Ketchikan’s city hall on June 11, 2020. (Maria Dudzak/KRBD)

Elected leaders in Ketchikan are looking to change how the community manages its publicly-owned cruise ship docks, but they’re not yet sure what changes to make. That’s one takeaway from Thursday’s Ketchikan City Council meeting.

In October, a split council voted 4-3 to scrap two proposals from private companies seeking to take over port management. That came after months of debate — two newly-elected council members ran on promises to keep management in the city’s hands.

But Council Member Dave Kiffer said Thursday that the debate over the port’s future revealed a point of consensus.

“Everyone pretty well conceded that we need to do things differently,” Kiffer said. “So I wanted to start the discussion of, how do we want to go there?”

One idea he floated was to form a port authority. That would be a separate local government body specifically in charge of the downtown docks. As it stands, the port is a city department directly controlled by Ketchikan’s City Council and city manager.

“There’s good and bad to having a port authority. One, we would, as a council, somewhat lose control of the port in that there would be another local body that would manage the port. We would not see revenues from the port, which would not be a good thing,” Kiffer said.

But on the other hand, Kiffer continued, a port authority could be set up to borrow money on its own tab. So if the port needed millions of dollars in upgrades to handle larger cruise ships, a port authority could borrow money without affecting the city’s ability to borrow for other projects.

Kiffer said he’s open to other ideas — but he said that the council should decide on changes to port management before replacing the city’s former port director, who retired earlier this year.

Council Member Abby Bradberry said she was leaning against the idea of a port authority.

“We had the opportunity to give the port to somebody else to manage so we didn’t have to worry about it. Doing a port authority kind of does that exact same thing, except we can choose who’s on there. So we’re still, the City Council is still going to be giving up that control aspect that the community wanted us to be involved in it and help set forth rates and so forth,” she said.

Mayor Bob Sivertsen said he favored hiring a new port director rather than creating a new entity. He asked Ketchikan’s city manager to distribute copies of the port director’s job description to council members so they could review it and propose changes at a later date.

The post Ketchikan City Council discusses possible port authority, changes to port management appeared first on KRBD.

The Crystal Serenity was the first large cruise ship of the 2016 season to stop in Ketchikan. (KRBD file photo)

International cruise port operator Global Ports Holding is asking the city of Ketchikan to give up its port fees — including a $7 head tax paid by each cruise passenger that visits Ketchikan.

That’s according to newly-released documents detailing its proposal. The documents shine light on one of two bids currently in front of the City Council over who would manage and operate the city-owned cruise ship docks for the next two to three decades.

The really eye-popping number is the up-front fee Global Ports Holding and partner ConRAC Solutions would pay the city: Between $40 million and $45 million paid over seven years. In exchange, Global Ports and ConRAC Solutions would gradually raise the fee paid by cruise passengers visiting Ketchikan to $15 by 2029. After that, it’d be tied to inflation.

It’s not clear whether that $15 charge would legally qualify as a passenger vessel fee under state law. Cruise ports currently split shares of a $34.50 head tax paid to the state by cruise lines.

As part of the deal, Global Ports Holding would also take over expenses currently paid by the city to operate the docks. That includes the Berth IV lease, which cost $2.7 million last year, and interest on port bonds — another $2.2 million last year.

Ketchikan Port Solutions would be the name of the entity created by the partnership. It’s promised an additional $20 million in maintenance and another $19 million in other upgrades.

The city would still be paid on a per cruise passenger basis. Global Ports Holding proposed paying between 50 cents and $1.25 per visitor, depending on whether the docks are leased for 20 or 30 years.

Representatives for each company told the Ketchikan City Council last month that in their mind, the city could spend the $40 to $45 million fee on whatever it wanted to, as long as it’s for the good of the public. So, parks, water mains, fire trucks, whatever.

That’s notable — because right now, port fees can’t be spent on anything that doesn’t directly benefit ships. That was reaffirmed in a federal court after the cruise industry sued the City and Borough of Juneau over its $8 head tax.

So a deal with Global Ports Holding could, in theory, mean more money in the city’s general fund.

