This meeting of the health transportation committee will now come to order
It is now
104 p.m. On Thursday February 29th in capital room 124
members present are
Representive St. Clair represent McCabe represent Amina represent Nelson
Co-chair Carrick and myself co-chaired Ayeshide that the record reflect that we have a quorum to conduct business
Also please take this time to silence your cell phones for the duration of the meeting.
Thank you for that. Before we begin, I would like to thank
Jordan Nelson from House Records as well as Susan Quigley from the Juneau LIO for staffing the
committee today. Our committee aides are Meredith Trainer and staffer Griffin Sequeo
right at the door. Thank You for your help without you. This work would not be possible.
On today's agenda, we will have an overview of winter maintenance and operations by the Department of Transportation and Public Facility staff.
After the DOT and PF presentation,
we would consider a bill, House Bill 216, transfer of railroad land to Whittier from Representative Holland,
and here invited testimony from railroad leadership and a representative from the City of Whttier.
This is the first hearing of House Bill 216 in the House Transportation Committee.
And I would like to say before we get started with our first presentation that I
would to do a hard stop with the 1st presentation at 2.30.
Regardless of where we are, I just want to make sure House bill 216 has adequate time.
And so I'd like invite our DOT staff to approach the dais.
Welcome to the House Transportation Committee.
For the record, Andy Mills, Special Assistant Legislative Liaison at the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
And I'd like to thank the committee for the request on this presentation.
Just given the long list of folks that we have
on the first slide, I'll let perhaps every person
introduce themselves when we first kind of get to them,
we're gonna run through a rotation on each slide.
And for all of our folks, whether in the room or on teams,
we'll try to keep each side to about a minute
to make sure we leave room for questions
and get through this in time that you're looking for.
Again, thank you for this.
Most people, as we've said in the past,
think of DOT Road maintenance in
the winter as one of our primary functions.
And so we understand there's a lot of passion
around the subject, which we share.
I might let one my colleagues introduce this slide,
and then I'll do the emergency slide after that.
For the record, Christine Langley,
data modernization and innovation director
for the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
Over the last several years, we've really come to realize how important it is to not only
respond to winter events and winter operations, but to get ahead of them.
And so we put in a lot of efforts, which we're excited to share with you today to modernize our winter
operations. And we know that these winter conditions affect the public, it affects the safety
of all of us out there on the roadways, and we are using modern tools to move that forward
and be as efficient as we can with our resources and make sure that we get a step ahead.
and again for the record, Andy Mills.
So again, the assembly of all of the folks that are online,
anyone of those folks can be called on
if there's a specific event, but slide three here
is meant to illustrate that the department
has an increasing role in our emergency response assistance
in multiple areas across the state,
multiple types of events, flooding, wash outs,
avalanches, landslides, storms.
events that cross the border on many of these so
This this slide is not meant to be read
comprehensively out loud
But if of course there is an interest by any committee member, please let us know and we can maybe have
Again the team assembled here that spans the entire state
Address any question you may have on an event
Thank you, mr. Meals. I did want to just introduce to the committee who's online
So we have Burrow Nicholson from the central region,
maintenance and operations.
We have Christie Futtrell from
the state equipment fleet and then we
have not get his last name,
Jason Sakalaskis, the engineer,
I believe, for northern region maintenance
and operation so those three individuals are on the line
and represent McCabe.
Coach Hireshide. So what I did want to do, Andy or Mr. Mills, is say thank you to the DOT.
We've had a number of issues in my district, Talkeetna, being one of them, and Peter'sville,
being a big one. And the DOT has proven to be very willing to work with private industry and
to help them solve a problem themselves.
And I think it's refreshing.
A lot of times the DOT gets slammed
because the latest thing, what, 124 cars in the ditch
between the...
between Eagle River and the hay flats yesterday and you know you get slammed a lot but people
don't see the work that you do. I think it was a Sunday or maybe a Saturday night.
I called you guys you had the team activated and so I really appreciate the
work you
do in the emergency response realm especially and it's refreshing actually.
And indeed, my commissioner says DOT is uniquely positioned to assist with emergency response simply because we have contractor contracts open and contractor relationships.
So a huge shout out to AGC and many of our contracting community who are either mobilized in communities and ready to respond or are very quick to
And so, it does place us in a unique position to be able to respond quickly when there's an emergency across the state.
Christine Langley for the record.
So, as I mentioned before, advancing a proactive approach to winter maintenance is really where we've been working over the last couple of years.
acquiring more tools that allow us to do predictive condition analysis, whether this is partnering
with the weather service, ingesting real-time traffic data, looking at the live backups when
they happen to occur at our signals around the state, and putting all of those pieces together
One area that we have really been able to make advances in over the last year is communication.
And so for some of the first time we've been
able actually put Starlink onto vehicles, we can watch those vehicles travel
all the way up the Dalton, all way back down.
And it allows us to get a sense of
the real-time conditions that are going on out there.
So we know that increased data is what allows
create the situation where people can make safe decisions for themselves.
And so over the last year during 2025, we saw 1.2 million individuals come to us and come
to 5-1-one to look for information, whether that was traffic speeds, bridge heights, plow status,
you know, road closures and updates during events.
We've been expanding our road weather information system
and we've being using a lot of this data integrated together
to create the items that you see there on the screen.
5-1- 1 shows the status of where plows are active
in the last two-era hours and on
the right you can see our winter operations dashboard.
And it's small print but if you zoom into the area
you're interested in on
the winter operation's dashboard
and immediately ingest the ARWIS cameras that are.
in that surrounding area.
It allows you to toggle through over time
to see where plows may have been.
And this includes the road priority.
So this lets you know if maybe while you're in here today,
a plow happened to go through while
you were busy, but the route is cleared on your way home.
Representing Stutes.
Thank you.
Appreciate that, co-chair Ayeside.
So how long has 5-1-one been operational?
Through the co-chair represented students, I'm not entirely sure. I can get back to you on that
but look I just want to mention that having
When coming to Juneau this year, we drove down we cut very out of
Kodiak and then cut up very again
That is an incredible asset.
I was just overwhelmed and amazed at how
efficient and effective
5-1- 1 was, we ran into other people that were driving down to and it was just the common
thread amongst us all and like you were saying with the Starlink, it's so immediate.
It's really incredible.
I commend you.
That's a real resource and a really advantage to Alaskans.
Thank you!
Repsutes thank you very much for stuff. We've definitely worked hard. It takes a very large team behind us
So, you know aren't here today, but are all putting data into that system over the next year
We actually are we're actively working and we hope to put into place that where the fairies are traveling and so that
We're hoping we'll help people understand real-time
You know departure times docking times and travel
Representative St. Clair
Thank you through the chair. I'm going to echo the kudos from
representative Stutes
I've driven the how can from with Silla the Haynes Junction to Hayne's
Over the past I'd say ten years
eight times and
It's all been in the winter time or even when I do it in a summer time, you know, it's a great asset. We missed
a couple of avalanche closures on the the Hanes Highway and the Klondike Highway because
5-1- 1 was there. The only, and of course, got to come with a ding, your cameras. Some of your
cameras have been down quite a while. Not necessarily on
You know, going through Hanes, et cetera, but some of the ones on the Seward Highway,
et CeterA, because we do check those.
When we're getting ready to go dip netting or something else, we check the cameras
to see what's going on.
Is there a plan to upgrade the phones or do it into phones?
The cameras, or to facilitate getting them back online?
Thank you.
We'll take both the kudos and the dang, that's fair.
We have been working on upgrading the camera systems
that we have, many of them are aging out.
We're working hard to shift some of our funding sources,
so we've been using what are our research funds,
they used to often be used for long-term multi-year research
and we're trying to switch them to real time
or near time results for the individuals out on the roadway.
We have put in the first fully solar are with system and turn again pass using those funds
We are working one on the north side of Attigan pass as well both areas that we have really struggled to keep cameras up
And we're gonna keep working towards
Representative Nelson
Thank you, mr. Chair
One question I had about the mobile reporting apps is we've been encouraging, you know through the Sutton Community Council for people to
use these apps for all kinds of stuff, whether it's loose
animals to these types of things like reporting road
conditions, one of those being Moose Creek, which maybe we
could talk about later. But the question that I had was, when
those reports come through, how are they prioritized? Christine
Langley for the record through the co chair, Representative
Nelson. So
There's very little that we put into these slide decks, so I'm going to take your comment
and expand a little bit. So we both are using mobile reporting for our staff so that they're
able to update these conditions in virtually real time. We also are about to release a
report a concern app to the public, and it's going cover as many things as we could come up with,
whether that's a safety concern, a visibility concern potholes, guardrail,
One of the things that we are working through now
is really how to prioritize those
and how make sure that the
things are urgent get addressed right away.
And so currently they're gonna all go to our AskDOT email group
which is handled by our comms account.
And then from there they are going to also go
to M&O if they an M & O related concern,
our highway safety office, if there a safety concern
and make that sure we get those out there.
Like all things we attempt to innovate.
We might not achieve perfect on day one, but yeah, we're always here to learn from them. Cool. Thank you
Represent with tape. Thanks. So two things, you know, of course that
Probably half the bush pilots in Alaska use your cameras for weather reporting. You know
I mean I use it all the time so but I wonder if there's
integration into ways or Google Maps being considered or even in there right now so that
you know sometimes you get a ways notification that says you
know accident ahead or something like that and it'd be really great to once again to be able to
sit in the coffee shop and have ways tell me that the sanding truck just went by and I could
Through the care Christine Langley for the record through the co-chair represented in McCabe
You can see the plow truck on 5-1-one while you're in the coffee shop
I'm happy to show you more about that, but that's what you are seeing there on the left. We do have
We have
We put in some airport things today
We intend to expand that system over time and that includes notums because we are aware that
You know, not only pilots are using those cameras, but folks that are doing off-road travel between you know points are
doing using these cameras. So we're certainly open to hearing more ideas. We're always working on a balancing
act of not overwhelming people.
