Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners

0:00 >> I am calling the 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 and I am the Commission President for the Port of Vancouver. Joining me are Commissioner Eric LeBrant 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 so those who are not physically able to provide oral testimony can do so virtually.

0:57 Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. >> 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 into the agenda, the first item is approval of the minutes. >> Commissioner, I've reviewed the minutes from the last meeting and find them to be in order and move approval. >> I'll second the motion. >> All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Unanimously. Motion, oh, yeah, well. Next is open forum. Do we have anybody? >> Good morning, commissioners. We did not have anyone sign up virtually and we do not have anyone in the room here to provide comment.

1:56 >> All righty. Next up are action items on the agenda today. >> Yes, we have two action items today and the first one is going to be presented by Matt Graves, environmental manager, good morning, how are you today? >> Good morning, how are you? >> I'm doing well. >> Good morning, commissioners. >> Good morning. >> I'll be presenting the first action item this morning. This is for an on-call storm water services consulting contract that supports the port's strategic plan, environmental goal to protect air quality, water resources, and land management. The port is proactive in deliberate efforts in all aspects of the port operations. In January 2024, the port executed a contract with Kennedy Janks Consultants to assist the port with on-call storm water services. They include permit compliance, storm water treatment evaluations,

2:55 storm water mapping, as well as design and construction on percent of their storm water improvement. The port is proposing an amendment to this contract for Kennedy Janks to provide engineering services during the construction of the terminal four pond policy project. The original contract amount was approved by the Board of Commissioners on January 23rd, 2024 for $810,000. Contract amendment one was issued under CDO authority in accordance with resolution 10/22, or 10/2022, sorry, on January 19th, 2025 for $350,000. Approximately $725,000 of this original contract and amendment one was reimbursed by the Department of Ecology through storm water grants. The cost for amendment two is $211,000, which is reimbursable to the ecology storm water grant funding, bringing the total contract amount to $1,371,000.

3:54 If the contract reaches its dollar limit, additional funds will be requested in accordance with resolution 10/2022, administrative authority of the CEO and their designees, or Board of Commission approval. The funding for these services are included in the 2026 budget. Are there any questions? >> Matt, I appreciate all this, and I was just hoping you could expand a little bit on the funding, on how these are mostly funded by a grant from Ecology. >> Correct. >> So could you just talk about that a little bit? >> Yeah, we were fortunate enough to be issued a design grant, as well as applying for a construction grant while still waiting for funding under the design grant. So we were kind of under a time limit, and then once we were actually awarded the construction grant, there were some state funding issues and we ended up with a smaller amount. But the timing didn't work great for this one, so

4:53 we were just fortunate to get the money to construct this this year, so. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Moving towards this. Yes.

5:03 >> Any other? >> I'll move that we adopt the recommendation. >> Sorry, yeah, would you like me to read the recommendation? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. The recommendation is that the Board of Commissioners authorize the CEO to execute a contract amendment with Kennedy Jinks Consultants for a not to exceed amount of $211,000 for a total contract amount of $1,371,000 for on-call stormwater services. >> And now I'll move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. >> Second. >> No further discussion. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. It's passed unanimously. Next up, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am. Next we have our second and final action item is going to be presented by Mark Newell, our project delivery manager. Good morning, Mark. >> All right, good morning, commissioners.

6:01 So, here to present action item E2, and the subject is to approve the contract amendment with Gran Baba Architects for terminal one architectural design and consulting services. So I'll read the background and then if you have any questions, let me know. This project supports the port's strategic plan goals of implementing the vision of a destination waterfront at terminal one and pursuing opportunities that utilize the port's property and infrastructure investments to create jobs and support the economy. The work occurring on port properties at the Vancouver waterfront represents a multi-year redevelopment program comprised of a series of projects planned for completion of terminal one. In September 2022, the port issued a request for qualifications. Gran Baba Architects of Seattle, Washington was determined to be the most qualified proposer and awarded the contract for terminal one's architectural design and consulting services.

7:00 This contract amendment will provide funding to support site design advancement to 30% including site civil and utility plan design, street improvements, and site landscape design for the dock and plaza. The public market building design will be taken to 60% completion and includes architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, updated site renderings, and cost estimating support. Additional scope areas include entitlements, planning services, lead sustainability program management, public outreach, and administrative support for future RFP solicitations. The original terminal one architectural services contract amount was $300,000. Amendment one in the amount of $50,000 was issued in November 7, 2023 by CEO authority in accordance with resolution 10-2022.

