Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners

0:00 Good morning, and welcome to the Port of Vancouver Board of Commission meeting. Today is Tuesday, September 8th, and I'm calling the public meeting to order at 9.30 a.m. There was no executive session held this morning. Please note this meeting is being recorded. My name is Don Orange. I'm the Commission President for the Port of Vancouver. Joining me are Eric LeBrant and Commissioner Temple Lentz. We are conducting a hybrid meeting along with our in-person meeting we are having here. We are also set up so those who are not physically able to provide oral testimony can do so virtually.

0:56 Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I 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. To the agenda, first action item is approval of the minutes. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please note that the

1:56 So with that change, I move approval of the minutes. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? Aye. Unanimously. Jonathan, I think we, what is it? Open forum. Who's next up? We didn't have anyone sign up for virtual open forum, and we don't have anyone present who signed up to speak today. Okay. Hearing none. Next up, our action items on the agenda. That's to you. Okay. So, first on the agenda item today will be, first action item today will be presented by Lori Koehler, our industrial and maritime sales manager. Thank you, Jonathan. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. First action item is to approve the First Amendment lease between the Port of Vancouver, the United States of America, and the United States of America.

2:56 and Sigma DG Corporation. This lease agreement supports the Port's strategic plan goals to support growth and economic opportunities for existing tenants that utilize the Port's property and infrastructure investments to create jobs and support the economy. Sigma DG Corporation, or Sigma, is North America's distributor of threaded fiberglass rods and connectors. This specialized product is used in a wide range of concrete projects, including roads, bridges, and mining. They also fabricate their own bolts and connectors. Sigma has been a Port tenant since 2013, leasing 9,150 square feet of warehouse space in Building 2801. On May 14th of 24, Sigma entered into a five-year agreement expanding its space for the Port. Sigma DG Corporation, or Sigma, is North America's distributor of threaded fiberglass rods and connectors.

3:53 Sigma is expanding the lease premises to 15,750 square feet to support their fabrication operations. The purpose of this amendment is to extend or expand their premises to 22,000 square feet, effective August 26, 2026, to accommodate their growing operation. Sigma has six full-time employees on site at 2801 B through C. If approved, the new value of this lease over the remaining 33 months of the term is approximately $520,000 plus additional charges for leasehold excise tax, common area maintenance, insurance, and stormwater recovery fees. A portion of the lease revenue was included in the 2026 approved budget, and remaining revenue will be included in the 2027 preliminary budget. The recommendation is that the Board of Commissioners approve and authorize the CEO to sign the lease amendment of 2801, section B, and C,

4:53 Northwest Lower River Road, between the Port of Vancouver and Sigma DG. Questions? Not a question, but a comment. Thank you for the presentation. And I think it's great to see a tenant that's been here so long growing and expanding, and that we're able to accommodate them. So very excited about that. I was just going to ask. Sorry. If I'm looking at this map correctly, this is our neighbor just. Yeah, just across the way. They do share a building with another tenant, but they have big plans. So we're here to support that. Fantastic. That was it. Thank you. Well, then, if there's no further comment, I move to approve the recommendation as presented by staff. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? Aye.

5:53 All right. Unanimously. Thank you. Next up, Jonathan. Okay. Our next agenda item today will also be presented by Lori Kaler. So this is to approve the First Amendment to restated ground lease between the Port of Vancouver and Selco Partnership, who's doing business as Verizon Wireless. The Port's strategic plan has established a goal to generate and sustain diversified revenues to promote the Port's long-term, financial sustainability, and economic base. The restated ground lease, effective January 1st, 2015, amended the original 1984 lease in its entirety. The restated ground lease between the Port and Verizon Wireless with approval of American Tower/Delaware Corporation as sub-lessee. The initial term was for a period of five years with three additional automatic exemptions.

6:53 And the extension terms for five years each, provided that Verizon timely exercised the option and was not in default. The purpose of this First Amendment is to approve the merger from Verizon Wireless LLC to Selco Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless. Verizon has timely exercised the first two extension options. The current term expires on January 1st, 2029. This First Amendment would also exercise the final five-year extension. The first two extension options would be approved on January 1st, 2029. year option, extending the term through December 31, 2034, and provide for two additional five year extension options under the same terms and conditions. Use of the premises is for the operation of a communication tower outside of building 2001, including all necessary utilities on a site area of approximately 3,154

7:52 square feet. Income to the port for exercising the next five year extension option is $604,432 plus leasehold excise tax. Upon execution of the First Amendment, the port will also receive a $20,000 signing bonus. A portion of the revenue was included in the 2026 approved budget. The Board of Commissioners approve and authorize-- the recommendation-- is that-- that the Board of Commissioners approve and authorize the CEO to execute the First Amendment restated ground lease at 2001 Kotobuki Way between the Port of Vancouver and SELCO partnership, Verizon Wireless. Any comments? Questions? Thank you. I have a question. So this is essentially restating because there's been a merger. So--

8:52 I know that the port does extensive vetting when we're taking on a new tenant in the first place. When there's a merger, can you talk about the vetting process for that new company coming in? Yes. In this particular case, we reach out to the state of Washington and get a confirmation of that merger. And it's a certificate of merger from the state of Washington. Because they're a utility company, they're really difficult to move and change. They don't just-- they just pop up somewhere. So there's a-- with the stability of that, then we can rely on a certification with the state of Washington. Great. Thank you. And so then, by then signing into this lease, they also commit to all of our business practices and following the lease as was given for the previous tenant. That is correct. Great. Thank you.

9:51 I'm piggybacking on that. So that would include the sublease. Eric? Yes. You're talking in the opposite direction. Mike? That would include the sublease to American Tower, Delaware Corporation. Yes. OK. All right. That was my only question. I thought those were pertinent questions. We just watched Weyerhaeuser lease a section of their place to another paper company. It didn't go very well for some of the folks working there. Thanks for your attention on this matter. Does anybody want to move forward there? Well, I'll move to approve the recommendation as presented by staff. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? Aye. Thank you very much. Thank you, Lori. OK. Our last agenda item today will be presented by Josh Pope, our engineering project manager.

10:51 Thank you, Jonathan. Good morning, commissioners. This project supports the port's strategic plan goal to develop a 20-year comprehensive maintenance plan to maximize operational capacity, efficiency, and life expectancy of port assets. This project involves replacing both the roof and the HVAC system in the south administrative building, building 3103. The roof and HVAC system have never been replaced on this building and are at the end of their useful lives. On August 5th. 2026, the Port of Vancouver issued an invitation to bid 2647 South Administrative Building Roof and HVAC Replacement Project. On August 27th, 2026, the following bids were received in your agenda item. There's the bid list with Fisher Construction Group being the lowest responsive bidder. Staff has reviewed Fisher Construction Group Inc's responsive bid and concluded they are a responsible contractor capable of performing the work. The engineer's estimate ranges from $627,000

11:51 to $693,000. All bids received were above the estimate. The low bid was determined based on the total base bid amount. And after reviewing the bids, it was determined that the deductive alternate would not be awarded. Funds for this project were not included in the approved 2026 annual budget. The port has sufficient funds to award and begin work on this project. Are there any questions, or would you like me to read the recommendation? Sounds like one. I'm going to go ahead with it. OK. That the Board of Commissioners authorize the CEO to execute a public works contract with Fisher Construction Group Inc., the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, for bid 26-47, South Administrative Building Roof and HVAC Replacement Project, for the base bid of $883,763 plus applicable Washington State sales tax. Comments, questions?

