The Nome Port Commissioners did not always see eye to eye at Thursday’s special work session. Commissioner Derek McLarty suggested several changes to the 2017 tariff that caused some heated debate.
McLarty is himself a port user. He believes there should be more nuance in how much different lengths of vessels are charged. He suggested price changes every 10 feet, rather than every 20. McLarty also wants to eliminate charges for equipment brought in for maintenance projects.
“I thought my role on the Port Commission here was to help the port be the most usable thing, and profitable, that it could possibly be,” said McLarty. “And I’m trying to entwine the two.”
But Harbormaster Lucas Stotts says that few other port users have complained about those rules.
“I just don’t see this as a benefit to the port in any way,” he said. “It seems a little self-serving. I don’t see in what other scenario, or any other user of the port that’s come to me had another issue with it.”
In the end, the Commission did reach a compromise on most issues, at the urging of City Manager Tom Moran.
“I mean, you see what I’m saying, guys? There’s a way to do this,” he said. “Right? We give a little, we take a little, and we meet in the middle.”
The Commission also discussed adding language to the tariff to make it clear that the port can deny vessels from entering the harbor during storms. Commissioner Charlie Lean was a strong advocate of this addition.
“I have a memory of a bad incident where a big research vessel sent a little tiny boat in through (the) old harbor entrance, and they swamped, right in the harbor entrance, and got washed back out to sea,” said Lean. “So, I’m all for having the ability to tell people ‘no.’”
These changes and more will be included in a revised version of the tariff, which will go before the Port Commission at their regular meeting on February 16th. If approved, it will be presented at the City Council meeting on February 27th.
