighting paired with occupancy sensors to conserve energy when these rooms aren't in use. And as a driver of an electric vehicle, I appreciate the plan to install multiple EV charging stations as part of this project. Thank you commissioners and staff for this visible proactive demonstration

8:09 following through on your 2021 comprehensive climate action plan commitments. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Commissioners, that is all that we have signed up to speak this morning. >> Cool. Next on the agenda is the public hearing for resolution 2021-2026, comprehensive scheme amendment. At this time, I'd like to open the public hearing on the matter of the proposed amendment to the port's comprehensive scheme of harbor, excuse me, harbor improvements in industrial development. Juliana. >> Yes commissioners.

9:07 So we have one action item on the-- in the meeting today and it is the comprehensive scheme amendment. And I'd like to introduce Josh Pope, Port Project Manager who is going to present the action item that is related to the public hearing. So we'd like to present that to you so everyone can hear the proposed updates and then see if we have comments related to the comp scheme amendments. >> Good morning commissioners. Matt Hardy is the SEPA responsible official and he is in the audience to answer questions as well. We did not receive any comments during our SEPA public comment period. That's all I have before the action item. >> Are there any public-- >> Go ahead and present the action item. >> Oh, excuse me. Okay, so the action item is the Port of Vancouver is required

10:06 by the revised code of Washington 5320 to have an official comprehensive scheme of harbor improvements in industrial development which is intended to communicate the port's plans regarding investments or divestments of its assets. Periodic amendments of the port's comprehensive scheme are necessary to communicate future plans for construction, demolition, improvement, surplus, acquisition, remediation and mitigation on port property. Any proposed amendment to the current comprehensive scheme requires state environmental policy act or SEPA review as non-project action. A 14-day public comment period regarding the proposed amendment must occur as part of the SEPA process. In addition, the board of commissioners must publicly notify and conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed amendment. Resolution 1-2026 proposes to amend the comprehensive scheme to allow the following. The well number 3 upgrades, the birth 10 safety project, the addition of the Tidewater Environmental Services Building,

11:05 the terminal 5 cleanup and general utility improvements for all port property. The Port of Vancouver proposes to amend its current comprehensive scheme in accordance with resolution 1-2026, RCW 5320-020 and RCW 5308-090. The public comment period required under SEPA ended on February 13th, 2026 at 5 p.m. The port received no comments. The public hearing to receive citizen comments to adopt resolution 1-2026 is being held today on March 10th, 2026 at 9.30 a.m. With that, I'd like to read the recommendation. Oh, okay. Yeah. >> So commissioners, so that's the background and the overview of the proposed comp scheme amendment. So if we can just see if there's anyone that is interested in providing comment today on the comp scheme amendment.

12:03 >> Anybody with any words they want to share? Hearing none. >> We can close the public hearing at this time. >> We close the public hearing at this time as instructed. >> And then we can proceed with the recommendation. So Josh can read the recommendation and then we would proceed with a vote. >> Indeed. >> The recommendation is that the Board of Commissioners adopt resolution 1-2026 to amend the port of Vancouver's comprehensive scheme of harbor improvements and industrial development. >> Thank you. >> I'll move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Are there any words that either of you want to share? Hearing none, all those in favor?

13:02 >> Aye. >> Aye. Passes unanimously. >> Thank you very much, Josh. >> Thank you commissioners. Thank you, Juliana. >> Do we have any unfinished business? >> We do not have-- oh, I take that back. We have our port contract logs. It's that meeting where we have our port contract logs. So commissioners, every month in your commission packet, you have the port contract logs that are currently active. We have our public works projects as well as our service contracts. The highlighted portion of that list is the most recent activity. We also have these contract logs listed on the port's website so anyone has the ability to review any contracts that we have currently active. Any questions on any of the contracts? >> Hearing none, any new business? >> No new business.