But Ketchikan’s city attorney hasn’t commented or released a legal opinion of whether that’d be the case.

Altogether, the company says its investment over 30 years would be at least $204 million. There is language to protect the city in case cruise passenger numbers drop off. But not in the case of a pandemic. The city has yet to comment on what it sees as probable risks in the deal.

As of Monday afternoon, competing bidder Survey Point Holdings has not released its bid to take over management at Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks.

The post Global Ports Holding bid would nix Ketchikan’s city head tax – and charge lines $15 a head by 2029 appeared first on KRBD.

Ketchikan’s Berths 1 and 2 sit empty in this file photo. (KRBD file photo by Leila Kheiry)

Ketchikan residents may soon get a lot more information about two private companies’ proposals to take over operations at the downtown city-owned cruise ship docks. That’s after months of public pressure for more transparency in the bidding process.

But first, the companies have to agree to waive confidentiality and release their bids.

Two bidders have offered tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in financial packages to the city in exchange for the right to manage Ketchikan’s cruise ship docks — and charge cruise lines for the privilege of calling on the city’s port.

The companies are Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings and a partnership called Ketchikan Port Solutions. That’s made up of international cruise port operator Global Ports Holding and an Anchorage firm called ConRAC Solutions that designs and operates rent-a-car facilities at airports.

Each of the bidders gave a public presentation last month outlining their offer. But the details of the bids remain confidential. Ketchikan’s City Council was scheduled to begin its final review of the proposals on Wednesday in what’s known as “executive session.”

But before the council started the closed-door portion of its meeting, it opened the floor to the public. Mary Wanzer was among the speakers who called on the City Council on Wednesday to release the full bids and forgo an executive session.

“Our future depends on the decisions you may make tonight. This decision should not be made without full transparency in the public input,” Wanzer told the council.

The future of the port — and, more specifically, the transparency of the process — has become an issue in the campaign for four open seats on the Ketchikan City Council. Four challengers seeking a seat on the council made similar requests Wednesday — Mary Stephenson, Riley Gass, Jai Mahtani and Abby Bradberry. Other candidates have also expressed doubts about turning to a private company to manage dock operations.

Now, two sitting city council members have supported revealing details of the bids: Dick Coose and Dave Kiffer.

The third incumbent up for re-election, Mark Flora, had a more nuanced take.

“We’re trying to honor the transparency that the community is demanding,” Flora said.

But he says the city had pledged to keep the bids confidential until the city is ready to sign a deal.

“But I think it’s also the other side of the coin, is to remind the community that this body entered into an agreement and to breach that agreement does not serve the public interest,” he continued.

Flora voted to enter the closed-door session. Kiffer, Coose and Council Member Judy Zenge were opposed in the 4-3 vote.

The council emerged more than two hours later and voted to release several documents:

• The companies’ initial bids,
• Questions from city staff about the bids, and the companies’ answers,
• The two bidders’ so-called “best and final offers”
• And a financial analysis of the two bids against the status quo performed by a Minneapolis-based financial firm, Piper Sandler Companies.

That is, if they can get Survey Point Holdings and Ketchikan Port Solutions to agree to waive the confidentiality provisions and make the documents public.

Colin Murphy has been leading the charge for Ketchikan Port Solutions — he’s the head of American business development for Global Ports Holding. After the vote, he told KRBD that his company has no objection to opening the process to the public.

“We think full visibility is a good thing. And in fact, we’ve already written to the city manager confirming that we will give our approval to release our proposal, provided they obviously release both. We think that’s a good thing,” Murphy said in a phone interview Thursday.

Ethan Berto of Survey Point Holdings wouldn’t talk on tape Thursday, but said his company was  “generally open” to publicizing the bids. He said he had some questions about the terms — he said he wanted to ensure that the “best and final offers” were really final. Berto said he didn’t want to get into a bidding war.

Ketchikan City Manager Karl Amylon says in an email that he anticipates formal requests to release the documents will go out Friday. If the companies consent, they’ll be posted on the city’s website.