7:53 Amendment two in the amount of $137,297 was issued on March 12, 2024 by the Board of Commissioners. And amendment three in the amount of $162,703 was issued on September 24, 2024. And amendment four in the amount of $187,297 was issued on December 18, 2024 by CEO authority in accordance with resolution 10-2022. Amendment five in the amount of $1,415,000 will bring the cumulative contract amount to $2,252,297. If contracts reach their dollar limits, additional funds will be requested in accordance with resolution 10-2022 administrative authority of the CEO and their designees. Funding for these services are included in the 2026 approved annual budget.

8:51 Any questions before I read the recommendation? >> I have a question. >> Go for it. >> So you just said that this is in the approved budget. It's a large jump, it's an addition to the contract, it's the biggest one here. But it also looks like the amount of work being included in this is really where the meat is. This is a really sizable addition to the project. Is that, my understanding, accurate on that? >> Yeah, there's a significant change in kind of moving from 30% to 60% design. In the 30% design, there's a lot of programming elements, kind of defining the boundaries and limits of some of those pieces, but the further details and kind of the scope and breadth of the design in all the different design disciplines all start to really take a lot of shape.

9:50 There's also an area where we're looking at materiality. We're defining some of those types of materials that we're using, and so it just further defines those. Also, looking at different options in those spaces is another area that becomes part of that. The site design aspect is an aspect that we haven't advanced as much. But our plan is to really get that moving in this year. And so that will include landscaping, that will include the supporting areas, access, roadways. So there's a lot of civil improvements around the perimeter that are included in the scope as well. And then there are permitting and then I think some additional support that will help our port team deliver these things as well. So hopefully that answers some of your questions. >> Absolutely, that's a great explanation, thank you.

10:49 >> I'll just ask, as we're looking at going from 30 to 60%, we're now entering the phase where the end use and the programming of the final site is going to really start to come into play in terms of the structure of the building and that sort of thing. So my hope is that, and my expectation is that the commission will be probably more heavily involved during this phase of things. >> And I can just add, we do anticipate having a workshop at our next commission meeting where we'll be kind of providing an overview of kind of the history of Terminal 1, the vision as we've been working towards, and then we'll talk a little bit more about the next steps. And as we anticipate kind of the operation of the market, what that looks like,

11:48 and then the design will follow kind of depending on what that operational plan is. >> Thank you. Would you like to read the recommendation? >> Sure, recommendation that the Board of Commissioners authorize the CEO to execute a contract amendment of $1,415,000. With Gran Baba Architects for the Terminal 1 Architectural Design and Consulting Services for a total contract amount of $2,252,297. >> I am moved that the commission approve the recommendation as presented. >> I'll second the motion. All those in favor. >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Aye. You did it, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, commissioners. >> Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Unfinished business? >> No unfinished business today. >> New business?

12:48 >> No new business. >> CEO report. >> Yes, so today we have a special guest joining us virtually. And I'd like to introduce Ryan Hart, our Chief External Affairs Officer, to introduce our guest. Good morning, Ryan. >> Good morning. Thank you, Juliana. >> Good morning, commissioners. It's my pleasure to introduce Dale Lurn this morning. Dale is our federal lobbyist located in Washington DC and he's joining us this morning via teams to give a brief update on what's happening in Washington DC and to present our federal legislative priorities. We make a few trips back to Washington DC each year and a few of us are going to be joining Pacific Northwest Waterways Association next month for their annual mission to Washington. These DC advocacy trips give us a great opportunity to present our federal legislative priorities to our delegation members. Our federal legislative priorities are outlined in four sections, water and marine infrastructure,

13:47 freight policies and funding, economic development, and energy and environment. Now about Dale. Briefly, Dale Lurn is the managing partner of the Washington DC branch of the law and government relations firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell, or GTH. Dale has worked with GTH since 2005, successfully representing several public and private sector clients on a variety of issues. He's been working with the Port of Vancouver since 2006. Prior to joining GTH, Dale spent over six years as chief counsel to US Senator Patty Murray, and two years as senior advisor to US Representative Adam Smith, and Dale is a native of the Pacific Northwest. So with that, I would like to introduce Dale Lurn. Welcome, Dale. >> Thank you, Ryan, thank you commissioners, thank you, Juliana, staff, really appreciate it. As Ryan mentioned, I'll give a brief overview and go over our preliminary 2026 agenda.

14:45 We're in the second year of the 119th Congress. Typically, the agenda's less edited in the second year. And in any new Congress, we typically do a larger edit. That overview, a little less work in a midterms we're in. We did finish the fiscal year 26 budget on February 3rd, although the Department of Homeland Security, as you've seen in the press, is the loan of the 12 appropriations bills, which hasn't been finished through the remainder of this fiscal year. Although we think by the end of the week, we will have a deal.

