Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners

0:00 (upbeat music) - Next, I'm calling the public meeting to order 930. No executive session held this morning. Please note this meeting is being recorded. My name is Don Orange. I'm the Commission President of the Port of Vancouver. I'm joined by Commissioner Eric LeBrant and Commissioner Temple Lance. We are conducting a hybrid meeting along with our in-person meeting. We are having here, we are also set so that those who are not physically capable can get to us over Zoom. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:57 (coughing) - Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. - Next up, I believe is the minutes of the last meeting. - Chair, I've reviewed the minutes and find them to be in order, so I move approval. - I'll second the motion. - All those in favor? - Aye. - Aye. - Unanimously. Open forum, anybody? - Good morning, commissioners. Just a quick note, you had noted the year, but I just wanted to clarify that it is July 28th, 2026, just for correction for the record. - It's written here correctly. - So we do not have anyone signed up virtually today, and I do not have any.

1:57 We do have guests in the audience, but I didn't have anyone scheduled to sign up to speak. - Okey-dokey. What's next? - Well, we have one action item this morning, and I'd like to welcome Greg Westrand to the podium. Now, I would like to note that Greg has recently been selected to serve as our new director of engineering and project delivery, so director of engineering and project delivery. So Monty Edberg is retiring, and so Greg is going to be transitioning into the role in the coming months. So congratulations to Greg. - Yes, thank you very much. - Yes. - Look forward to continuing to work here in that role to support Vancouver, it's gonna be great. - Thank you. - So today, I'm here to talk about some expansion of Subaru of America's cargo area.

2:55 This project aligns with the port's strategic plan goals to pursue opportunities that utilize the port's property and infrastructure investments to create jobs and support the economy. Subaru of America Incorporated continues to be a valued tenant of the Port of Vancouver, with their current lease now extending through 2040. In support of their continued growth, the adjacent 2.99 acre parcel west of Old Gateway Avenue is being developed. Of this area, approximately 2.1 acres is being paved, resulting in an increase in storage capacity of 238 automobiles. Upon completion, this parcel will be added to the greater leasehold premises. The majority of the pavement will consist of porous asphalt with travel pathways being surfaced with conventional asphalt. This approach has been successfully implemented in other locations of Terminal 4 that are leased by Subaru. This use of these products reduces the runoff from the paved areas of the terminal and subsequently minimizes loading

3:52 of the port's Terminal 4 stormwater treatment facility. Low mass lighting will be provided in this new lot to support nighttime activities and security, yet avoid excess light pollution for the Clark County Jail Work Center located next door. On July 1, 2026, the Port of Vancouver issued an invitation to bid 26-34, Subaru parking lot expansion. A pre-bid conference and site walk occurred on July 7th. On July 16th, 2026, Tappanee Incorporated of Ballagran, Washington submitted a bid of $1,133,000 without Washington State sales tax. Staff has reviewed Tappanee Incorporated's responsive bid, concluding that they are a responsible contractor capable of performing the work. The bid is slightly below the range of engineer's estimate of $1,225,000 to $1.5 million. This project is included in the approved 2026 capital budget.

4:49 The recommendation is that the Board of Commissioners authorize the CEO to execute a public works contractor with Tappanee Incorporated, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for bid 26-34, Subaru parking lot expansion, in the amount of $1,133,000 plus applicable Washington State sales tax. Are there any questions?

5:16 - Congratulations, first of all. - Oh, thank you. - This is great, and it's very straightforward. I had a question about what the timeframe for the work being done would be. - So with the award today, we typically have up to like 10 days to get the, there's various like insurance certificates and bonds and things that have to be in place before we can issue notice to proceed. So hopefully within the next week or so, they'll be able to be out there on site here in the beginning of August. And so that gives us, you know, August is a good month, this is a lot of pavements, we want good weather. August is good for that, most of September, usually through the middle of October is good, and that's about the period that we have stated in the contract for completion. And so regardless, even with whether our goal is to, at a minimum, have this done by the end of the year. - Great, thank you.

6:15 Well, I would move to approve the recommendation as presented. - I'll second the motion. - All those in favor? - Aye. - Aye. - Aye, unanimous. - Thank you, commissioners, thank you. - Appreciate you. - Thank you, Greg. - What are we up to? - So that-- - Is that unfinished business? - Yep, that we do not have any unfinished business today. And we do not have any new business today. And under CEO report, we do have a future leaders intern update this morning. And I believe Gigi is going to introduce our program and our get, and our presenters.