Well, thanks. Yeah, that sort of triggered another question is Mr. Mills and I had a conversation a couple years ago, I think about a
state airport dashboard.
And maybe you're gonna get to that or maybe I would be interested in hearing how far along that is so
So the pilots could tell if they
We've had a couple accidents at the big lake airport where the the person landed didn't know it wasn't plowed
Sunken to deep snow and went over on their back and it would have been helpful to know that the plowing was done at that airport
Before she he or she ever took off from the Merrill or wherever they left from so
For the record Christine Langley through the co-chair represent a McCabe
I will look into that and get back to you and back
to the committee.
Definitely, these are the kinds of efforts
that we're working on.
So we are working hard to take all these aggregated or pieces
of data we have and aggregate them into information products
for the public, so we'll work.
And for a record, Andy Mills, through the chair,
Representative McCabe.
One of the things that Christine was just talking about
is the integration of notums.
One the sensitivities I know we have,
and then we'll move on if the community would like,
is not having too many different dashboards
or sources you need to go to.
So 5-1- 1 is a great example where every single year
we've added a feature or we're working
on something additional integration,
and that's a natural place to put information
that would work, and it's just another layer
to be put in there so that you're giving
best and relevant information. So that was envisioned rather than a separate
dashboard, although additional features like the winter operations dashboard may
call for a seperate dashboard. Thanks. And I'll
just get in the queue with a question about you had here
AI supported surface analysis and as I look at this slide
you know there's a lot of incredible technologies that have really changed
the face of transportation, so just briefly
It might be a whole nother hearing topic, but is the department using more AI or is it using AI in different ways?
Because it's it kind of like the topic of the the day for many folks. AI and how it is used for the record Christine Langley co-chair
I said I
Think the answer the simple answer is yes. We are using Moore. It doesn't mean that we immediately
Assume that that data is valid. So for example with our road weather information system
We are testing several cameras around the state through our rapid research program
When which you tell the camera what type of surface you're looking at am I looking it as fault a bridge gravel and
From that, it fine-tunes the algorithm to be able to help us determine and provide us
information and alerts that there could be icing soon.
We have systems like Pike Alert that take in the weather conditions and start to use
those algorithms and some of that newer AI technology to make predictions, but at the
end of the day it's our people still.
And Andy Mills for the record also, Mr. Coachear.
There's a real tension when you go to the AASHTO,
the American Association of State Highway Transportation
Officials, which is all the DOTs.
They hold conferences throughout the year.
And AI is one of the top topics.
But you find a lot of consternation
in how state executives treat that subject.
Some have.
basically outright banned it. Others are embracing it, and I think there's a healthy mix, because
you don't want confidently wrong information. And we did try a step chatbot, which we gave,
I believe, to a previous presentation. It was not as reliable as we would have hoped for,
and therefore it wasn't a letter of a premiere that we pushed forward. Probably the technology,
not quite there yet, we don t want to give inaccurate information or information slack
Again, an area to not ignore, but also to be sure we're rolling out appropriately.
Thank you.
For the record, Christine Langley.
So all of these digital tools take training and training for our staff, training the public.
As I think you heard in a previous presentation, we are about to roll out an automated.
using an AI algorithm, pedestrian light in Kodiak that detects a pedestrian as they cross the crosswalk.
These take education for the public and for our own staff and so we're working hard to be able
to do that. We're releasing tools like SAMSARA which are cameras located on our equipment that
allow us to visually see what the operator might see that lets us help them as they're
proceeding through their job. It allows us assist in how we are rating the roads because we can
work together. These technologies allow to bring technical experts in who might not be on site and
So, as we work on building the safety into our winter operations, we're bringing out
a couple new tools in the next couple months, so one of them is called drive-wise.
Drive- wise is a tool that is mainly useful for the commercial industry.
Various fleet vehicles often receive these alerts.
They include things like bridge ahead, rapid slowdown in traffic, things that they may
and help them make you know safety today operations. In addition to that we're bringing out
We're putting these pieces together.
And so actually, as was mentioned by Representative McCabe,
there was many vehicles in the ditch the other day.
We were able to see that traffic change,
that Traffic Speed Ahead.
We knew those weather conditions were coming
and that allowed us to immediately and remotely
get into the digital message board that's on that road
and alert people to the crash that had occurred ahead of them.
We don't always get to how often that changes,
but in this case we were
able see some of that slowdown in traffic.
We did this a couple months ago as well and also on the Glen Highway when we realized that people were exiting due to a snow condition rapidly towards the valley and we could watch those changes in real time and be able to proactively warn people.
Co-chair, Carrie.
Thank you through the co-chare. I thank you all for being here today.
You had mentioned the Kodiak Crosswalk, and we heard about that before.
What are maybe some other examples of technology supporting vulnerable road users or integration?
I'm just curious.
Through the co-chair, Representative Kerrick.
I'm just going to say sorry right now.
Through the co-chair to the Co-Chair.
There we go.
Okay.
For the record, Christine Langley, through the
co chair to The Co chair.
Okay!
Did I mention not perfect on our first attempt here?
We are looking at many different ways of utilizing that.
Some of that is increasing the audible systems
that we have in place.
Some all of these technologies that
we're talking about today, even 5-1- 1,
you don't have to be in a vehicle to use those.
And so those are available to vulnerable road users
to us as well.
We have investigated some software applications
that pedestrians and cyclists can
utilize, you know, can carry on their body, whether that is a phone app or some other
way that they're doing it, and it alerts them to rapid changes in the traffic patterns
approaching them or vehicles that are in turn late next to them.
One of the things that we're facing in Alaska is that crowdsourcing without a crowd is difficult
and a lot of these tools depend on that.
And so that's one where we are just continually working on looking at what's out there, seeing
As Mr. Mills pointed out, we certainly don't want to be providing inaccurate information or information without context.
And so we we're continually looking for new ways that we can do that.
And for the record, Andy Mills, I think you heard it in the HSIP safety presentation, but again,
we have a fairly strong campaign holding my book because legends deserve to
be seen reflective gear and we are trying to get hats and other reflective
you know, folks that are typically your pedestrians or transit users,
or folks who would be in the dark in winter,
and we want to be sure that they're seen,
because being seen is half the battle when it comes to safety.
And, of course, illumination is the other half, right?
So we're tackling this from multiple,
but for as far as safety initiatives,
that's another good example of trying to change the scenario
without changing the geometry of the area.
Thank you through the co-chair. I love my own armband that I have about legends
dessert to be seen. That campaign is really great. Um, how is DOT helping get
some of that swag material? I guess you could say out in the community. Are we is
DOT themselves or do you have safety partners that are doing tabling or you
know, How are we getting some Of those things out?
To to expect this Andy Mills for the record. So there's a numerous things and I'm actually I'll happy to make a note and get you sort of a more comprehensive list
But I know I've brought several
Boxes when I been been traveling down and giving them to folks out at our seven mile location
I Know that they're going to various events. We've also asked transit operators if there is an opportunity for us to
Meet where the buses are the central locations and make sure we're able to hand that out
heard a story about a representative the other day that saw someone that she
nearly hit and stopped her car and threw one of our hats I believe at them and
his the reaction of the individual was to be scared not not thank you for the
reflective gear so there's a lot of different ways this is getting out there
I wasn't that person by the way not in this room but it was it
was appreciated that that message is being carried forward that stuff is
Let me get a comprehensive list back to you though and the ways we're getting it out.
Representative McCabe.
Thanks, yeah, so a couple of things.
Community councils are a really good way.
We've handed out like the Narcan things
in community councils before,
if you had somebody that wanted to come up
to like Big Lake or Wasilla Area Chamber
or community organization or Telkeetna
and just give a little brief and hand those out,
especially in the Big lake area
where sometimes the snow plowing doesn't happen.
because we're a class 25 road or whatever it is.
And people have to walk on the road in the winter time.
So it would be great to have that thing.
I want to shift gears a little bit though.
A number of years ago, one of my team went to a meeting
with the Wasilla Mayor and it was sort of a transportation.
I think the troopers were there and others.
And one other things that they highlighted was the...
wreckers and the tow trucks on the Glen and in the parks especially
are struggling. In fact, a lot of them won't even go out there during the high traffic times
to pull a wreck off the road because people don't slow down for flashing yellow lights because
virtually every single plow truck in the state has a flashing, yellow light and they all think
it's important to have that on when they're on the Glen and people can't see the tow truck
Finding a better light system and we'd have to put it in statute because I think the flashing lights for the highways are in
Statute, but we have put in in statue,
but if you could
Even just point me in some direction where I could find out a
better way for that tow trucks to light their truck so they could actually go out during rush hour and
Pull somebody out of the ditch without fearing for their lives because the laskins are not slowing down for flashing yellow lights
Again, for the record through the chair, Representative McCabe, there are the highlights
initiative which we've talked to this, the detachable magnetic lights that you put out
and they sequence.
So it's like directing not just a flare and the last longer and then rechargeable.
There's initiatives we have on that front.
And then I know I would, I'm channeling Pam Golden who was here before cause bacuity is
the word of the day.
Did you hear that one before?
Cause, cause, cost, because that means to,
for something to be conspicuous.
So we don't implement something everywhere,
otherwise it is not distinguishable and alerting,
you become, it becomes normal.
So, and I think you're describing a phenomenon
that if something happens too often,
people sort of autopilot it out.
And so perhaps there's something
to explore if you are looking for a particular situation
that may be more difficult to
be, more apparent that it needs to
be people need to on alert.
Representing students. Thank you co-chair. I said I'm gonna request for a minute and just ask a question
You're talking about this reflective gear. Um, I haven't seen it.