15:26 We will work hard this year on a lot of set up for a lot of different issues, important issues. But you don't, I don't expect Congress to work as much because of the midterms, maybe a few weeks after the August recess and then they'll typically leave for campaigning. I will give a midterm prediction in August, but the House currently is a two seat majority by the GOP with three vacancies, two on the GOP side and one on the Democratic side. Few issues this year will be, as always, the budget will begin to be put together. The president has not submitted a request as of yet, but the appropriations committees are beginning their work. The word of the Water Resource Development Act, which authorizes the policy and funding levels for the core,

16:23 is due this year and we're working on that currently for some big issues. The service transportation reauthorization bill also expires at the end of this fiscal year. It's been very active in the hearings and meetings, although I would suspect that we will see an extension just because of the midterms and some of the politics and policies involved. But they'll work hard in developing and we could see next month, maybe in May, some drafts and some bills laid down on both from the president and the House and the Senate on reauthorization. And again, working our team with Juliana and Ryan and others, the setup we do this year, even though they won't work as much formally in Congress, the setup on the issue is important to us.

17:21 And the trips out here are very helpful in ensuring when we do get beyond the election that the issues important to us and our partners and our allies have the work. The preliminary work has been done and we can move forward towards wins for us and the people we work with. So on the agenda, as Ryan mentioned, we have categories and I'll kind of go through in order. On water and marine, of course, the channel in the Columbia River and its depth and the Corps responsibility there is critical to us. The IJA had funding, increased funding for O&M on our navigable waterways. That's been helpful. We are working through a 20-year dredge material management plan with the Corps. We have some issues there that we're working in the WERDA 2026 process to ensure that that responsibility is primarily on the Corps.

18:20 Permitting is important and permitting is always a big issue here, and I'll talk more about that in a bit. On capital projects, we do have a port infrastructure development program request in with MARAD and on birth aid improvements. And we've had some conversations back to us, and that's a good sign. That usually means that the sort of the last tranche of applicants is 50 percent of them they'll fund and 50 percent of them they won't. I don't have a prediction on when they'll announce those, but it could be any time. On freight policy and fundings, again, as mentioned, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, the last bill, the IIJA was very beneficial to freight interests and to ports.

19:13 And we know Senator Cantwell was a big part of that as the ranking member of the Commerce Committee, then chair, I think, when they wrote that. And her agenda, and we've talked to her about it, will be focused on some of those freight programs and making sure they're reauthorized at appropriate levels. The Interstate Bridge program and efforts there with dealing with the agencies as well as funding is a priority, obviously. On economic development, Terminal 1, we've been working with the Commerce Committee and trying to get some help on some of our projects there. And we continue to be engaged with them. It's difficult because the chairman of the committee doesn't necessarily like some of the programs we're looking at or like port authority is getting funding in public funding.

20:06 But we've been slowly winning, at least the based arguments of keeping funding for things like the PIDP and hopefully we can move beyond and get some skits and changes is what we're looking for. Tax issues, we had a tax bill in the last year. It made permanent the new market tax credits and expanded the Opportunity Zone program, things that in the past our tenants have used, tools they've used, and other tools that other tenants or people involved in our business could use. With the new administration, the Columbia River Treaty has sort of taken a back a little. We had a pretty good outline, but the new administration has found other priorities, at least at this point, to negotiate and work with Canada. But hopefully we'll continue to put pressure on the administration to to push that forward trade.

21:02 We've seen the administration kind of have what we would consider an erratic trade policy, to say the least. And we're consistently advocating that we have a consistent one, predictable one, of course, and not overly costly to our our customers and our tenants. On the energy and environment issues, I mentioned permitting prior. This will be a big issue on both WERDA and the reauthorization, both on surface transportation and marine transportation. They're trying to get, and we have for a long time, we're trying to get significant permitting reform. The chairwoman of the Senate Committee, Shelley Moore Caputo from West Virginia. She's the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over WERDA and major elements and usually leads the surface transportation effort.

21:58 Has a bill which essentially is just trying to increase or trying to pick up the speed of permitting decisions as well as lower costs. And folks like Congressman Larson up from the northwest of Washington state, who's the ranking member on the T&I committee, are involved in permitting efforts. Of course, enacting those and seeing the real world effect that of those kinds of efforts have always been a struggle. But they're certainly from Congress, a bipartisan effort to try to make significant changes in federal permitting. And it's and how that intersects with state permitting as well. On more on the energy environment side, on on tax issues, on that big, beautiful bill that we saw last year was at least that's what it was termed. There was some policy changes to some of the clean fuel credits, including the production tax credit, which which will alter it significantly.