Global Ports Holding and ConRAC Solutions released the details of their bid Friday. Survey Point Holdings’ bid had not been released as of noon Saturday

This story has been updated.

The post Bowing to public pressure, Ketchikan City Council votes to publicize port operators’ bids appeared first on KRBD.

Ketchikan’s City Council will meet behind closed doors at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It’s scheduled to start its final review of two proposals it received to take over management of Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks.

The two bids come from Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings and a partnership called Ketchikan Port Solutions. That’s a 50-50 partnership between U.K.-based cruise port operator Global Ports Holding and Anchorage-based ConRAC Solutions.

Each promises millions in financial packages. It’s not clear which would benefit the city more — one item the council will consider Wednesday is a financial analysis of the proposals conducted by Minneapolis-based financial services firm Piper Sandler Companies.

The City Council will also consider the option of shelving the two proposals and maintaining city management of the docks.

The future of the port is one of the top issues in this year’s local elections. Four seats on the council — that’s a majority — are up for election in October. Three incumbents and eight challengers are vying for those seats.

Nearly every challenger has come out publicly against the idea of turning over management of the docks to a private entity.

So far, incumbent City Council members haven’t tipped their hands — they say that discussing their preferred option publicly could jeopardize the fairness of the bidding process and open the city to lawsuits. But some on the council have said that one goal of the process is to free up funds currently tied to the port for other city projects.

The council’s deliberations will take place behind closed doors in what’s known as executive session — but decisions about whether to move forward with a particular proposal or abandon the process would be made in open session, City Manager Karl Amylon said in a brief phone interview Tuesday.

Ketchikan city officials have defended the decision to conduct port negotiations behind closed doors. The city’s attorney denied a KRBD public records request for the proposals earlier this year, saying in an email that publicizing the bids could jeopardize the city’s negotiating position.

If the council designates one bidder as its preferred choice, it could instruct city management to begin negotiating concrete terms. Amylon said that process would take weeks, if not months — meaning there wouldn’t be a final vote before a new City Council is seated following the October 6 local election.

The council meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Ted Ferry Civic Center. The meeting is also streamed online and broadcast on local cable channels.

The post Ketchikan City Council to begin final review of port proposals Wednesday in closed-door session appeared first on KRBD.

Trash fees could rise by about $2.50 in Ketchikan later this year. That’s after the city council tentatively approved rate increases.

Ketchikan City Manager Karl Amylon blamed rising freight costs.

“When we brought the amendment to the solid waste disposal contract to the council back in March, we indicated that the pretty dramatic increases in fees were not going to be able to be sustained by the current billing structure,” Amylon said.

Public Works Director Mark Hilson added in a memo that those rates have only been hiked twice since 1994.

The rate for construction and other large commercial waste would also rise from $145 to $170 per ton.

The council unanimously approved the increases after a wide-ranging discussion on ways to cut the city’s waste costs. If approved in second reading next month, the new rates would take effect Dec. 1.

In other business, Ketchikan’s City Council unanimously approved a new tradition to open its meetings. Council Member Emily Chapel asked that the city recognize Ketchikan’s Indigenous inhabitants. The language of the land acknowledgement was suggested by Tongass Tribal Leader Richard Jackson.

“The Ketchikan City Council would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of this land in Ketchikan, the Tongass Tlingit people,” it reads.

It’s an idea Chapel first brought forward last month. It’ll come back for final approval at the council’s October 1 meeting.

And, finally, the council scheduled a special meeting to start its final review of two competing proposals to manage Ketchikan’s cruise docks. It’ll also evaluate the option of keeping the docks under city management. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.

The post Ketchikan City Council approves trash rate hikes, land acknowledgement; schedules port meeting for Wed. appeared first on KRBD.

All 11 candidates for this October’s Ketchikan City Council election logged on for a virtual KRBD forum Monday. One issue the candidates addressed was the future of Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks.

Local elections in Ketchikan don’t usually garner much interest — often, many races are uncontested.

Not this year.