I am not familiar with it
So if I have a town hall, where would I get some and where with the people my constituents or anyone's
Constituents go to get sum of it
For the record Christine Langley through the co chair representative suits
We have partners in safety and we can pull up the email and
we'll make sure that you have it.
It is on our website if you look up partners and safety.
Anyone who writes to that address, I probably shouldn't say anyone.
If you write to the address we will do our best to get there.
We are working hard.
I've heard many good suggestions on how we.
find individuals and opportunities to pass that out today. We have used many of those,
but we have not covered the state. So this is a new initiative for us in the last year.
And I'm happy to know that co-chair Karrick has an armband, so that's great. And we'll make
sure that we make an effort to find out what locations in your area would be good to partner
Andy Mills for the record through the chair,
representative students, more than that,
I will bring you every reflect, everyone in the committee.
I'm the, I'll be, the everyone gets a car thing.
I would bring your reflective gear,
all of the members of this committee,
and make sure that you have something to take
to your district or have in your office.
Thank you.
And I had a couple of questions,
but I am gonna just,
I think wait, it has to do with vulnerable users
and plowing snow sidewalks,
you know to their spots when they can so but I'll hold that for now.
For the record Christine Langley, so you
know every day when we are proactively handling these winter events the truth is
we're practicing for the days that aren't as good in our emergencies and this ability to aggregate
data and turn it into information in a hurry, the ability
to pull it in from remote locations that we might not have been able to connect with before.
The benefits of that really came to light during the West Coast
storm where we could have small teams deployed into rural areas.
We could bring that data back and be that focal point
to share that information with other state agencies, FEMA
and emergency providers.
One of the things that we are also rolling out in the next month
is going to be called Alaska Alerts.
And that what this does is it initiates two-way communication
with individuals in an area during an.
emergency or emergent event. And so for example, if we have, you know, a few years ago, we had
a portion of the Seward Highway that was shut down for several hours. This would allow us to
create a geofence in that area, reach out to the individuals who are there, and start a conversation
with them to give them more information and to help them let us know if there are things that
they need. If they're running out of fuel, or if they have young children that are getting cold,
Please proceed
For the record and emails so we had transition from
Sort of some of these innovations and and areas that we're working on to a brine conversation
so
Wanted to there's about five slides here, which I will step through and of course take any questions
This is a very high level on brin
So brion is the term not just for
smoking salmon or making dill pickles. In this case, we are rendering sea salt,
as effectively as what this is, sodium chloride, and it is an anti-icing, de-icing agent. So,
most people are aware, of course, if a power truck is going through and they're dropping sand
behind them, that sand normally has a little bit of salt in it to keep the pile from freezing up.
So there's usually some mixture of Salt in the sand because we have large sand piles.
can be rendered into a liquid form with a fairly sophisticated machine that has a spectrometer and everything else to get a
23.3% mixture, which is the sweet spot and also we add
corrosion inhibitor agents to bring the corrosive nature of that chemical down
for application on roadways, and you can do two things. You can anti-ice,
which, is to treat before an event.
That keeps the snow that's compacted from forming ice and sticking.
Easier for a blade to come and pick it right up.
Or you can de-ice, which of course is after that bonding has occurred and try to knock that down to the extent that you
can.
There are areas in Fairbanks where it's a whole new layer of ice, and that's our new baseline and we work from there,
but it is temperature specific as to when you could use it,
and the flowchart on the right is to just show it not simply operator discretion.
There's decision tree that is made based on
forecast, conditions, and everything else as to when is the appropriate time to utilize
Brian.
But also wanted to put on here that Brian
can take different forms. We're using basically a rendered sea salt into liquid form,
but there are alternatives. Beat juice is one of the interesting ones. Yes, you can render
beets from a farm into a de-icing agent. However, it does. It's reportedly a bit sticky. Dark
in color so the public gets concerned when they see.
sort of dark and slush, and it is more expensive, which in this case is one of the important factors
because in our, of course, our budgetary times that we're in, we are looking for cost efficiency
and how we re keeping our roads safe. Urea is the other alternatives that I've highlighted here.
Urea is a byproduct from an animal which I won't put on the record but you can look it up.
It does have an odor to it which is not that attractive and
It is an agent that when you put it down is very effective, however, it causes the vegetation
when it sort of washes off to the side of the roads.
The vegetation grows quite well, which of course results in another maintenance effort
on our operator's part and goes through more blades trying to mow and keep that down.
So there are alternatives, However, sodium chloride and products like it when rendered
Cost effective in multiple ways and I have another slide to go through as to sort of a comparison as do I
Represent mckade. Thanks. So let's
for for folks that are very concerned about brian let's flesh out the
anti-corrosive stuff so growing up in minnesota they put salt directly on the
roads it was horrible cars rusted out in a couple years
rocker panels those pender wells you don't see that so much anymore and i
suspect it's because you're using corrosion
In that brine. So maybe you could just touch on that either here or somewhere down the line
about how effective it actually is to prevent preventing rust and
And I think there's a cost benefit analysis to be done on
You know, it's it great if your car doesn't rust out
But if there is not enough salt on the road to keep you out of the ditch, you're gonna have different problems, so
Through the chair, Representative McCabe
Correct. And when we get to some of the slides and areas, you can ask Mr.
Sakhalaskas from Fairbanks. We rarely use Brian because the conditions there
don't are not conducive to utilizing it. There are other areas in the
Matsu Valley where when I believe it was like the 2014 timeframe, Brian was
evaluated and determined not to be a good match for the Valley. But folks
need to because of microclimate differences. Folks need
to remember that Brian is the same compound or salt that is being put
in a solid form.
But people are making a distinction
that Brian is somehow very different.
And when we're reinforced to folks,
it is the exact same, but rendered in
a different form, so I'll leave it there for now.
And I will get to the corrosion inhibitors
here in one more slide.
Representative Nelson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Quick on the matrix.
I like this.
Are we talking about 15 degrees Fahrenheit?
Just check it cuz I like both of them made sense. So it's 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Okay. Thank you
And and through the chair representative Nelson
There is there actually is sodium chloride calcium chloride magnesium chloride
So I use sodium because it is the most common when we do use other substances
You can get to different ranges that get you further down, but of course it tends to be more
Tends to more corrosive the more aggressive agent you use and represent amino
Thank you, co-chair. I should through the co chair just on the brine has DOT or
Environmental Conservation looked at any of the environmental impacts related to either the sand salt brin or even the other alternatives
Through the chair representative mean a good question
That I'm gonna let some of my contemporaries talk to you about clear roads
Which is a national agency that provides standards and what we do?
There and also in this what we talked a bit about a lit review what it was and what
it wasn't.
I'll address that question at that time as well.
But in the Anchorage area in particular, again Mr. Nickison who is on can give you a
little bit more about that.
Again a little different.
My understanding is they have spent the capital to build basically a large area.
a brine mixture that puts the brion onto the sand and then that lets it burn in on when it's put
down. I like to call it hot sand because that sounds kind of cool but it is basically a
brined sand. And I'll let them get into more detail on that. But you can see different application
methods depending on what infrastructure you've invested in to create the product to use.
And so you see more and more rural jurisdictions we're not using brin because we haven't established
So this was just a quick slide. I typically try not to use anything that has a company name on it
but in this case it was a very
It made sense to show this because it gives you the comparison in a way that our own information
Would would be more difficult to describe. So very straightforward here. You can see on the left-hand side. What what brine?
Equates to as opposed to a comparison of equivalent solid rock salt road salt
And you can see from a deicing standpoint,
you use far less product.
So Representative Mina, your question
about the environmental impact of some products going down,
brine is less going into the environment
because it basically application wise
is putting less products down overall.
And that can be from the application
and also the bounce and scatter.
When you put something solid, it can bounce off.
It can blow off by wind.
Why, Brian, direct application stays in place and is active there.
Then you can see per mile you're using less.
You can also, I believe, apply it at a faster speed,
which of course equates to time for our operators.
Then I did like on here the important part about anti-icing,
treating beforehand, the amount of times that our
operators have to go to the same location and try to knock the snow down.
Take fewer operators and less equipment going out to that same location as frequently. So
from a
Strictly cost or budgeting standpoint the advantages are fairly clear from the environmental standpoint
One could certainly argue that Brian is more environmentally friendly because of the application amount and then from again our operator efficiency standpoint
They're not out there as often
which can translate to a numerous benefits, but I realize everything is a trade-off,
and as you perhaps use less product, you maybe need to use more sand. Sand can clog storm drains,
it can chip cars and paint and everything, so there's always a
trade off in any approach you take.
and I'm not necessarily advocating for this, but if we were to just set aside the cost differential
and the amount needed differential, you have this paragraph here that says, without brine,
I'm just curious though on the effectiveness, like if you are using all of those things
to sort of achieve essentially the same effect, which one is more effective?
Or is there a best practice there?
Again, I am not necessarily advocating that we just get rid of the brine,
I just kind of curious.
Yeah. Representative Carrick, because it's so location specific, what I might do is,
if it is okay, is when we go through some of the locations, have the MNO chiefs who know
jurisdictionally and can give you a sense of that. What this is meant to say is we try to keep
the roads to a certain standard and there is a trade-off. If you eliminate Brian, you do need
This is a Kenai Peninsula spotlight, not just because we presented this in Senate transportation
where the chair is from the Keni.
It is actually an area we've had the most conversations about Brian, so it felt right
to leave this inn and show folks this as a spotlight.
