Executive session held.
>> I'm with. I'm the president
of the board. Joining me are
Eric LaBrant and Temple Linse,
both commissioners. We are
conducting a hybrid meeting
along with our in-person
meeting. We are having here.
We're 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. I
pledge. Allegiance to the flag
of.
>> The United States of America
and to the Republic for which
it stands one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> Going to the agenda. The
first action item is approval
of the minutes. Chair.
>> I've reviewed the minutes
and found them to be in order,
so I move approval.
>> I'll second the motion. All
those in favor? I passed
unanimously. Juliana, what have
you got for. You're going to
introduce a Celebrate Freedom
program. Guest.
>> Yes. Good morning.
Commissioners. We have a
special guest joining us today.
We have Carol Ross with the
Historic Trust. And if you want
to come to the podium and
provide us an update on what's
happening with Celebrate
Freedom. Yes. Thanks for
joining us this morning. Thank
you. Thank you so much for
having me. My name is Carol
Ross. I'm the development and
outreach manager for the
Historic Trust. And I'm just
really grateful to be here
today to tell you all about the
Celebrate Freedom programing we
produce year round for the
Vancouver community in
partnership with the City of
Vancouver. And a very important
partner of ours as well is the
Port of Vancouver. So one of
the things I want to say is
thank you. Thank you for your
long standing support of this
programing that we put together
for our community. Next slide
please. There are three main
components of our Celebrate
Freedom programing. First
focuses on leadership. That's
the General George C Marshall
Marshall Leadership Awards and
pictured there as our class of
2026. We also build community
by putting together large
special events throughout the
summer. We have a summer series
and special. This year, we're
commemorating the America 250
celebration that started in
June and is underway right now
through September. And then we
celebrate service in November
every November with the Low
Legacy Veterans Parade and
Veterans Day activities around
that. And again, I just want to
say thank you to the Port of
Vancouver for sponsoring this
for with us for such a long
time. Next slide please. We'll
start a little more in depth
with the Marshall Leadership
Awards. This is more than just
a scholarship program
recognizing and uplifting young
leaders in our community,
because it also includes an
adult component. I think it's
one of the few leadership
recognition programs that
uplifts young adult leaders who
are doing the work on the
ground in the community right
now. But it is also a youth
scholarship program as well for
the Clark County High School
seniors. So we follow two
tracks. There's a youth award
and a public award. This year,
our 26 public award recipient
is Ro-shaun Williams Junior
with Shifted Theory. He runs an
after school program for the
next generation of youth
leaders. And it's El Contreras
Montiel from Prairie High
School. She's on her way to
University of Oregon this fall.
Those were our two recipients.
The award. There is a cash
award associated with this, a
scholarship for the youth
recipient, and an award for the
recipient to continue their.
Professional development. So
that's another component that I
think is unique to this award.
Next slide please. Our summer
event series, like I said, is
underway. Right now. We're in
the middle of nine free events
that we put on for the
community. And again this year
with America 250 celebration,
we are making sure to lean into
that. But there are three
tracks. There's that America
250 track of three events.
There's a concert series of
three concert events on the
Howard House lawn and track, a
family and Cultural Connections
events. And I'll tell you a
little bit more about those.
Next slide, please. Those
family and cultural connection
events started last month with
Craft Day, doing a bunch of
different crafts for kids and
adults, everything from
basketry to origami. A lot of
fun things for families to do.
That happened to be a day that
threatened rain. So it was an
excellent indoor activity for
free. And pets, of course, are
members of the family. So we
are celebrating that coming up.
Not this weekend, but next
weekend on July 25th, offering
free portrait sessions for pets
and family. Fun day. We've been
doing that event for several
years. Just all kinds of family
activities, entertainment.
That's August 8th. Next slide
please. The concert series
again on the Howard House lawn.
We try to find acts that are
engaging with the audience.
It's hard to tell in that upper
left photo, but that's a twist
contest that happened a couple
weeks ago with Michael John,
who's a very interactive and
engaging artist, but we've got
two more bands coming up, not
this Friday, but next Friday,
July 24th, and then in August.
Next slide please. And the
America 250 series. We kicked
that off on Flag Day just a
couple of weeks ago. Had the
Vancouver's America 250
celebration in partnership with
the City of Vancouver and the
National Park Service on on the
Fort Vancouver parade grounds.
It was a great day. Couldn't
have been more perfect weather.
Pictured there is the Pet
costume contest again. Pets are
members of the family. They
should get their own contest
and a drumming group that was
on stage there will conclude
with a day of kind of civic
engagement on Constitution Day,
which is September 17th, so I
hope you can join us for that.
I'm ready for the next slide.
Thanks. Veterans Day. So our
veterans parade does happen on
Veterans Day, which is a
Wednesday this year, November
11th. It has combined with the
television component. So
anybody who's not able to come
out in person can see it. We
have a pre parade ceremony that
honors the reviewing officer.
That's typically a active duty
person. Pictured here was the
2025. The gentleman in the
center is Colonel Jeffrey Yates.
He's with the Air National
Guard. And then on each side of
him where our Co-grand marshals
from this year, World War Two
veterans Harry Hutchinson and
Wanke Lamb. So we were grateful
to have the opportunity to
honor them in a big way, with
the Grand Marshal being the
Grand marshal of the parade.
And then after the parade, our
friends with the Community
Military Appreciation Committee
put on their veteran resource
fair at Pearson Air Museum. So
it's a day full of supporting
service, thanking service
members. Next slide please.
Actually, that brings me to the
end. So the trust has been
putting on events for a quarter
of a century now, more than
that. And the Port of Vancouver
has been there along the way
for with support of those
events. And we really, again,
appreciate all the support
throughout that time. You can
see here people have been
celebrating in the historic
district of Vancouver since the
early times. There's a photo
from 1910, and that's what it
looks like now in 2026. Just a
little different. But we like
to continue evolving to meet
the needs of the community, to
keep drawing people to the
historic area, and to celebrate
and make new memories among our
historic background backdrop.
