What is the Public's Role in the Development of the Day Boat ACF?

We have been presented with a concept for a new AMHS vessel.  It is being called the "Day Boat Alaska Class Ferry" to distinguish it from the Alaska Class Ferry design that was withdrawn by Governor Parnell this past December.

By some accounts, the first group of Alaska Class Ferry planners engaged in a 4-6 year public review process.  And that, according to DOT/PF Commissioner Kemp, was the problem (as per testimony before the Joint Senate/House Transportation Committees, January 17, 2013).  The Alaska Class Ferry morphed from the original mission.  Rough order of magnitude estimates for construction reportedly exceeded the $120 million budget.  Rather than increase the budget, the decision was made to go back to the drawing board, but not to go back to the public.

The new concept, prepared by Coastwise Corporation for the State, was published February 25.  We are invited to submit comments by March 8.  I had trouble even finding the document on the DOT/PF website but that problem was quickly corrected.  Jeremy Woodrow, Communications Officer, emailed the following information March 1:

The Design Concept Report for the Day Boat ACF is available online via the Alaska Class Ferry website: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/alaska_class/

The link to download the entire report is titled "Design Concept Report" and it is located under the side menu that is titled "Day Boat Alaska Class Ferry."

We are also working on posting a link on the ACF website to make it easier for folks to submit their comments throughout the various steps of the project. In the meantime, anyone who would like to submit a comment may do so directly to Deputy Commissioner Yost: reuben.yost@alaska.gov

I was curious about the nature of the public comment period and its brevity, so I asked DOT/PF  Commissioner Kemp for clarification. Yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Reuben Yost explained why the documents were not easily accessible as well as the the nature of this brief comment period in an email to me:

I apologize that we don’t have a link on the ACF portion of the AMHS website for people to submit comments.  It was our intention to have that available now but due to some staff absences it will not happen until Monday.  Please post our Communications Officer Jeremy Woodrow’s email address (Jeremy.Woodrow@alaska.gov), but if comments are sent to me they will also be circulated to the appropriate DOT&PF staff.  Comments can also be submitted to MTAB members, as they are they are an official conduit for comment to DOT&PF on marine transportation matters.

I would like to clarify that this is not a formal comment period, there is no deadline for comment to DOT&PF on this issue, and the Department will consider all comments received throughout the design process.  In my presentation to MTAB I explained that the DCR was out for review and if someone saw something in the report that they thought was a factual error, it would be good to get that comment to us by March 8 so we could pass it on to the design team (Elliott Bay Design Group) to address in preparation of the next document in the process, the Design Study Report.  Unfortunately at the joint House-Senate Transportation Committee I did not have a chance to explain this fully as we ran out of time.  Connie will let the committee staff know this by copy of this email.  Please convey this information about the process on your website when you post the contact information.  As soon as we get the contact link up on the AMHS website we will provide this same information and inform readers as to the comment process we will have for the Design Study Report.

The House and Senate Transportation Committees are meeting jointly at 1:30 Tuesday, March 5, for the sole purpose of taking public testimony on the Draft Concept Report (DCR).  Dana Owen, staff to Senator Dennis Egan, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee,  explained in a March 1 email that in order to accommodate everyone in the time available, Senator Egan has asked Mr. Yost and Captain Falvey be present but to respond in writing after the meeting to issues raised or questions asked and Senator Egan's office will distribute the information.  In other words, the hearing will not be a Q&A with DOT/PF.  It will be a time for the public to put their thoughts and concerns before the legislators and DOT/PF.

We do not yet have a Legislative Information Office in Haines so we are considered "off net."  The off net call in number is 855-463-5009.  The meeting should also be broadcast live on http://akl.tv. (We have found this linkage to be a little "iffy," still, I'd give it a try.  It is useful to see faces.)

One thought that I have had is to ask Coastwise Corporation (author of the report) and DOT to travel to Haines and Skagway and present the report directly to us.  We are hugely familiar with the landscape over which the vessel being planned must travel.  I believe this is a case when local knowledge applied to a plan can provide a benefit relatively inexpensively in the long run.  The public is not as expensive as the marine architect or naval engineer who may be called upon to correct a design if it is based on misperceptions of the landscape.  Frankly, I have been impressed by the recent public presentations by DOT planners and engineers relative to the plans to straighten the Haines Highway.  It is a fact that the planners have traveled on the highway they are planning to correct - repeatedly.  When a resident explains a concern with a particular point on the route, the planners seemed to recognize it immediately.  For sure, they knew the highway better than I did, though probably not better than those of us who travel it daily.  Their respect and curiosity for local input was obvious and reassuring.  It would be nice to know that Coastwise Corporation has been up and down the Inside Passage in all kinds of weather too, like we have.  If not, they should probably consult seriously with those who have.