Eight candidates are seeking a full term on the Ketchikan City Council: incumbents Dick Coose and Dave Kiffer, plus challengers Jai Mahtani, Abby Bradberry, Riley Gass, Spencer Strassburg, Joey Jean Tillson and Lisa Scarborough.

The top three vote-getters in that race will get a seat on the council.

Another three candidates — incumbent Mark Flora and challengers Grant EchoHawk and Mary Stephenson — are seeking a single two-year seat.

Perhaps the biggest issue the new City Council will tackle is the future of Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks. City officials and financial analysts are currently reviewing two companies’ proposals to take over management of the downtown docks in exchange for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in financial packages.

Candidates were split on the idea.

“So the short answer is absolutely not under any circumstance,” said Riley Gass. He argued that the city could pull more money from cruise lines by raising head taxes. He said the city hadn’t raised rates often enough in recent years.

Abby Bradberry made a similar argument. She also said cruise lines were willing to help the city with some projects, citing five-figure donations from Royal Caribbean to local nonprofits.

Jai Mahtani said he agreed with Gass and Bradberry. He owns a downtown jewelry store, and offered his own opposition:

“They will guide the people to their own stores,” he said. “The free economy will be a controlled economy.”

To be clear, the request for proposals issued last year mandated that the dock operator not run retail stores or tours. But downtown merchants have argued that cruise ship berth assignments sometimes unfairly advantage some stores over others.

Spencer Strassburg pitched a preferential berthing arrangement — a system in which a cruise line invests in dock improvements in exchange for priority over other lines. He cited the new Norwegian Cruise Line-backed dock in Ward Cove as an example.

In fact, Ketchikan’s city council asked for preferential berthing bids at the same time it solicited proposals for dock management. But no lines bid.

Grant EchoHawk said he opposed turning over dock management to an out-of-state company.

“That incentivizes that company to make their decisions in their own interest,” he said. “By the city controlling the docks, we can then control those interests. We can determine where the money goes, how it’s spent.”

The two bids came from U.K.-based Global Ports Holding and Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings.

Joey Jean Tillson said she favored retaining city management of the downtown docks, as well.

“We need to be creating the jobs, and we need to definitely do some more analysis on exactly what exactly we need to do to generate the revenue,” she said.

Lisa Scarborough said she was on the fence. Like Tillson, she said she wanted to make sure port jobs were available to locals. She said she wanted the city to ensure the docks would continue to be open to the public.

Both companies that submitted bids to manage Ketchikan’s port have pledged to ensure as much public access as possible.

Mary Stephenson said she was impressed by the two companies’ proposals. She said she’d like to see the city continue to operate the port, but she said she’d like to see city staff trained in port management.

“So that we can then sit at their table and say we know what you know that we know that you also know we know.  So we’re on the same playing field. Vote for independence,” she said.

Incumbent City Council Members Dave Kiffer, Dick Coose, and Mark Flora each declined to commit one way or another — coming out publicly in favor or against private dock management, they said, could jeopardize the fairness of the bidding process.

That, plus the fact that the final review of the proposals is still in progress, and it’s not clear which proposal will come out looking the best for the city, financially.

Kiffer noted that the city did raise port fees last year over cruise lines’ objections, and a prior rate hike had led lines to cut the number of ships calling on Ketchikan.

“It’s always very dangerous to just back yourself into a hole and say, ‘I’m definitely not going to do X, Y or Z.’ Because X, Y or Z might turn out to be good for you,” he said. “And no, there is no intention of turning over control with a capital ‘C’ outside the community.”

Coose said he’d like to see the final proposals made public before the council signs a deal.

“Everybody’s going to see them and comment on them, and then we’ll make a decision, and it will be the best one for the city in the long run,” he said.

Flora put it this way:

“I want to see money come off the port that goes to the city’s general fund,” he said.

As it stands, fees paid by cruise lines and passengers can’t be spent on projects that don’t directly benefit ships. That’s the result of a federal court ruling following the cruise industry’s challenge of Juneau’s local head tax.

However, it’s not clear whether lease payments or upfront fees charged to port operators would be subject to the same restrictions. Ketchikan’s city attorney didn’t respond to calls for comment.