We heard through a resolution from community council, from, sorry, the assembly there,
that they did not want Brian on the Kianai peninsula.
the compromise from the department was to do a significant reduction in brine application and
we kept it only to the highest speed roads. And so that was our ability to reduce it without
additional resourcing. So we shifted our practices in the keen eye. The MNO station there has done
a very laudable job at trying to balance the maintenance of all the roads there with minimizing
we reduced it from all roads except these and it was the department's attempt to be
responsive to local concerns and certainly one could could say if we're over using a strategy
that the the area does not like then we want to Be responsive and try and balance those interests
I would say that there are a lot of shopping malls and stores and everyone else that put
in their parking lots and sidewalks, that is on cars and on tires and run off.
And so it's not all just the department as a means of explaining.
There's a lot more out there, so.
Representative McKay.
Thanks, yeah, through the co-chair, Mr. Mills, I'm wondering about when we did this.
Of course, it has only been two years, but are we tracking the number of accidents?
That we may have caused by under brining if you will the roads on the key nine
Other words has there been a spike in or jump in traffic accidents or vehicles in the in distress or in a ditch
Through the chair representative McCabe no
But only because our operators are attempting to keep the same standard relatively speaking that they were doing before
So where we we shifted resourcing to minimize but without
Attempting to compromise the safety of the roads. There's a slide that comes up next to sort of explain the dynamic
That's that's being created by not using brine on certain roads
Okay, I can wait for that slide for the next one
So this next is to that very slide again credit to one of
the other
Transportation chairs constituents for providing this in a text
From that legislator to me asking what's going on in this road and my reply
I didn't have to get a hold of the M&O station because I know what was happening with Mackey Lake Road here
Why is there washboarding?
because Mackey Lake Road is one of the roads, I mean, it's one reason why it is in this
condition. We are not using brine on it anymore, and therefore, any cars that get on this road
and compact that snow down will create ice that binds,
and ice the binds is difficult to get up with the blade,
and so you will see this where there has been compacting before we can clear,
and because this is a priority three road and not a Priority One road,
it will have a higher tendency to
get into this condition without pretreatment or anti-icing treatment.
Representative McCabe.
Thanks.
Yeah, that kind of brings up my second question
from the last slide is how much more
is it costing us the state, the DOT,
to maintain the roads to the same level of safety
with less brine?
I mean, is there an estimate on that?
In other words, you said on the next slide
that it's maybe probably not as many accidents as we might think.
But it's only because your guys are working harder or have we started figuring out a way to work smarter or how's that work or or maybe
It's just that we're not spending the time on these roads and we have more time to spend on those roads
Through the chair representative McCabe, I don't have the safety information yet again only two years
But its a good thing for us to go back and look at
but I can say we
our operators live
In these areas, their families live in these area, they do not want to compromise the safety
of the roads and so if they felt that this was compromising safety, I believe they would be more
vocal in saying we have to return to Brian at least on these roads. Again, we're brining the
higher speed roads, and speed equals a higher risk factor for pedestrians and others on those roads
a condition that reflects we live in Alaska is something that more folks are
probably going to work through if it's a brine reduction that they've asked for.
And I just want to recognize that Representative Kai Holland has joined us
in the gallery. Coach Eric Eric. Thank you through the coach or just to follow up
to that very last point. Was Mackey Lake Road one of these roads that where the
community had asked, for a discontinuation of brin use?
through the chair, coach Eric Eric, so the they asked for no brine on the peninsula period
and our response to that was to reduce it well over 50% and keep it only on
the high speed road. So Mackey Lake has a slower speed
road and a priority three road met the criteria for reduction.
follow-up and through the co-chair. What's what's kind of the response post
Disc that discontinuation on some of these roads just curious because a lot of times constituents complain about Brian
I think any of us that have I certainly get it occasionally, but having toured the department facilities in northern region and knowing how
In frequently Brian is used it just it strikes me as not quite the
source of the problem that people think they're solving sometimes. But what has
been the feedback now that this is the current condition of Maculay Road, for
example, or other areas in the Kimai Peninsula? Through the chair, co-chair
Karak, the response has largely been much more quiet folks, not as vocal about the
concern because I think for some residents, this balanced out.
their concern. I know I'm in direct contact with some of the folks who circulated the petition
that received around 6,000 signatures and other folks on the peninsula to continue to
find ways to do what we can. This last summer was, can we cover?
piles with a tarp and put a heater underneath it so that we don't have to put salt. So that's
less salt out there. There's there's a number of conversations that I continue because we're
always trying to do what we can to meet the concerns that. We hear, but largely speaking,
the reduction, I think, met a lot of people's goals of seeing less brine use on the peninsula.
And so, that that is where we are at at the moment.
Just one more follow up.
I guess the other question here is are we are
we spending proportionally more now because you had mentioned earlier trying
to maintain to the same level with or without brine usage because
we want to do that as DOT so do we spend proportionately more on some of
these roads than say like roads in other regions where we
are still using brin and can you talk about that
through the co-chair, co chair care.
So I'm aware of no funding that was,
that it was diverted to assist with this reduction.
I do know some equipment that
was sent that direction to
assist making sure operators had alternatives to,
to brine trucks to
assist toplows and so from a resourcing standpoint,
certainly we resourced some of this request,
but not a divergence of, of funding and your,
Tell you because I've heard of lots that you cannot compare one
Lane mile of road and one part of the state to another and have it be an entire apples to apples
It's there's a lot of factors that go in to this
This the conversation of comparison
And one of my last slides here is we did conduct as part our commitment to the keen-eye peninsula a
brine literature review or lit review
And that was an effort from the research folks to just look at what literature was out there
about corrosion, brine use, and in this case, what we could do for mitigation measures.
And this was Laura Faye from Montana State University, a well-respected individual
in maintenance, winter maintenance assisted us with this project,
and it was in collaboration with the maintenance and operations folks.
our department use and for the public fact sheets and what not to to make sure folks were very
clear about what we could do to mitigate corrosion from brine use, biochemical use because it's a
There are some folks who live in the state who do have some expectation that you can see some
of the pavement in wintertime, at least some of time. Juneau, I know what that's like because we get
a lot of rain, but in other parts of state, if we used different strategies, you would probably
not see the pavement very often. So the mitigation strategies are often under coatings on vehicles,
washing the vehicles. There's a number of different things,
for folks who would like to find it.
I'll ask a question, because I think this is your last
brine slide. So, a comment and a
question. You know, I I this topic of great interest to
Alaskans, like Representative Cabe,
I come from the Midwest, and
brin and salt use is a science there and they really
cars consequently rust. One of the things a lot of my constituents say is Alaska's
an expensive place to live and one way you mitigate that is you buy an old car
and in my case a Toyota or Suzuki and they will last a long time the engine
Before I get to my question,
I think it'd be a worthy topic for another hearing,
especially to see is DOT moving towards this?
Is there a policy?
What's the guidance on it?
But I know as a data-driven person,
it'll be really interesting to look at
some of the things Representative K brought up.
What is the impact of brining roads,
the cost benefits to just help educate people?
is is brining a adaptation that DOT might use
to deal with staff vacancies.
You know, as you have, if you
have a vacancy rate,
if don't have operators to either deliver,
you know plow the roads and or fix the equipment
as it breaks down,
is Brining an efficiency response?
And that's not a,
I'm not trying to do a hidden gotcha thing there.
I am just kind of wondering
because people want the road's plowed.
or treat it, whatever.
So that's my question.
Coach Eric Eric, or Coach Erich, I should thank you.
So I'll probably let, again, the M&O chiefs who are on
and with me maybe address the vacancy piece when they get to it.
But I would say Brian is not being adopted to manage vacancies.
It's to managed budgetary constraints.
largely, and it's also an efficiency factor. I mean, it�s even if we were not in a budgetary
constraint environment, that it is an efficient factor by itself. And it was worth pointing
out that in the Department of Transportation, the maintenance and operations, which is
State UGF and so therefore the last 10 plus years of budget constraints and reductions have certainly required that we tighten our belt and find efficiencies there
And that is necessitated in bracing innovation and technology like brining
And so I think that's what I'll leave it at and let the M&O folks answer
As they go through some slides away if we get to those. Yeah, thank you. That was a very useful answer. So very helpful
And so we're at a slide 14 where Mr. Nickison, who is on teams, can jump in.
Thank you, Andy. Can everybody hear me?
Yes, Mr Nickleson, please put yourself on the record and proceed.
Thank You, co-chair.
Burrill Nickinson, Central Region Maintenance and Operations, and I'm calling out of Anchorage, Alaska.
I'm going to address three questions that I think have been brought up.
I'll try to get through those quickly and then in an effort to
get to my slides really fast,
I want you all to see the rest of my co-staff.
Do we use inhibitor? Yes.
We currently utilize brine techniques in
Anchorage as well as the Peninsula District.
That is something we do, and yes, we
do use an inhibitor.
There was a question asked about what is most effective.
really this is a complicated question and I think Andy putting out the
literature review I believe possibly speaks to this again that's a very
difficult question to answer yes no I would say that that vet very much
weather dependent but what I will say is M&O strives for bear payment so we
want we would love to have bear pavement no slippery services and that
Third question, does Brian, can we use it to supplement for staff vacancies?
I'm going to go ahead and just sit on the coke tails of what Andy said and that isn't what we
use for. It's another tool in the toolbox of meeting the expectations of the public and meeting
the need for safer roads.
And unless there's any additional questions I didn't answer I will try and blow through my slides here really quickly
Yes, yeah, just let me just do a time check sir
Just for the committee's awareness. It's 201
So I do intend to move on to the next topic on the agenda at 230 so just for your pacing awareness
Go ahead mr. Nicholson
So real quick, central region, as of three years ago, we started initiating snow and ice removal contracts.
We started in Anchorage three year ago and we have since branched out to Matsu District as well as Peninsula District.
We have all locations except for one, the Saldatana area which we got no bidders for.
