New round of bids to open for Port of Nome expansion

The Port of Nome expansion project will go out for a new round of bids, albeit the bids will entail a modified design and splitting Phase One into an A and B part. The Phase One A bid is set to open for solicitation at the end of February, Port of Nome Project Manager Joy Baker told the Common Council at their regular meeting Monday.
“Obviously additional funds are warranted based on the inflation and inflationary impacts to the project, all the projects across the country. Which is threefold or sixfold, depending on how you look at it for Alaska,” Baker said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cancelled the solicitation of contract bids on Phase One of the port expansion project last October, after the bid they received was higher than the statutory limit. The original design of Phase One entailed the removal of the spur at the end of the existing causeway, extending the causeway and adding an L-shaped extension to it at the end.
The project was put on hold as the Corps went back to the drawing board and redesigned it at a cheaper cost, with a priority on beginning the process even if that meant starting at a smaller scale.
The solution? “They just broke Phase One into two pieces,” Mayor John Handeland explained.
What was going to be a causeway extension of 3,500 feet is now whittled down to 1,200 feet with a 600-foot dock.
“We need to get the rocks in the water and start building so everything else can fall in place,” Baker said Monday.
It’s not practical to build out the “L” at the end of the causeway just to take it out later, Baker said. For now it’s just an extension which will help the city and Corps get a realistic feel on market pricing this year, and then pursue more funding on both ends, federal and local, she said.
According to a contract announcement on sam.gov by the Corps, the estimated cost is between $250 and $500 million.
“Based on their cost updates reflected by the market increases [the Corps believes] that we should have sufficient funds on hand, federally and locally to award Phase One A,” Baker said. She is also looking into multiple grants to support the project.
Baker gave another port related update: The city has received the quitclaim deed from the Air Force out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson regarding the West Nome Tank Farm. Nome’s attorney and the state will look at the final package and once they sign off on it, the Air Force will file the necessary paperwork at the Alaska recorder’s office and within 45 to 60 days Nome will have a document where they can claim the title. “After 10 years,” Baker said.

Cab Concerns
Rodney Jones, owner of Checker Cab, has been working with the city to pay off unresolved sales tax and get his vehicles in compliance to renew his cab licenses. Jones has expressed difficulty in the past with accessing the online LocalGov system to pay sales taxes.
“The biggest hang up has been the online sales tax reporting system, the change in the system that the people, that we’re not understanding, or able to get on the computers, or not computer literate or unable to, and that’s one of the reasons why they got behind,” Councilmember Mark Johnson said.
After a short conversation about staying consistent in their decision for all businesses, the council approved the forgiveness of Checker Cab Sales tax penalties and interest for 2021-2023, totaling $4,120.56.
The bigger fish to fry regarding cabs was the cab licenses. The city currently has six active licenses all held by Checker Cab, but there are 11 total for the city, the others were revoked from Mr. Kab in 2020.
The council was set to vote on a resolution to release three licenses, opening them up for other entities to start a cab business.
The city code states that the council determines the number of cab licenses in the city at any time, based on the economic viability for the license holders.
Henderson pointed out that in 2005, 13 licenses were issued and only six are in use today. Previously, Jones has told the council he can operate maximum two cabs at a time in Nome’s market.
“My concern is, and I indicated this at the work session, that if we issue more permits, when basically only two cabs can economically and reasonably function at one time, and we have literally nine permits out there, that’s going to make it uneconomically profitable for operators to do this,” Henderson said.
The other concern is that the city hasn’t been enforcing regulations, like cab inspections.
“One could argue that, well, Checker Cab hasn’t maintained compliance. I would also argument the city has not required that,” Henderson said. “So don’t penalize the operator if the city has not enforced the ordinances that are currently on the books.”
During the public comment period, Jones made his case to the council, stating he’s invested 30 years to this company and serving Nome. He argued Checker Cab is an essential service, sometimes responding in medical situations, getting people to the hospital, picking up those walking on the side of the road from the airport, helping people out of snowbanks and getting them home safe.
“I got babies named after me with people that I don’t really have nothing to do with,” Jones said. “But, you know, babies born in the cabs, I give them free rides for life.”
Jones explained the staffing challenges he’s experienced, the trouble with phone calls since the Quintillion fiber optic cable break, and recent low customer demand. He said he was here to fix all the issues he has with the city, but they have to work with him, too.
“If these permits come out, this is the slowest time you ever this community has ever had, it’ll destroy me. And every effort that I did for 30 years, will be gone. I’ll have nothing for my children,” Jones said.
The council mulled what an appropriate amount of time would be for Jones to get in compliance with sales tax and inspections, deciding on 60 days. Mayor Handeland advocated for Jones, said there was room to work with him and he seemed willing.
Councilmember Maggie Miller brought up how council heard from community members who want to start cab businesses in town but are unable to without an available license.
“Yes, we have worked with the current company, but also we are losing revenue, and we are monopolizing economic success from other people in our community,” Miller said.
Councilmember Johnson agreed with Miller, but went back to the ordinance that states the council is responsible for determining if adding more licenses is economically viable.
Henderson made a motion to table the resolution but failed. When it came time to vote on the main motion on a resolution to add three cab licenses, the motion failed 3-2.

Other business
The council approved a resolution awarding the Cape Nome Jetty repair project to Duwamish Services for their bid of $7,359,935. The project will help reinstate operations at the Cape, making it more cost effective to unload and load rock mined from the Cape Nome quarry, according to Baker. Since the damage occurred during ex-typhoon Merbok, the project will be paid for by a Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, grant.
The Nome Police Department is about a month away from achieving accreditation. Acting City Manager and City Clerk Dan Grimmer relayed a report from Sgt. Austin Martino stating he is working to update and correct the final documents, which is set to be done by the end of this week. Once corrections are completed, a representative will make a visit to Nome, likely the first or second week of March, and that will complete the process. From there, NPD will be evaluated every three years.
Just days after ten people died in a Bering Air plane crash 34 miles southeast of Nome, the community is still reeling. Mayor Handeland began the council meeting by reading the names of the victims: 34-year-old Chad Antill of Nome, 52-year-old Liane Ryan of Wasilla, 58-year-old Donnell Erickson of Nome, 30-year-old Andrew Gonzalez of Wasilla, 41-year-old Kameron Hartvigson of Anchorage, 46-year-old Rhone Baumgartner of Anchorage, 52-year-old Jadee Moncur of Eagle River, 45-year-old Ian Hofmann of Anchorage, 34-year-old Talaluk Katchatag of Unalakleet and 48-year-old Carol Mooers of Unalakleet. Then the room paused for a moment of silence.
All of the council members commented on the community response and efficient work by the Nome Volunteer Fire Department and search and rescue team.
“We also had a lot of collaboration from our community organizations like Bering Straits [Native Corporation], Kawerak and just private citizens. They came and brought food to our first responders. They did not go unnoticed,” Grimmer said.
Beginning and ending the meeting acknowledging the tragedy, Handeland gave a message to the community: “We will heal from this eventually, but you know, if anything good comes out of this, it will be lessons to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. So, thanks, from the bottom of my heart to all of the folks who participated in this, the outpouring of love and support from the villages around here was amazing…it really was a regional response.”