Election Day is October 6.

In the interest of full disclosure, Grant EchoHawk is a member of KRBD’s nonprofit board of directors, which does not direct the station’s news coverage.

The 11 candidates touched on a number of subjects during Monday’s forum, including homelessness in Ketchikan, community service and their ideas to diversify Ketchikan’s cruise-heavy economy. Listen to the whole forum below, on the KRBD Evening Report podcast feed, or on KRBD’s Facebook page.

The post Ketchikan City Council candidates sound off on future of city-owned port in KRBD forum appeared first on KRBD.

Ketchikan’s City Council is playing the hits this Thursday. Ferries, cruise ship docks, Ketchikan’s hospital — and, of course, COVID-19 — are among the more than 50 topics outlined on this week’s mammoth meeting agenda.

COVID-19 quarantine and testing measure

Ketchikan City Council member Sam Bergeron says he’d like to see stronger state travel restrictions to minimize the spread of COVID-19. To that end, he’s proposed a resolution that would ask the governor to require two-week quarantines for all travelers, both in-state and out-of-state, with two rounds of testing.

In an op-ed published on local news site SitNews, supporters say it’s based on what they see as a successful policy in the expansive, sparsely populated state of Western Australia. Quarantine requirements would be lifted after local transmission of the virus is eliminated, according to the draft request. And, of course, it is just a request — passing the resolution wouldn’t enact the quarantine policy.

And that’s not the only coronavirus-related item up for debate — Bergeron also says he’d like to see face masks required at City Council meetings. As it stands, face masks are encouraged but not required — though seats are spaced at least six feet apart.

Ward Cove financial impact study completed

City officials have received the results of a McDowell Group study on the financial impact of a new megaship dock in Ketchikan’s unincorporated Ward Cove area. The new 500-foot dock is a joint venture between Alaska investors and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Though the study doesn’t take into account the unpredictable future of the cruise industry post-pandemic, analysts with the consulting firm say the City of Ketchikan stands to lose roughly 20% of the passengers it welcomed in 2019 to the new Ward Cove dock. That’d be a loss of roughly $4.3 million in port fees and sales taxes compared with last year, according to the report.

And that $4.3 million number? That’s a low-tier estimate — that assumes Norwegian is the only line to call on Ward Cove. If other lines redirect their ships north of city limits, the firm says the city’s losses could be even greater.

Port proposals to face public scrutiny

Progress on the city’s proposal to turn over day-to-day dock operations to a private company in exchange for $35 million in shoreside spending is continuing after the city shortlisted two potential port operators.

And though details of the two companies’ proposals have so far been under wraps, the process is set to get a lot more public in the next couple weeks. Next Wednesday, Ketchikan-based port operator Survey Point Holdings will hold an open house detailing their plans for the downtown docks. They’ll be followed the next Wednesday by Ketchikan Port Solutions, a partnership between an Anchorage consultancy and U.K.-based Global Ports Holding.

State group asks about Ketchikan’s ferry needs

As for the state ferry system, a group tasked with forging a new future for the Alaska Marine Highway System is asking what Ketchikan’s ferry needs are. The chair of the AMHS Reshaping Work Group says the community’s needs will inform the recommendations of the group tasked with advising the Dunleavy administration.

Hospital presentation and negotiations

And, finally, the city council is scheduled to hear a quarterly presentation from PeaceHealth, the Washington state-based Catholic nonprofit that runs Ketchikan’s hospital. It’ll be new Ketchikan Medical Center chief Dori Stevens’ first time in front of the council, and she’s got big shoes to fill — interim hospital administrator Joe Mark got rave reviews from council members after his first presentation earlier this year.

This week’s Ketchikan City Council meeting gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Thursday in the Ted Ferry Civic Center. It’ll be preceded by a closed-door session updating council members on lease negotiations with PeaceHealth to continue to run the city-owned hospital.

Residents can offer their input at the beginning of the meeting.

The post COVID-19, Ward Cove study, port proposals, ferries, hospital and more on packed City Council agenda Thursday appeared first on KRBD.