14:02 >> Excuse me. >> So we have our accounts payable next, commissioner. >> Yes, ma'am, it is. >> And I'd like to welcome Nick McIntyre, the port's accounting manager, to the podium. Good morning, Nick. >> Good morning. Thank you. Good morning, commissioners. >> Good morning. >> We did not receive any questions prior to this meeting so I'll start by reading the recommendation then I'll open the floor for questions. The recommendation is the Port of Vancouver, USA Board of Commissioners by motion ratifies and approves the payment of February 2026 vouchers. 126,920 through 127,201 in the amount of $4,477,763.55,

15:01 including electronic payments generated between February 1st, 2026 and February 28th, 2026 in the amount of $1,809,126.64. And February 2026 payroll checks 522,44927 through 522,44928, and direct deposits 60001 through 60133 and 90001 through 90134 in the amount of $829,823.25. >> I move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor?

16:00 >> Aye. >> Aye. Vashes unanimously. Thank you, Nick. >> Thank you. >> I want to apologize, I've been a little disjointed going through a meeting in a meeting. I believe it is time for the CEO report. >> It is. Thank you, Commissioner. I'd like to welcome Mark Newell, project delivery manager, who's going to provide an update on some of the projects we have going on. >> Thank you, Juliana. Good morning, Commissioners. We'll jump into some project updates. We'll start with birth 13 and 14, general service upgrades, contractors Western United Civil Group. And again, this project is actually complete. I'm happy to report that. And so right here, you can see in this photo kind of the gate installation operational, so we're kind

16:58 of meeting, kind of brought this birth up to current kind of security standards and other elements related to servicing vessels and laboring certain vessels in that space, and the infrastructure is ready for use. So just capturing those upgrades, including utility services and other things that are related to vessels. So it's great to see that project wrapping up. Next slide. Birth five maintenance, contractors Advanced American Construction, and really been some good progress on this project. The access equipment for FRP installation, so that's kind of a fiber reinforced pile kind of situation here. And as you can see, this dock at this birth has a lot of wood, wood in it, so and wood requires maintenance, as we all know. So as we are assessing some of these births, we identify areas

17:58 where we need to continue to maintain and where we see piles that might need some repairs. So this project is kind of unique in that there are elements that are below water and there are elements that are above water to try to assess those things, but they're making some good progress on the trestle area here out to the dock portion, and I'll show you a little bit more of a detailed slide that shows a little bit more of what those fiber reinforcements look like. Next slide. So project's about 45% complete, and you can see that some of these wood piles look a little different because they are kind of encapsulated, if you will. So think about splicing something together and kind of, you know, splicing over an area that needs some strengthening, and so this is kind of a unique process that basically does that. So you can see a number of those different areas were kind

18:56 of identified as focus places, and so the contractor's kind of been busy on that. There are still also additional members that are underneath the trestle that have been worked on and other wood structural members, so good progress on this one. We'll continue to see work progress here. Next slide. EV chargers, phase two, contractor's apex mechanical, and so this is down adjacent to one of our buildings, our security building, inside the terminal, and so these chargers, we're happy to report, are kind of wired and ready for commissioning. So we have some level twos and a level three charger down here as well. We had previously completed kind of phase one, which includes some of the ones that are out here and in a couple of other locations, including our building maintenance,

19:53 and so this is kind of that second piece that's in place. Next slide. Shows a little bit of kind of picture of where some of these elements kind of live. Obviously, we have a number of vehicles needing those chargers, and so we're kind of aligned with our vehicles and also our charging equipment now. So appreciate all the patience for the ops side as we kind of put those things into place, and now we're kind of in the commissioning phase of that. The site has been restored with asphalt, bollards, markings, and curb stops, so you can see some of those here kind of the bright yellow safety colors, and of course, we had to bring in all that electrical infrastructure to support this as part of some earlier updates that we had. So projects are complete, so happy to report on that. Making good progress. Next slide. Renaissance Trail segment four and five. So continuing to make some real progress.

