In your Jan. 12 editorial, “Ripple effect,” the Ketchikan Daily News raised several concerns that deserve an accurate response and fuller context to be given.
Governor Sean Parnell’s commitment to Ketchikan is unwavering. Under his leadership, our administration has been a strong advocate for both the growth of the shipyard in Ketchikan, and for establishing a fund so that we can build Alaska ferries right here in Alaska.
Over the past three years, the governor has pushed hard to grow jobs and economic development in Alaska.
Short of promising Ketchikan a guaranteed shipbuilding contract at any price, he has done everything in his capacity to ensure the First City has the very best opportunity as well as the state’s full support.
Ketchikan can — and we believe will — be a major Northwest shipyard center, which will add to the diversity of its commercial base.
Since taking office, Governor Parnell has confirmed that Ketchikan will be the headquarters of the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), and he has carried roughly $140 million in marine infrastructure-related funding for Ketchikan in his budget requests to the Legislature.
This includes $120 million in funding for the construction of new ferries, and millions more for funding the purchase of land and the old veneer mill building to act as a warehouse and berthing site in Ward Cove.
This project was necessary to allow these functions to be moved off Shipyard property and to move ahead with construction of the new assembly hall at the Shipyard.
In 2010, he directed the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) to “de-federalize” the new Alaska ferry project, specifically so the Shipyard could have the first and best opportunity to build the new Alaska Class Ferry, while having to submit a competitive and fiscally-responsible bid. DOT&PF and the governor have a strong belief the Shipyard can meet this requirement.
As Governor Parnell and I explained in person at the Ketchikan Chamber meeting, over the past year, it became clear that construction and design of a 350-foot vessel in Ketchikan would far exceed the $120 million budgeted.
In 2006, when the project was initiated, the vessel was to be a shuttle ferry with a bow door for fast loading and unloading.
The vessel morphed into a 350-foot vessel, larger than the Aurora class, and smaller than a typical mainline vessel. The Legislature appropriated $120 million to accomplish the task.
As the cost of that vessel increased, and the risk grew that an Outside shipyard would have to build the vessel, Governor Parnell stepped up and made the call to stop an over-budget vessel.
In fact, current estimates indicate that we could build these approximately 280-foot Alaska Class Ferries within budget and at a much lower cost than one 350-foot vessel. The shuttle ferries, with a modern hull form, would have better seakeeping ability than the M/V Taku.
We must face the facts: Alaska oil production is declining, which is resulting in a smaller state budget, a condition that may persist for the next few years. We still have an opportunity to greatly improve ferry service, get shipbuilding under way sooner, rather than later, and flatten out the increasing costs of running ferries during a time of decreasing state revenue.
Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Alaskans recognize the First City has great opportunities ahead of it, and that it has the full support of the Parnell administration.
As we continue to improve and grow our fleet of ferries, Governor Parnell and his administration remain committed to Ketchikan and the role it will play as the center for shipbuilding in Alaska.
The real ripple effects of building two or three smaller ferries may be the most important job-creating economic ripples Ketchikan has seen in decades.
• Kemp is the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities.
Comments (17)
Add commentGood letter. Good plan.
Thanks,Commissioner.
Full speed ahead.
Pat is one
of the best appointments as commissioner of DOT in many years.
He has the history and capability to make decisions that will be of benefit to the entire state. Now, lets get to welding on these new boats down in KTN!
Governor Parnell is doing more for Alaska's long term growth and infrastructure in one year than old Tony Knowles did in 8....
people that are on the MTAB bandwagon need to remember their pal Tony K. and Jim Ayers and our own Bob Doll brought and bought us the fast ferry boondoggles...wonder if they want to buy them back at a steep discount?
PreparationH with SPF-30
That's what Ketchikan needs to protect them from all of that sunshine being blown up their ass.
Parnell "defederalizes" the project (turns away the bulk of the money) and then lectures us about declining state budgets and having to tighten our belts.
Don't let Kemp kid you - they'll build one small, inadequate ferry and then run out of money, due to the fat hog of a contract they'll cut with Vigor.
In the meantime, all of the available funding will get sucked up in the Susitna dam project and a road to Nome.
De-Federalize?
What kind of Orwellian Newspeak is Kemp using? If you want to have any credibility state clearly what you mean in plain English. De-Federalize may mean any number of things, and raises more questions than it answers. I think it means they don't want federal matching funds so they can just award the bid to Ketchikan. If that is the case just say so. It sounds like this is a government jobs program more than a solution to the transportation needs of Alaska.
complete nonsence
it not the governor's responsibility to make the ship yard a viable business. It the ship yard owners who are suppose to prove their worth. These private industry types who fault any government programs sure have no problem when it comes to expecting the State to supply them with every thing including construction contracts.
