Ketchikan's Bridge to Somewhere

When I go to Haines next weekend, I've got to meet Roger Maynard.  For a fresh new look at issues in Alaska, I invite you to visit his website:  http://www.rogermaynard.net .  It is with Roger's explicit permission I bring you the following. 

I'm sure you've all read about the supposed boondoggle of the "Bridge to Nowhere".  Many of us within the state understand the real story.  We've all discussed it at one time or another, but I've got to admit, Roger's got me beat when it comes to telling this story!

Alaska: Ketchikan's Bridge to Somewhere

Once again Ketchikan's Gravina Access Project is in the news. Ten years ago we thought the bridge was expensive; now estimates are approaching $398 million. There are plenty of arguments pro and con-especially considering the price tag, but it's time to lose the misleading label, "Bridge to Nowhere."

News media pundits have described Ketchikan's Gravina Access project as a bridge from Ketchikan to an island with only a few dozen residents, but that's not an accurate picture. Each year over 500,000 people travel between Ketchikan and its international airport on Gravina Island. With no roads and limited boat service, the Ketchikan International Airport is the only way in and out of the city for most folks.

For those who are still having trouble picturing the transportation issue in this popular-but-isolated Alaskan city, let's use your home town as an example. Use your imagination:

• First, dig a moat around the International Airport near your town. Make that moat about a quarter to a half mile wide with varying terrain on both sides. Put ships in the moat-ships on which your community depends for its existence; ships tall enough to require a 200-foot clearance to pass under any bridge.
• Put one ferry on the moat that makes a round trip to the airport every thirty minutes. Charge each passenger 5 dollars to walk onto the ferry and ride one way; much more if they want to take their vehicles. The ferry is small, often filled to capacity, with minimal room for passengers to sit during the 7 or 8 minute ride across the moat.
• Make folks walk from the ferry to the airport terminal, uphill, on a concrete sidewalk (no escalator) that is sheltered from frequent wind and driving rain by a plexiglass roof and windscreen on one side. Most people carry their own bags regardless of size or number, age or infirmity, unless they want to pay a private "airporter" service for assistance.
• Now place your community emergency services on the side of the moat AWAY from the airport, except for one or two crash trucks and one or two firemen. In an emergency, additional ambulance personnel, firemen, rescuers, policemen and bomb technicians will all have to wait for the little ferry in order to respond to any emergency at the airport. All of your airport employees will ride the little ferry to work, and home again at the end of the day.
• Put a small parking lot near the ferry terminal on the city side of the moat, where folks can park while they stand in the rain and wait for the ferry.

Now that you've customized your airport to provide the same level of service as the Ketchikan International Airport, let's modify your town:

• Erase all of the roads leading into or out of your town. That's right, they don't exist. Your only way out is by ferry or air. You will likely find yourself flying several times a year.
  
• Surround your town with water and mountains, leaving little room for expansion or small industry of any kind.
• Add a statewide ferry system-a few 350-foot vessels that will carry up to 499 passengers. Let these boats stop in your town several times each week, usually at inconvenient hours; only once a week does a boat connect to Seattle, a 3-day trip each way. Make them comparatively expensive to ride.
• Finally, take another look at the small island on which the airport sits. It is quite large-95 square miles-with large areas of gentle terrain and room for some small industries, warehouses, shipping companies, boat marinas, recreational opportunities, parks, and some top-notch waterfront residential property.

Now that you have the picture, we can start discussing the proposed bridge. There is plenty to talk about in terms of costs, benefits, economics and aesthetics. Some folks are in favor of the project; some are against-but let's stick to the facts.

This is clearly a bridge to "somewhere." It's time to lose the politically inspired, misleading and insulting title, "Bridge to Nowhere."

Just goes to show you cannot judge a story with a sound bite!

Energy savings – some easy targets

Everyone in Juneau is trying to find ways to reduce their energy costs.  A catastrophic avalanche took out over a mile and a half of power line from our hydroelectric plant and cut off Alaska's capital city.  Everything is operating on huge generators.  It's estimated to take 100,000 gallons of diesel every day to keep things running.  In turn, our rates are soaring to an estimated 50 cents per kilowatt hour.