This kind of walks you through our contracting costs for those.
for FY 25 and what we currently have for
FY 26. These numbers were put together
for call-outs last week. So you all have been aware of what happened in Anchorage
so you can so I can tell you that we we utilize the contractor
just the other contractor.
three different contracts three times I believe so there's an addition to that so these contracts
are for priority three and four roads and what this allows our MNO forces to do is stick to the
priority ones and twos and so it really makes this efficient let's us get through our work
really fast especially for long events when we have to go when
we need to repeatedly go back to like priority once because the snow just keeps on coming and
Mr. Nicosin, co-chair, I shied here just with a question, so on the priority one
roads I think if my recollection is correct that the goal is to clear those
within 12 hours so and especially those are the most important roads for many
folks. What's your success rate on meeting that goal, that standard?
would you say and I know it might be a winter specific but and every winter is
different but if you can give us a sense of your achievement of that goal and
since your central region anchorage is my interest but you know we we have folks
here from all over the state. Again for the record, Braille Nickison, through the
quite successful at getting through our priority one roads.
I don't actually have that number off hand.
That is something though that we can get back to you.
And if it's for your priority ones throughout Central Region,
we're happy to provide that information.
But I do not have
that right now.
Yes. Yes, sir.
Please provide
that including Northern Region to where my co-chair is from.
So please proceed.
Next question for the next slide. Thank you, Andy. Central Region sidewalk equipment
Sidewalks have become a big deal especially within the last few years and after those two
Two large snow years we had an acreage
This just kind of gives you an idea of the equipment that central region has for clearing sidewalks
We're really trying to utilize this equipment
as best we can and we're trying to meet the public's expectations as fast as we
can. I want to take this moment and say that we also have created a new priority
system for our sidewalks. Christine who is sitting in front of you might be able
to speak with that speak to that later on but that has been an effort that her
Section as well as maintenance and operations has been spearheading so that we can get that information out to the public and it does have different response times than the adjacent roads.
Thank you. Representative, Representative Mina had a question, sir. It might be the previous slide, I'm not sure, but Representative.
Thank You, co-chair. I said through the co chair, just related to
the priority levels for both sidewalks and for those roads,
How are those priority levels decided by the department?
They, through the co-chair, again,
for the record, Braille Nickison,
we have another expert who was instrumental
in putting that together.
And that is Jason Sackalakis in northern region.
So, if you'd like the details, I don't want to throw in the bus, Jason, but I think you
had a large part to do with that.
But there's a,
I will say that there is a lot of variables that go into that ADT, the speed of the road,
the destination, and yeah, just a
lot that goes into those decisions.
Jason Sykalakas, can you put yourself on the record
and answer that question for Representative Mina?
Yes, Jason sykalsakus, Northern Region Maintenance
Operations Chief,
can everybody hear me okay?
Week answer, please proceed.
Through the Chair, Representative Nina.
Thanks, Burrell.
First of all, you hit on a lot of the topics
that I would cover naturally
by establishment of our priority index.
The department did do an evaluation
of several different factors
Burrell did mention several of them, primarily looking at classification of roadway, whether it
was a destination through point, looked at ADT, other safety factors, and basically ranked our
roadways in priority based on those several factors. So it was not one specific item that was looked
I do know that we also displayed I'll say similar information
I know Andy has some of this as well on prior testimony with regards to all of the factors that went into
I will say the priority matrix itself
I don't have the readily available for the presentation today, but could also provide some about information later, too
Yes, yes, please. We'd like that
Mr. Mills, I think, wants to respond as well.
Anymills for the record just quickly.
So the reference that Mr Sycholaskis is mentioning
is a legislative intent report that we detail that fairly well,
and so we'll do that.
And then just acronyms-wise for all of us, ADT, average daily
traffic, we will try not to talk DOT, which is an acronym
itself, so.
Thank you, Representative Mina, did you have a follow-up?
I did, yes, thank you co-chair.
I shied through the co chair, and thank
you for that information of those different factors that
go into the priority levels.
Do you also consider safe routes for schools,
areas that have high pedestrian fatalities,
and also any public input when deciding
those priority level?
Jason, would you, any meals for the record?
I'm happy to maybe jump in and then Jason can supplement,
but the functional classification piece is actually
a, every census, we then run a functional
classification study and it examines the use and function
of certain roads for potential reclassification.
And that is just being accomplished this year
after a significant effort, just approved.
And what we do then is we take a look at any changes that happen in that in conjunction with many of the factors.
Schools are part of it as well as emergency services.
And so we would be, this 2026 is a good year for us to look
at the priority matrix that we have and reevaluate what changes may be necessary.
And we could do the same with of course sidewalks where Fairbanks and
Anchorage have designation on a priority level that's separated on their sidewalks.
follow-up. Thank you, co-chair Ayesha. I don't know if we want to also ask Mr.
Sakalaskas to add on to that question and I had one more and
I think that that covers my three. So I thank Mr Sakolaxis. Did you have any
additional detail for Representative Mina's question?
Case inside class cuz for the record no co-chair the information and he provided his breakthrough there with the rides functional class address most of those concerns
Thank you, sir represent me in a follow-up follow up. Thank You. I think you go share
I said one last followup through the co chair
I know just in general it's hard to coordinate between plowing the sidewalks and the roads at the right time
And we have different
Times for to plow that but is there any work to help create more synchronicity just for pedestrians?
So through the chair representative Mina, there's a
I know Mr. Nickison can talk about Anchorage specifically, but I
know Torres transfer of responsibility agreements are one way we try to be
more efficient and how we handle certain routes and that can include,
Hey, if you if
you're in this area, why don't you also do this activity so that
can create the contiguous clearing and whatnot.
But I made that let specifically for your question and to make sure it's
responsive to the Anchorage area in particular, let Mr Nickisson take a
stand.
Mr Nicholson.
Again, for the record, Burrell-Nakison, through the co-chair, representing Amina, I can tell
you that actually our Anchorage office coordinates with the school district quite a bit, not
only that, and I was going to go into it in a future slides, but we're...
We've been really in touch with the municipality
bank, Richard, and we're trying to work with them
as best we can, not only on sidewalks, but roadways,
snow halls, snow dumps, everything like that.
School districts will often reach out to us super early
in the morning or late at night.
They want to know about school closures.
They'll contact us if they need.
standing in certain areas or if they have concerns in
certain area. So I'm not really addressing your question
with regards to the priority system, just more or less
about collaboration and coordination.
Thank you.
Coach Eric, Eric.
Thank You through the co-chair. Just I think a lot of the
what I was going to ask I answered, but I have a few
different folks reach out over the last interim and question.
I know that the sidewalk priority is just a different
system of priority order than the road system, which makes sense. You don't have bike paths
along the parks highway, for example. But in urban areas like Fairbanks and Anchorage,
are they roughly correlated with each other so that if we do those upgrades in the future and
can start to have more synchronicity, we can be able to say to our constituents,
Sidewalk is also part of that priority to road and
They're going to get plowed around the same time for example
The other question I I had is we have no sidewalk equipment on the Kenai Peninsula and one piece of equipment in the mat
So am I seeing that right?
Just curious and if if so
Why haven't we asked for why hasn't the department asked more equipment for this?
So I might take a step go ahead Jason
Uh, for the record, this is Braille Nickison, uh, yes, what you're seeing on that slide is accurate. What I what I can say is that, um, Christine's group, as well as maintenance and operations collaborated on the language,
as was kind of the priorities of sidewalks with an understanding that limited right of way.
When you have limited right away, you
have to push snow out of the road onto the sidewalk.
So how many people use that sidewalk?
What are the bus services?
What do the needs to get to and from, such as a hospital,
a school, business, centers, and things like that?
So that kind of all went into the thinking of sidewalk
priorities.
I hope that answers the question.
Sorry, I should have directed that through the co-chair.
And for the record, one more detail for you is that I think we mentioned that the supplementary contracts are for three party three and party four roads.
They're also for sidewalks. That's one of the intentions is to have that ability so our operators can stay out on the roads and continue clearing those as contractor assistance can come through and assist with sidewalks so just one
more piece.
or probably whoever's running South Central,
but I'm pretty sure there is bike paths along the park's highway.
Parks highway and Fairbanks, we're not even talking about that.
We're talking the real park highway in the Matzoo.
So a point being is are we clear in those or are
we just letting those snow over like around Willow and Houston and
and Telkeetna has some significant stretches so I know they're not all
connected necessarily, but
For the record, Braille Nicoson, go ahead, Andy.
No, I was going to direct it to you.
For The Record,
Braile Nicason to the co-chair Representative McCabe.
It's situational out there.
Sometimes snow machines, I've seen snow
machines out there utilizing those things and understand as a snow machine user of the past
why they're necessary. I have also lived in Fairbanks and
understand why snowm machines are necessary on the pathways up there as well too.
So when time allows, the crew can get to that. If it comes through on complaints
and stuff like that, but yes we do take care of that pathway that is along the park's highway.
and just interesting comment on those bike paths along our major highways
interesting tidbit from my own experience so I'm a year-round runner I
tend not to run on roads because they're not safe so i use the green belt trail
near my home in in Anchorage and when I run
on the skate groom trail which is usually firm enough but in the spring
that pack trail gets super icy and so then I go over to a I park at Bartlett
High School and I run along the Glen Highway because that bike path is plowed
during the winter and, so when my greenbelt trails ice that is fairly free of ice
and it's about two to three weeks I ran on that and
I think I just want you to know some of these issues are really important for people's quality
of life.
So just a comment.
Thank you for that comment, that's good to hear.
Next slide, Andy.
If I may, actually I want to go back one more time and I wanted to say that those snow blowers
We can blow through shear pins like crazy and big events.
And so, anyways, they are very maintenance intensive.
They can go down very fast and they're expensive to take care of.