20:52 The project's really going through a lot of significant construction going on. So if you're driving down as part of the public, you can see the barriers, and so really, this is behind the barriers, what's going on and why we have kind of staged areas. So there's excavation going on, there's wall placements, which you can kind of see here, some different types of wall placement, and then there's kind of a compaction process that's going on behind that, and of course, lots of survey, lots of layout and alignment, and of course, utilities that are going into place. So again, the purpose of this project is really to create another access link to extend our current Renaissance Trail further down Lower River Road and create some safety separation. But here you can see the MSE wall number five being installed, and they're making some good progress here.

21:51 Next slide. Shows a little bit of a different angle, kind of looking back, kind of maybe the opposite direction, and again, kind of layering those wall sections and then layering the backfill behind it, and just kind of the tight spaces that we're kind of working in. So it's kind of a linear project, more of what you would see on kind of a transportation kind of situation. So just quite a bit of diversity in the types of construction that we're working on here. So next slide. This is a little bit different angle. We can see a little bit of a curved wall here. This is wall two, and we're just going to continue to see progress being made in this area, as the project is around 40% complete. So next slide. Now for an update on Terminal 1's dock replacement project,

22:51 contractor's HME construction, we're right around 45% complete. This view here is really showing just the progression that's just starting to occur with the pile cap reinforcement and concrete placements. And again, these are essentially like creating giant beams that will support precast panels on top of them and then tie in with a topping slab to create the surfacing of the dock. There's a couple of interesting things that are kind of going on here. One, you can kind of see a couple of the pile caps that are covered with some elements, and that's really just to create some insulation while they're curing the concrete. But there's kind of a unique aspect that's kind of changing on the pile caps, and I'll talk about that here shortly. But really, because of the future public market sits

23:46 on top of the dock, there are areas where it steps down underneath the public market, and that will be a crawl space that will allow for flexibility for our maintenance crews and for future configurations within the public market underneath. So it's kind of a custom dock in that sense, and so we're kind of transitioning with the pile caps to accommodate that. So it creates some changes and some complexity in the reinforcing crews in that space. Next slide. So here's a little bit of a closer view of just pile caps, and the pile cap, again, is kind of just what it is. It's the cap on top of all the piles that kind of links those pieces together. And there's a kind of a first stage pour, which you can see the reinforcement that's protruding out of the top, really this is the space

24:43 where those precast panels will kind of rest on each end, and they will be reinforced and tied in, and ultimately become part of the structure, locking it together. And the other thing that's kind of interesting about this is just the pile cap false work cycling. And the idea of false work is really what supports temporarily the construction elements, and it's kind of unique here. You can see these sets of beams that are temporary, that are being lowered down, and they actually have floats on them to help them position and kind of move things around. So kind of unique process, but they take those beams, they cycle them down a number of pile caps, and then kind of reinstall them on brackets, and then build the supporting piece, and then the form work, and kind of repeat that process over again. Next slide.

25:38 Kind of another look, kind of looking back just in front of, or near the AC Marriott, here just kind of just showing you the picture of progress, the transition slab abutment, that's the long concrete piece on the left-hand side there. And it looks like a little bit like a nice bench or a seat, except it is really a seat or bench. It's just meant for the dock to have a section that rests in that space, and it has a little bit of an angle piece that's here to allow for seismic movement. In case there's a slide, that structure will kind of move back and forth in that space. So eventually what we'll have here is kind of a cap piece at the pedestrian level when we're kind of done, that will cover kind of the joint of those spaces. But kind of a unique feature of this dock is this 520

26:37 or some odd foot transition slab abutment seat. And you can see future dock utilities that are cast into these elements, which will kind of support that and pathways to get to the public market and also to support other utilities that will be on and underneath the dock. Next slide. This is, next update is building 3103, office renovations. That's right here where we're at. You can see some of this blueskin siding kind of prep vapor barrier that's in place right now. And so siding removal is about 90% complete, and we're going to kind of move, we're moving right now into installation and prepping for installation of panels. And we'll kind of see that proceed for the next number of weeks here. Next slide kind of shows a little bit of kind of the spaces that they run around the perimeter.

