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 LaBrant
and Commissioner Tim Linse. 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. Please join me in
the Pledge of Allegiance.
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, aye.
>> Unanimously. Motion. Oh,
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.
>> Alrighty. Next up, our
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. Good morning. The
first action item this morning.
This is for an on call
stormwater services consultant
contract that supports the
port's strategic plan.
Environmental goal to protect
air quality, water resources
and land managed by the port
through proactive and
deliberate efforts in all
aspects of port operations. In
January 2024, the port executed
a contract with Kennedy Jenks
Consultants to assist the port
with on call stormwater
services that include permit
compliance, stormwater
treatment evaluations,
stormwater mapping, as well as
design and construction
oversight for stormwater
improvement projects. The port
is proposing an amendment to
this contract for Kennedy Jenks
to provide engineering services
during the construction of the
terminal for 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 CEO authority in
accordance with resolution 1022
or 20 2210 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 stormwater
grants. The cost for amendment
two is $211,000, which is
reimbursable through the
ecology stormwater grant
funding, bringing the total
contract amount to $1,371,000.
If the contract reaches its
dollar limit, additional funds
will be requested in accordance
with resolution ten, 2022.
Administrative authority of the
CEO and their designees, or
Board of Commission approval.
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. These
are mostly funded by a grant
from ecology. 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,
we were. There was some state
funding issues and we ended up
with a smaller amount, but the
timing didn't work great for
this one. So we were just
fortunate to get the money to
construct this this year. So
excellent. Moving towards this.
Yes.
>> 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
Jenks 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? I, I 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. So here to
present action item E two. And
the subject is to approve the
contract amendment with Graham
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.
Graham Baba, Architects of
Seattle, Washington, was
determined to be the most
qualified proposer and awarded
the contract for terminal one
Architectural Design and
Consulting Services. 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,
Leed 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 7th,
2023 by CEO authority in
accordance with resolution ten
Dash 2022, amendment two, in
the amount of $137,297 was
issued on March 12th, 2024 by
the Board of Commissioners and
Amendment three in the amount
of $162,703 was issued on
September 24th, 2020 for an
amendment four in the amount of
$187,297 was issued on December
18th, 2024 by CEO authority in
accordance with resolution ten
Dash 2022, amendment five, in
the amount of $1,415,000 would
bring, the 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 ten
Dash 2022, Administrative
authority of the CEO and their
designees. Funding for these
services are included in the
2026 approved Annual budget.
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
it's a large jump. It's a it's
an addition to the contract.
That's the, you know, the
biggest one here, but it also
looks like the, the amount of
work being included in this is
really like where the meet is.
This is a really sizable
addition to the project. Is
that is that, is that my
understanding accurate on that?
>> Yeah. There's a significant
change in kind of moving from
30% to 60% design in, in a lot
of, in the 30% design, there's
a lot of programing, programing,
Aouli comments, kind of
defining the, 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 take a lot of shape.
There's also, you know, an area
that 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 that becomes
part of that. The site design
aspect is an aspect that we
haven't advanced as much, but
but we are our plan is to
really get that that moving in
this year. And so that will
include landscaping that will
include the, the supporting
areas, access roadways. So
there's a lot of civil
improvements around the
perimeter that, that are
included in the scope as well.
And then there are permitting
and then I think some
additional support, you know,
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. Yeah.
>> Thank you. I'll just ask as
we're as we're looking at going
from 30 to 60%, we're we're now
entering the phase where the,
the end use and the, the
programing of, of the final
site is going to really start
to, I think, to come into play
in terms of the, 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 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 one,
the vision as we've been
working towards, and then we'll
talk a little bit more about
the next steps. And, and as we
anticipate kind of the
operation of the market, what
that looks like, and then the
design will follow, you know,
kind of depending on, on what
that operational plan is.
>> Thank you. Did you have,
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 Graham Baba
Architects for the terminal one
architectural design and
Consulting services for a total
contract amount of $2,252,297.
>> I move that the Commission
approve the recommendation as
presented.
>> I'll second the motion. All
those in favor? Aye aye aye.
Unanimous.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you, thank you. Yeah.