12:51 I have a question. Knowing that prices are all over the place and generally not coming down, perhaps the answer to this question is obvious, but could you talk a little bit about the variation between the engineer's estimate and the bid that came in, and just anything we should be aware of? Yeah, absolutely. So we've been seeing some pretty high variability, especially with our roof projects. I think if you recall, currently our largest roof is being replaced currently, and that was put in front of commission here earlier this summer. That you saw very low. And we had a low bid on. A big part of that reason was just the time of year that we're bidding. The later in the year that you get on a roof project, the more risk there is inherently to the contractor with rain events. So that certainly factored into this bid. The other component to this is because we're replacing the HVAC system, there's an existing hole in the roof that we have to match. And so that limits the types of units that a contractor can bid on. And that, combined with market availability, that also increased

13:50 that estimate. And those are really nuanced for an engineer's estimate to capture. And so that's part of why you're seeing a little bit higher bids this go around. I had a question about the note that the roof and HVAC system have never been replaced. How old is that building? Yeah, so that building was built in 2007. So it's certainly at-- it's time now to replace the roof and HVAC. It's 20 years. That's about what we're seeing getting out of-- this is called a membrane type roofer. You've heard references TPO or KE, K-E-E, as another type. And that's-- you typically see 20 to 30 years. Some manufacturer-- all the warranties are about 20 years. But some manufacturers, you see a 20-year lifespan. Some manufacturers see a 30-year lifespan. This particular manufacturer is no longer in business that originally provided that roof. It's because their roofs didn't quite last as long as they wanted their warranty. This project was in our maintenance plan.

14:50 It's been extended out a few years. But that being said, we started experiencing visible roof leaks on the inside of the building. And so we went up and did another inspection of the roof, identified some issues with it, and that it needed to be replaced. Port engineering and port facilities work to tarp the roof currently. That's also why this project wasn't in the 2026 budget, because it's done on an expedited basis to address that issue. All right. And the HVAC system? Is that all electric? Yes, we're going from a natural gas unit to an all-electric unit to meet with our climate action goals. Perfect. I'm satisfied. Anybody want to move this thing forward? I'll move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Unanimously. Next up. Wonderful. Thank you, commissioners.

15:49 Thank you. Excuse me. So, commissioners, each month we provide you a copy of the port contract log. This is a list of all the port contracts, all of our public works contracts, as well as our service contracts. And the highlighted sections of those contract logs are the most recent activity. These are also posted on the port's website. Do you have any questions on those? None. OK. Thank you. New business? No new business today. Old business. I don't think we have any old business. OK. Accounts payable? Yes. I'd like to introduce Nick McIntyre, our accounting manager, who will present the payables today. Thank you, Jonathan. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. We did not receive any questions prior to the meeting, so I'll start by reading the recommendation and then open the floor for questions. OK. Thank you.

16:49 The recommendation is that the Port of Vancouver, USA Board of Commissioners, by motion, ratifies and approves the payment of August 2026 vouchers 129189 through 129593 in the amount of $6,430,656.17, including electronic payments generated between August 1, 2026 and August 30, 2016. Thank you. The recommendation is that the Port of Vancouver, USA Board, by motion, ratifies and open the floor for questions. Thank you. The recommendation is that the Port of Vancouver, USA Board, by motion, ratifies and approves the payment of August 31, 2026 in the amount of $1,880,351.17. And August 2026 payroll checks 52289699 and 52293223 through 52293224. And direct deposits 32001.525.7.

17:49 Through 320137 and 340001 through 340157 in the amount of $873,077.09. I'm having a problem in that there's a typo in there on direct deposits. Our deal says 320. 001 through 310137. Is that correct? In the agenda on section H, that is how it's listed in the recommendation. And on the agenda item number H-1, it's listed under direct deposits as 320137, which is the correct amount.

18:43 We have notified administration and they're going to correct that. Okay. Okay. Cool. I was a little bit curious looking at the direct deposits as well, assuming that -- I mean, so those are payroll vouchers and it looks like it's jumping from 137 to 157. So the electronic deposits, they'll include both payroll direct deposits, but also direct deposits. So the electronic deposits, they'll include both payroll direct deposits, but also -- oh, I'm sorry. Are you referencing the -- Just that range. I'm guessing we didn't hire 20 people in the space of two weeks. No. I'm guessing we didn't hire 20 people in the space of two weeks. No. I'm guessing we didn't hire 20 people in the space of two weeks. I'm getting a note from John that he would know. So I'll go back to the team.

19:41 We'll confirm what the cause of that is. So I'll go back to the team. We'll confirm what the cause of that is. We'll confirm what the cause of that difference is and we'll get back to you guys by the end of today. We'll confirm what the cause of that difference is and we'll get back to you guys by the end of today. Thank you. difference is and we'll get back to you guys by the end of today. Thank you. Well, with that, I'll move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. Well, with that, I'll move that we adopt the recommendation as presented. Second. Second. Second. All those in favor? All those in favor? All those in favor? Aye. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Unanimously. Aye. Unanimously. Aye. Unanimously. Thank you. Aye. Unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. Have a good day. Have a good day. Have a good day. CEO report. CEO report. CEO report. CEO report. CEO report. We have some project updates. CEO report. We have some project updates. CEO report. We have some project updates. I'd like to introduce Mark Newell. We have some project updates. I'd like to introduce Mark Newell. We have some project updates. I'd like to introduce Mark Newell. Mark is our project I'd like to introduce Mark Newell. Mark is our project delivery manager who will Mark Newell. Mark is our project delivery manager who will provide an update on some of the delivery manager who will provide an update on some of the activities going around along provide an update on some of the activities going around along the port. activities going around along the port. Good morning, commissioners. the port. Good morning, commissioners. A few updates. Good morning, commissioners. A few updates. We continue to be busy with projects A few updates. We continue to be busy with projects around the port. We continue to be busy with projects around the port. So we'll jump right into it. around the port. So we'll jump right into it. We'll start here with terminal one So we'll start here with terminal one dock replacement project, contractors So we'll start here with terminal one dock replacement project, contractors Hickey Marine