22:54 And then finally, on sort of the issues that are preliminary agenda. You know, we are you know, we have programs in those areas, including diesel emission reduction, which we advocate for because we've received funding and we've we've we've asked for funding in the past. So that's kind of my quick overview of our preliminary agenda. And I'll answer any questions about anything I said and anything you may think of federally. And if I don't know the answer to it, of course, I will write it down and get you on as quickly as possible. Thank you, Dale. Questions? No question. I'll take a bite of this apple. I'm glad you're there. Not me. I'm just kind of curious.

23:48 The there were various tax breaks that came in the big, beautiful bill. The Supreme Court knocked down the tariffs, which I think were supposed to amount to 200 billion dollars a year. And the last week's news was that the administration was going to Congress for 200 billion dollars to pay for our latest excursion. I'm an old man. When when Vietnam was going on, we got nickeled or dimed on our phone bills and one thing or another because it cost more to run. Is is anybody I don't hear anybody talking about the deficit anymore.

24:44 Is this no longer concerned? Is it pretty well balanced? Mr. Doe, the we just passed the thirty nine trillion dollar mark on our on our debt. And it is a consistent. It's an issue that people consistently speak about. How to tackle it has always been an issue. Most of our financial obligations are, quote unquote, entitlement programs, although we do have user fees for some of those essentially user fees. There is a constant discussion, but the discretionary budget other than defense is pretty minimal. It doesn't really impact significantly the rising debt. You mentioned the Department of Defense budget when I first started working in Congress and get dollars, obviously, with inflation change in nineteen ninety seven.

25:42 I think we were spending about a little under five hundred billion a year in our Department of Defense budget. The proposal we're likely to see from the president will be one point five trillion dollars. And that's that's not without the supplemental they're seeking for the two hundred billion for the incursion with Iran or in Iran. So. It's difficult to answer the question without speaking about it for for tens of minutes, other than yes, it's important. But I would, Dale learned speaking as long as our debt remains a fiscal note of primary fiscal note to the rest of the world,

26:34 it won't become an issue until there's an alternative, until someone else on the financial markets can use their debt and their dollar or their currency, I should say, to supplant our so. Yes. But again, the challenge is how do we structure, quote unquote, our entitlements is the primary issue and no one's willing to to face that head on. You know, we citizens balance their their their budgets by, you know, the income they have coming in and then their expenses. The federal government just doesn't do it that way. And I would argue that the only way to cover your expenses is to get more income. But in that case, the American public, at least to date, hasn't had the stomach to do what would be necessary to do that.

27:32 And including increasing our Social Security contributions would be one idea. And I don't remember the Vietnam War, but my father was a was a fought in it. So I don't have any recollection of what they did to help pay for that. But those things seem to be off the table in the modern era. Thank you. You're welcome. I did have one quick question, actually. Inclusion of in water confined aquatic structures as O&M. Yeah. Any thoughts on on the likelihood there? Well, Ryan has been leading an effort and the larger group impacted several ports on the Columbia have been reaching out to people impacted by what the cost would be to to the channel into the ports on the Columbia.

28:31 We've been meeting with people to try in the word of process to get some additional language that would force the core to consider it or O&M. But. Those all have a cost. I mean, right now we're rooting for, you know, the ports would pay for about half. And if consider construction elements, we would have to pay the additional double that. So we're working on it. And I'm optimistic because our efforts been successful. Ryan, in particular, has been very good at leading that charge, not only for the Port of Vancouver, but also the other ports and has really shown great leadership. And we've met with folks outside of the Washington, Oregon delegation on these issues.

29:23 We're making it relevant to the entire. Plain states and parts of the Midwest so that we can get help in ensuring language is included in word. Thank you. You are. Thank you, Dale. You're welcome, Mr. Thanks, Dale. Thank you. Thank you. Does that conclude the CEO report? Just one final comment. Last week, there was a lot of activity related to the IVR, the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. And so just wanted to remind folks that we are heavily involved in that process as we have a seat on the executive steering group.

30:17 We had a meeting last week where the updated cost estimates were provided, as well as updates to the phasing of the project and what the program is looking at to get construction started. And that's all I have today. Thank you. We move to Commissioner reports. My sheet says I ask you first, Commissioner LeBran. All right. Just a couple of quick things to to report. Since our last commission meeting, I was able to attend the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber luncheon that was down at Terminal one. Again, lots of lots of great information being discussed at that,

31:10 including the massive contribution that immigrants make to our to our economic development and our economy overall. Also had the opportunity to attend the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association mission to Washington prep meeting, kind of talking through and how that how that flows and addressing questions that folks might have who haven't haven't been on that mission previously. And that's all I have to report. Thank you, sir. Temple Lynch, commissioner. I'll answer to all of those. Let's see. I attended Labor Roundtable and checked in with our friends in labor and also had some constituent meetings.