Needless to say, every little bit helps.  If we all conserve enough, maybe we won't need to ship in so much fuel.  After all, it takes a lot of time to find that kind of supply and get it here, and it isn't cheap!

Here are some examples of what our family has done so far:

• Obviously, turn off lights when we aren't in the room.  I was surprised at how I automatically reach for that light switch when I enter a room.  Sometimes it isn't even dark!  Part of that reflex may be because we are just coming out of winter when it was dark all the time.

• We switched out some of the more commonly used lights for compact fluorescents.  We'd purchased these but never had gotten around to installing them.  Talk about money lying around!  HINT:  I've been told that many of these have a warrantee.  The catch is, you need to keep the receipt and the packaging and take them to the place you bought them!

• Close off the rooms you are not using.  We are recent empty-nesters.  There are a few rooms in the house that are rarely used.  Surprisingly, I found electrical devices plugged in.  Phone chargers with no phones attached, lamps, alarm clocks, televisions, and even a stereo that was ON but with the volume turned down! 

• After cleaning these rooms, I turned down the heat and closed the doors.  Since then, I came to realize that I have less carpet to vacuum (Now there's an idea - an excuse to vacuum less!)

All this was on the first day.  I've tried to improve a few other habits, but it takes a while to break routines.  Baby steps, baby steps, and one day at a time!

Feel free to share your ideas!

More on the Juneau Alaska energy emergency

Anybody who lives in Juneau or has been following the story knows our community is in crisis.  To catch anybody else up to speed, Wednesday morning at about 4:00 there was a massive avalanche that destroyed over a mile and a half of power line and several towers just a few miles north of our hydroelectric plant which is 40 miles south of downtown. 

Our electrical rates are expected to increase from about 11 cents per kilowatt hour to at least 50 cents per kilowatt hour and stay that way until everything can be repaired, which could take months.

Our community has asked the state of Alaska to declare a state of emergency and has requested funding to get us through this crisis.  In the meantime, while we are operating on diesel, everyone is being asked to do their part to conserve energy.  At normal levels of consumption it is expected that AEL&P will need 100,000 gallons of diesel to keep the city running - DAILY.

Last January, we had our highest electrical usage month with 2742 kilowatts used.  That bill was $275.39.  Since then, both of our sons have moved on, so our usage is considerably less.  This most recent bill shows total kilowatts used as 1412 and a bill of $173.28.

This morning while setting up an online profile at our electrical utility, I needed a meter reading from a bill that hadn't shown up yet.  I learned our usage climbed up a little to 1851 kilowatt hours for the last billing period.  Ouch.  We've got some work to do in this household!

Over the next several days, I will be studying electrical usage and passing along the tips from our family so that others may conserve as well.  Stay tuned!

It's official - well almost. State of Emergency in Juneau

If you didn't already know, Juneau Alaska is having a huge problem.  Our electricity is generated 40 miles south of town at a hydro-electric plant.  Yesterday, at about 4:00 AM there was a huge avalanche, over a mile and a half wide.  This took down our power and the city is currently running on diesel generators.  We don't even have enough fuel in town to keep this up for long, and we are thousands of miles away from a refinery.  Everyone is being asked to conserve as much as possible. There is more information in my blog.

The Assembly will hold an Special Assembly Meeting

TONIGHT - Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

in the Assembly Chambers.

The purpose of this meeting is to ratify the City Manager's Declaration

of a Local Disaster Emergency.

The regularly scheduled Assembly Finance Committee previously

scheduled for 5:00 p.m. tonight in the Chambers will take place

immediately following the Special Assembly meeting.

For additional information, please contact

Special Projects Officer Maria Gladziszewski at 586-0218.

Photo by Mike Laudert / Alaska Electric Light & Power Co.

Time to ratchet things down... more on the energy crisis in Juneau.

This is basically a continuation of my earlier post, which you can find here:   http://activerain.com/blogsview/471789/Honey-Turn-something-OFF . 

For those of you who don't know yet, Juneau is serviced by a hydro-electric plant south of Juneau.  This morning around 4AM there was a catastrophic avalanche that took out over a mile of power line and several substations.