27:35 We have a few little nooks and crannies here for the contractor to work through. So interior lighting replacement, there's still a few elements. There's some elements that have been addressed, but there's a couple of elements that we still have to make some tweaks to. And then the future siding installation, as I said, will occur, you know, here starting at the end of this week and then kind of continuing through a number of weeks here. And then ultimately painting, because we need to paint it as well so it all matches. Next slide. Just kind of pivoting to just one of our other projects that we have here, this is building 2707, envelope replacement. Again, you know, facilities and engineering, you know, periodically identify different structures that are in need of repair or they have leaky roofs or other elements. And so this was one of those projects.

28:35 Amera X Roofing is the contractor here and they basically replaced all of the envelope here, re-cladded that existing building, built some concrete curbing, base trim on the back side of this and then re-roofing and some gutter work here. So projects from very large projects to smaller projects around the port and in different locations. So, and with that, I think we've got-- I think that's it. So, any questions on project updates? >> Thank you. >> All right. >> You're welcome. >> Great job, Mark. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I have one other update, Commissioner. So last week, Ryan Hart and I were in Washington, DC. We were there for the American Association of Port Authorities or AAPA Legislative Summit.

29:34 This is an opportunity for us to go to meet with our legislators to advocate for port policy issues. I do serve on the AAPA Board of Directors and I represent the North Pacific Caucus which includes Washington, Oregon and Alaska port. So we had an opportunity to meet with legislators from the different states and it was a great visit and they're very supportive of a lot of the port activities. And that's all I have today. >> Thank you. Commissioner reports. I can't remember the order. You want to go after? >> Why don't I go? Let's see, since we last met, have been to a couple of meetings related to IBR updates. I think most notable is that it's still going. So fingers crossed, we'll stay in that direction.

30:32 Had an RTC meeting last week and RTC is right now working on-- we approved some transportation improvement program updates and updates to the guidebook. I think overall, just something to sort of show that we are in it-- we're all in it together. A lot of transportation projects are seeing just ridiculous recently escalating costs for the projects to get them done. So some of the adjustments that RTC made were to just change some of the ways that we have constrictions so that we can help project sponsors actually get projects out the door, get them up, get them moving and actually helping their communities. And as we see cost escalate for projects all over, I think we'll probably see more entities have to do that. Attended the-- staying in the good news front, attended the Columbian Economic Forecast which was depressing. Especially depressing after going to RTC and learning

31:31 about how things are getting more expensive. So that was super fun. Thanks, Columbian. No, it was actually very informative. And then some constituent meetings and also last night was the state of the city which was good to go to and also we heard from the poet laureate of Clark County who name checked the port in her poem about Vancouver. So, right on. >> And if anybody doesn't know it, the RTC is the Regional Transportation Commission. >> Council. >> Thank you. >> So I'm the one to learn. Eric, you want to-- Eric, you're still not turned on. There we go. Yeah, so it's been about a month since we last convened. So all sorts of fun stuff between now and then. Had a chance to attend two labor roundtables. Let's see. I also had the opportunity to meet for coffee with our new fire chief.

32:31 Vancouver hired a new fire chief I think just within the last two or three months and is kind of making the rounds to get introduced to folks and is also looking at doing some strategic planning there and I think is going to be looking to get input from the port as far as kind of our role in the Vancouver emergency preparedness scene. And so that gave me an opportunity to brag about our business continuity and resiliency planning. So he seemed really excited to hear about that. Also had the opportunity to attend the Columbian Economic Forecast event. And my big takeaway from that is that we could potentially be looking at the-- at peak population for the US within the next handful of years.