20:39 dock replacement project, contractors Hickey Marine construction, and projects Hickey Marine construction, and projects around 68% complete. construction, and projects around 68% complete. This view here is kind of an around 68% complete. This view here is kind of an oblique view looking back at This view here is kind of an oblique view looking back at the dock structure itself, oblique view looking back at the dock structure itself, and you can see kind of the dock structure itself, and you can see kind of the progression from the and you can see kind of the progression from the upstream to the downstream side the progression from the upstream to the downstream side of it with the contractor. upstream to the downstream side of it with the contractor. Having prepped for topping of it with the contractor. Having prepped for topping slab pours down on this area Having prepped for topping slab pours down on this area and then you can see kind slab pours down on this area and then you can see kind of the step-down section and then you can see kind of the step-down section where the future public market of the step-down section where the future public market will be. So a little bit where the future public market will be. So a little bit of a good orientation will be. So a little bit of a good orientation showing the whole stretch down of a good orientation showing the whole stretch down to the waterfront, Vancouver showing the whole stretch down to the waterfront, Vancouver waterfront park there. to the waterfront, Vancouver waterfront park there. Next slide. A little bit more waterfront park there. Next slide. A little bit more of a close-up view here. Next slide. A little bit more of a close-up view here. This is crews actively working of a close-up view here. This is crews actively working on these pile cap extensions. This is crews actively working on these pile cap extensions. You can see the perimeter on these pile cap extensions. You can see the perimeter of the public market. You can see the perimeter of the public market. Kind of on that lowered section of the public market. Kind of on that lowered section where the crawl space is. Kind of on that lowered section where the crawl space is. And then on the right-hand where the crawl space is. And then on the right-hand side, over the piles, them

21:39 And then on the right-hand side, over the piles, them forming, reinforcing being over the piles, them forming, reinforcing being installed. And this will be kind of forming, reinforcing being installed. And this will be kind of the future front face installed. And this will be kind of the future front face side of the public market. the future front face side of the public market. Kind of that width that will run side of the public market. Kind of that width that will run the whole length down. Kind of that width that will run the whole length down. So they'll continue to form the whole length down. So they'll continue to form and jump these construction So they'll continue to form and jump these construction elements forward and then and jump these construction elements forward and then place precast panels on top elements forward and then place precast panels on top of this as necessary. place precast panels on top of this as necessary. So quite a bit of activity of this as necessary. So quite a bit of activity going on here. Next slide. So quite a bit of activity going on here. Next slide. It's a little different angle here. Next slide. It's a little different angle showing a little bit similar. It's a little different angle showing a little bit similar. You can see those pile showing a little bit similar. You can see those pile cap extensions on the lower You can see those pile cap extensions on the lower right there kind of being cap extensions on the lower right there kind of being extended off. And crews right there kind of being extended off. And crews kind of continuing to work extended off. And crews kind of continuing to work through those areas. A lot of kind of continuing to work through those areas. A lot of formwork and falsework through those areas. A lot of formwork and falsework supports there. You can see formwork and falsework supports there. You can see a whole pile of those on top supports there. You can see a whole pile of those on top of that. Those are the a whole pile of those on top of that. Those are the supporting systems that they of that. Those are the supporting systems that they continue to reutilize to supporting systems that they continue to reutilize to support the caps in this continue to reutilize to support the caps in this space. So a lot of organization support the caps in this space. So a lot of organization going on here. And

22:39 space. So a lot of organization going on here. And they're forming edge walls going on here. And they're forming edge walls around the perimeter and kind of they're forming edge walls around the perimeter and kind of hopscotching around. around the perimeter and kind of hopscotching around. Usually about a pour every hopscotching around. Usually about a pour every week or so. Next slide. West Usually about a pour every week or so. Next slide. West progression as mentioned. week or so. Next slide. West progression as mentioned. This kind of little progression as mentioned. This kind of little different angle. Looking back This kind of little different angle. Looking back where the Vancouver landing different angle. Looking back where the Vancouver landing ties in to the where the Vancouver landing ties in to the structure. And you can kind of see ties in to the structure. And you can kind of see a few of those pile caps a few of those pile caps kind of extending out over that area. Crews are kind of extending out over that area. Crews are continuing to make progress continuing to make progress here. And working on tying those elements here. And working on tying those elements in and finishing up with some of in and finishing up with some of these pile caps. They'll continue making these pile caps. They'll continue making concrete pours and progress all concrete pours and progress all the way down to the perimeter. the way down to the perimeter. They'll continue making concrete pours They'll continue making concrete pours and progress all the way through and progress all the way through the rest of the fall here. And then the rest of the fall here. And then we'll kind of go from there into we'll kind of go from there into the fender system elements. Which the fender system elements. Which that won't occur until probably that won't occur until probably November or December when we will November or December when we will have some more vibratory pile have some more vibratory pile installation. Our next project is installation. Our next project is building 2001. Josh mentioned a

23:39 building 2001. Josh mentioned a little bit about this project here. little bit about this project here. While maybe not as glamorous of a While maybe not as glamorous of a project, nonetheless important. project, nonetheless important. We're going to be working on We're going to be working on this project nonetheless important to this project nonetheless important to seal the weather and water for seal the weather and water for another 20 plus years. So roof another 20 plus years. So roof works about 75% complete. This is works about 75% complete. This is just kind of a shot of what the just kind of a shot of what the top looks like right now of the top looks like right now of the main building. And the main main building. And the main building is almost 100% complete building is almost 100% complete with its with coverage as I speak with its with coverage as I speak right now. And here's just kind right now. And here's just kind of internal gutter system. And of internal gutter system. And and that's what we're going to be and that's what we're going to be doing. We're going to be doing. We're going to be working on this. And here's just kind working on this. And here's just kind of internal gutter system. of internal gutter system. And and and kind of this is that and and kind of this is that induction welded system that's induction welded system that's been installed. Next slide. been installed. Next slide. Just kind of shows more of a Just kind of shows more of a another another view looking another another view looking back the other direction. More back the other direction. More on the ridge line elements. So on the ridge line elements. So there is also a couple of other there is also a couple of other roof structures down below that roof structures down below that are lower. That also are in are lower. That also are in progress and they will continue

24:39 progress and they will continue working on those here as well. working on those here as well. Interior wise they've been this Interior wise they've been this this is kind of sealed off a this is kind of sealed off a number of areas that have had number of areas that have had kind of historic leaking and kind of historic leaking and elements going on. So those elements going on. So those phase one office and kind of phase one office and kind of lunch room break room elements lunch room break room elements where there's been moisture where there's been moisture issues remediation has has been issues remediation has has been completed and now they're into completed and now they're into the second phase. And there's a the second phase. And there's a couple more phases after this couple more phases after this to to work on that area as well. to to work on that area as well. And we're going to be working And we're going to be working on that area. Next slide shows a on that area. Next slide shows a little bit of the interior. little bit of the interior. This is one of those spaces where This is one of those spaces where moisture is kind of come down moisture is kind of come down from the ceiling or has has from the ceiling or has has permeated some areas. So there's permeated some areas. So there's some wall remediation work some wall remediation work going on on the interior bays as going on on the interior bays as well. So all being coordinated well. So all being coordinated with our our tenant and Pacific with our our tenant and Pacific Tech is the contractor working Tech is the contractor working on this project. Next slide. on this project. Next slide. Right next door really a lot of Right next door really a lot of construction work and a lot of construction work and a lot of construction work is going on