Unfinished business.
>> No unfinished business today.
>> New business?
>> 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 Dayley learned
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, DC. 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,
freight policies and funding,
economic development and energy
and environment. Now, about
Dale. Briefly. Dale Lannen is
the managing partner of the
Washington, DC branch of the
law and government relations
firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell,
or Geeth. 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
U.S. Senator Patty Murray and
two years as senior advisor to
U.S. Representative Adam Smith.
And Dale is a native of the
Pacific Northwest. So with that,
I would like to introduce Dale
Lehan. 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. We're
in the second year of the 119th
Congress. Typically, the agenda
is less edited in, in in the
second year. And when any new
Congress, we typically do a lot
larger edit that overview, a
little less work in the
midterms. We're in. We did
finish the fiscal year 26
budget on on February 3rd,
although the Department of
Homeland Security, as you've
seen in the press, is the lone
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. 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, is
due this year, and we're
working on that currently for
some big issues. The Surface
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
the midterms and some of the
politics and policies involved.
And but they'll work hard in
developing. And we could see
next month, maybe in May, some
drafts and some some bills laid
down on both from the president
and the the House and the
Senate on reauthorization. And
again, working our team with
with Juliana and Ryan and
others. The setup we do this
year, even though they weren't,
won't work as much formally in
Congress to set up on the
issues important to us. 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
and the people we work with. So
on the agenda, as Ryan
mentioned, we we have
categories and I'll kind of go
through in order. On water and
Marine. Of course, the, the
channel in the Columbia River
and its depth and the core's
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 with the Corps. We have
some issues there that we're
working in the word of 2026
process to ensure that that
that responsibility is
primarily on the core.
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 with,
with Murad and on Bertha
improvements. And we've had
some conversations back to us.
And that's, that's, that's a
good sign. That usually means
that the sort of the last
tranche of applicants is 50% of
them they'll fund and 50% of
them they won't. I don't have
an out 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 was very beneficial to
freight interests and to ports.
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 she.
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 and
appropriate levels. The
Interstate bridge program is
and, and efforts there with,
with, with dealing with the
agencies as well as funding.
It's something of is a priority,
obviously on economic
development terminal one, 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's getting
funding in public funding, but
we've been slowly winning at
least the base arguments on
keeping funding for things like
the P, I'd P, and hopefully we
can move beyond and get some
get some changes as what we're
looking for on tax issues. We
had a tax bill in the last last
year. It made permanent the new
market tax credits and expanded
the Opportunity Zone program.
Things that that in the past
our tenants have have used
tools they've used and, and
other tools that they other
tenants are people involved are
in our business could use with
the new administration. The
Columbia River treaty has has
sort of taken aback 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. 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,
our customers and our tenants
on the energy and environment
issues I mentioned permitting
prior. This will be a big issue
on on both word 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 Chair Woman of the
Senate Committee, Shelley Moore
Caputo from West Virginia,
she's the chair of the
Environmental and Public Works
Committee, which has
jurisdiction over water and
major elements and usually
leads the surface
transportation effort has a
bill which essentially is just
trying to increase or trying to
pick up the speed of of
permitting decisions, as well
as lower costs. And, and folks
like Congressman Larsen from
the northwest of Washington
State, who's the ranking member
on the DNI committee, are
involved in, in, in permitting
efforts, of course, enacting
those and seeing the real world
effect of 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. And then finally
on, on sort of the issues on
our preliminary agenda by, 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 and get you one as
quickly as possible.
>> Thank you. Dale. Questions?
>> No question. I'll take a
bite of this apple. I'm glad
you're there and not me. I've
just kind of curious. 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 a year. And the last
week's news was that the
administration was going to
Congress for $200 billion to
pay for our latest excursion.
I'm an old man. When when
Vietnam was going on, we got
nickeled and 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. Is this no
longer a concern? Is it pretty
well balanced?
>> Commissioner? No, the the we
just passed the $39 trillion
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, you know, constant
discussion. But the
discretionary budget other than
defense is pretty minimal and
doesn't really impact
significantly the our rising
debt. You you mentioned the
Department of Defense budget.