So again, thank you. Thank you
very much. Does anyone have any
questions?
>> Can't believe without. How
about you? No questions other
than I. You know, I appreciate
the the wide variety of
programing. I won't be able to
make pet portraits this year,
but we did make it last year.
And that's when you discover
how squirrely your your
critters really are like trying
to get them to hold still. So
but thank you for thank you for
putting all that together.
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Good presentation.
Appreciate what you do.
>> Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Carol, so much and
appreciate all the activities
that you do for our community.
Incredibly important to
remember our history and a lot
of great celebrations. So thank
you for joining us today.
>> Thank you.
>> Thanks.
>> Next up is Open Forum. What
do you say.
>> We did not have anyone sign
up for virtual testimony today,
and we do not have anyone here
that is interested in speaking.
>> Next up comes. That's a long
one.
>> We have our action items.
Items are up next and we have
two action items today. And our
first action item is going to
be presented by Lori Taylor.
She's our industrial and
maritime sales manager. Good
morning Lori. Good morning.
>> Thank you. Good morning
commissioners. This agenda item
is to approve the Second
Amendment and extension to the
ground lease between the Port
of Vancouver and Kelly Pipe
Company, the Port of Vancouver
Strategic Plan has established
a goal to pursue opportunities
that utilize the port's
property and infrastructure
investments to create jobs and
support the local economy.
Kelly Pipe and the port entered
into a lease effective November
11th, 2022 to develop, lease
five or develop and lease five
acres at parcel one A for lay
down and transport of
structural steel used in
regional construction projects.
The First Amendment established
the possession Date and
extended the term through June
11th of 2026. The purpose of
the Second Amendment is to
extend the lease for five years
through June 11th, 2031. There
are no further options to renew.
The port maintains the option
to terminate the lease in the
event of a long term
opportunity to fully develop
the 22 acres at parcel one A.
If approved, the base lease
revenue over the term of the
lease is approximately
1,270,000, plus additional
charges for LET cam and
stormwater fees. There are
three full time employees on
site, and the revenue for this
lease has been included in the
2026 budget. The recommendation
is that the Board of
Commissioners approve and
authorize the CEO to execute
the Second Amendment and
extension to ground lease at
parcel one A between the Port
of Vancouver and Kelly Pipe.
>> Any questions?
>> Yes. Thank you. It's it's
very clear, but I just think
just to draw attention to
something. So this is a. And
I'll state it the way I think
it. And if it turns out I'm
mistaken, you can correct me.
But it's a smaller portion of a
larger site and it's just a lay
down area, some extra space
that they need. And as you said,
at any point during this term,
if an opportunity to develop
the entire parcel, bring in a
different business for more
revenue generating and business
creation opportunity, we have
that ability within this lease.
>> So yes. It's all of that's
correct.
>> Winning all around. Yeah.
Great. Thank you.
>> All right. I got a question.
Yeah. Is this pipe how is this
pipe getting here.
>> So some of it comes in
through the Port of Vancouver.
Some of it comes in through
other ports. They do a lot of
work with their next door
neighbors, Far West Steel and
Construction in the local
community. So they have a lot
of synergies between our
tenants who are here and the
local community.
>> So is some of it coming in
over the rail?
>> No, nothing that comes in
through there comes by rail.
This operation is we had
discussed it and it's not a
viable option at this time.
There's always potential for
them to grow. And if so,
there's a rail spur right there.
And if we can, if it makes
sense for their business to
grow on that property, then
we'll absolutely go that route.
>> So the the pipe is coming by
truck and leaving by truck.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Did you read the
recommendation already?
>> I did, I can read it again
if you'd like.
>> Anybody up to it.
>> Well, I move that the board
approved the recommendation as
presented by staff.
>> I'll second the motion. All
those in favor? Aye. I pass
unanimously.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
>> Lori Giuliani.
>> All right. We have one more
action item today, and it's
being presented by Greg
Westrand Westrand, excuse me,
our senior project manager.
>> Good morning. Commissioners.
Greg Westrand report
engineering. Yeah, I'm here to
talk about adoption of the
port's American with
Disabilities Act transition
plan. This project aligns with
the port's strategic plan goals
to ensure alignment of key port
planning documents and
strengthen community outreach
and communication. In September
2024, the Washington State
Department of Transportation
issued a requirement that all
agencies having over 50
employees that receive federal
funds must provide, or at least
begin an Ada transition plan by
January 1st, 2025. The port
responded, outlining our
approach to meeting these
requirements of the Wasch Dot
policy. Most of 2025 was spent
investigating the publicly
accessed areas of the port to
identify facilities that did
not meet Ada requirements,
primarily for grade cross slope
and maintenance deficiencies
such as cracking. This data was
further evaluated in order to
develop remedies for the
troubled locations, which in
turn led to an assembled list
of projects that compromised
the plan. The draft plan was
sent to Washdot for a
preliminary review, wherein
they determined that it met the
required metrics to satisfy.
Their program plan was then
publicly advertised on the Port
of Vancouver's website for a
period of 45 days, during which
all input would be considered
for inclusion into the plan.
However, none was received. The
final version of the plan is
being brought before the Port
Commission for Adoption and
Implementation. According to
the schedule contained therein.
The plan consists of four
projects totaling about
$100,000 and is expected to be
concluded by 2028. A copy of
the port adopted plan will be
provided to Washdot to
demonstrate our compliance with
the title two of the American
with Disabilities Act. The
recommendation is that the
Board of Commissioners adopt
the Ada Transition Plan and
authorizes the CEO to implement
it as per Washdot requirements.
Any questions?
>> Thank you, Greg, for the
benefit of of the public, can
you talk a little bit about
what the four projects are?