25:39 construction work and a lot of construction work is going on next construction work is going on next door. Really like I said small door. Really like I said small project but interesting to the project but interesting to the adjacent port staff just because adjacent port staff just because we walk through here all the we walk through here all the time. So here you can see the time. So here you can see the structural steel being placed on structural steel being placed on top of the pile caps and just top of the pile caps and just the interesting thing to note the interesting thing to note here is everything everything is here is everything everything is being supported off those center being supported off those center three columns and down to the three columns and down to the foundation. So nothing is relying foundation. So nothing is relying on any of the adjacent buildings. on any of the adjacent buildings. So nothing is relying on any of the adjacent buildings. So nothing is relying on any of the adjacent buildings. So nothing is relying on any of the adjacent buildings. They've installed the steel that welding is complete and next They've installed the steel that welding is complete and next slide shows a little slide shows a little bit more metal decking installed. They bit more metal decking installed. They still have some flashing and still have some flashing and connection connections up on top connection connections up on top to seal that area off and painting to seal that area off and painting in progress. So fun fun little in progress. So fun fun little project there next project here is project there next project here is trail segment four and five and trail segment four and five and contractors advanced excavation contractors advanced excavation specialist the projects around specialist the projects around fifty five percent complete and fifty five percent complete and finished. They're starting to

26:39 finished. They're starting to install some of the gravel base. install some of the gravel base. So as you remember some of these So as you remember some of these areas were definitely sloped off areas were definitely sloped off pretty good. Now they have some pretty good. Now they have some retaining wall structures in retaining wall structures in there and so they're getting kind there and so they're getting kind of to that base section. of that base section. Obviously they still have yet to grade Obviously they still have yet to grade that out or get into any of that out or get into any of the asphalt paving elements or some the asphalt paving elements or some of those areas as they're of those areas as they're continuing to work on some continuing to work on some structure work and subgrade work. structure work and subgrade work. Next slide. This is kind of a Next slide. This is kind of a quick overview of what we're quick overview of what we're doing right now. We're moving doing right now. We're moving down the retaining wall that you down the retaining wall that you can kind of see in the right can kind of see in the right hand side there in the background hand side there in the background that that's complete now. So that that's complete now. So they're continuing to progress they're continuing to progress in that space and I think I have in that space and I think I have one more slide here which is one more slide here which is showing reinforced soil slope showing reinforced soil slope walls. So quite a variety of walls. So quite a variety of wall elements depending on the wall elements depending on the location and slope conditions location and slope conditions that's out there. So they've that's out there. So they've completed this work as well. So completed this work as well. So it's been good to see some

27:39 it's been good to see some progress here in the last month progress here in the last month on this project. Next slide. I on this project. Next slide. I think that's it. So any think that's it. So any questions on any of those questions on any of those projects? projects? Apparently not. Apparently not. All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Sounds good. Thanks. Sounds good. Thanks. That's all I have today, That's all I have today, commissioners. Cool. There's an commissioners. Cool. There's an order to this, but I think order to this, but I think you're in. you're in. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Let's see. So went Let's see. So went on another port tour, on another port tour, not this past weekend, but the not this past weekend, but the Saturday prior. And Saturday prior. And again, again, packed bus. Folks were super packed bus. Folks were super interested in it. Love interested in it. Love hearing the community talk hearing the community talk about how excited they are to about how excited they are to learn more about the port. learn more about the port. And Erin just did a bang-up job And Erin just did a bang-up job again. So awesome work. again. So awesome work. And then also had a meeting of And then also had a meeting of RTC, the Regional And then also had a meeting of RTC, the Regional City Council.

28:39 RTC, the Regional City Council. And just a comment on the And just a comment on the work of that. So RTC work of that. So RTC coordinates different agencies coordinates different agencies in our region, Southwest in our region, Southwest Washington region, for Washington region, for transportation projects and transportation projects and distributes some federal distributes some federal funds. And because of RTC's funds. And because of RTC's and our local agency's ability and our local agency's ability to be nimble with some of to be nimble with some of this funding and able to move this funding and able to move stuff around, if something stuff around, if something isn't ready, being able to isn't ready, being able to move it to a different project, move it to a different project, we have funding from other we have funding from other regions that aren't able to be regions that aren't able to be that nimble. So it was pointed that nimble. So it was pointed out that lots of other regions out that lots of other regions are jealous of RTC. So we are jealous of RTC. So we encourage them to keep up that encourage them to keep up that good work. And what it does is good work. And what it does is it allows us to continue to get it allows us to continue to get transportation projects moving, transportation projects moving, impacting the region in a impacting the region in a positive way, and using money positive way, and using money that other regions maybe that other regions maybe weren't able to use so weren't able to use so effectively. So good for us. effectively. So good for us. So good for us. So good for us.

29:39 So good for us. So good for us. The main thing on my radar The main thing on my radar over the last couple of weeks was over the last couple of weeks was labor roundtable back on the labor roundtable back on the 28th. One of the concerns that 28th. One of the concerns that came forward that we might want came forward that we might want to take an additional look at to take an additional look at and it came from a report from and it came from a report from the city was with our the city was with our responsible bidder language. responsible bidder language. There's a kind of a gap there There's a kind of a gap there where as we look at the where as we look at the city, we're seeing that there's a city, we're seeing that there's a gap there where we're gap there where we're seeing that there's a gap there where we're seeing that there's a gap there where there's a gap. gap there where there's a gap. As we look at L and I records As we look at L and I records for contractors, it lists for contractors, it lists violations once they finally violations once they finally wound their way through the wound their way through the year's worth of appeals. year's worth of appeals. And citations and complaints are And citations and complaints are available but require a public available but require a public records request. records request. Which then kind of puts ports and Which then kind of puts ports and cities in the unfortunate cities in the unfortunate standpoint of if we want to take standpoint of if we want to take care of them, then our care of them, then our contracting folks have to

30:39 contracting folks have to manually request records and manually request records and essentially set up an investigation for every successful bidder. investigation for every successful bidder. So it's not really successful bidder. So it's not really scalable or sustainable. So it's not really scalable or sustainable. So wanted to bring that scalable or sustainable. So wanted to bring that forward and So wanted to bring that forward and I'll be probably discussing forward and I'll be probably discussing that a little bit I'll be probably discussing that a little bit more with Juliana that a little bit more with Juliana when she's back to see if more with Juliana when she's back to see if there's opportunities when she's back to see if there's opportunities for us to -- I think there's opportunities for us to -- I think there's opportunities for us to -- I think we're readily available so that we can for us to -- I think we're readily available so that we can take that we're readily available so that we can take that into account as we're we can take that into account as we're bidding out all these into account as we're bidding out all these different projects. bidding out all these different projects. And that concludes my different projects. And that concludes my report. And that concludes my report. Interesting. report. Interesting. I used to be an employer in L&I. Interesting. I used to be an employer in L&I. The difference between I used to be an employer in L&I. The difference between when an issue The difference between when an issue happens and when it goes on when an issue happens and when it goes on your record and affects happens and when it goes on your record and affects it. your record and affects it. I thought you're in the HR it. I thought you're in the HR business, you know it.