Again, this is specific to the sidewalks in Anchorage area
and kind of speaks to The Right Of Way,
where we have very narrow right of way.
We cannot push snow.
off the road and then onto the sidewalk and on to private properties. So when we go through
on some of these high-speed routes such as Minnesota, the snow then goes up onto
the sidewalks and depending on when you can get back,
the Snow then needs to be pulled from the Sidewalk back into the roadway and
then it's usually blown into trucks. We try and do that as soon as we can with an understanding that
to folks who get around and and do not have a vehicle. So this kind of gives you a sense of
some of the locations throughout Anchorage, Minnesota Fireweed and the Seward Highway between 36 and
15 that are our priorities to get to when we can. Northern Lights Benson and Fifth Avenue
are coming next. This shows you how many times as of last week that we have called from those
Next slide Annie
One of the other things that
We have is the amount of
As the location where we can dump snow currently central region or Anchorage area has one snow dump
compared to the municipality, which has multiple snow dumps.
We are currently working on trying to get authorizations for a second.
It's going to kind of expand the existing snow dump where we're at.
However, it's in the south of town.
So because of that, we've obviously we need a great relationship with the
municipality of Anchorage and we do have that great
relationship and they allow us to use
some of their dump sites and that is served us greatly during some some
of these recent large events. Next slide, Andy. We did have a question
for Representative McCabe. Yeah, thanks. So through the co-chair, and I'm not
sure who is best to answer this, but with the big Juno snow down here,
they ran out of places to put snow, right? And it seems like snow is just frozen
probably got a little salt in it from the roads, but why don't we just dump the frozen salt water
into the saltwater ocean? And I'm pretty sure I know the reason,
but to tell the general public why. I mean, I I am sure that the
reason is going to say, well, there's pollution in
it because it came off the road,
That pollution is going to wash into the salt water in Juneau anyways.
I think I would bet in Kodiak they're still dumping it into
the ocean right off the ferry dock.
So maybe you could explain that just for people that are listening.
Sure. Through the chair,
Representative McCabe, Marcus Zimmerman,
South Coast Region Maintenance and Operations Chief.
During the snow event here in Juneau in December, we were able to gain emergency authorization for DOT to be able
to dump directly into the channel. Part of that is the environmental concerns, you know, contaminants
in the material into snow. So when it was fresh snow,
we're loading it up, pulling it away immediately. They allowed us to do that, but it
very specific time frame. Otherwise they do want you to take the snow to a dump site where you can
have environmental controls and stuff. Follow up. So and maybe just a comment.
So earlier I heard Mr. Mills say that this salt that we use comes from
and now we don't want to put that dried salt water from the salty ocean back into the
salty Ocean. Through the Chair, Representative McCabe, I think it has to do with like oils
trash, oil, stuff like that that gets built up in those snow
berms and things as you are plowing things to the side of
the road, you end up getting car parts and and other items
that we don't want to be tossing into the oceans. Okay,
per point, thanks. And before we move to represent Amina, I
just we are having a great conversation. I do still intend
to transition at 230. But
Without objection, I would like to continue this conversation perhaps next week and say next Tuesday
As calendars are available for that, but I
Would like the continue the presentation when we end about 230 so I represent Mina. Thank you, co-chair
I should through the co chair
Could you talk more about the lane reduction test trip at the Anchorage Woodlot? I don't want to bring up any
Road diet lane drop drama, But is that a lane draw?
Mr. Nickison on on here may have something that you mean for snow storage. Yes. Yeah. Again, I believe that was a pilot program
And that is only one aspect of it, right? But I'll let mr.
Nick is in speak to it. Okay, for the record, Braille Nickinson said origin maintenance and operations manager through the co-chair
Representative Mina.
Yes, the municipality did set up kind of a pile it down there at the woodlot. I will say that at that time that this
that this presentation was prepared,
maintenance and operations hadn't really inspected it
or had a lot to do with it.
That isn't to say, though, that we aren't in the process
of getting out there.
And when I say we, I meant the folks in
the field, the superintendents,
the foreman, and the staff.
There are going to be benefits to a situation like that.
There's gonna be increased snow storage,
greatly benefit, possibly the folks where they utilize the sidewalk, where if we were to push the
snow off the road onto the sidewalks, now they don't have as much snow on their way. On the flip side
there's going to be a lot more things like signage, delineators, and things that went in use
is going cost more money because they're going get down.
During snowfall operations and things like that. So it's a given to take
and it'll be interesting to see if it does take and
What the expenses are and then what the benefits are but yes, it is something that's being looked at and I think M&O has it in our sites to
To talk with the municipality actually within the coming weeks actually about that specific topic
Thank you
Representative students
Thank You co chair. I said well
Again, I'm going to have to agree with my colleague from Big Lake.
For years, we dumped the snow in the water and in debates and wherever.
Just for the record, you say, they don't like us to do it.
Could you tell us who they is, please?
For the record Marcus for the Record Marcus Zimmerman South Coast Region maintenance and operations chief through the chair
representative Stutes Department of Environmental
Conservation is who regulates that
Why am I not surprised? Thank you co-chair eyeshine
Please proceed
Thank You Annie
I believe this is my last slide and this
is just covering some of the challenges and opportunities that we see in some
of other districts in Peninsula or excuse me in Central Region. So again this talks
about brine use only on only in certain locations on the Peninsula.
Also, we've had an extreme difficulty retaining operators in this current within the last
year.
I will point out that there might be a later slide that shows a different number of vacancies.
It's just, it's been constantly a moving target.
So there may be little bit of discrepancy.
So I just want folks to be aware of that when they get later on in the slide deck.
Matt Sue's specific issues. We've had multiple wind events out there.
Current calculations of about $300,000 for repairs.
That's going to be ongoing and probably we'll last them to the spring.
Again, training up new staff when old staff retire and we just constantly have new
staff, everybody needs to learn the ropes and it's best to
learn ropes from somebody that's been there for a long time, a tenured employee,
somebody something like that. So training
up, new, staff can take some time. Southwest specific issues, I'm sure you
all have been familiar with or have heard about the typhoon response. DOT is a big
We spoke about, Andy spoke to earlier.
We're also doing two weeks on, two week off, this is increasing our costs, but we're getting more applicants for our jobs, our operator positions out there.
And then the best of the situation there has been a tower closure there that we anticipate for the next couple of months. Hopefully it doesn't interfere with a lot of jet operations, we'll see where that goes.
I believe with that.
Yeah, Mr. Nickison is co-chair. I had a question before you go, so I appreciate this challenges
and opportunities slide. Realizing that Foley staffing departments is always a challenge.
Probably always has been, always will be. From your perspective in the central region, what
your departments and you know essentially what do you need from the
legislature say what what you needed to reach at a hundred percent fully staffed
and operating again for the record rail niggas and
central region maintenance and operations manager one of the
differences is is anchorage meant the minute or excuse me Anchorage station
has done a great job of retaining staff
And we seem to be fully staffed in the Anchorage Station, and I believe in Gertwood as well.
I think it's just timing on the penance of the district.
It's a little odd,
and it just so happens to the during the winter.
So, I, think, it ebbs and flows.
So I don't think its really something that we can pinpoint or speak to.
One more showing that other stations are fully staffed.
So, I hope that answers your question.
Yeah, it's helpful.
I think Mr. Mills wants to make a comment.
Andy Mills for the record wanted to add, Mr Coachear,
that last year in the FY26 budget,
there was a little over a $5 million reduction in our MNO,
which is one area I hear from every legislative office.
They would like, their constituents would
well at stochleering and vegetation control and everything else.
But obviously that reduction scenario, all of the maintenance chiefs have had
year over year to continue to be judicious in how they...
spend those resources and allocate those from even a staffing standpoint. Over time,
you can maybe a different conversation, but they can talk about how much overtime is necessary
to ensure that we're responding in the way that the public is calling us to do. And certainly,
overtime, is a budgetary constraint to manage. So I would just highlight that
the FY27 proposed budget does seek to restore that five million and we are making some changes
in relation to your your question post wanted to make sure you knew that
resourcing is part of all of our operators getting out there for the amount of
time it takes to do the mission appreciate that we have two more
questions in the queue I'm gonna go to those and then we'll probably stop after
that right before the northern region so that's a convenient convenient thing
Thank you, co-chair. I shared through the co chair. So I've received some feedback.
from some constituents about the difference
between the Muni roads and the state roads
and how they're maintained.
And I really commend Mr. Nickerson on your work
with the municipality on plowing.
So I recently learned that the muni,
they have this performance value results initiative
where they report out quarterly reports
on all other departments, on their goals,
performance measures and outcomes.
And so I was looking at that for maintenance and operation.
My question is, do you coordinate with your MPOs
on what their respective metrics are for plowing?
And what are you doing to help create more coordination with
your your MPOs as you plow roads?
For the record for real Nixon, Central Region Maintenance
and Operations, through the co-chair, Representative Mina,
our metrics, I am
We do keep metrics, however, I don't always believe that they get shared.
I'm going to use the municipality of Anchorage.
They donít get share, but I would be 99.9% sure that
they got discussed when the superintendents just chat with each other,
probably on a daily basis.
That's how I would answer that question and I know there's more meetings. In fact,
the municipality of Anchorage reached out to myself, my chief, as well as the superintendent
is inviting us to sidewalk coordination meetings with regards to snowman ice control.
We might start meeting more often and more frequently. It's very likely that something
that we have shown on the sidewalk priority hope that answered the question it does thank you
represent my team thanks so this is probably for mr middles i'm wondering i think i've asked
this question before but maybe um when the dot when you lose employees when they go to one of our
contractors say or to a construction company do you guys do exit surveys on why exactly
Through the chair, Representative McCabe, yes, there's a standard across most state agencies.
There is an exit survey that they are provided, and it's voluntary, but it is not required.