>> Certainly. So we like I said,
we did some investigation of
the the the publicly accessed
areas of the port, mainly some
of the like Gateway Avenue is
actually a port road. The, the
walking trails and even like
some of the entrances into the
buildings and mainly looking
for, you know, there are
minimal slopes, you know, for
like, you know, heading up and
down ramps and also the cross
slopes for like tipping
truncated domes. When you come
to the sidewalk, you see the
little yellow bumps there.
Those get damaged or they peel
off over time and looking at
things like that. So the
projects that we came up with
there was actually like five
that we identified. One is a, a
fairly minor, like. Damaged
domes over on Gateway Avenue.
Not much to do there. A
significant one though, is the,
the we look at the gateway
trail. I mean, that is a it's a
pretty long project and it runs,
you know, from like Simpson
down path almost to going to
CPU and beyond. We're working
on right now, but some of it's
been in, in for in place for a
while. We looked at this, this
stretch out here in front of
the, the port office and the
asphalt there. It's starting to
see some damage, but it turns
out. And we'll have to be,
we'll have to work with the
city on this. Is that actually
that's included in a city
maintenance program. So
although it is a port trail,
there is a agreement with the
city to maintain that. So we'll
be discussing with that with
them. So it is on our list, but
we don't have a project for it
right now because it might not
be one that that we actually
perform. However, the, the
trail going, you know, west of
here, there is a, there are a
few things on that one that we,
we need to take care of. Again,
it's you get, say some of the
asphalt recedes. You get to
just. The cracks can only be
like a quarter inch. You know,
that. And so we there's some
maintenance that we need to do
on that. There were some that
around here, the, the, the
front of the, the port office,
some of these, the sidewalks
and existing ramps. So we're
not quite up to code. And I
mean, they're all surprisingly
well, not surprisingly, but
very close, but just not quite.
However, we do have a timing,
you know, being very fortunate
in this. We do have a driveway
entrance project that we're
working on. We're going to be
able to work some of those
repairs in with that. So even
though that is on the list,
we've already got a plan to to
address that. Another one is to
actually at out at terminal one,
which is seems surprising
because that's all very new.
But I believe on our, our lot
two similar thing where some of
the, some of the truncated
domes, like I said, the little
yellow bumps at the end of the
ramps have been damaged with
all the construction that's
gone on down there. And so
we'll need to replace those. So
what we have left to do, it's
likely these will be worked
into annual budgets that you'll
see. We're not approving any
money for these today. With
those, we should have be able
to have these things done
within the next couple of years.
And so the total of what's
remaining is about like $99,000.
So does that help? You're
welcome.
>> Thank you. Thanks for your
attention to this. I, I'm
wishing that you could get with
the city working on Burnt
Bridge trail or, or Salmon
Creek Trail, which is probably
outside the city limits, but
they need love and paying
attention to these. It's not
just good for good for the
disabled people, but also for
bicyclists. So thanks so much
for your effort on this. You're
welcome. And it's obvious by
listening that this is just an
ongoing that when you finish
these five, there's going to be
four more come up.
>> Yeah, we try to stay on top
of it. And this was a, this was
a good reminder to us to, to go
revisit it. This is not the end
of the program. This is
something that part of it is we
do have contacts to anyone that
does notice a deficiency or
some damage in some of these
areas. We do have a process
that we can be notified. If
it's a port issue, then we'll
look into it and and resolve it.
>> Thank you. I don't have any
questions, but thank you for
your work on this. And and I'll
just echo the previous comments
of my fellow commissioners. I
think it's important work.
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> And I'll move that we adopt
the recommendation as presented.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor? Aye, aye.
Done. Passed.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Right back to you,
Julianna.
>> Yes. So under unfinished
business we have our port
contract log. So every month
included in your packet is a
list of the active port
contracts, our service
contracts as well as our public
works contracts. The
highlighted portion of that
list is the most recent
activity. These lists are also
available on the port's website,
so anyone has the ability to
see port active contracts. Any
questions on anything? Okay.
>> Hearing none, I think. What
do we do next? New business.
>> No new business today.
>> How about accounts payable?
>> Always. So we have Nick
McIntyre, accounting manager,
who will present payables.
Thank you. That's a I guess
that's a good thing. That means
we've got a lot of work going
on.
>> It is. Yeah. And we have the
cash flow to support it.
>> So yes.
>> All right. Good morning
commissioners. We did not
receive any questions prior to
this meeting. So I'll start by
reading the recommendation and
then open the floor for
questions. The recommendation
is that the Port of Vancouver,
USA, Board of Commissioners by
motion ratifies and approves
the payment of June 2026
vouchers 128414 through 128777
in the amount of $7,446,687.72,
including electronic payments
generated between June 1st,
2026 and June 30th, 2026, and
the amount of $911,519.22 in
June 2026. Payroll checks
52276200 through 522676202 and
direct deposits 240001 through
240137 and 260001 through
260143 in the amount of
$835,822.32.
>> Hearing no discussion, I'll
move that we adopt the
recommendation as presented.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor I, I, I
passed unanimously.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you Nick.
>> Thank you. Nick. CEO report.
>> Yes, we have some
environmental project updates
this morning for you and Matt
Harding, our environmental
project manager, is going to
share some updates. Good
morning Matt.
>> Hey good morning everyone.
Yeah. Matt Harding with the
environmental team. Excited to
provide some updates for you
today. And the focus will be
stormwater innovation. And I'll
start with some of the less
exciting high level overview to
get to the more exciting stuff.
So you may remember this slide
from Matt Graves's presentation
back in the spring. And as you
know, the port is required to
treat stormwater before it
discharges the Columbia River
and the port and their and our
tenants. There are multiple
regulations and permits, as
shown in this slide, that we
have to follow. And it really
takes a village response to.