31:39 I thought you're in the HR business, you know it. And that's fascinating. business, you know it. And that's fascinating. I don't know how you And that's fascinating. I don't know how you repair that. I don't know how you repair that. But it might be an interesting repair that. But it might be an interesting issue for us. But it might be an interesting issue for us. I met with the CEO. issue for us. I met with the CEO. I went to a climate -- community I met with the CEO. I went to a climate -- community climate discussion. I went to a climate -- community climate discussion. The city was backing climate discussion. The city was backing over Marshall House that The city was backing over Marshall House that was led by the conservation over Marshall House that was led by the conservation group, ideas about how was led by the conservation group, ideas about how we can move forward in group, ideas about how we can move forward in this time on our -- on the we can move forward in this time on our -- on the targets to get to the time on our -- on the targets to get to the climate targets in very targets to get to the climate targets in very interesting times. And it was targets to get to the climate targets in very interesting times. And it was pretty good. targets to get to the climate targets in very interesting times. And it was pretty good. We had very interesting times. And it was pretty good. We had about 20 people participating pretty good. We had about 20 people participating from all over town. And about 20 people participating from all over town. And I'm from -- I live in from all over town. And I'm from -- I live in -- actually, I live a block from all over town. And I'm from -- I live a block outside of town, so I went live a block outside of town, so I went anyway. Yesterday, I had the outside of town, so I went anyway. Yesterday, I had the opportunity -- there were anyway. Yesterday, I had the opportunity -- there were two things I went to. opportunity -- there were two things I went to. One, they had a recovery day two things I went to. One, they had a recovery day down at Esther Short Park.

32:39 One, they had a recovery day down at Esther Short Park. And I hadn't -- somebody I down at Esther Short Park. And I hadn't -- somebody I know was a food vendor And I hadn't -- somebody I know was a food vendor down -- it was rather exciting. know was a food vendor down -- it was rather exciting. They had groups from veterans down -- it was rather exciting. They had groups from veterans groups and community They had groups from veterans groups and community groups and all sorts of groups and community groups and all sorts of nonprofits to try to help people get groups and all sorts of nonprofits to try to help people get out of god-awful nonprofits to try to help people get out of god-awful problems they're having out of god-awful problems they're having around substance abuse. And it was problems they're having around substance abuse. And it was encouraging in that around substance abuse. And it was encouraging in that there were a lot of and it was encouraging in that there were a lot of people who were suffering from there were a lot of people who were suffering from substance abuse. And it was people who were suffering from substance abuse. And it was encouraging in that substance abuse. And it was encouraging in that there were -- I would say hundreds encouraging in that there were -- I would say hundreds if not thousands of people were -- I would say hundreds if not thousands of people there that were working if not thousands of people there that were working successfully. I don't know there that were working successfully. I don't know about anybody else. But in my successfully. I don't know about anybody else. But in my case, I know people or I'm about anybody else. But in my case, I know people or I'm related to people that case, I know people or I'm related to people that struggle with these issues. related to people that struggle with these issues. And it gives you hope that struggle with these issues. And it gives you hope that maybe -- maybe I'm going to

33:29 And it gives you hope that maybe -- maybe I'm going to find a way out of this stuff. maybe -- maybe I'm going to find a way out of this stuff. And I went to a Labor Day find a way out of this stuff. And I went to a Labor Day picnic and bumped into Eric And I went to a Labor Day picnic and bumped into Eric there again yesterday. I think picnic and bumped into Eric there again yesterday. I think that'll do it. Up next, we've there again yesterday. I think that'll do it. Up next, we've got -- I'm going to that'll do it. Up next, we've got -- I'm going to talk a little bit about the talk a little bit about the workshop coming. Is it ready to go talk a little bit about the workshop coming. Is it ready to go now? workshop coming. Is it ready to go now? Well, I think we'll do upcoming now? Well, I think we'll do upcoming events and then we can roll into the Well, I think we'll do upcoming events and then we can roll into the workshop right after events and then we can roll into the workshop right after that. I do the same thing workshop right after that. I do the same thing to Juliana. I apologize. that. I do the same thing to Juliana. I apologize. Good. All right. Upcoming to Juliana. I apologize. Good. All right. Upcoming events. So next commission Good. All right. Upcoming events. So next commission meeting, our regular events. So next commission meeting, our regular commission meeting is Tuesday, meeting, our regular commission meeting is Tuesday, September 8th, 6:15 p.m. meeting, our regular commission meeting is Tuesday, September 8th, 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. meeting, our regular commission meeting is Tuesday, September 8th, 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. at Lincoln is Tuesday, September 8th, 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School. We

34:29 to 7:45 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School. We have our ninth port tour on Elementary School. We have our ninth port tour on Wednesday, tomorrow, September have our ninth port tour on Wednesday, tomorrow, September 9th, from 10:00 a.m. to Wednesday, tomorrow, September 9th, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Reservations Wednesday, tomorrow, September 9th, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Reservations are 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Reservations are currently full, but you can join the 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Reservations are currently full, but you can join the wait are currently full, but you can join the wait list at the portvanusa.com/community. list at the portvanusa.com/community. We have a September hatchery tour at We have a September hatchery tour at Columbia Springs, which is Wednesday, We have a September hatchery tour at Columbia Springs, which is Wednesday, September Columbia Springs, which is Wednesday, September 16th, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 September 16th, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can join the Columbia Springs p.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can join the Columbia Springs team for a hatchery tour p.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can join the Columbia Springs team for a hatchery tour and trace the p.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can join the Columbia Springs team for a hatchery tour and trace the path of spring water team for a hatchery tour and trace the path of spring water through their site. And this is a free path of spring water through their site. And this is a free event. We also have the through their site. And this is a free event. We also have the Vancouver Audubon Migratory event. We also have the Vancouver Audubon Migratory bird celebration, which is Vancouver Audubon Migratory bird celebration, which is Saturday, September 19th, from bird celebration, which is Saturday, September 19th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 19th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Water Resources 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center. Join in on the 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center. Join in on the third annual at the Water Resources Education Center. Join in on the third annual celebration of the tens of Center. Join in on the third annual celebration of the tens of millions of birds that migrate celebration of the tens of millions of birds that migrate through the Southwest Washington