Juneau is now operating on diesel generators.  We are also a few thousand miles from the closest refinery.  It takes weeks to get a fuel shipment here.  It's possible the community will run out of fuel completely before another shipment arrives.  Everyone has been asked to do their part in reducing the demand.

So we've shut down almost everything we don't consider necessary.  The empty rooms have their doors closed and nothing plugged in.  Tomorrow I will clean out our second freezer and unplug it.  My husband and I agreed we will indulge ourselves with the hot tub for another day before we shut everything down because we need to be able to monitor it while we drain it completely.

We discussed having dinner by candlelight from now on, or at least until this crisis is behind us.  When the oven is on, it will be used for more than one item at a time (throw potatoes in there if nothing else).

He's even opened up to the idea of a few solar panels on the roof, although this is a rain forest and it's kind of dark and dreary most of the time.

One of my clients has promised to send me some energy saving tips, but for now, we are just turning off those things we can live without.  It feels strange to think that eventually we may be camping in our own home.  If you have energy saving tips that don't involve tearing the house apart or replacing appliances, we are listening!

Thank God this didn't happen in winter.  We are probably more able to adapt than the single parent working 2 or 3 jobs just to put food on the table, but it's a little frightening.

A 500% increase in rate per kilowatt hour will hopefully be countered by a significant decrease in use.  If I can keep our dollar output equal, I will accomplish my goals.

Honey, Turn something OFF!

50 cents per kilowatt hour.

I'm reminded of a comedy skit where a father is described, standing by the electric meter, watching it twirl around and around.  I think when I get home, I'm going to make sure to use my hot tub because certainly we will be draining everything and shutting it down in the next few days.  Here's what is in the local news:

UPDATE : Juneau loses Snettisham power for extended period, avalanche to blame
Juneau has been choked off from its chief supply of electricity by an avalanche.

Gayle Wood of Alaska Electric Light and Power says it happened at about four this morning.

She says it was hardly noticed, except by Thane Road residents, because of diesel generation they had running at the time and low load demands at that hour.

She says it was a massive avalanche about three miles from the Snettisham power house that took out about a mile and a hour of transmission line. That includes damage to four to five towers, she says.

Wood says the community will be virtually reliant on diesel generated power for two to three months with the exception of power that can be generated through the Gold Creek, Salmon Creek and Annex Creek facilities.

The electric utility official says customers can expect to see some very high bills. 

Residential rates were at 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

Wood initially estimated it would go to 30 to 35 cents, but has since revised that figure to 50 cents and adds that's a conservative figure.

Since the area is very unstable, Wood says they don't expect to start repairs for two to three weeks since they need to wait for avalanche danger to subside. She describes the terrain in the area as very steep. At this point, they're trying to assess the damage from the air.

Wood calls it the worst disaster they've ever had on the Snettisham line. She used the word "catastrophic" and called it "a hard hit."

Wood stressed the importance of conservation during this time. Right now, she says they're trying to figure out how to secure enough diesel to handle this kind of long term need.

Ferry System finally scores a home run with Jim Beedle

Like most small towns, Juneau has a short list of family names well known throughout the community.  Ones of those surnames is "Beedle".  Everybody knows at least one.  Many of us know several. 

Jim Beedle works hard, and has for many years, in various positions throughout the Alaska Marine Highway system.  These boats are at times the only link to the outside world from our rural villages, most of which can only be accessed by boat or small plane.

High up positions within state government are appointed positions.  No qualifications other than a friend in the right place seems to be required.  These jobs pay extremely well and the benefits are top rate.  As long as the boss still likes you, the job is yours... as well as a healthy paycheck... until the next administration.

For many years, our Alaska Marine Highway System has been run primarily by "outsiders" who have little knowledge or experience in running such a complicated transportation system.  The last appointee had only taken one ride on the ferry system, many years ago.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is part of the Federal Highway System and as such, receives federal highway monies.  In addition, Alaskan pay hefty fares for themselves and their vehicles.  In many areas, it is the only way to travel, especially with a vehicle.  Many towns and villages are serviced by the AMHS and over the last several years, administration has been very political, turning one town against the other.

Finally, the state of Alaska has wised up, and hired Jim to run the system.  He has worked in vaious capacities throughout the ferry system since 1975.  He's the kind of man who isn't going to ask someone to do a job he isn't willing to do himself.  This is a welcome change from prior managers.