When I first started working in
Congress and, and again,
dollars, obviously with
inflation changed in 1997, I
think we were spending about a
little under 500 billion a year
in our Department of Defense
budget. The proposal we're
likely to see from the
president will be $1.5 trillion.
And that's that's not without
the supplemental they're
seeking for the 200 billion,
you know, for the 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 Dayley learned
speaking as long as our debt
remains a fiscal note, primary
fiscal note to the rest of the
world will become an issue
until there's an alternative,
until someone else on the
financial markets can use their
debt and their dollar or their
their currency. I should say,
to supplant ours. 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, in the, in their
expenses. And 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.
And in that case, the American
public, at least to date,
hasn't had the stomach. To do
what would be necessary to do
that 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 and M. Yeah.
Any thoughts on on the
likelihood there?
>> Well Ryan has been leading
an effort and the larger group
impacted the the several ports
on the Columbia have been
reaching out to people impacted
by what the cost would be to,
to the channel and to the ports
on the Columbia. And we've been
meeting with people to try in
the word of process to get some
additional language that would
force the Corps to consider it
R, O, and M, but those all have
a cost. I mean, we right now,
we would be for, you know, the
ports would pay for about half.
And. And if consider
construction elements, we would
have to pay the additional, you
know, the 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
and Oregon delegation on these
issues. We're making it
relevant to the entire plain
states and parts of the Midwest
so that we can get help in
ensuring languages included in
word.
>> Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
>> Thank you. Deal.
>> You're welcome. Thanks, Neal.
>> 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 the IVR
or the Interstate bridge
replacement program. And so
just wanted to remind folks
that we are heavily involved in
that process. We have a, a seat
on the executive steering group.
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 LaBrant. All
righty. 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, including the 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 again, how
that how that flows and, you
know, addressing questions that
folks might have who haven't,
haven't been on that mission
previously. And that's about
all I have to report. Thank you
sir. Temple Linse Commissioner.
>> I'll answered all of those.
Let's see. I attended Labor
Roundtable and checked in with
our our friends in labor and
also had some constituent
meetings last week. Went to a
really great port lecture the
first one of the year and heard
Neil from from Norway give a
give a really interesting
presentation. And it was it was
a good turnout. There was a lot
going on that night and there
were 100 plus, I think, people
there and, and an engaged group
of people as well. And also had
the mixed pleasure of getting
an IBR 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. You know,
it's been ten years since the
last one and a lot of this
escalation, you know, if we if
we'd been able to get going on
it ten 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 in all of our work
here. So I'm looking forward to
knuckling down and getting it
done.
>> That's it.
>> You ran out of it. The cost
of things is 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. I'm trying to help some
young folks get toward their
first in the housing situation,
and I bought my first house in
Portland, 79, for $45,000, and
I had trouble scraping up a
down payment. And today the
down payment is about three
times that much for for 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, 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. They're they
just had a great time
celebrating their heritage. And
it was wonderful to watch. I'm.
I'm. I also met with a fellow
named Dennis Woodman 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. He was over at Fort
Vancouver working on. Advanced
welding and advanced
manufacturing to help these
help 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 Protect
to Hamilton. I wanted another,
and it's kind of exciting to
see this vocational work. We've
talked a little bit about the
one, the Cascadia Tech. There's
a lot of young people that are.
Moving ahead and doing well in
a challenging world. 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 to
the workshop if.
>> You'd like to keep moving.
>> Okay, we will plan on doing
that if. Okay. 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, 630 to 8 p.m. and again
at the Kiggins 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 the port
offices. We'll get you in touch
with the commissioners. Remind
everyone to get on the port's
website has a lot of great
information about what's
happening at the port. So
encourage folks to to do that.
And with that. Hi, Mike. You
made it up here really quick.
Yeah. So we're going to start
kick it off and welcome Mike
Baumer. He's our chief economic
strategy officer who is going
to provide our annual strategic
plan report.
>> And I'll note upfront that
one of my personal strategic
plan goals is portion control.
After going to the kitchens 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,
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.