35:29 millions of birds that migrate through the Southwest Washington and back again. This is through the Southwest Washington and back again. This is also a free event. And and back again. This is also a free event. And lastly, we have the Clark County also a free event. And lastly, we have the Clark County Historical Museum Haunted lastly, we have the Clark County Historical Museum Haunted History Walking Tours Historical Museum Haunted History Walking Tours reoccurring weekly on Fridays History Walking Tours reoccurring weekly on Fridays and Saturdays through reoccurring weekly on Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween, October 31st, and Saturdays through Halloween, October 31st, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Learn Halloween, October 31st, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Learn about the tales, the beginning at 7:00 p.m. Learn about the tales, the history, and unexplained about the tales, the history, and unexplained stories of the people who have stories, the history, and unexplained stories of the people who have traveled on this stories, the history, and unexplained stories of the people who have traveled on this mile-long stories of the people who have traveled on this mile-long tour through downtown. Tickets traveled on this mile-long tour through downtown. Tickets are $20 per person. tour through downtown. Tickets are $20 per person. Communicating with are $20 per person. Communicating with Commission. So, you can share your Communicating with Commission. So, you can share your thoughts during open forum at Commission. So, you can share your thoughts during open forum at our public meeting, thoughts during open forum at our public meeting, the public comment period for all our public meeting, the public comment period for all regularly scheduled commission the public comment period for all regularly scheduled commissioners. You can speak regularly scheduled commissioners. You can speak to commissioners by calling commissioners. You can speak to commissioners by calling the Port Office at to commissioners by calling the Port Office at 360-693-3611 for specific the Port Office at 360-693-3611 for specific contact information. You can mail 360-693-3611 for specific contact information. You can mail your comments to contact information. You can mail your comments to POV Port of Commissioners at your comments to POV Port of Commissioners at 3103 NW Lower River Road,

36:29 POV Port of Commissioners at 3103 NW Lower River Road, Vancouver, Washington, 3103 NW Lower River Road, Vancouver, Washington, 98660. And for more Vancouver, Washington, 98660. And for more information, you can visit the And for more information, you can visit the website www.portmanusa.com. website www.portmanusa.com. Now we can get into the -- so if you'd Now we can get into the -- so if you'd like, we can do that. We have the like, we can do that. We have the workshop. We can roll right into that workshop. We can roll right into that if you'd like to. if you'd like to. Please do. Please do. Okay. With that, I'd like to Okay. With that, I'd like to introduce Chris Carter, our Information Okay. With that, I'd like to introduce Chris Carter, our Information Security introduce Chris Carter, our Information Security Architect, and Logan Rogers, Carter, our Information Security Architect, and Logan Rogers, our Information Architect, and Logan Rogers, our Information Security Analyst. They're Architect, and Logan Rogers, our Information Security Analyst. They're here this morning Analyst. They're here this morning to provide an update on cybersecurity. Analyst. They're here this morning to provide an update on cybersecurity. Good morning, to provide an update on cybersecurity. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. to provide an update on cybersecurity. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So we're going to split this Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So we're going to split this presentation Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So we're going to split this presentation up here. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So again, my name is Chris Carter. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So again, my name is Chris Carter. I'm an Information Security Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So again, my name is Chris Carter. I'm an Information Security Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So again, my name is Chris Carter. I'm an Information Security Architect here at the port. We're going to

37:29 Architect here at the port. We're going to touch on the year in review Architect here at the port. We're going to touch on the year in review first, kind of what we've been up to. We're going to touch on the year in review first, kind of what we've been up to. Kind of what we've been working on. to cover is we had the u.s coast guard come out and do a hunt mission two years ago we had the coast guard come out and do an assessed mission so at that time they brought out 13 people and played the roles as of hackers and tested our systems the hunt mission is a little different so this is a cyber protection team that is they will deploy if there's an issue in a port or a maritime facility and hunt for the adversaries so in order for them to keep their training up and stuff they did they come out and do these free missions so this year they came out they came out they did two site visits prior to coming out the first one was just to walk around the port to see our our systems how

38:25 our networks were set up the second time they came out and deployed sensors that were intercepting uh our network traffic and those ran for about two to three weeks and then after that they came out for two weeks total on site five of them and they went through those logs and then helped us um you know there was a lot of questions you know how did how do these systems work and then they were also searching for adversaries i will say they did not find any adversaries on our network so that's definitely positive but it was a great learning experience for both them and us um you know over the two weeks they did they asked you a lot of questions uh we had a 180 plus questions asked of us um trying to dig deeper into the systems and you know they're really um asking questions like why does this computer talk to this computer and so it was a it was a great

39:23 learning experience for our side to just to help better understand why these computers are communicating the way they are and um making sure it was the right thing to do there so um so um as i said that was our second u.s coast guard mission in the last uh couple years uh most ports don't want to sign up for these because they're afraid that the u.s coast guard is a regulator they're going to get in trouble for doing that but this is just just a great way to establish that relationship so if there is an issue down the road um you know we have that working relationship with the coast guard um and there was zero cost to us so i would say their first assess mission if we would do that to go out to bed for that is definitely over a hundred thousand dollars um and probably the same with this last one so it's a good cost saving measure

40:19 as well um immediately following that which i will not recommend doing back-to-back assessments uh we had the state auditor's office um go through a cyber checkup with us that was not as intense as the coast guard's assessment this time around it was just a 20 category checklist where they we met with them uh provided them with documentation we went through you know their recommendations making sure we're hitting on all those marks what's coming out of that is we signed up for their full cyber security audit uh the unfortunate part on that is there's a two to three year waiting period on those so so when they come out in two to three years it will be intense like the coast guard type of missions that they've done and again this is provided to us at no cost so it's a

41:15 great cost savings there so uh one thing we're working hard on this year is as you know with the new erp system our environment is changing technology is changing when every time that technology changes so does uh you know the the attack surface so we're constantly upgrading our policies um kind of reviewing the technology and making sure we're staying on par with the changes there as you know the ai is exploding everywhere so that the ai aspect of that is while it's helpful in everyday work it's also extremely helpful for the attackers so they're attacking faster we're seeing an explosion of patches come out i joke that there used to be patch tuesday is now patch every day

42:12 because it's how everyone's releasing patches as ai's assisting in finding these vulnerabilities we've also had another successful grant fund to support security grant that's to replace some camera equipment we also have another open grant with the port security grant on the network access control system that is 95 complete and we have two grants out right now we're waiting to word on that will assist us in some cyber security projects so we're always grateful for those programs another one more grant i want to touch on really quick is the state and local cyber security grant program myself and logan this is provided through the state

43:04 they had offered some training opportunities on ai and privacy so both me and logan applied for that training and we both received it so we're two of 50 people in the state so we're working through that right now uh and then another thing to highlight on that we're the only two people from the port industry so we're working through that right now and then another thing to highlight on that we're the only two people from the port industry to receive that so that was um we're grateful for that opportunity next slide uh we'll talk on the big one on the regulations and i know i covered this one last year and probably a year prior also next slide so uh the mtsa so that stands for maritime transportation security act that was established uh after the events of 9 11 so that was came into the act in 2002 so that was mostly focused on physical cyber security gates guards stuff like that stuff you see at the airports

44:02 and stuff like that um and then as you know technology changes that the threat landscape changed we started seeing you know coast guard wanting to uh put some emphasis on cyber security so um you know when i started at the port one of my first conferences i went to was the coast guard was talking about cyber this cyber that we're going to have controls we had to wait about five years for that to actually start taking place so uh there's their first uh attempt at that or first requirement was the cyber annexes which we saw in 2021 uh so that required every port to have like a cyber plan uh kind of one of the issues were that some port cyber annexes were 50 pages 100 pages long some some work two to three pages long so there was no