The port has developed a varied
and comprehensive stormwater
program that uses multiple
tools to make sure we clean
stormwater as best we can to to
maintain compliance. And two of
our environmental team members,
Matt Graves and Mark Tauscher,
lead this effort. And they
really are the right people for
the job. They. They are think
outside the box. They innovate,
which I'm going to get into
later and really have become
leaders in their field agencies
and industry. People come to
them for for advice on issues
that come up. Next slide. So
here we're going to dive a
little bit more into what they
all do. And it goes beyond just
the middle slide there, which
shows the port's infamous
Gratrix stormwater treatment in
a box developed by our very own,
invented by our very own Matt
Graves and Mary Maddix. That's
been proven to effectively
remove heavy metals such as
copper and zinc from stormwater
on the upper left. Slide our
image there. You can see Mark.
He's out there inspecting a
stormwater drain. Those
stormwater drains often serve
as essentially the front line
to stormwater treatment. They
go in and there is media in
there that starts filtering the
water the first phase before it
then heads to other treatment
options. You can also see in
the background there the car,
the van that mark drives, which
is wrapped with some pretty
images of happy fish and the
motto only rain down the drain.
And then just below that image
on the far left, there is a
pilot system we've been
developing at terminal four
pond to polish the stormwater
even further, and that's after
it travels through the
treatment pond, which is shown
on the middle far right slide.
Those tanks use bag filters and
carbon based media. Essentially,
it's like a large Brita filter
that you'd use in your house,
but on a larger scale. This
pilot project has been
successful to the fact that the
point we plan to install a
larger system either later this
year or early the next, with a
grant through the state
Department of Ecology. On the
upper right image, far right is
are the Vactor truck that goes
around and cleans and vacuums
out buildup that happens
through our stormwater lines.
So we keep them clean so they
can build up and if not cleaned
out, maintain properly can make
things worse. The lower right
is our T2 stormwater pond. This
is actually very similar to a
Gratrix box, but on a much
larger scale and in the ground.
Also layers of media filter
that filter the water out. The
T2 pond was actually the first
of its kind put into an
industrial setting when it was
installed around 2010. And then
the last image I want to focus
on is the far left lower, which
is our floating treatment
wetlands, which I'm going to
get into a little bit more here
on the next slide. But before
we go there, I'd like you to
focus on the root system of
those plants, because that's
key to the floating treatment
wetlands. And so here's an
update on our floating
treatment wetlands project. So
this was a pilot actually a
pilot project that was
installed in 2014. It was the
first of its kind amongst ports
and really was just a concept
back then that Matt had in his
head and got some materials and
kind of designed it on the fly.
And it's worked very well for,
for over ten years now. And the
concept is relatively simple.
So those masses of roots you
saw in the previous slide below
those plants, they grow down
into the water. And as they
grow down, they produce what's
called a biofilm, which is
essentially a slimy film of
microorganisms that work to
absorb materials, to grow the
plant. Right. In this case, as
the stormwater passes through
those, the the root systems
that biofilm, that slimy kind
of gunk down there, actually,
the the pollutants, the heavy
metals, the sediment all stick
and attach to that root system,
which then is absorbed into the
plant and removed from the
water. Also, we use, as you can
see, a lot of native plants,
mainly sedges and grasses that
grow well in this type of
environment, and also provide a
bit of habitat. So we're now
moving on from that pilot
project from a few years ago
for a few reasons. First, the
pond itself needed to be
cleaned out. They do need to be
maintained regularly every ten
years or so. As you know, all
the stormwater pollutants and
stuff, you know, it takes a
toll. It needs to be replaced.
Filtering kind of takes takes a
toll. So and in this case, it
was an excuse to also refine
Matt's concept working with a
manufacturer to improve on the
design. And so we're going to
see how these do and then
potentially install more here
in the next couple of years.
But studies have shown that
they work very effectively. So
plenty of excitement going on
down at terminal four. And
switching gears now wouldn't be
summer if we didn't provide an
update on the purple Martins.
As a reminder, the purple
Martins are North America's
largest swallow species that
migrate back and forth from
South America every year. They
suffered a population crash in
the later 1900s due to DDT and
competition from starlings. The
port's been doing what we can
over the last 15 odd years by
hanging special gourds that
they like to nest in to help
them out. It's actually one of
the highlights of the Bring
Your Child to Work day that we
put on in April, shown in the
lower right image there where
all the kids come out and hang
the gourds. We also partner
with some retired U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service folks that
track the birds in our area.
There's also gourds out at
Ridgefield and Steigerwald, and
we've established a very
healthy population here at the
port. And happy to announce, as
of last week, we counted 77
eggs, 64 of which have hatched.
And there's still plenty of
nest building going on. So
we'll be having some more
coming up. So all really good
news often get the question of
how that compares to last year.
We did have 92 hatches last
year. Hard to say if we'll top
that, but we'll be pretty close
this year. They do often lay
sometimes multiple egg hatches
through the year or two. So
hard to predict, but I'll have
a better number in the fall
when they leave with their new
young and head back to South
America. So. And with that,
that's that's my update. I'm
happy to answer any questions.
>> Very cool. You got any
questions?
>> No questions.
>> Slimy root gunk. Is that a
is that a technical term?
>> Yeah. Very scientific.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm curious curious on that.
What do you do with the with
the plant when it's because you
probably don't want that thing
in your compost pile do you.
>> Well probably not. Not
certainly with all the heavy
metals and pollutants that it
uptakes. So it's disposed of
after. But they live, I mean, a
pretty long time before they
need to be replaced.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Well, thank you very much.
Thanks for what you do. And a
hell of a presentation.
>> Thank you Matt. That's all
for this morning, commissioners.
>> Excellent. I can't remember
the order of things you want to
start up.
>> Sure. As far as
commissioners reports go, first.
I didn't say anything during
the Celebrate Freedom
presentation because for those
who don't know, I am. Actually,
my day job is CEO at the
Historic Trust. So a little
awkward there. But the the
Celebrate Freedom program that
Carol presented on is something
like she said, that's been
going on for 25 years plus, and
the port's been a partner that
entire time. It's a partnership
between the city and the
historic trust, and they're
just really fabulous programs
that celebrate service,
community and leadership and
some pretty some pretty
wonderful things. So two of the
things that I did that were
both my regular job and my port
job were going to the Flag Day
and America 250 events, which
it was just wonderful to see
people coming out to, to
celebrate together and on our,
our historic site, which just
to say, is one of the most
important historic sites in the
region. So we're pretty proud
of it and pretty lucky to have
it here. I also, since the last
meeting attended I br
stakeholder workshop, which was
just before the record of
decision came out. So we were
just getting some updates on
the project at that point, and
then also spoke to a group from
Leadership Clark County's Youth
summer program, which I also
did kind of double duty on.