7:12 - Good morning, commissioners. I am Gigi Harker Olgen, the economic development specialist. And today we have two of our future leaders program interns. One of them will be talking about their experience through the economic development department. And the other one will be talking about their experience through the finance department, specifically accounting. And we have Nicholas Marty. Yeah.

7:43 - Hi, thank you, commissioners. It is an honor to be able to speak before you all today. And thank you, Gigi, for that introduction. Commissioners, it has been an unparalleled privilege to serve as one of the Port of Vancouver summer interns over the past several weeks. And now, as I begin, if the board would allow, if the board would indulge me for just a moment, I would like to start my presentation by answering a question that was actually posed to me a number of weeks ago. Now, back in June, I, along with our other intern, Elias, here, Gigi, and the COO, Kent Cash, we went to a middle school career fair. And yes, that's a thing, I found out. I don't know if the kids over at Redfield Middle School are really lucky to have this, or if I missed something back when I was in middle school. I don't know. I know nothing except that I am slightly worried that a 13-year-old will be able to be worried that a 13-year-old is going to come from my job pretty soon.

8:42 I digress. When we were at this career fair, this 13-year-old girl, she came up to me at one point. And she asked, well, what's it like working at the Port of Vancouver? Now, normally, I would have been very happy to answer that question. The only problem, it was my third day on the job. Like, I don't know. The first day was filling out HR paperwork. And the second day was refilling out the HR paperwork. I do have to thank Gigi, she was very kind in stepping in and answering that question for me, because I just didn't have a clue at the time. But after several weeks, about 2 and 1/2 months now, working at the Port, I think I am able to retrospectively answer that question. Working at the Port of Vancouver is, in a word, delightful. Each day, as an intern here, I was presented with a unique task, a new challenge, or a problem to overcome. During my all too short tenure here, I have been able to work on a process by which we're able to standardize the travel expenses

9:41 across different departments. I have been able to get an experience with working on payroll. And if I'm lucky enough and the timeline works out enough, I will even get to play a little bit of a part in reevaluating many of the Port's major capital assets. Furthermore, what I'd say one of the most unique parts about working at the Port is the exposure I get to all sorts of various different and diverse companies and all sorts of inputs of the Port's operations here. During my time, I have gotten to tour a grain elevator. I've gotten to take environmental tours of environmental impact projects and all of that. I've gotten to board and explore tugboats and even a Navy ship. It's just been so incredible. It's an excellent window into the broad economic forces that influence not only the Port's operations but the entire economic forces behind the total regional economy. With all that said, perhaps the most enjoyable part

10:40 of working at the Port has been nothing to do with the work itself but rather the people with whom I share the work and the environment in which the work is conducted in. Working at the Port of Vancouver, I found that one will never find themselves deprived of a helping hand or deprived of the willingness to lend a hand to someone else when it's needed. The Port is comprised of folks who show up to work eager to contribute. They're eager to contribute. They are proud of the work that they do and the community for whom they do it for. And it just really is an inspiring place to work. Each and every employee here contributes to the type of work culture that all employees at all companies should strive to build at their own particular firm. In this reality, it's no accident. It is the result, in my opinion, of competent, caring leadership at every level, from my manager, Nick McIntyre, to the CEO herself. It is clearly-- it's clearly because of people who care

11:39 and people who value their employees, and it truly does shows. Now as time continues its evergreen march and labor expectations of what a workplace culture changes and evolve, this is precisely the kind of policies on display here that will ensure the Port will never be deprived of folks who want to stay on and folks who want to come onto the Port. It is an excellent, excellent asset to have. I really do believe. And it's a place that anyone would be proud to work for. These are all the things that I would have liked to tell a girl all those months go back in June that I didn't get to at the time. But they're all the things that I would have-- but I really do believe them. Now if the commissioners will be so kind as to indulge me one more time, I would like to mention what this internship has meant to me personally. As a student at Washington State Vancouver, studying both accounting and economics, I honestly could not have thought of a better way to spend my summer than right here. And I am genuinely serious.