44:56 really uh structure to them and so it really wasn't um doing a lot to keep us safe because there was no guidance on that so they came up with the new final rule cyber rule that came out in 2025 that when first rolled into effect in july of 2025 and that first aspect of it was reporting how we report cyber incidents who do we report to uh if there was a cyber incident we have several reporting channels um which i believe currently for us we would have eight different reporting uh agencies we'd have to report to so there's still work on the federal side on how they can coordinate that better but um that was the first one that came in effect the second kind of landmark on that was uh in january this year it required that everyone that touches your network has to be cyber trained

45:56 so we provide annual cyber security training that's not only going to employees contractors but even on vendors that may need remote access so if a vendor is requesting remote access it's not freely given they go through a cyber security training and they are heavily vetted on that we are very very limited on how we give access to that to those vendors next slide so i'll go a little bit more about the regulation so the first part of this regulation is a formal cyber security plan there are i believe like 15 or 16 different controls they're looking for all the way from logging to training to reporting like i've already covered uh it's uh fairly more more structured and more specific what they're looking for

46:55 so i think that will help better than the cyber annexes the next thing they're looking for is a dedicated uh cyber security officer so they want to make sure that there's someone at the port that they can get hold of 24 7 and that is responsible for that that cyber security plan both in myself and logan share that responsibility there uh kind of a new thing here is uh what they're requiring is uh annual risk assessments and then we also want to make sure that we're making sure that we're making sure that we're making sure that we're making sure that we're making sure that we're making the right decisions and that's where we go with our partnerships with the coast guard and the state auditor's office these risk assessments are expensive so when we're using those free resources through the coast guard to the auditor's office through the department of homeland security that's going to help us use that money that would go into just a couple week process but we can redirect some of that money to more security platforms and stuff like that

47:55 training and awareness we've touched on that a little bit but as of january of this year cyber security training and awareness is required for all uh all staff contractors vendors and there is a time frame on that so they everyone has to be trained within five days of receiving network access so that's usually covered in the first week and on the onboarding process so the other regulations are continuous monitoring uh we're logging you know network traffic phishing emails uh stuff like that you know there is some language in the regulation where they're not giving us defined periods like you have to keep your logs for 90 days 180 days so there's a lot of back and forth right now and then like you know how many days do we need to keep these logs or years or

48:50 whatever so um i think their their language is to when it's no longer useful when is that right so we're working through that right now and then the reporting requirements so um you know there's uh strict guidelines um to the coast guard on how we report who we report to in the time frame but on top of that you know we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and we're going to have to do a lot of work and who we report to in the time frame but on top of that we have other regulations through the state especially when it's impacting financial systems and on when we report next slide so our past so far so we've built this layered security program you know across all of our systems we tried to get involved really early in the software selection process we're vetting the vendors the country of origin

49:48 you know hardware is a big big issue we want to make sure it's manufactured not in a nation-state sponsored you know known for cyber activity so we we are really working hard on that to be in part of that process we've rolled out multi-factor authentication through all users and vendors you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication through all users and vendors you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication through all users and vendors you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication through all users and vendors you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication through all users and vendors you know that's one of the key factors of stopping a breach is to have that multi-factor authentication we've improved logging and monitoring uh you know everything gets logged we run dashboards we run reports we run our processes off this logging it really helps us you know identify issues early for example if you were to go to a outside of your normal login activity and log in let's say from canada or something we're going to

50:47 get alerted about it we're going to investigate that right away and make sure that that's a valid login so we have established incident response plans we're working on those playbooks and response plans constantly as technology and system changes those have to be updated so like i've already said we've worked hard with the coast guard and uh sisa and homeland security and the uh state auditor's office to get these assessments that they offer for free completed and we're leaning heavy on federal and regional agency partnerships which i'll touch on in a little bit here too we have active participation in the mts isac so the mts isac stands for maritime transportation system information sharing and analysis center this is a non-profit that the

51:46 port was a founding member of i served on the board for five to six years and now logan is on the board taking my spot so it's a great great agency or great organization that has many ports across the country and now even across the world that are sharing information daily to fend off attacks so kind of one of the things we're doing now is we're doing regular cyber exercises so those consist of you know full-blown tabletop exercises and they and then we have monthly phishing tests so you may see those come through we are constantly testing users it not only tests the users but it tests us on how we respond if there was you know a phishing test that someone may have clicked on of how we go through our processes there

52:46 so we continue working with the coast guard on uh cyber testing you know like i said we've done two missions so far and we love to have them out again and then probably after the state auditors come try to do one of those big uh missions you know every two years so we're engaging with a third party uh cyber security operations center uh so this allows us to sleep at night so uh so there have 24 7 eyes on our network uh our network logs uh uh if they see an issue at three in the morning they'll call us so it's not an alert that's waiting in my inbox in the morning you know if we're we're working against adversaries in other parts of the country they're not on the same time frame as us you can almost see when they determine your hours you work

53:46 they'll start their attacks like an hour after you're done for the day so this third party sock is really beneficial for us you know hopefully we don't have to use them too much but it definitely allows some you know downtime for us away from the office so we're formalizing the mtsi our mtsa compliance plans like i talked on the regulation so those are due here in july we're going to hopefully submit our plans and documentation here by the end of the year uh and then we're expanding governance and documentation you know it's uh especially with ai everything's changing so fast uh especially how we treat data and you know these new systems and how many kind of capabilities they have and how fast they can do stuff so we're

54:44 expanding that governance and documentation to support those systems uh standardize standardizing controls so part of that is through the regulations so they're they're those coast card regulations follow some controls called nist 853 we are you know trying to have a standardized you know how we how we operate how we do our user accounts stuff like that and then most importantly we're sharing with others we're really active in a lot of uh different groups um and how we're sharing threat daily intel daily not only threat in intel but uh best practices and you know even software recommendations next slide uh so we're invested where it counts and that's our people we're one of the few ports in the state that has two dedicated cyber people

55:42 we definitely wear more hats than just cyber but i mean most ports um in the state i would say about 20 percent of them uh just in the state only have an i.t team and most of those are just single person i.t teams so we are seeing ports starting to hire cyber as these regulations come into uh play uh the part kind of the struggle they're going to have on that is these regulations are pretty intense and you got to really know your networks too so that hire someone in and have them be there just six months before this major uh regulation is due is going to be a definitely struggle for them and then um just want to touch to this throughout all the the pacific northwest deep water ports only you know 30 to 40 percent of them have cyber staff at all so

56:42 I don't know how they do it and defend off all the adversaries, but I think that's an interesting fact. Next slide. I'll just touch on our partnerships. These partnerships are really important for us. So I've already touched on the Coast Guard's partnership. Outside of our missions that we do with that, we have an Area and Maritime Cyber Security Committee with the local sector. We meet usually quarterly on that, but we're always in touch with our cyber representative at the sector, usually weekly, at least monthly. So we're working with the Coast Guard a lot on that. We are members of the FBI InfraGard.

57:38 So the FBI InfraGard is a private partner, a public-private partnership, so that those groups have, you know, they have public sector, they have private sector, they have the federal government agency. I'm a member of the Oregon chapter, and Logan is a member of the Washington chapter, so we cover both those chapters on that process. With the next one, I want to touch on the Maritime Transportation System, ISAC. So like I said, we were founding members of that. We continue working with them. You know, we're sharing hundreds of threat intel things back and forth weekly. It's a completely automated system now, so it loads right into our systems of a port in Louisiana.