They were meeting at the
Historic Trust, but they had
also just been to the port, so
I was able to speak with them
about both of those roles. And
I will just report back that
whoever worked with them, they
were super impressed. They
loved it. So good job there.
Had a RTC Regional
Transportation Council meeting
and transportation projects are
moving forward in the region.
And then I went on my first
official port tour just last
week and Aaron did a great job.
She was a wonderful tour guide.
And to kind of tag into the
environmental projects, folks
were so excited about the grad
boxes. I mean, the real ones,
getting them pointed out and
understanding how they worked.
And then when everybody got a
little mini one at the end,
that was everybody. And by
everybody, I mean me was super
excited about it. So, so that
was that was really great. Look
forward to more of those.
That's it.
>> You shouldn't have told us
about that. We didn't get great
boxes on our tour. You're up
Eric. Well, I mean, I guess
that just means that we'll have
to sign up for for more tours
so we can get the swag. We want
to be careful. They might give
us an outhouse instead. Let's
see here. I think one of the
highlights since our last
meeting, I got to go to a a
launch of the Mount Adams brand
new Tidewater barge, and that
was over. Over at Gunderson. So
it's kind of out the beginnings
of of highway 30 in the kind of
the northwest corner of
Portland. I had not been to one
of those before. And so it's
kind of an exciting thing to
watch this, this whole barge.
And, you know, they are our
Columbia barges are pretty big
once you get up close to them.
So then you're really close and
it's right there and it's and
it's massive. And then the
whole thing just goes down
sideways into the water. It's
kind of it was a sight to see.
They smashed a little bottle of
champagne on the side. It was
the whole, the whole deal. So
that was, that was probably the
highlight from the last couple
of weeks. And then have had a
couple of opportunities to
check in with, with our CEO
over the past couple of weeks.
And I think that's about it for
me. Cool. Thank you. I've had a
kind of a summer getting along.
I had a chance to go to a place
called the Vancouver Innovation
Center, which I was curious
about what they're about and
what they're about is trying to
take small projects, mostly
tech projects that people are
developing, and take them from
small to what they call
scalable to, to something that
will create jobs in the
community, in an area that
isn't just close to my my
psyche, but I can try to
understand it. And, and also a
kind of a as, as temple was
talking or bragging about the,
the port and the community. I,
I've had, I've. On Saturday in
particular, we had a pride day
in the park here in. A most
incredibly beautiful downtown
park at Shark Park, which is of
course just down, just walking
distance from the historic
trust you run. But also I went
from there across to and, and
we might like to deny it, but
we're part of the Portland
community and we're having this
amazing Samoan festival. I
don't know if you all know it,
but there's only a quarter of a
million people that live in
Samoa. And I swear to God,
there were several thousand in
North Portland cooking massive
amounts of wonderful food and
learning dances and what have
you, and just just appreciating
a lot of what is our our
community and our shared. And
when we're talking about the,
the bridge. What about the
middle of last week? I got a
chance. I drive across to Delta
Park to catch a, a max train to
take me down to a basketball
game by the the women's team
here in town. And it's just all.
It ain't any of it just perfect.
But but this is a strong
community on both sides of the
river and has all sorts of
awesome potential. And I hope
that we keep the things that
we're reporting on today is
cleaning up and improving.
You're talking about the
waterways, and you're talking
about need to. Are need to
address Ada issues. All good.
All right. I've run out of
words, which is an incredible
thing for a politician. I have
a quick question for you. Yes,
sir. Because I had a I had a
conflict and was unable to
check out the pride in the park.
Did we have a booth there? We
did, as far as I know, we did
not. Okay. I think that might
have some potential for future
years, that it might be
something that we ought to talk
about or urge on. I think
C-TRAN had a booth. I think the
city had a booth. I went
through there and I couldn't
tell you who did and didn't.
Okay. The church I go to at a
booth and a bunch of others did.
So okay. I'd be yeah, I'd be
interested in, I'd be
interested in, in chatting a
little bit more about us having
maybe, maybe next year as
having a, a presence there. I
would not be opposed to, to
backing you up on that
discussion. And if you want,
I'll ask that we talk about it
in the administrative or we can
talk to talk to the CEO about
whether she wants to urge the
community involvement people to
to move us there. So sounds
good. All right. Any more
points? We got upcoming events
coming in. We're going to have
a have a workshop after that.
Yes. Just to let folks know.
>> So upcoming events, we have
our next regularly scheduled
commission meeting on Tuesday,
July 28th. And just looking
down the list here of community
events, a lot of exciting
events happening, enjoying the
sunshine. And yeah, we also
have our our sixth tour of the
season coming up on Saturday,
July 25th. And yeah, I think we
are full, but we do have a wait
list. So if people are
interested in joining a tour
and as you can hear, they are
pretty exciting. There's a lot
of fun stuff to see. You can
get on our wait list on the on
the website. Cool. And just a
reminder on ways to communicate
with the commission so we can
have folks join us here for
open Forum. You can also do
that virtually. You can email
the commissioners, call the
office. We'll get folks in
touch with the commissioners
and again, encourage people to
get on our website. We have a
lot of excellent information to
share with our, our community.
>> Cool. Excellent. If I can
ask you, Giuliani, is do we
need to change the room at all
for this workshop?
>> No, we can either go right
into it or if you'd like to
take a brief break, we could do
that as well.
>> Anybody need a break? We're
going to continue. Roll, please.