12:38 This has just been so much fun, and it's been so helpful. Nowhere else could I have gotten this kind of experience, could I have been exposed to all of these opportunities, could I have met these kinds of people. It has truly been a privilege. And frankly, it beats sitting in a tax office all summer. In addition to this internship though, being of great use to me professionally and academically, it's also been a great help to me personally. In my free time, I'm very happy to serve as a treasurer to a local Vancouver-based nonprofit and as a member of the planning commission of my local town. And I'm very happy to say that I have already been able to, through this internship, been able to apply new things that I've learned to both of these positions. And it's really allowed me to go even further in becoming a productive member of this society. And it should go without saying, commission, that because of this internship, this job really

13:37 has made me and all interns a more productive member of this society, of this economy. We're better able to contribute. It is an excellent opportunity for all of us. Mere words, honestly, cannot express how important and impactful these kinds of opportunities are for university students such as myself. Therefore, as I conclude today, commissioners, I can only humbly hope that the Board, too, recognizes that the value these kinds of internships have on all of us. And I really do hope that this organization continues to provide these opportunities for students moving forward in the future. Thank you. - Thank you. You're a smidge different than any finance guy I've listened to. - Is that a good thing, commissioner? - Maybe you may develop into a politician. Thank you. - Yes, sir. Thank you.

14:49 - All right, good morning, commissioners. Good morning, everybody. My name is Elias Tekaletsian. And this summer, I had the privilege of serving as the economic development intern for the Future Leaders Project. And I'd like to thank all of you for the opportunity to be able to come up here and explain just how much I learned and what my experience was. OK, next slide. And it's a little bit about me. I was born and raised right here in Vancouver, Washington. I graduated from Union High School. And now I'm a rising senior at WCU Vancouver studying political science. My connection to this community runs deep. My parents immigrated here from Ethiopia in 1999. And Vancouver is where they built their lives and where I built mine. So when I say this internship let me serve my community, I mean the community that raised me and shaped me

15:48 into the man you see here today. Once I graduate, I plan to pursue a career in economic and foreign policy. And this summer internship gave me a first real look at what some of that work could actually entail. OK, so what did I do this summer? I worked in economic development department, which is led by Mike Bomar. And I reported directly to Gigi Harker-Ogan. And my mandate was simple to say, but it's big in practice-- to learn about the port and its operations and use that understanding to analyze the port's growing community impact. That meant time in the office, doing research, but also meant getting out into the community, whether that was representing the port at STEM Institute today at Richford Middle School, as you can see here with our COO Kent Cash, as well as visiting some of our community fund recipients. And I'll walk through both sides of that work.

16:45 OK, so much of my summer centered around the Terminal 1 projects, public markets. So on the tenant side, I researched who our prospective vendors were and what they provided. And I also want to provide a holistic look at their viability, such as how long they've been operating and things like what their online and social media presence looks like. I also benchmarked comparable markets, including the Port of Calama's public market and Pike's Place public markets to better understand what makes a public market succeed in the long run. And the key insight that I got through all this research centered around the fact that local vendors matter. People don't come to a public market just to shop. They come to feel connected to the community. And if Terminal 1 is going to thrive, that sense of local connection has to shape who feels it.

17:44 Mm-hmm. That research led to my main deliverable, which was my screen questionnaire for potential Terminal 1 public markets vendors. It's organized around five ideas, the first of them being the information about the business, such as who the vendors are and how they operate. The second one being what they sell and where that comes from. And the third of them being the viability and experience that these vendors have, such as their track record and overall readiness as a business. The fourth of those being their market fits and overall customer experience, such as how exactly they would contribute to the market's character. And the last is the community access and equity to make sure that the market reflects and serves all of Vancouver. This questionnaire has been drafted.

18:44 And it's now helping shape what we're going to ask from our consultants as the public markets planning moves forward. And it was really a privilege. And it felt great to be able to do some research to actually help something that the porters will actually potentially use.

19:01 The second half of my mandate, the understanding the port's community impact, took me out to visit recipients of the Port's Community Fund. I visited Vancouver Ballet for Puerto Rico, which celebrates traditional Mexican dance and art. I also visited Latinos Unidos y Florciendo, a community garden which grows food, also a connection and a greater sense of belonging. And I also had the privilege of visiting Hudson's Bay High School's construction trades program, which helps students step directly into the trades after graduation. And something that really stood out to me was the head of that construction trades program at Hudson's Bay. His name is Robert Elliott. And honestly, I've never met anybody who's as excited and driven about the work that they do. The way that he speaks about his students and the program and the pride that he has in it is just truly inspiring.