Meanwhile the latest foolishness out on this is that two 300 foot smaller ferries will cost less than one 350 foot log ship. Those who believe that line must not have the slightest clue as to the cost of such projects.
In the long run the need for the larger vessel is still out there. The two small ship solution is not a solution but a grantee the ongoing need for the 350 class vessel will lead to another contract for this yard. The Governor has turned a need for one ship into a three ship deal before this is concluded.
It's a shame SE Alaskans have to fight the Governor and his
henchmen for the ferries that we need (and our right to clean waters and healthy fisheries--cruise ship mixing zones).
Governor Parnell and Commissioner Kemp should be thrown out of the ballpark for several egregious affronts to public process regarding the Alaska Marine Highway. No the public, at least in SE, is not buying it.
Strike #1 Asking Mike Neussl to resign with no public explanation and replacing him with Yost, a road person, not a ferry person
Strike #2 Having strings pulled by Robin Taylor who has no accountability whatsoever to the public
Strike #3 Knowing that the ferry plans were going to change last fall and not notifying MTAB, the communities, or the public
Strike #4 Writing a letter saying Kemp didn't have to comply with statute because he changed the job description of Dep. Comm. over AMH
Strike #5 Saying two shuttle ferries would come in under budget when the designs haven't even been done yet
Strike #6 Saying Yost is the person in charge, but Yost says nothing and Kemp does all the talking
Strike #7 Deflecting responsibility by saying all calls/directives are actually being made by the Governor
Strike #8 Referencing the AG to Transportation Committee when arguing with their legal opinion that he doesn't have to comply with state statute
Strike #9 Saying the design concept is done and not sharing it
Strike #10 Saying the actual design/design concept won't be released for several weeks now
Strike #11 Saying he didn't know about MTAB while several times prior he wrote letter and made testimony that he could ignore that statute and MTAB
Strike #12 A contrived apology that is meaningless unless public process and statute is actually followed
Strike #13 Talking about budget concerns while sending back federal money
Strike #14 Using pathetic PR tactics and failing to listen to constituents
Strike #15 Kow-towing to big industry contractors--on everything
Oil Industry Shill Parnell in Charge of Public Money
We have to save money because oil production is less, but we have to give our money back to the oil companies at a rate that destroys our state's ability to pay our bills. Meantime, we save money on ferries by refusing Federal funds so that we can pay extra to Ketchikan shipbuilders who can't compete with those in Seattle. And we get smaller, less seaworthy ferries for the money we might (or might not) have left after our elected officials make sure that contractors get their unjust dessert. I think our state government is being run by a bunch of con men.
"Modern hull" ferry
I don't care how modern the hull is, but I am concerned about open deck transport of vehicles. Not many would want to take their rig on such a ship.
(Senator Dennis Egan and Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asked DOT the direct question: will these shuttle ferries be open deck?
DOT said they could not answer that question at this time, and that concept designs would be available anywhere between one to four weeks from now..)
Great editorial, Pat. The
Great editorial, Pat. The naysayers on this comment blog obviously do not know you well enough - or Governor Parnell - to understand that you understand the value of the ferry system and what it means to Southeast and Southwestern Alaska.
It's people like Latitude23 and kmkmci that pass gas as authorities on which they know nothing accept for what they read in this pathetic newspaper. If blowhards like this would pay more attention to the big picture, including putting Alaskans to work, building vessels within a budget, increased transportation demands, and keeping operating costs low, they would understand that DOT has their best interests in mind. Afterall, that is partially what your department is charged with. Nonetheless, whatever this administration does will be completely wrong, not well thought out, and against the public interest.
One more comment ... humanbeing, you might want to refrain from using the term "shuck and jive", as your mentor, MSNBC's Chris Matthews, has determined that that is a racist term. Just a suggestion.
@AV
"Nonetheless, whatever this administration does will be completely wrong, not well thought out, and against the public interest"
You said it.
George Orwell could not have done better
Pat Kemp forgot to mention a few things.
1. The issue is about safe marine transportation service throughout SE Alaska and other parts of the state. By his own admission, the new "plan" will serve only Lynn Canal- and is intended to go from the end of the proposed $1 billion road to the north.