32:08 Last week went to a really great port lecture, the first one of the year, and heard Neil from from PNWA give a really interesting presentation. And it was a it was a good turnout. There was a lot going on that night. And there were 100 plus, I think, people there and an engaged group of people as well. And also had the mixed pleasure of getting an IDR program update, as we've all been seeing the news. The estimated cost is quite a bit higher than original from back before they had a lot more information. But something that has I've heard people in the community talking about and it came up when we got some of these cost estimates.

33:02 You know, it's been 10 years since the last one. And a lot of this escalation, you know, if we if we've been able to get going on it 10 years ago, we wouldn't be dealing with this now. So looking ahead, you know, it's even more important than ever to ensure that we we get this thing done and we we get it. It's it's incredibly important to the port and all of our work here. So I'm looking forward to knuckling down and getting it done. You ran out of it. The cost of things is fascinating or frustrating to me. When we listen to the architects expenses this morning, I was thinking that's probably about what it would have cost to do all the building back in the day.

33:54 I'm trying to help some young folks get toward there for in the housing situation. And I bought my first house in Portland. Seventy nine for forty five thousand dollars. And I had trouble scraping up a down payment. And today. The down payment is about three times that much for four young folks to get in the house. And when you talk about the bridges, these things are hard to get our head around. I did some of the same things that these good people did in the last couple of weeks. I also went to a Pacific Islander youth showcase by the school districts of Evergreen and Vancouver over at Clark College.

34:45 And it was really. It was almost mind bending. There were about 600 folks there, probably a dozen old white guys and hundreds of Pacific Islanders. Most of these kids are, I believe, first generation. They're exciting. They're going to be our workforce there. They just had a great time celebrating their heritage. It was wonderful to watch. I also met with a fellow named Dennis Wooben, who is been in the construction business forever, but he's helping the school districts set up in a public private partnership, set up vocational programs at the Vancouver schools.

35:41 He was over at Fort Vancouver working on advanced welding and advanced manufacturing to help these young people. He only talks about the young people getting a step up on on moving from high school to what comes afterwards. It also, it's funded to a great extent by the industries that are going to need welders from from Protech to Hamilton, one and another. And it's kind of exciting to see this vocational work. We've talked a little bit about the one, the Cascading Tech. There's a lot of young people that are moving ahead and doing well in a challenging world.

36:33 I think I run out of words. I think the next thing we're going to do here, we've got upcoming events. And after that, we've got a workshop. Do you want to lead us? Are we going to go right from. We can go straight to the workshop if you'd like to. OK. We will plan on doing that. OK. Sounds good. All right. So next commission meeting is the first meeting in April. Again, 930 here Tuesday, April 14th. You will note that we have some community events, but I do want to highlight our port public public lecture number two. And so this is going to be on Wednesday, April 15th, six thirty to eight p.m.

37:25 And again, at the Kagan's Theater, which is a great venue, they have fantastic popcorn and other food and beverages there. And you can learn about the reliability of the river. We have someone joining us from Tidewater Barge Lines to talk about the barging industry on the on the river. And I think next we are going to get ready for our workshop. And while Mike is making his way, I will talk a little bit about communicating with the commissioners. Sorry, Mila. I've got you all over the place. So just a reminder, folks can join us here for open forum to provide public comment. And you can contact the port offices. We'll get you in touch with the commissioners. Remind everyone to get on the port's Web site has a lot of great information about what's happening at the port.

38:22 So encourage folks to to do that. And with that, Mike, you made it up really quick. So we're going to start to kick it off and welcome Mike Bomer. He's our chief economic strategy officer who is going to provide our annual strategic plan report. And I'll note up front that one of my personal strategic plan goals is portion control after going to the Kiggins and enjoying the popcorn there, too. So it is dangerous. It is good. But I would warn the public to be careful on that. So thank you for the opportunity. Commissioners, members of the public, Juliana, to give an update today. It's exciting to look back on what we accomplished together in 2025. Before we begin, I specifically want to thank our commission of both past and present for enduring and ensuring a plan that remains active and is central to our daily work and to our mission here at the port.