SSA Marine is one of three companies bidding to take over port operations at Ketchikan’s downtown cruise ship docks. The Seattle-based company largely operates cargo ports.

Mark Knudsen is an executive with SSA Marine, and he stopped by KRBD’s studios to talk about his company’s bid. We started the interview by asking Knudsen about his company’s experience working with the cruise industry.

KRBD also sat down with port bidder Global Ports Holding. The third bidder, Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings, has so far declined an interview.

The post LISTEN: Exec for port bidder SSA Marine discusses company’s cruise port experience appeared first on KRBD.

Three companies are vying to take over management of Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks. One of those is Global Ports Holding, a company that manages cruise ports in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Asia.

Colin Murphy, a Global Ports executive, held meetings with tour operators and port retailers last week at the Cape Fox Lodge. Murphy also sat down with KRBD.

KRBD’s Eric Stone started the interview by asking Murphy why he thinks his company would be the best to manage Ketchikan’s docks. He says the city would be best served by an independent port operator.

Colin Murphy: Our bid is not in partnership with any particular cruise lines. We feel that the best way to maximize the facilities that are owned by the city is to manage those independently and make decisions which are based on the interest of the city and of the government and not necessarily what’s in the interest of other people. So we think an independent operator managing it on an open access basis where the city — and us, hopefully — get to make the decisions on which ships come to the port is this is the way to go for sure.

[…]

Eric Stone: A lot of people here see the docks as sort of a public good.  They’re owned by the local taxpayers and managed in the local taxpayers’ interest. And if the taxpayers don’t like how the docks are being managed, they replace the people in charge of it: the City Council. How would you make sure that the community has a voice in how the docks are used?

CM: I’ll give you an example based on recent experience in the Bahamas, in the port of Nassau. So we have several advisory committees. We have a transportation advisory committee made up of tour operators and taxi drivers. We have a water taxi advisory committee, we have a retail advisory committee, we have a design advisory committee. So we need to do this project in collaboration with the community. We can’t just — we’re not just coming in and imposing our view of what we think is the right thing to do. It has to be done in collaboration with the community. So at every stage through the design, people — the council and the citizens — would be appraised.

Also, another point I’d like to make is about employment. Our intent is to hire the city employees that are currently running the port, those that wish to come to us so that we’ve got local management. So yes, we’re an international company. But this will be a local solution so that hopefully there will be no change in terms of who’s working at the port. Most of the services there will be provided by local companies. And so it will be a local solution. It won’t be a sort of an international brand, with lots of international guys coming in to run it. Most people won’t notice the difference, frankly, in who’s working on the port.

[…]

ES: I want to get a sense of what your vision is for the port. Are we talking about new buildings? Other changes? What is your vision for the port?

CM: Well, I think we don’t have a fully developed vision because our vision needs to be built in conjunction with the community. So we’re not coming in and saying, “This is what we will do here, because we know everything and we’re the we’re the best.” We’re saying that we think that we can add value that we have a lot of experience in different communities, designing a solution that is best for them.

So the Nassau solution is very, very different from what will be done in Ketchikan, but really, it was an example of how we respond to the needs of the community and we deliver what they’re asking for.

In Nassau, they had specific requirements. They wanted to revitalize the downtown area. They wanted to make it a bit more interesting for locals and for hotel guests, not just for cruise guests, so that solution was really designed for them. Once we have input from the community, whatever we do down in the port area, which is very small, will be designed in conjunction with the community. So obviously, to protect the valuable Ketchikan brand and the Alaska brand is super important. So we wouldn’t do anything that doesn’t enhance that. That’s the intent.

[…]

ES: One of the arguments that I’ve heard against going into a concession agreement with somebody is that a company like Global Ports Holding has the incentive to drive more passengers, and more passengers, and more passengers. Would you ever consider a limit on the number of passengers or a limit on the number of ships? How would you address what people call over-tourism?