2. Despite what Kemp keeps saying, the 2006 plan with shuttles was for the Juneau access road only- shuttles were added when it became clear that there needed to be a marine piece because a road connection all the way to Skagway was not possible. You can check it out on DOT's Juneau Access Road page- on the 2006 FEIS document- signed by Pat Kemp.The costs of the shuttles- at first $53 million and then $65 million- were appropriately included in the access road costs.
Later, by the time of the 2009 plan, the state had appropriately and independently of the road project decided to replace the aging fleet with three 60-vehicle ferries. The access road plan was amended to account for those, and since the new ferries had other routes and purposes, including service to Prince Rupert, the costs were dropped from the estimates for the access road- except for $13 million for a small Haines-Skagway shuttle. Even with shaving those costs, the road project has doubled since originally being estimated, and the cost has not been updated for 4 years.
Now that they have gone back to the plan Kemp signed in 2006, are the costs being attributed to the access road project as they were in 2006?
3. Jeff Ottesen famously told the legislature in 2007 that the road would be "self-financing" because replacements of the mainliner ferries would cost $250 million each.
Apparently even DOT now admits that the replacement costs are $80-100 million less than what they stated 6 years ago.
Oops.
4. DOT has refused to release any documents from a credible source suggesting that the Alaska Class Ferry cost as much as they claim. If so, what's the problem documenting how the estimate was derived? I thought we had open and transparent government.
5. Will the Parnell/Treadwell regime and Kemp apply the same concern about project creep to other projects, including- you guessed it- the former $250 million and now $1 billion road?
6. A few years ago the aging mainliners had to be replaced because of age and operating costs- including a reduction in the size of the crew needed for older vessels. Is that not a concern now? And DOT was recently bragging about 50 or more jobs associated with the new "small" shuttle ferries? Are operating costs being considered any longer, now that we are keeping the mainliners going with increasing maintenance and adding some new shuttles with large crews?
As Winston Churchill also once said: "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. "
overreach
Parnell and lackeys go on about federal overreach but he's guilty of the same. Where was the discussion with the advisory board, communities, or the legislature about changing course once the money was already apprpriated? Decisions were made based on cost without knowing what the design would look like? This sounds like more of the seat of the pants management that is all to normal with Palin/Parnell. Parnell was supposed to be a business guy. If this how he would run a business I know why he is in government.
Sinking System Flexibility
AMHS's effectiveness has always hinged largely upon the ability to move ships around the State seasonally to meet traffic demands, to deal with weather delays, and longer delays when shipyard maintenance schedules lengthen or shift. These "shuttle" ferries will not be usable everywhere - just like the fast ferries were not. They will lack seakeeping ability, enough vehicle space, passenger amenities for longer transits, and might require special docks (if they are bow loading). They WILL be used to replace old multi-functional ships - so the impact of these specifically built vessels will be felt throughout Southeast when inevitable scheduling problems arise - decreasing service overall. All communities in Southeast beware!! DOT's strategy is flawed, and they don't have the seamanship expertise to recognize it. They are trying to re-surrect Knowles' spoke-hub system which we couldn't support fiscally. The fast ferries cost too much to build and operate, while the terminals were not built, or stand unused (Coffman Cove, South Mitkof dock). We have not learned the lessons from the fast ferry / IFA debacle - and we are repeating history. Politics aside - NO ONE in the AMHS/DOT hierarchy has EVER sailed in a leadership position in the fleet. Building ships which are usable everywhere is absolutely essential. They don't know what they're talking about...and we all will suffer for it. One more thing - where IS that Deputy Commissioner who is supposedly running this system - WHY is the Commissioner so entrained on this particular issue? Isn't he supposed to be minding the DOT store throughout the State ??
A great deal of monies have been committed to train, retrain and
educate Alaskans via grants, loans and legislative appropriations targeted to our University to get Alaskans on par with outside forces over the years. I would venture to guess these efforts have been successful and at par with the expense of an Alaskan ferry.
Why is it, then, that an Alaskan based industry such as the Ketchikan shipyards itself be singled out as 'unworthy' or 'suspect' of benefiting from some Alaskan investment to make it at par with Seattle?
Union hacks
I bet that everyone of the Parnell blasters on this blog are members of one of the marine unions. These ferries with lower man-hour costs scare the crap out of them. We can't afford you! We can afford these ferries.
Yep
screw Kodiak, PWS,Kenai, Cordova, Yakutat. It's all about Juneau.
Pat Kemp
Mr. build-a-road.
This man is not looking after anything but his own agenda. His hiring is just a reflection of the self serving blah we've all witnessed right here in "juneauempire" - build a road, build a road, build a road.
What crap.