39:18 I also want to thank CEO Marler for your leadership in this effort and to Mila Cherchenko and other port members who helped put this presentation together today. Next slide, please. All right, so let's get to it. Today, we'll be reviewing major milestones from 2025, and we'll have a brief overview of next steps in our strategic planning process at the port. As a reminder, the strategic plan, save slide. As a reminder, the strategic plan was adopted in 2018 after extensive work was done both internal and externally with stakeholders to affirm our mission, our vision and values, to assess our current context, and to commit to 20 strategic goals as well as 66 strategies to guide and center our work. The impact of this effort was as much in its implementation as its form. The plan was integrated into our budget planning, employee review process and commission workshop activities to ensure accountability and

40:17 transparency as we advance initiatives while responding to a dynamic port and international environment. So let's dig in to just some of the highlights of what we accomplished last year. A more comprehensive supplemental report will be available to the commission as well as posted to our website shortly after today's presentation. Next slide, please. So under community goals one and two to strengthen our community outreach and communication, last year our external affairs team did a complete redesign of our website while simultaneously achieving record community engagement for our port report, our holiday card, our community campaign, and more. The team also generated some great earned media milestone events, such as the soda ash groundbreaking, as you can see in the photo here on the slide, and in welcoming our first ever cohort at Cascadia Tech Maritime Academy. We know our social license comes from community support, and in 2025 the team participated in outreach efforts such as the Fruit Valley Movie Night,

41:16 National Night Out, Public Lecture Series, and more. Next slide. Under community goals three and four to implement the vision of a destination waterfront at Terminal 1, and to provide trails and public access opportunities on port properties, we make great progress at Terminal 1 in getting 199 new steel piles installed during the last in-water work window. The contractor has already started adding pile caps, as you can see in the photo here, and is preparing concrete slabs which will support the new public market. As you can imagine, our project delivery team has had to face quite a few of moving parts at that site, and has done an excellent job. We were also excited to welcome Zoom Info to their office space at Terminal 1. Our developer, Lincoln Property Company, is finishing up the 440 West apartments at the west end of Terminal 1 as well. Our team worked to advance trail segments four and five just past Far West Steel on Lower River Road,

42:13 and these segments have some challenging aspects including complex wetland and buffer issues, and has required close coordination with our partners such as Wash Dot. Our team landed on a design that was safe, public friendly, and environmentally sound, and we anticipate that the completion of this project will happen this year. Next slide, please. Moving on to something near and dear and to my heart, economic development. As I mentioned, it was a great year for educational partnerships, as well as welcoming the first cohort of maritime technology students from Cascadia Tech Academy right here on site at the port at our 1501 building. We also significantly ramped up our tenant outreach program and brought on Gigi Harger-Olguin as our economic development specialist, to increase our support for both tenants and small businesses broadly. The port leveraged diverse funding streams through a robust grant strategy that resulted in the award of a $22.5 million EPA clean ports grant,

43:09 allowing us to move forward with a plan for two electric mobile harbor cranes, as well as shore power at Terminal 1. Additionally, we were awarded $3.9 million from the Washington Department of Ecology for a Terminal 4 polishing system, and we applied for a port infrastructure development program grant to improve safety and throughput at birth eight. We hope to hear the results from that application soon. It was a big year for our work with partner ports on the Columbia River shipping channel, as Dale Learn mentioned. As sponsor ports, Vancouver, Portland, Kalama, and Longview worked to complete permitting for the channel maintenance dredging materials management program, the DMMP. This work has been 20 years in the making and involved a lot of complex work among many partners. We also built a state and federal coalition, as Dale mentioned, with Ryan's leadership, to address increased cost of over 85 million over the next 10 to 20 years, more than double what was originally anticipated.

44:03 I'm pleased to report that this year Washington State approved 15 million to match Oregon's contribution, which is critical for the first phase of this effort. More work remains as we continue to advance for an appropriate share of federal funding for this needed maintenance project. You may have heard something about the I-5 bridge project in the news. The port is one of eight project partners, as Juliana mentioned, and continue to coordinate closely with the IBRP team on freight mobility, river navigation, and the interface with Terminal 1. A key milestone for the project recently was the revised navigational clearance determination, which allows the project to move forward with a fixed span option, optimal for both freight and river commerce. Next slide, please. Our environmental team is always a bright spot here at the port, and you will hear more at our upcoming sustainability report, so I'm going to be very brief in this section today. We reached our first of our three implementation timelines outlined in our climate action plan.