Many people say there is no place to go but up.  Employee morale and customer satisfaction is at an all time low within the AMHS.  The schedules have disrupted sports teams, school events, commerce and personal pleasure trips.  The aging ferry fleet is unreliable.  Demands upon the system have stretched to capacity.

Jim, you have a really tough road to hoe in your new position, but we know you are up to the task.  If anybody can fix this broken system, it's Jim Beedle. 

Juneau Alaska Affordable Housing News

Summit Housing will be making a presentation in Juneau on Thursday, April 17th at 5:15pm at the downtown library. Summit Housing Group, which is an affordable housing developer based out of Missoula, Montana.  They have been looking at Juneau for several years and have found a potential site that would work for their development model.  They typically build developments that range from 25-75 units, but in several places they have over 200 units.  They build primarily in Montana and Wyoming and are familiar with building in harsh climates and hard markets. 

Please join the Affordable Housing Commission at this presentation.

Big words, small child, broken hearts and a plea for help

This one is long.  It isn't pretty.  I don't have any photos on here yet, but I hope you read it anyway. 

Gabriel was born January 2, 2001.  He has two little sisters, Adria and Alaina, born just a few years later.  Our entire office lights up when they come to visit their daddy.  Everybody loves them.  It gets a little loud, but then again, they are little kids.  You cannot help but smile when one of those little faces shows up in your office.

Gabriel is a ray of sunshine.  He's a friendly, outgoing child.  Shawn, his father, works in my office.  His advertising niche has always been this great little cartoon "The Adventures of Gabriel".  Even if you weren't in the market, you couldn't help but read to see what the little tyke was up to each week.

Several months ago, Gabriel started getting sick.  He would get really bad headaches, get tired easily, and sometimes get sick to his stomach.  Then he would start having seizures.  Each time, things got worse than the time before.

Desperately, his parents sought medical help.  The problem was, there was no diagnosis.  Nobody knew what was wrong with this little boy.  We live in Southeast Alaska.  We've got some pretty good medical care here, but nobody here could figure this one out.  They spent a lot of money travelling from one specialist to the next, all over the country, hoping for a diagnosis. 

It's easier to fight the monster when it has a name.  But this monster eluded the experts for many months of expensive trips to specialists all over the country.  Finally, just a few days ago, they got a name.  "Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes". 

Now that they know the name, we find there really is no treatment.  This family has always been generous with their time and money.  They organized a number of fundraisers for a friend when her child was ill.  Shawn is the President of the Alaska Association of REALTORS and gives hundreds of hours of his time for worthy causes.

Now, they are in a really tough position.  They really need to spend time with their children, but they also need to pay the bills.  Lots of bills - medical, travel, and of course, house payments and basics like utilities and food.  Their father needs to take some serious time off work and be with the children.

So, my friends, I'm looking for ideas for a serious fund raiser.  My brain is tired.  I have mastered the $3,000 fundraiser and I've pulled off a few $5000 events in my life but this time I'm over my head.  I haven't been contributing much around here the last month or so because of this and a few other life events, but here I am, asking for your advice.  My friend needs help and I just cannot come up with any really good ideas.

"But that’s less than what they paid for it!" Is it really a LOWBALL?

Yesterday I submitted an offer on a house for my buyers.  The listing agent thought perhaps it was an April Fools' joke.

It wasn't.

The house has been on the market for almost 10 months.  The current owners have only had the house for just about two years.  So, for almost half the time they've owned the house they've been trying to sell it!

The offer was approximately 10% below the current asking price and 5% below the sold price two years ago when the market was hot.  The current owners repainted the entire house in very bright colors.  I know they've done some other work, but most of that was deferred maintenance.  I did run a buyer's analysis and came very close to the number in the offer.

So, who's joking here?  Just a few points I wish I could tell the sellers...

•1.        The price you paid has nothing to do with the value in today's market.

•2.       Things you consider improvements may be objectionable and unattractive to other buyers.

•3.       If your house has been on the market for 10 months it may be time to consider a price reduction.

•4.       It's an offer!

Another note... the house is almost vacant and has been for months.  The heat is turned WAY down in most of the home.  The listing says "motivated!"