And I have looked at those in the past, not every single month on a report,
but I'm out from time to time and said I want to find out why people are separating from
where and for what purpose, I know that there is a formal process from the operator's standpoint
MNO chiefs want to comment on that as well
Apparently not so
Anyways follow follow so just curious if is is that can you provide that data to us?
most reason there's that sort of close hold info
Through the chair representative McCabe I can ask I they scrub the report of a lot of
sometimes there are
HR issues to resolve or it's there's definitely and they've redacked the names and information because that we want to promote people to give input and not feel as though there is going to be
something publicly with their name out there saying some fairly critical things about a supervisor they may one day have to encounter again so I will see if there something we can
individual reports and I am about the aggregate data of why. So pie chart, the troopers did one
a number of years ago and there was a pie-chart. It was 29% this and 5% that and 9%
that so it would be fabulous because DOT is one of our premier agencies. You guys are
not only important to us but you have a lot of employees and i'd really like to know.
And I would like to also kind of add on to what Representative McCabe said.
I think that would be super useful for us as a committee to understand, you know, what
the levers are for the vacancy issues and how we can help, how
we understand.
So I'd like thank our DOT staff for being here.
We are going to move on to the next item, but I hope we can continue this hopefully next week
So we will be reaching out to DOT northern region is next and
for a future meeting and really appreciate you all so I'm just gonna because there's so many people and your names are sometimes hard to say
I've just going say thank you
all and then
Before we move onto our next
item which is
take a brief at ease to get ready for that. So here we go. At ease.
We are back at the house transportation committee on our second agenda item today
Next we have represent Hollinsville house bill 216
Representing Holland and his aid aid and nickel are joining us today
Representative Holland aid, and welcome to the House Transportation Committee
Please come forward put yourself on the record and begin your presentation
Great, thank you
Co-chair Ayeshide and the Transportation Committee, I am Kai Holland. I represent House District 9.
House district 9 is an interesting district that stretches across the Anchorage hillside from the
Basher-Suckigen Heights area across Glen Alps, Bear Valley, and then the lower hill side
area from Huffman Road, but uniquely stretches all the way through Girdwood to Whittier,
and so it creates a wonderful district for me to work with.
connects Anchorage to the Prince William sound,
and to many opportunities for recreation as well as commerce
with the fishing industry, the recreation industries,
as was a critical part of our state's transportation
infrastructure.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that we sometimes
talk about the dream of having a rail connection
to a lower 48.
We have a rail connection from essentially Florida
to Fairbanks by rail that allows us to put rail freight
on at any point in the country and roll it north,
where it then goes on to a railroad barge
and stays on those railroad cars and comes up to Whittier
and come off and continues on the rail.
So we have really a unique asset.
that is not only serving our economy and our people,
but is also critical in the case of emergencies
or a need down the road if we ever needed a backup way
to be able to bring heavy freight in.
And as we look at some major projects that are coming up,
including potentially a gas pipeline,
Whittier will become an essential part of our ability
to move heavy frayed in that includes the barge
and other rail items that come in,
And I have been really proud to be able to represent the district.
And in the process of learning about the District and the opportunity to
represent it, I've been able
to attend the City Council meetings for about a year and a half now each month.
And one of the issues that from the very beginning I learned about was their effort and
progress that they had made working with the Alaska Railroad on being able to
reach an agreement on the railroad land that the city has been leasing and being
able work towards being to actually move that land into the ownership of the
city, providing the City an opportunity to continue to grow its economy and to
give it more flexibility for control over the land.
And that process is continued on with a lot of hard work by the city and by
the railroad that brings us to today.
The Railroad Act and our state statutes give the legislature
the oversight of the transfer of any railroad assets.
And gives us the opportunity to review that transaction and it requires that the legislature actually approves a transfer of in this case land to another party.
Some of you may recall, this was done a couple of years ago with the Nana railroad property
and a bill passed by the legislature that completed the transfer of some railroad land
to the city of Nanna.
So this is if you follow that history or want to refer to it, is essentially the same process.
The transfer at this point is not completed until both the City and the railroad reach
their final purchase agreement.
them to be able to complete that process. It's in statute.
It says, we the legislature have to
be the ones that say, OK, go forth and do that.
And so I just want to acknowledge this has taken a lot of work.
It is a relatively simple procedural action for us,
but it's not without years of efforts
that have gone to get us to this day.
My staff, Aidan Nickel, is going to go through the bill
and the sectional and just the background on this.
the railroad and the city of Whittier to fill in what we can cover today in the
brief time we have so thank you again for the time
we had today. Thank you chair Aescheid for
the record a nickel staff to representative Holland so for those who are
you're with the City of Whittier it is connected to the rest of the state by a
multi-use tunnel through the surrounding mountains and for most of
the city's history this was a rail-only tunnel. So the
city has long relied on its partnership with The Railroad.
in turn the railroad has benefited from its land holdings in Whittier, which constitute about 85 percent
of the city's land area. In 1998 the Railroad leased some of that land to the
city but leasing hasn't allowed the City to reap the full intended economic benefits of
under the current lease. The railroad needs to be able to reclaim the land if it once again becomes
essential for its operations and that of course creates uncertainty that discourages investment
in the city. And as a state entity the railroad is tax exempt which means that the
city is unable to raise municipal revenue from businesses located on that property.
And so negotiations have been ongoing for about the last two years for the City to take ownership.
of some of this land and the two parties came to agreement four terms for sale in late 2025.
However, as representative Holland mentioned, an obstacle remaining here to the deal is legislative
approval under Title 42 of the Alaska Statutes. The railroad is prohibited from parting with
any land without this body's authorization. So now that the city and the railroad have
partnered to do the hard work of negotiating a deal, it is a legislature's job to clear
This is a map here of the parcels being negotiated.
Early in talks, all five of these parcels
that are delineated on the map were going to be conveyed.
The current deal that's pending right now
only includes the sale of three parcels
in the downtown area.
So those are the three Parcels
over on right side of map.
However, it is our hope that the other two parcels on those two on the left at the head
of the bay will eventually be conveyed to the city, and this is why you'll see that
the language of The Bill contains authorization for all five of those parcels.
text of the bill is straightforward. Section one authorizes the railroad to make this transfer.
It describes the five parcels of land that the rail road can convey while recognizing that
the final boundaries of parcels being conveyed are not necessarily to be determined by the text
of bill but by further surveying and plating and the Final Agreement of both parties and
the section explicitly names that it meets the requirements for the legislative approval
governing the Alaska Railroad.
And section two establishes the immediate effective date.
And with that chair, I should,
I'm going to turn it back over to Representative Holland.
Great, well, thank you for the time to present this today.
Happy to take any initial questions you have
and encourage you also to move to also being able
to get the invited testimony from the railroad
and the city of Whittieroy you'll have time today
Yeah, I'd like to thank you Representative Holland mr. Nickle their questions for
The maker of the bill before we move to invited testimony
Representative Kerry
Culture Kerry. Thank you through the coach. I have two two questions right up front
One I think might be to the city manager of Whittier, who's online. No, but
This is a lot of acreage in Whittier. Whattier doesn't have, you know, just a ton of
acreages between the mountains and the ocean. So I know that there's a city
resolution and support of this land transfer, but I
was also just curious to get maybe an opposing viewpoint if there had been
that throughout this long history process to try to
get this Land Transfer. I wonder if maybe the city manager could comment on
if it has been opposition, what has kind of been
So we have online Jackie Wild, City Manager of the City of Whittier, Ms. Wild.
Just put yourself on the record and if you can address the question from
co-chair Carrick, please.
I stand by Ms Wild for some audio issues. Make sure you're not muted on your
end, Miss Wild because we can't hear you.
Go ahead if you can miss while keep speaking
Just barely
Keep keep doing a sound check for us
That helps a little bit, but it's still not quite sufficient
Yes, yes, that seems to be the variable. That's important here.
Okay, so I'm going to turn my camera on. I first want to apologize.
I had an oral surgery,
so you don't want it with a different camera than it might be because I wanted to know what the best that I can definitely talk to you.
So miss, miss wild.
So sorry, this is co-chair care. We still can't hear you, but we do have a teleconference number that.
potentially call in and not use teams, that might work better.
Yeah, Ms. Wilde, I'll give you a number if you're ready to copy and just go ahead and
call that so you want to provide invited testimony to the House Transportation Committee and
the LIO staff will help you.
844-586-9085, and if you can call that number, we'll just go through the phone system rather
in teams.
So we hope that to hear from you shortly.
I think we also, Representative Holland.
Oh, I'm just going to suggest co-chair Ayesha.
I said, co chair, maybe had a couple questions, so perhaps we can take a shot at the other
one while this is going on.
address the first question, but it'd be best if we can get the city on to address it more fully.
I have one more question.
Co-chair Kerry.
Thank you through the co-chare.
The other question I had is, in section one in the sectional it says,
it recognizes that further planning and surveying is necessary to complete the exchange.
So just a simple process question is it normal to have that?
with the Ninanid Land Transfer was that also in there I'm seeing a lot of head nods yes so
just making sure that that standard language. Yeah through the coach here to the co-chair
I suspect that Representative Cabe might be able to answer that more fully but in this case because
of the nature of this land the recognition is that the description is pretty close but they wanted
opportunity to make any final small changes to the land and
not have the bill tangled up by having been overly specific.
Any other questions before I represent Mina?
Thank you, co-chair. I shared through the co chair just to clarify so
on the third slide it mentions that the December 2025 final
negotiated agreement is for three parcels and I know the bill is
for five parcels so could I just get a more clarification on that?