>> Okay. Well, I would like to
invite Casey Bowman. He's our
director of communications, and
he is going to provide an
update on our community
outreach program.
>> Good morning. Commissioners
and members of the community.
I'm Casey Bowman, I'm the
director of communications here
at the port. As a port, we're
proud to be part of this
community, and we have been for
more than 100 years remaining
in constant contact with the
community is critical to the
work we do here at the port
through the year. Throughout
each year, we provide updates
on our government affairs
activities, our marketing
efforts, and more. But this
morning I want to give you an
update on our community
outreach efforts. First, I want
to start by introducing the
team, our Chief external
affairs officer is Ryan Hart,
who is actually not here this
this morning. Otherwise he'd be
giving this presentation. But
he's back in DC meeting with
our elected federal delegation,
as well as agencies that have
jurisdiction over the river and
other matters that are
important to ports. We have
Katie Odom, who is our
marketing communications
manager. Katie Prodanovich is
our social media and
communications specialist, and
Erin Masterson is our community
outreach specialist. Let's go
to the next slide. We talked
about it. Port tours. They
continue to be extremely
popular with the public within
a matter of a few weeks of of
us announcing our ten public
tour dates in the spring, they
filled up. And as I think all
of you know, commissioners,
once people go on the port tour,
they they're very engaged as
they learn about the port, the
river, and everything that
takes place here. We view this
in part as a way to build port
ambassadors, people who go tell
their friends and neighbors
about what takes place here at
the port. And there are common
themes in terms of what we hear
when people are done taking a
port tour. The most common
thing we hear continues to be
Commissioner LaBrant. I don't
know if you're able to fill in
that blank, but I had no idea.
No idea exactly. We've
completed five tours so far and
we have five more to go, and
the five we've done so far have
been really successful. We've
also done special tours
throughout the year. And, you
know, for elected officials,
community stakeholders and
other partners. This year,
we've had additional tours
scheduled for or have already
done them for stakeholder
groups like leadership, Clark
County, the Clark County
Newcomers Club, visit Vancouver,
Washington Public Ports
Association and others. Next
slide please. Sponsorships. The
port helps sponsor events in
the community that support our
mission and those of our
partners. In 2025, we teamed up
with the Greater Vancouver
Chamber of Commerce, ICC, and
CRA DC in sponsoring their
legislative outlook and review
events. We sponsored a table at
the annual Martin Luther King
Junior Breakfast in January. We
supported the Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber of
Commerce Annual Membership
Luncheon earlier this year. We
also helped sponsor an event
this year as part of the
Taiwanese American Heritage
Week. And as part of our
environmental outreach, we
partnered last year, and we're
going to do it again this year
with Columbia Springs on their
annual auction and dinner. And
this event raises funds for
salmon restoration and to help
promote stewardship of healthy
watersheds. Common theme. This
morning, we also partner with
Identity Clark County,
particularly on transportation
issues and similar legislative
priorities. We always
appreciate that ICC joins us
each year for the Ports and
Maritime Day in Olympia. We
partner with Washington State
University Vancouver on their
annual Business Growth Mentor
and analysis program or Map.
And that's a program that
allows students to provide pro
bono consulting services to
regional small businesses and
nonprofits to help those
organizations grow and prosper.
These are a few of the events
sponsorships we take part in
throughout the year. And
speaking of events, we go to
the next slide events we look
at separately. These are, at
least for our department, sort
of a way to separate things out.
These are activities that were
involved in that allow us to
share port successes, celebrate
port milestones, and again,
share information with the
community about what ports do.
The photo on the left is from
last fall's celebration for the
first ever maritime technology
class from Port Tennant,
Cascadia Tech and Commissioners.
You were there for that lunch
and welcome. Each year we
participate in National Night
Out, organized by the Fircrest
Neighborhood Association, and
that's in August. They put on a
large family oriented event in
Leroy Hagen Park, and this
gives us a great opportunity to
talk with Port District
residents who primarily reside
over in East Vancouver. So the
east part of our port district,
and we are looking forward to
participating again in August.
Last August, we helped support
the Fruit Valley movie night
put on by Vancouver Parks and
Recreation, where we handed out.
We hosted a booth. We handed
out frozen desserts, bike
lights, other port goodies to
kids and families, and answered
questions and provided
information about the port to
residents who wanted to chat
about it. Our lecture series
was another big success in 2026,
and as you know, commissioners,
these events are formatted to
allow sort of an informal meet
and greet time with the
commissioners beforehand. So
the community has yet another
opportunity to come ask
questions and talk about the
port. Thank you for your
participation in that. It's
it's appreciated. It's a
popular community event. The
lectures this year so far, the
topics were Pacific Northwest
Waterways Association or I
should say presenters.
Tidewater transportation in the
northwest, seaports, Lyons. And
interestingly, representatives
from other ports attended. Port
of Portland had people there.
Port of clam had people there,
port of Tacoma had people come
down. They've come to multiple
port lectures and actually
directly inspired by the Port
of Vancouver's lecture series,
they've launched their own
lecture series. We hope more
ports do the same. It is a
great way to sort of go in
depth on those topics that are
port adjacent or port related,
that have the most interest to
the community. It's it's fun.
Next up, if you can go to the
next slide, the community Fund
and the Port Community Fund is
a way to support local
organizations that share our
mission of workforce training,
economic development, and
tourism. In 2026, we awarded
funds to four organizations the
Vancouver Go Fest, Hudson's Bay
High School Construction Trades
Program, Latino Sonido e Flores,
and the Vancouver Ballet
Folklorico. And these are great
programs and events that have.
They reach diverse audiences.
Some help prepare tomorrow's
workforces, and others pull
people downtown to eat, shop
and stay in hotels, which
generates activity for
Vancouver area businesses. The
community fund was launched six
years ago by by our External
Affairs department, and the
community interest in the
program has grown significantly
in that time. So in 2026,
external affairs helped get it
off the ground again and then
transitioned it over to the
Economic Development department.