45:03 Our EV charging program is moving full speed ahead, and in total, the project includes 12 level two chargers, and three level three chargers at the maintenance, security, and right here at the administration building. And the administration building where we are right now, renovation included a lot of sustainability features, including upgrading to electric HVAC units, fully recyclable carpet, and bird safe overlays. A new industrial storm water permit was issued by Ecology last January, and the team led efforts to meet the new requirements to best manage storm water here for over 400 acres of paved surface at the port. The port reached a critical milestone in cleaning up sediment from a previous landowner, and an agreed order with Ecology lays out our path to lead an accelerated clean up and restoration of the Terminal 5 shoreline. This will be performed in two phases beginning this year. Next slide, please.

45:58 Under marine and industrial goals one and two, to ensure the port's cargo portfolio is diversified by leveraging resources to respond to customer needs and market demands. Our marine team secured the Vancouver bulk soda ash terminal redevelopment project, which is set to begin operations late this year. We advanced labor contracts with the maritime administrations. The terminal also saw a record 6.2 million metric tons of wheat, corn, and other ag products. 101 wind blades, hundreds of thousands of metric tons of scrap steel and steel commodities, 46,000 metric tons of aluminum, as well as over 65,000 subarus. The port served as the gateway for the Micron Air Liquey project, handling a complex mixture of cargo sizes, including direct to barge moves. And this is a testament to the great work that's being done with our partners in the high, wide, and heavy coalition, and is a win for the entire river system. Next slide, please.

46:56 Moving to marine industrial business goal four, the industrial team saw a lot of great lease extension and expansions last year, including Northwest Packing, Commodities Plus, Glen Dimplex, Vancouver Bulk Terminal, and Subaru of America, with a significant commitment through 2040. As mentioned, the team also completed a lease with Cascadia Tech. I'm just going to keep saying that over and over again, because I'm a little excited about that one. The future of our workforce to learn right on site here at the Port of Vancouver. And a shout out to Lori Kaler and the rest of the team for pulling it together, and for their continued engagement in the success of that program. With all of this, the commercial team was able to exceed the budgeted lease revenue for 2025. Now I'd like to turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Scott Goodrich, and he's going to cover a couple of our financial highlights for the year. Scott. >> Thank you, Mike, and good morning, commissioners. I'll go over a couple of our financial goals and 2025 major accomplishments

47:52 that really helped us help support the continued advancement of our strategic plan. We provided critical financial modeling and analysis to advance major waterfront development projects, like our new Terminal 1 dock, new customer partnerships, many of which you just heard about on the previous slide. And different capital investment opportunities helping turn our strategic vision into executable projects. Those include work that we've done out at Terminal 6, Terminal 5 opportunities, working with Subaru and other existing tenants, as well as a number of environmental mitigation projects. Significant groundwork was also laid for our new enterprise resource planning and payroll HR modernization project, which will ultimately replace a 30 year old legacy accounting software system.

48:50 With our department leading requirements for coordination with all the other departments in the organization, we concluded workflow design, long range reporting, and integration to position us for a successful transition in the next several years. Our finance and accounting team also secured key financing, strengthening long term cash flow forecasting capabilities, and delivered a balanced 2026 budget aligned with our strategic priorities. Additionally, last year, we also strengthened our team's capacity through succession planning and recruitment of two new team members to our group. A revenue accountant that will focus in on our lease and industrial and commercial leases. As well as a new senior financial analyst that will help strengthen our team and

49:50 help provide some succession planning for an outgoing team member. We also focus heavily on internal development, ensuring that we have the depth and resilience needed for what's around the corner. In addition to that, we also hosted an accounting summer intern, helping develop the next generation of accounting professionals and strengthening the governmental accounting talent pipeline in Clark County. Their internship provided a meaningful learning opportunity for the student, while creating value for both the organization and the broader profession. Next slide, please. The following results are based on preliminary, unaudited financials, but they reflect a year of strong financial stewardship supporting the port's strategic priorities. >From a financial sustainability perspective, the Port of Vancouver maintained

50:44 a strong financial position through disciplined financial management and treasury oversight. The port ended 2025 with approximately $81.7 million in cash and investments, providing strong liquidity to support the port's capital projects and strategic initiatives going forward. On the economic development and trade side, we supported the port's marine and industrial opportunities through financial stewardship of diverse revenue streams. Generating approximately $50 million in operating revenues, including $31 million for marine terminal operations and $13 million in industrial and commercial leases. On the infrastructure and investment and asset stewardship side, we continued advancing major infrastructure and development initiatives with approximately $61 million in construction and

51:39 progress projects supporting terminal improvements and long-term industrial and waterfront development. Just previously mentioned about our ERP program, that aligned well with our organizational excellence and data modernization, we advanced planning and implementation readiness for the port's new enterprise resource planning transformation. >From our current system to a new system, laying the groundwork for improved financial integration, data governance, and enterprise reporting capabilities. On the public value and community investment side, the Port of Vancouver managed $13.8 million in property tax revenues, coordinated financial oversight for federal and state grant funding, supporting strategic infrastructure and environmental initiatives. As a public agency, we are required to follow mandatory rules and regulations.