Sure thank you through the co-chair and to some degree this
touches back on the first question from co chair
Carrick the original work as I knew it but this has been going on for many
years but in the last you know a couple years
had been focusing on all five Parcels there's still some uncertainty about
the resolution of the property at the head of
clarity, and I think to co-chair Kirk's question, these three parcels in the downtown area
I
think everybody is in complete full agreement on the value and desire to do this. How the
needed some additional time to be to develop those ones at this point in time.
There's been a lot that's changed in the last couple of years with the addition now of the
Huna Totem cruise ship terminal that has been added in there and the development of
the area to the head of The Bay. That being said though you know the one parcel parcel five has
the campground on it which has a long standing opportunity for people who want to camp in
Property Parcel 4 has a DOT, least section of land for the Whittier Airport.
And so the intent of this is that eventually all five parcels will eventually move towards
some sort of agreement.
And the idea was here to put all 5 in the legislation since they've really worked hard
on this so that they could still proceed with the other two without the delay of having
Complete those other two parcels. Thank you
Represent mike. Yeah, so just maybe a little bit of clarifying this. This is we are just a start
We just authorized this to begin and then Whittier and the in the railroad negotiate
Their terms and their times and but we've given our blessing. That's all it really kind of is so
Thank You and uh, I believe miss wild uh from city manager of
Whittier is on the phone.
So Coach Eric Eric, did you get your question answered?
Did you want to hear from Ms. Wilde?
Coach, I kind of would like to here from the city manager
on this too.
And thank you for joining us.
Sorry about the technical issues.
Yeah, Ms Wilde, please put yourself.
Yeah.
Go ahead, Miss Wilde.
So it doesn't say that my microphone is muted,
but you are hearing me correct.
Yes. A little bit better than before, so really project like a teacher.
Wow, I've never had to be told that before. So this would be pretty good.
It's working. Go ahead.
Okay, wonderful. I, to the chair,
I first wanted to answer the question you asked.
Did there have any been any sort of pushback previously on this type of bill? Is that correct?
Through the co-chair to Ms. Wild. Yeah, I guess I'm it's a lot of land. Whittier
has land is a premium thing and is there any objection in the past just
trying to capture I know that the city is in support but has there been objection
and what's the counter to the objection if any.
The biggest objection is the master lease.
While it does look like Whittier has a lot of land,
if you look at it and an overstooping vision,
you see that over 90% of it is either state or railroad
or other non-taxable entities owned.
We'll give us the opportunity to own land and be able to operate it as a city
Once that question if I've succeeded with that. Question. I'd also like to read in my testimony if this is the time
Yes
Miss Wild go ahead and put yourself on the record
I'm not sure if you did that just before but go head and do that and please provide your
invited testimony to the committee
My name is Jackie Wilde with the City of Whittier and the city manager and I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today in support of House Bill 216.
I wanna be clear about the perspective that I bring to this conversation today.
I am not here asking for sympathy on behalf of the small community and here to explain
how the current structure came to exist and how to function over time and why HB 216 represents
thoughtfulness and collaborative path forward for both the city of Whittier, the Alaska Railroad
Whittier is home to 273 year-round residents,
but we are far more than a residential community.
Our residents work here, live here.
Raise their children here
and because they believe in Whttier's future
and see its role in Alaska's transportation system,
Whitty or sits in its intersection of rail, trail, road.
support, and marine access. Our community supports non, sorry, supports
port operations, rail accesses, marine transportation, trail access,
emergency services, utilities, year-round infrastructure,
and serve not only Whittier but the statewide movement of people, goods,
and commerce. Another important piece of the context
The majority of the land within city is tax exempt, owned by the state of Alaska, the federal government, or other state entities, including the Alaska Railroad Corporation.
For many years, this structure has left much of Whittier's tax base tied up, resulting in varied, limited number of taxable parcels, responsible for funding municipal services that also support statewide transportation and commerce.
For many years the relationship between the City of Whittier and the Alaska Rail Road was governed by a master lease.
While entered into with good intentions, the structure placed extensive municipal responsibilities, planning, permitting, infrastructure maintenance, utilities, public safety access on the city, while ownership and ultimate control of the land remained with the railroad.
Over time, the separation of the responsibility and the control became increasingly difficult
to manage.
This is not a failure of partnership, but a structural mismatch.
Projects required work around infrastructure, investments became more complex.
Federal funding opportunities were harder to pursue because site control was unclear.
Throughout this period, the city continued to meet its obligations and over decades with
year has paid approximately 40% of its total revenues to the Alaska Railroad through leases
and land-related payments.
We do so because we understood railroads importance to this state and because
we believe in being a reliable partner.
Here's the city of Whittier, it's administration has worked closely and collaboratively with the rail,
Alaska Railroad Corporation's Administration to address the challenges.
Together we have moved away from managing around misalignment and toward identifying
a structure that better reflects on how land is actually used and how responsibilities are
actually carried today.
The parcels addressed in House Bill 216 were conveyed by the state of Alaska Railroad for public purposes.
I'm sorry, by state Alaska to the railroad for the public purpose.
Over time, many of these parcels became non-operational to rail services while remaining essential communicable infrastructure, public safety and transportation connectivity.
HB 216 does not revisit past decisions or sign fault, it reflects a shared recognition
developed through sustained coordination that existing structure no longer serves either party
The parks was identified in HB 216 and non-operational to the railroad, yet central to roads, utilities, emergency response, environmental remediation, and equality for the state and federal infrastructure funding.
Today, the city is responsible for planning maintaining and funding infrastructure on land, it does not own and cannot tax, which increases costs and complexity for both a city and for a state.
Because the Alaska Railroad is a state-held end of the land, holding land in trust for people of Alaska, they cannot transfer.
It cannot occur administratively. Legislative authority is required to convey.
Ownership, HB 216 provides the authority carefully and responsibly.
Yes.
Yes, if you can kind of wrap up your invited testimony just because we're running up against
time and if we can just briefly summarize it here at Dan, we'd appreciate it.
Go ahead.
I can actually summarize.
The summary is at this court.
HB 116 is a governance bill that recognizes that there's no longer.
The land no longer serves its original state of purpose, and when responsibility and as
the structure has shifted to municipality and ownership and authority, Whittier is unique
even among the Alaska communities and we are where the rail ends, the highway disappears and the
port begins. When land ownership, responsibility,
and purpose are aligned in Whitier,
the entire state benefits for more effective and
protection transportation system. HP provides the alignment carefully, lawfully, and full protection
of the state's interest. I respectfully ask for your support in working towards something
together with the Alaska Railroad. Thank you, Ms. Wilde. Are there any questions from the
Okay, thank you miss wild and we will move to
another invited testimony from Megan Clemens director of external affairs for the Alaska Railroad and
So miss Clemons if you can put yourself on the record and again if
You can be brief in my apologies
No, certainly.
Good afternoon, co-chair carrot,
co chair eyeshide, and committee members for the record.
My name is Megan Clement,
and I'm the external affairs director
for The Alaska Railroad.
And yes, I have a brief statement that I will share today.
Thank you for
the opportunity to express the Alaska railroad support
for House Bill 216,
which would authorize the railroad
to sell identified parcels of land to the city of Whittier.
I'll start by noting that selling land isn't something that the railroad takes lightly.
So as you know, the process to sell railroad land requires not only legislative authorization,
but also railroad board approval, with our board obligated by statute to find that
the land is not necessary for railroad purposes and that a sale would serve the best interest
of the state, as we remain focused on our mandate to maintain Alaska's rail network
and provide safe and reliable transportation for goods and passengers.
highlight as has been stated today that over the last two years the railroad and the city
have engaged an ongoing discussion and negotiation in pursuit of a mutually beneficial land sale.
Through this process, the scope of the proposed sale has evolved and refined, as we've discussed
today, culminating in a proposal offered by the Railroad at our board's direction to sell three
parcels in Whittier's core downtown district at fair market value as required by statute.
of a conditional letter of intent from the city just last week and we are now
looking forward to a resolution formally approving the sale of areas of interest
one two and three coming before the Alaska Railroad Board of Directors at
their next meeting on February 5th.
So, as has been mentioned, you know, the legislation includes authorization to sell those two additional parcels, areas four and five, and just to clarify that completing the sale of parcels one, two, three, it would in no way preclude revisiting four
and 5 for a potential sale to the city of Whittier at some time in the future.
And in fact, having legislative approval to solve those parcels to to city could help expedite that process.
Should we receive that guidance from our board at a future time?
So with that, thank you again for the opportunity to speak today in support of this legislation.
It's our hope that this land sale is responsive to the needs of the community and the railroad.
Helps the city realize its goals for local growth and prosperity.
And sets the stage for an ongoing productive relationship between the Railroad and
the City of Whittier for years to come.
Thank you.
Thank-you, Ms. Clemons.
Any questions from the committee for Ms Clemens?
One.
I reference them, okay.
Thanks, so I'm Ms Clement, I just, this is.
I just kind of been cruising the Nino one. This is substantively the exact same thing
Yes, this is you'll obviously the land descriptions are different, but you know has been noted
This, is a fairly simple, you, know authorization for this land conveyance to occur and so yes the bill is very much the same
And any final questions for representative holland
Okay, thank you. We're just going to take a brief ad ease. I, just have to ask my co-chair something I think
I think Addy's.
On the record so
Just with the committee we were thinking about setting a amendment deadline for this bill on next Monday of February 2nd at 5 p.m.
I just want to see if there was any objection to that
Seeing none so the amendment dead line will be next monday february 2st 5 pm
Please work with both co-chair staff prior to
That and I would like to thank everybody today for your good work
The next House Transportation Committee meeting will be Tuesday, February 3rd at 1 p.m. in
room 124.
The presentation will beyond the role of advanced construction in DOT and PF project
administration.
The department will also provide a review of federal aid and types of Federal funding
accessible to DOT.
This meeting at the House Transfer Education Committee is now adjourned at 3.05 p-m