And they'll be they'll be
taking it and have been taking
it moving forward. Thank you to
you, commissioners, for your
support of this of this program.
It's much appreciated. And I
know that the economic
development team is
coordinating with the 2026
recipients to give
presentations to you as the
year progresses, to tell you
how their projects turned out.
Next up. Public outreach and
involvement. We do this because
studies show that bringing
perspectives, all different
perspectives to the table leads
to better decision making. Each
month, our community relations
specialist Erin Masterson
attends a variety of
neighborhood association
meetings. Erin uses these
meetings to listen to
neighborhood issues and
concerns, and she also shares
port updates. The relationships
she builds are invaluable in
our ability to be responsive to
community needs, and it also
provides a face and a name for
the community if they want to
get in touch with the port. So
far this year, Erin has
attended neighborhood
association meetings and
provided port updates at the
Neighborhood Association,
Lincoln Northwest, the
Neighborhood Council of Clark
County, and more. We also
prepare a Labor Roundtable
reports for you, the
commissioners, to bring to
those events, and that gives
information on port bid
opportunities, port job
openings and other highlights
from around the port. Many from
the port team serve on various
boards and industry
associations, and this is
another great way for us to
stay in contact with the
community. Those boards and
organizations include Visit
Vancouver, Washington the
Interstate Bridge Replacement
Project, Executive Steering
Group, Merchants Exchange, the
Southwest Washington
Contractors Association, Joy
Sister City Association, Rotary
Clubs, Columbia River Maritime
Museum Board, Pacific Northwest
Waterways Association, and so
many more. We also work to make
sure port board meetings like
this one are accessible to all.
All regular board meetings are
broadcast live on CVTV and are
recorded for viewing at a later
date, as are board workshops.
Last year we returned to the
Clark County Fair and we will
be back again this year in the
marketplace area of the exhibit
hall and we sponsor what is
called a parklet. And this is
an area where people who are
between cotton candy and the
pig races can rest and charge
their mobile devices. And while
they're doing that, they can
get the they have the
opportunity to learn about the
port because there is. There
are port educational videos
playing on a loop. So charge
your phone and learn about the
port. Next slide. Publications,
broadcasting and digital
outreach. These are more ways
that we share port news with
those in the Port District. Our
award winning community report
is issued twice a year to
residents in the Port District.
This printed newsletter
provides highlights and stories
from the port and includes
additional ways to engage with
us. So, for instance, we'll
include QR codes so that people
can easily with one click of
their device, go to the website
or read a certain story that
has a video accompanying it
that shows those vivid images
of cargo moving on the port,
and more. The latest issue came
out last month, and our next
issue will be in mailboxes in
the fall. Email is another
important tool for keeping
people informed and engaged. In
our most recent installment of
our environmental newsletter,
solstice came out in June.
Targeted digital outreach is
also. It's an increasingly
important way that we
communicate with key audiences.
We launched a community
outreach digital ad campaign in
the second half of 25, and this.
This focused on our
environmental initiatives and
our economic impacts and
provided valuable information
to Port District residents and
gave them an opportunity to
learn more. The title of this
outreach campaign was people of
the port, because it focused in
on a few key port team members
who do the hard work that keeps
the sport successful, and it
was a big success. Looking at
the ad views, there were 3.7
million ad views for this
campaign, and of those people
who saw it, 28,000 people
clicked through to the landing
page that educates residents
about their port. We also
expanded outreach specifically
to Spanish speaking audiences,
with Spanish language videos,
garnering strong interest from
the community. And we also
aired commercials on TV at the
state Capitol in Olympia that
reaches legislators and others
connected with state government.
Staying top of mind of decision
makers up in the state Capitol
has been really advantageous
for the port. For instance,
terminal one has really earned
a lot of support up there, and
state legislature has invested
millions of dollars to date in
this project. And just in this
most recent session, the Port
of Vancouver and our partner
ports received $15 million in
state funding for vital
Columbia River channel
maintenance. The port report in
April, we premiered this year's
port report, which is our
opportunity to take people
inside port operations and show
them our achievements from 2025,
and then also look ahead to
2026. And the video format
really allows us to take and
share port report with
residents and port stakeholders
across the region and far
beyond. We've partnered with
the some ways that we get get
that so broadly distributed.
We've partnered with the
Vancouver Business Journal and
Greater Vancouver Chamber and
distributing the video to
thousands of members of our
community. And we also had an
aggressive digital ad campaign
for that, which helped us gain
traction on YouTube, LinkedIn,
and other online spaces. We
included a QR code in that
print community report I talked
about. So just again, with the
click of one click of their
device, people can be watching
the port report after opening
their hard copy community
report. This is for Ryan, this
to give you an idea of how many
people saw it, because he likes
to compare it to large arenas
and sporting venues. Last year
he had you imagine the Moda
Center, Juliana, presenting the
report to the Moda Center,
which sold out, is about 20,000
people. That's nowhere big
enough for what? The number of
people who saw it this year.
Let's go, lumen Field, let's go
sold out Taylor Swift concert.
And then you're in the
neighborhood of the amount of
seats we would need to show
people the port report.
Furthermore, we're we're able
to view how people are engaging
with the video. And those
numbers are strong to. What we
know is that when people when
we take people inside the
tenant businesses and we show
them cargo on the move and we
show them what's happening on
the marine terminal, people
stay engaged. They watch most
of, if not the whole video.
Speaking of living in digital
spaces, social media. As you
can see from this slide, we
have a very active and robust
presence on various social
media platforms, and Kadee
Prodanovic oversees our social
media. And these platforms are
very important because this is
increasingly where people are
getting their information. We
know that people's news
gathering habits continues to
evolve, and a digital social
media presence gives us access
to our stakeholders in real
time. And it helps us foster
like a direct from the source
relationship. So they're
getting news because we're
putting it out there for them.
Social media allows us an
opportunity for stakeholders
and community members to
communicate directly with us as
well. Things are moving,
information is moving faster
and faster, and it allows for a
quick dissemination of
information, which means we can
share good news quickly, but we
can also listen and know what's
happening and what the
community is raising as issues
that they care about quickly.