33:26 Our population growth over the last several years has been due largely to immigration and the current attack on immigration could potentially put us at peak population for the US and why I think that matters to what we're doing in terms of job growth and economic development is that could force us to rethink a little bit how we think about economic growth as the population-- if the population isn't growing, we can't just say grow, grow, grow, grow on jobs and hope that that papers everything over. So my personal hope is that we as a society can reexamine our relationship with immigration in a constructive way 'cause the way it's going right now is morally reprehensible.

34:25 And then on a happier note, had the opportunity also to attend the State of the City yesterday and this year was the kind of the traditional speech and also several musical numbers from-- one was from the Clark County Vietnamese Community Dance Troop that opened the ceremony and then Ballet Folklorico that closed the ceremony and just really a lot of fun. It was set in what used to be the Vancouver Library down on Mill Plain and Fort Vancouver Way and has been repurposed now as kind of a community space and art gallery. So even before the event, there was a lot of really cool artwork to go and check out. And with that, I will conclude my report.

35:25 >> Thank you. I was involved in lots of the same activities as these other folks. I also got a chance to-- I got a chance to introduce the economist that spoke to us on Thursday. On Monday morning, he spoke to the contractors at Southwest Washington and it was almost the same talk. It's kind of like doing your homework and reading the notes over again on Thursday. And I had a lot of the same reactions or what have you. The one thing that I noticed, there was two things. If you all haven't been to the converted library, I thought it was kind of a boring strip mall library for 50 years and got replaced by something. They've done a beautiful job there. They've made it into an art center and it just feels good.

36:25 It-- you all have to get down there. The other thing is I listened to the state of the city and I don't agree with our mayor 100% of the time. But she talked for about an hour and I think in an hour she used the word "I" about four or six times. It was remarkably refreshing. She didn't seem to think that everything in town was her fault. With that, I'm going to run out of words. We got more meeting coming. Let me look at my notes and see what I can screw up here. After this comes upcoming events, ma'am. >> Yes. So, upcoming events on the screen. So, you'll note that we have our next commission meeting on Tuesday, March 24th, 930 a.m.

37:22 and then you'll see some neighborhood association meetings, but one thing that I'd like to highlight is the Port Public Lecture Series. We have our first lecture. This is again at the historic Kiggins Theater. It's a great venue and this is an opportunity to dive a little bit deeper in port industry topics. And for this one, we have Pacific Northwest Waterway Association, also known as PNWA, and we will have Neil Manu who is the executive director and he's going to share about the importance of the waterways and things we do to make sure that we protect our waterways for a variety of needs in our region. >> Cool. >> And then just a reminder on communicating with the commission. We had folks join us here at the open forum. That's one way to share thoughts.

38:21 You can e-mail the commissioners. You can call the office. We'll get people in touch with the commissioners and then also encourage folks to get on the port's website. A lot of great information that shares updates on projects. >> Cool. And just to kind of second that, when folks come in and talk to us or call us or get in touch, the port belongs to the people of the port district. And we can do some pretty good stuff. We can get off kilter and to hear from the citizens of the port district is enormous. Thank you, Catherine Chutty and Peter for getting up here and making suggestions. Send us your thoughts. Send us an e-mail. Tell us what you think we ought to be doing. There's a lot of people work at the port.

39:19 There's a lot of tenants at the port. And the port's involved in all the things that are worldwide issues that are going on with us. I don't think I was even supposed to get a minute there, but I got a microphone, so I'm a politician for goodness sake. We got through that. We're having no workshop today. We signed documents at this time, and then we move on to an administrative update on -- is this building industrial property update is what it is? Do we need to take a break between one meeting and the next? Are we going to reconfigure this room, or? >> We will. We're going to take about a 15-minute break to allow us to reconfigure the room, and then we'll dive right into it. >> You all want to be back here about 25 after 10,

40:17 and we'll sign documents, and then we'll move on to the administrative update. Thank you.