20:00 And his gratitude for the Port's support really stuck with me. This experience showed me that these community fund recipients aren't just lines on a spreadsheet, but rather they're people and real programs that really impact people's lives, like Robert. The summer also gave me the experience I couldn't have gotten anywhere else. I had the privilege of touring terminals with our superintendent, Kenny Davis, as well as the rails with Wayne Harner. I got to go aboard the USNS Watkins and got to learn about tenants like Tidewater and UGC. And I got to learn about the inner workings of tugboats, which I had no idea. And got to climb up the grain elevator, which was really a nice experience. And that's us right there. Nicholas is actually in frame in all these photos, thankfully. And I also had the privilege of attending the WEDO legislative retreat this summer, where I met economic developers from all

20:58 across the state, including the executive director, Suzanne Etsy. In that last photo, it was me at the Mexican consulate where I got to see firsthand how the Port's work connects to international relationships, which, as someone who's interested in foreign policy as well as economic policy, was truly a privilege. Each of these gave me a different lens on the same thing. How many people and how many roles it takes to make this port work. Last month, I had the opportunity to sit down with Juliana, our CEO of the Port of Vancouver. And I asked her what she was most proud of. And honestly, I expected to hear something like her becoming the CEO or landing a major tenant or something. But instead, she told me that what she was most proud of was the amazing group of people here at the Port of Vancouver. At the time, I thought it was a nice answer. But after the summer here, I understand that it's the true one. And I'd like to take a time to highlight

21:57 two people who exemplify passion and dedication to their work. The first of them being my supervisor, Gigi. Her intelligence and patience really guided my experience here at the Port. And her spearheading of Newport community funds, as well as the Future Leader Project, which brought me and Nicholas here, was really inspiring. And her passion for her work and for her community is just genuinely something so admirable. And I would be remiss to not take the time to holler at Gigi and thank her for choosing me for this opportunity. I also saw it in our senior environmental specialist, Mark Tauscher. He spent the day with the environmental team, Nicholas, me and the other two interns who couldn't be here today. And he has one of the harder jobs here at the Port, having to balance the tenant needs, as well as the Port's environmental goals, which are really inspiring as well. And the way that he talks about his work and his commitment

22:56 and the conviction that he has is really inspiring as well. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to highlight all the people who made an impact on me this summer. But I'd like to express my gratitude for people like Jen Yeager, who would always take the time to say hi to me, ask me how I'm doing every time she saw me, as well as people like Casey Bowman and Ryan Hart, who took the time out of their schedule for coffee and lunch to talk to me about their lives and careers and offered me guidance and insight about mine in the future. I would like to close with this program gave me a professional experience I'll carry on to my career. But more than that, it let me discover the community that I've lived in my entire life, just from a different side I've never seen. I'd like to say thank you to the commissioners for investing in the Future Leaders Project and, in turn, for investing in me as well.

23:50 Thank you. Impressive, both of you, and the program going on. Well, I'd like to give them both a round of applause. Yes. [APPLAUSE] I think they're very inspiring to us as well. And we're grateful that they spent their summer with us. And-- And they're nervous about the 13-year-olds. We should be nervous about the 20-somethings. Yeah. Thank you both for providing excellent presentations today. Appreciate it. That's all for today. That's what you got? I think it's on to commissioner reports. And you want to start off? Sure. Well, I'll start off by saying I'm not

24:48 nervous about the 20-somethings. I'm super excited. So thank you. Thanks for spending your time with the port. Thank you, port staff, for having this program and supporting it and supporting everybody who participates. I wish that I had had the wherewithal to take advantage of a program like this when I was in college in the Middle Ages. And I'm really excited about it. And it sounds like a lot of really good work happened. And I look forward to seeing what else you do, hopefully here in Vancouver. Stick around. We need you. Let's see. Since our last meeting, I attended a meeting of the Labor Roundtable and talked with our friends in labor. And then also, actually all three of us were at the WPPA commissioners seminar early last week, which had a lot of great information. That was my first one.