52:37 These requirements change and we are required to adjust our procedures accordingly. Our accounting and finance team and contracting teams have developed strong internal processes to support overall operations. And in 2025, as a result, we delivered another consecutive clean audit, highlighting our internal controls and federal grant oversight. We have also strengthened our teams for additional cross training, succession planning, and internal staff development. Ensuring we have the depth needed for the future. Thanks, and with that, back to you, Mike. >> Thanks so much, Scott. I'm a political science guy, not good with numbers, so I'm glad Scott came to help me out here today. I just want to add a couple more financial highlights, and particularly from financial goal three.

53:35 Developing a rolling 20 year comprehensive scheduled maintenance plan to maximize operational capacity, efficiency, and life expectancy of port assets. Our facilities team developed a compliance plan for the new State Clean Buildings Act. We had zero port rail infrastructure failures resulting in derailments. We achieved and strengthened dual rail access, making us more competitive for our existing customers and for new business. And for the eighth year in a row, we were 100% compliance with our annual US Coast Guard audit. We established a monitoring plan for PFAS. I don't know if I can say the actual name. It's Perchloride Alkal Substances. And the security team received a port security grant for program through FEMA to replace 106 security cameras. Port leadership continued, next slide please, in our organizational goals. Port leadership continued strong succession planning practices in the midst of an increasing number of retirements.

54:34 We even spoke on best practices in this area for ports nationally facing the same challenge. We upgraded our training programs across a variety of departments and implemented KPA Flex. Improving our HR and IT training offerings even further. We digitized a massive amount of records. And all of this was accomplished during a major renovation of our administrative offices. Big shout out to Don Egbert for leading us through that massive undertaking and to getting us to this beautiful and functional space that we now get to enjoy. Next slide. A good strategic plan, and I would argue that we have a great one, doesn't simply stop. It evolves as major initiatives are completed and as we adapt to a rapidly changing context in which we carry out our mission. Over the next several months, we will work with you as we scope out the next step in our strategic planning journey. This refresh will require us to reflect on what we've accomplished, what still needs to be done,

55:33 what remains top priorities at the port, and what new challenges we must address in order to carry out our mission here at the port. Under the leadership of CEO Marler, and with your guidance, we will refresh and energize a transparent plan. That will remain active in our daily work and prepare us for tomorrow. Next slide. Bringing it home. So thank you again for your time today, for your leadership, and for the opportunity to share just some of the highlights from what was a great year in 2025, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Is that all you guys did? >> No, there is a supplemental report that we will post on the website if you didn't get enough. >> I think it's incredible, and being relatively new here can't take credit for participating in any of it.

56:31 But it's amazing to come in and see, so I'm looking forward to also seeing what's next, so. >> Great, thank you. >> I know there's a lot of execution involved throughout all of our departments to bring these things home. I am looking forward to opening up the book on strategic plan 2.0. And really anticipating that in large part because of how well our team has executed on the existing plan. It's sort of a cliche for organizations to do these strategic planning processes, and then it goes on a shelf and it gathers dust. And back in late 2017, developing this,

57:24 I think we put a heavy emphasis on smart goals that we can now look back and say yes, we actually accomplished these very specific things. So I'm excited about what that refresh is going to look like and what sorts of things we'll be discussing as part of that project. >> I agree, thanks, Commissioner. I think what we're all saying is thank you and it's fairly obviously not to be taken for granted. Y'all are doing some good work, I appreciate it. I run out of words. Did I get the last word in this? >> You did. >> Did you have any more to add? >> Thank you, commissioners. >> Juliana? >> Hm? >> Did you have any more words for us? >> You know, I just, I am always in awe when we have these annual reports.

58:24 And again, this is the highlight that you heard, the supplemental report gets into more detail. And it is just, I am so incredibly proud of the team. It is, to your point, it is not sitting on a shelf. This is intertwined in everything that we do. And we always have the strategic plan front and center as we are looking at how do we keep the port moving forward. And the team's done an amazing job, and I'm just very proud of them. >> Thank you. With that, next thing we do is sign documents. There's not gonna be an administrative update, and after we sign documents, we'll adjourn. This concludes the public portion of the meeting. Thank you all. Well, I think I was supposed to.