Facebook has been our primary
platform, and that's used for
business and community focused
posts. Instagram is it remains
a video and image centered
platform. And so because we
have a lot of cool videos and
photos to show people, we've
gained a lot of followers on
Instagram, Twitter or X does
remain a relevant platform for
sharing news about port
operations. And LinkedIn is a,
you know, it's a business
focused platform and it's been
really valuable both locally
and globally. We're we're
leveraging it more and more in
strategic ways for maritime and
commercial related purposes.
And commissioners, thank you.
Every time you interact with a
social media post, it helps it
gain more notice in the
communities. The community just
knows what's happening at the
port. So we appreciate it.
Media coverage, media coverage,
and maintaining good
relationships with broadcast,
print and digital outlets is a
very important part of our work.
It remains an important part of
our work. It helps us share
important news and milestones.
And this is called earned media.
When we're not paying to to get
that coverage. Yes, the value
of social media is growing and
evolving, but traditional
earned media continues to have
positive benefits
>> For the port. There's a
couple of examples on the slide.
Newspaper, TV and radio do
continue to cover developments
that, for instance, at terminal
one or major port initiatives
and our efforts to benefit the
community. And we, we we are
still giving tours regularly to
members of the local media,
which gives them a better
understanding of the work we do
here, the value of the port.
And then it does lead to
positive coverage of of those
efforts. What's coming up? We
talked about it. There's
National Night Out coming up on
the fourth. Clark County Fair
the second week of August.
Fruit Valley movie night. We're
not done adding events. I don't
think for this summer I won't
say any more, but I think we've
got a busy summer schedule
coming up. You're welcome.
External affairs team. And I
just really want to thank you,
commissioners, for attending
these events and participating
in them throughout the year.
They're a great way to engage
with the community. And I do
want to thank I'll conclude by
thanking the external affairs
team. They do a lot of really
hard work to make these
programs and events happen. And
it truly is a team effort. And
so that is the conclusion of my
presentation, and I'm happy to
answer any questions.
>> You got any questions for
him?
>> I don't have any questions,
but I have a couple of comments,
which is this is a fantastic
presentation. And. Kudos to the
small but mighty team because
the the diversity of venues and
types of communication and ways
that you're working on reaching
the community. Clearly you're
working. And in a, in a time
when it's, we're so siloed and
it's so hard to actually reach
eyes and ears and bodies to let
people know what's going on.
The fact that people do know
the port as an active member of
the community, and also that
the port lectures do so well
and draw so many people. The
port tours are full right away
means that people are seeing
and hearing it, and every time
you report back, people say, I
have no idea. And every time
they learn something new about
the port, they're just like,
this is so cool. There's so
much interesting stuff
happening here. So I'm really
excited about how you're
getting it out to the community.
You know, the port provides a
lot of value to the economy,
but being able to see also the
value to the community at large
is just awesome. So thanks.
>> Thank you.
>> Wow. Do you want to follow
that? I'll just second it. Yeah.
The, the.
>> Variety, you know, kind of
kind of piggybacking on, on
what Commissioner Lentz was
saying, the, the variety of, of
avenues where we're engaging
with folks really comes out
when I'm, when I'm talking with
folks out and about in the, in
the community. Because it'll be,
oh, yeah, I went on one of
those tours or, oh, I went to
one of the lectures or I mean,
just, but it's this, this wild
variety of different ways that,
that folks can kind of come
into contact with, with the
port and get introduced. And
yeah, I mean, of course, the,
the tours are extremely popular.
I wouldn't be opposed to even
adding another couple of public
tours to that, but. Rave
reviews consistently rave
reviews. And, and I'm excited
to see, you know, this this
year being the first year that
we've got. Aaron Masterson
leading the leading the tours
and kind of a a change up in
format. I think we need to see
that just make it even even
that much better. So yeah, and
then kind of harkening back to,
to what we brought up earlier,
I'd love to see if we could get
a, get a booth going at the, at
the pride in the park. And I'd
be happy to volunteer to help
staff that appreciated.
>> Yeah. I have to give a nod
to Julie Rawls, who, of course,
was Aaron's predecessor, who
did so much work to build the
Port Tour program. And then
Aaron has brought a different
but, you know, equally
compelling energy to it. People
really enjoy those tours. So a
nod to both Julie and Aaron.
And yeah, you know, it's
there's so much the slide we
saw earlier, there's so many
great activities that take
place in the Vancouver
neighborhood. You know, the
Vancouver area, there's pride,
there's the Hazel Dell parade.
I mean, we've been asked, you
know, you know, you should
consider so many different
veterans events, you know,
church events. We're not done
adding port events to it. So
message received and we're
always assessing where's the
best place for us to be, you
know, where's our time best
spent. So we'll continue to
assess all those opportunities.
And we want to be at the places
that make sense for the port.
So thank you.
>> Thanks for what you're doing.
Good presentation.
>> Thank you. Mr.
>> Thank you.
>> Appreciate it. That
concludes the workshop. I think
the next. Do you have something
to throw in here? Giuliana?
You're giving me a look like.
>> No, no, I just I big thank
you to the team. They do an
amazing job. So just incredibly
proud. And and it shows I mean
just like like the commission
mentioned. I mean just the the
you know, everybody wants the
port to be part of a lot of the
things going on, which is a
testament because it's an
exciting place to be. But
people wouldn't know that
because if they didn't have
this team representing us and,
and sharing the sharing it. So
thank you. Big, big thank you
and small but mighty team. As
noted, it's amazing that the
work that they do.
>> I have no idea.
>> You have strange ideas. I
believe that that concludes the
business part of this meeting.
I believe we're going to sign
documents and there's no
administrative update. There's
no nothing. Thank you all for
being here. When we get through
to signing, I will adjourn.
It'll be pretty boring, but
I'll get it done. Thank you.