CM: Well, I think this has to be controlled by the city, and the council are the people’s representatives, and they will be in charge of these issues. Our job is to grow the business as much as possible to the extent that the community wants it. And also to manage it more effectively. You know, there’s lots of little things that can be done to minimize the impact on the community. For example, because there’s so many new ships coming and the demand for Alaskan berths is so high, and yet, the cruise ships all leave Seattle and Vancouver on the same days and they all arrive in Anchorage on the same day, so maybe something can be done to sort of even out demand.

So instead of having two or three very peak days and then low demand on other days, maybe that can be balanced out. So that’s one way to grow the business without impacting the community negatively.

And then it’s managing the passenger flow, managing the flow of vehicles managing how people meet their tour guides, how they meet their taxis.

There’s a sort of a jigsaw, there’s lots of different moving parts to this puzzle. Everything from the ships’ arrival time to the tour timing, departure, and so on, to try and minimize the impact on the city.

Look, people come here because they want to come to Ketchikan, they want to see the city, they want to interact with the locals, I’ve spoken to a lot of locals that like interacting with cruise passengers. So it’s a major economic driver for the city. We want to manage it to the extent that the city will allow, but it has to be managed properly, and we’re very good at doing that.

Colin Murphy is head of business development for the Americas at Global Ports Holding, one of the three companies bidding to take over management of Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship port. KRBD has reached out to the other two bidders for a similar interview. Survey Point Holdings declined an interview. SSA Marine so far hasn’t responded to interview requests.

The post Port bidder: Community would shape future of Ketchikan docks appeared first on KRBD.

City Council members got their first look at three proposals to revamp Ketchikan’s city-owned cruise ship docks Tuesday evening. Though officials released some details, there’s still a lot that remains out of public view.

After the council emerged from a two-hour closed door meeting, Ketchikan city mayor Bob Sivertsen shared some details on the firms seeking to manage the downtown cruise docks.

“There were three proposers, all of them were for concessions,” he said.

That is, all three proposals came from companies that would like to take over management of the docks — ship scheduling, dock operations, things like that. 

The city is pursuing a public-private partnership to finance dock improvements and infrastructure upgrades. City officials say the port needs an overhaul to handle an ever-increasing volume of tourists coming on ever-larger ships. 

The three proposals come from port operating companies. Global Ports Holding, a U.K.-based cruise port operator owned largely by a Turkish investment firm, partnered with Anchorage-headquartered firm ConRAC Solutions to submit its bid under the name Ketchikan Port Solutions.

Seattle-based SSA Marine worked with cruise line Royal Caribbean in a partnership they’re calling Ketchikan Waterfront Partners.

Sivertsen says Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings submitted its bid without a partner. However, both SSA Marine and Survey Point are owned in part by the same parent company, Carrix, Inc.

The exact nature of the partnerships remains unknown. State corporate records provide little information beyond the mayor’s statement. 

City attorney Mitch Seaver also provided some clarity on when the public would be able to examine the full proposals.

“Proposals, tabulations and evaluations shall be open to public inspection only after the issuance of an intent to award,” he said.

So the public won’t see the full bids until the City Council decides on its best option. Seaver said disclosing the contents of the proposals prematurely could compromise the city’s ability to negotiate with the three bidders.

Council member Sam Bergeron said he was interested in seeing how the proposals compare to the status quo.

“When the City Council evaluates the RFP [request for proposals] from three separate entities, we should also include ourselves,” he said. 

Sivertsen said in a Wednesday phone interview that the council hadn’t given city management any direction either during or after the closed-door session.

“Well, the council members have to get through this information, digest it and make a comparative estimate,” he said.

As the process continues, council members will score the bids against several criteria. Those include the amount paid to the city, the companies’ experience managing projects of this nature and the companies’ commitment to meeting environmental standards.

Sivertsen said the city won’t take any other action on the proposals until the council’s Feb. 17 meeting.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Global Ports Holding partnered with Conrad Solutions of Pennsylvania. Ketchikan city management says that in fact, Global Ports Holding partnered with ConRAC Solutions, a firm headquartered in Anchorage.

The post Council gets first look at Ketchikan port proposals, details remain scant appeared first on KRBD.