I also want to thank CEO Mahler
for your leadership in this
effort, and Tamilla, Yurchenko
and other board 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. Same 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 transparency
as we advance initiatives while
responding to a dynamic port
and international environment.
So let's dig into 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 soda, 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, 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 one and to provide
trails and public access
opportunities on port
properties. We make great
progress at terminal one 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 moving
parts at that site and has done
an excellent job. We were also
excited to welcome Zoominfo to
their office space at terminal
one. Our developer, Lincoln
Property Company, is finishing
up the 440 West Apartments at
the west end of terminal one as
well. Our team worked to
advance trail segments four and
five just past Far West Steel
on Lower River road, and these
segments have some challenging
aspects, including complex
wetland and buffer issues, and
is required close coordination
with our partners such as Wasch
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 to my
heart. Economic development. As
mentioned, it was a great year
for educational partnerships as
well as the first coat.
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 Greagor Halgren 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 $22.5 million EPA
Clean Ports Grant, allowing us
to move forward with a plan for
two electric mobile harbor
cranes, as well as shore power
at terminal one. Additionally,
we were awarded 3.9 million
from the Washington Department
of Ecology for a terminal four
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 mentioned, sponsor
ports, Vancouver, Portland,
Kalama and Longview worked to
complete permitting for the
channel maintenance dredging
Materials management program.
The d m p. 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. 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 continued to
coordinate closely with the ABP
team on freight mobility, river
navigation, and the interface
with terminal one. 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. 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 stormwater
permit was issued by ecology
last January, and the team led
efforts to meet the new
requirements to best manage
stormwater 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 cleanup
and restoration of the terminal
five shoreline. This will be
performed in two phases
beginning this year. Next slide
please. 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 Administration's.
The terminal also saw a record
2.6. 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 Liquide 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.
Moving to Marine industrial
business goal for 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 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 Taylor 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 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 one 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 six, terminal
five opportunities, working
with Subaru, our 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 with our our
department leading requirements
for coordination with all the
other departments in the
organization. Well, 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 our
group, a revenue accountant
that will focus in on our lease
and industrial, industrial and
commercial leases, as well as a
new senior financial analyst
that will help strengthen our
team and help provide some
succession planning for an
outgoing team member. We also
focused 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
Clarke 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 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 from 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
project 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. 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 through
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, 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 per alkyl
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 continues strong
succession planning practices
in the midst of an increasing
number of retirements, and even
spoke on best practices in this
area for ports nationally.
Facing the same challenge, we
upgraded our training programs
to across a variety of
departments and implemented
Capa 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, 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
Mahler, and with your guidance,
we will refresh and energize
this 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
know?
>> 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, you know, take credit
for participating in any of it.
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.
>> I know there's, there's a
lot of execution involved
throughout all of the, all of
our departments to, to bring
these things home. I am looking
forward to, to opening up the
book on Strategic Plan 2.0. And
really anticipating that in
large part because of how, how
well our team has executed on
the, on the existing plan. It's
sort of a sort of a cliche for
organizations to do these
strategic planning processes.
And then it goes on a shelf and
it gathers dust. And, you know,
back in late 2017, developing
this, I think we put a heavy
emphasis on smart goals that,
you know, we we can now look
back and say, yes, we actually
accomplished these very
specific things. So I'm excited
about what that what that
refresh is going to look like
and what sorts of things will,
will be discussing as, 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, taken for granted. Y'all
are doing some good work and
appreciate. I run out of words.
Did I get the last word on this?
Did you have any more to add?
>> Thank you commissioners.
>> Juliana, did you have any
more words for us?
>> You know, I just I am always
in awe when we have these these
annual reports. And and again,
this is this is the highlight
that you heard. The
supplemental report gets into
more detail and it is just I'm
so incredibly proud of the team.
It is to your point, we do not
it is not sitting on a shelf.
This is this is in in
intertwined in everything that
we do. And we always have the
strategic plan in front of
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 him.
>> Thank you. With that, next
thing we do is sign documents.
There's not going to be an
administrative update. And
after we sign documents, we'll
adjourn. This concludes the
public portion of the meeting.
Thank you all. I think I was
supposed to.