25:45 We had presentations on ag movement, movement of goods through the state, and also about economic development and the economic vision and future for Washington state, which is pretty critical. And we got some really good information there. I don't want to steal all the thunder, so I'll leave a little bit for others. But those were the big things in the last couple weeks for me. Very cool. Thanks. Eric, what you got? All right. First off, I wanted to say thank you to our interns, and thank you to Gigi for overseeing that program. We're glad you're here. And the thing that I'll call out with that is to keep in mind that in addition to policies that are set down, a lot of the culture that you've described

26:45 comes from the unwritten expectations that we set. And so as you move forward through your careers, you'll bring with you a lot of power to shape the culture of the places that you go, and to set the tone for the workplaces for other folks. So I want to encourage you to do that. I'll also echo what Commissioner Lentz said, or kind of reflect on that, that probably a couple of decades ago at this point, my grandmother would talk about feeling a lot of optimism for the future as she looked at kind of the next generation coming up. And at the time, I was in my mid-20s, and OK, well, I don't get it exactly, but paying attention. And I'm starting to catch glimpses of that.

27:41 It is-- the world we live in can feel really chaotic, and it is encouraging to see folks coming up and bringing a lot of really cool skills and talents to the table. So I also had the opportunity to attend the Washington Public Forts Association commissioner seminar. We got a good tour of the Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority. And as I understand the structure, they're separated by a section of the Columbia River between Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. And they decided at some point that it made more sense to kind of join forces and have a regional focus.

28:34 We also got to hear from the Swinomish Tribal Port Authority. So a separate regulatory framework from Washington ports, but located here in the state of Washington that they were talking about. Just a huge, huge number of projects and a huge amount of work that they're doing in a fairly short amount of time. I think it's maybe just been a couple of years that they've been in existence. And they've already taken on a number of really impactful projects for their community. So that was pretty exciting to hear. And I think that's about it for me. - I'll tag along, and you folks gave impressive presentations.

29:28 And it is exciting to think that this is what's coming. And I'll also tag along on the Swinomish, who are under a new sort of a port authority as I understand it, are using all of their efforts. They're up on, as I recall, they're on the north end of Puget Sound. Am I correct? - I think so, yeah. - And they're using their authority to make things work better in the fishing industry in all ways from how they maintain their equipment to training to one thing or another. And they have an enormous portion of the tribe. The tribe's relatively small. If I remember right, it's under 2,000 members.

30:24 But almost every family in the tribe has somebody that's working heavily in the fishing industry. And it seems to be working to benefit them in an economic development model. I didn't hear about anything about diversifying. Their group is about making the fishing work, which sounds nervous, but good for them. I, of course, went to the same seminar that these folks did and absorbed. Folks from different parts of Washington have different kinds of challenges. And the people in the district that we were in were very sold on building great big data centers and had arguments in favor of them that were interesting for how they worked for them.

31:24 And they are having challenges in their agricultural economy from lots of different forces. So they're adapting and trying to make things work. We'll just-- on the final day, we listened to a presentation by an outfit called AWB, Association of Washington Businesses. And they're working on addressing how to make Washington more competitive business-wise and draw businesses and keep the businesses that are here. It was an interesting presentation to me. And it's going to be an interesting challenge in that some things that the state of Washington can do that are more inviting toward business are bureaucratic fixes.

32:24 Some of the things that we love in Washington are challenging to the business community. We were listening to proposals that the state back off some of its environmental standards, which is-- we were doing it in an area where you go outside and take a walk. And it feels like you're going outside to have a cigarette because there was that much forest fire smoke. And so to figure out-- before I came to the port, I championed a minimum wage in this state that is over double what it is in a neighboring state. And so to figure out what we do to keep Washington Washington and to make it appealing in some of its appeal

33:22 is who we are and what we do. There was lots more, but I think I've said enough. I think the next thing we do before I jump out of line is upcoming events from Juliana. - Yes, so we do have our next regular commission meetings Tuesday, August 11. And we have the several activities that we have coming up. Again, summertime, lots of fun things to do with the family and friends. And it looks like Clark County Fair is going to be kicking off here pretty soon, a little over a week. So that'll be a fun activity. - Are we going to have a booth at the fair? - We have a video that is rolling at a spot

34:18 where people can recharge their batteries for their phones and stuff. And so we have a video that is rolling there so people can see what's happening at the port. But we will not be having anyone staff it. And then just a reminder of how to communicate with the commission so we can have folks join us here at our regular commission meetings and speak during open forum. They can also do that virtually. Can email the commissioners, call the office. We can get folks in touch with the commissioners. And then just encourage everyone to get on the port's website. We have a lot of great information about the port as well as the projects that we're working on. - Lovely. With that, I believe it's time to sign documents. And after that, we'll adjourn. So thank you all.