58:38 It says, you know, we're seeing these phishing emails, these network threats. It gets put into the central system and pulled into ours, and then we can flag on that. So it's really beneficial for us because there'd be no way to manually go through those spreadsheets and look at them and load them up every day. And it's very interesting to see when you see an attack take place or an attempted attack take place in Louisiana or Florida. And then that same one is taking place here or in the state here, so. One other ISAC we're a member of is the Water ISAC. We do have a small water system here. So this, the Water ISAC, water utilities have been in the news a lot in the last couple weeks. Utilities, they're being heavily targeted by nation-state actors.

59:38 So this Water ISAC, you know, we're exchanging, you know, same idea with the maritime one. We're exchanging ideas, threat intel policies, you know, making sure that, you know, what happens at one utility or one agency across the country doesn't happen here. So it's been a really great partnership there. One thing we founded on the next one. It's the Pacific Northwest Maritime Information Exchange. This is kind of a branch off the MTS ISAC. So MTS ISAC is great. What I wanted to do was to have something more regionalized. We see different threats sometimes than maybe a port in New York or Louisiana may face. So this is a more localized information sharing. We have several tenants.

1:00:38 In that group, we have several ports throughout the state in that group. And we have some different agencies in that group. So we're, you know, exchanging information back and forth. It's been really great, especially on, you know, the point controls or policy against like maybe something comes out of the state and how, you know, we can, you know, query another. Port in the state and say, you know, how are you tackling this issue? And so we're not all trying to reinvent the wheel. So the Association of Cities, Counties, Information Systems. So we are certainly not a city or a county, but they do offer membership to all government agencies. This is an extremely active group through all with all the cities and counties throughout the state. Again, it's just mostly trained.

1:01:38 We're exchanging best practices, policies, you know, controls. While we may not all use the same systems, most of our base systems are the same. So that's been really beneficial in the last year as we grow our ERP system. The American Association of Port Authorities, we are active in the IT committee. We're active in the cybersecurity subcommittee. And I've been attending some of the physical security committee meetings as well, just as there's been some overlap with cyber and physical security. So that's something we've, you know, always been involved in, continue that relationship there. And then finally, the state of Washington. I think this is something we've really worked the last year or two with. Maybe we weren't as involved before, but, you know,

1:02:38 both myself and Logan volunteered to do an RFP with them to review how they're doing their cyber stuff. So that was a great experience. It was a very time-consuming experience as our RFPs maybe see 10 to 20 applicants. The state's had over 180. So going through all those RFPs to help the state select their cyber controls. And that helps us when we, then, they do a grant process support for that training, you know. We help them out, and hopefully they'll return that favor. So that's all I have. I'm going to turn it over to Logan now. Perfect. Thank you, Chris. Morning, folks. So first topic.

1:03:38 We're going to kind of discuss, I mean, as you know, AI is everywhere. You can't really even go to a coffee shop without hearing about AI anymore. So we're going to start with that. What we're actually going to start with is a little brain teaser. So what I'm going to show you is I'm going to show you a picture. It's going to be two photos and just kind of guess if it is real or if it's AI generated. Can you kind of piece out what might be real, what might be fake? Commissioners, do either one of you want to take a stab at it? Which one you might think is real, might be fake? Not me. I'll say fake on the right. Okay. I was going to guess fake on the left, so one of us will get it. Okay. Covered. Perfect. So it is a teaser. They're actually both fake.

1:04:38 So that's one of the things with AI. It's not a single thing that you're going to be seeing in your e-mails anymore, trying to create paragraphs, help you draft a speech or anything like that. We're getting into more real-life things of image generation, and it can fool the eye, fool the next person down the road. So we'll go into really the next topic of it is the capability is advancing. One of the first items here is frontier AI models, what frontier means. It's kind of the bleeding edge, the next up and coming thing that you're going to see. In a test out in the wild, we call it the humanity's last exam. What it is, it's a test compiled of 2,500 questions from different agencies really around the world. So these topics include math, science, engineering, medicine.

1:05:38 Some of these tests kind of help create new medicines and create new vaccines. So some of these frontier AI models from the source at Stanford, these gained 30 percentage points in a single year. That's unheard of. You don't really hear about that from technology, let alone people most of the time. So some of the stats, some other stats from this report I would recommend going to read this report as for the last three, almost four years now, Stanford has released this AI index because as I said before, AI is taking off and it's not really going to stop. So one of their tests, their AI models did achieve gold medal level performance on the International Mathematic Olympiad in 2025. That's just an interesting stat because though math may seem A to B equals C, it's not always how it is.

1:06:37 And then this new benchmark, this is called OS World. What it is, it's almost 370 tasks that we give the AI model and we give it pretty much a computer to run by itself. It can use its keyboard. It can use its mouth by itself and we say, "Go do this benchmark." As that graph indicates there on your screen from 2024 to 2025, it's a new benchmark. It's increased significantly. I believe it was about 12% and it's reaching almost a human level capability. So it's not going to slow down. This is a year-over-year trend and we're seeing week-to-week, month-to-month that it's even progressing even rapider. So a couple of things with AI, it's not only being used for proper items like this, doing benchmarking.

1:07:36 Doing testing, but we're seeing it used, obviously, as Chris stated, in the more attacking vector, not only targeting Port Maritime, but really the entire world. So a couple items to really always look at is verifying before you trust it. So the source, were you expecting it? Where's it coming from? AI can now manipulate voices if it hears entrained, long-term. Yeah. If it hears it long enough on a voice, then it will start picking up speech recognition and can actually mimic voices, unfortunately. It's a tough thing to hear. But it can also do face, as I showed you previously. We can just create random faces and it's going to fool you. And with writing, it's just becoming better and better in writing. So if you were not expecting it, and especially, if you're new to this, if you're new to this,

1:08:36 if you have a sensitive sense of urgency to it, then stop, don't communicate with it, and just take a couple of minutes to ask and ask for help. The context, just because it seems perfect and it seems so well-written, doesn't mean it's actually legit anymore. Number one thing to ask is, does this actually make sense to you, first off? And then, the last part is to confirm. This is what I do. In my personal life, any time you're not expecting it, just verify. If it is a doctor's office calling you saying that you have something and you weren't expecting it, hang up the phone if they called you and call your actual doctor's office. Or if you got an email, they say you have something, just call them. It's just going to take a couple of minutes. So how are we keeping up with this environment? As Chris stated, we were two of 53.

1:09:36 A few folks in the state of Washington to get awarded our certification trainings. One's on AI, one's on information privacy. So we are going through that. And then another certificate that is taking place is a more offensive security cert. So one of my main duties is I perform hacking actions. So I do it on our network because if I can find it first, then we can patch it quicker. So I am going through the certifications and it will just better our environment for that. We are attending a ton of webinars and summits. So getting involved in the community, not only locally, but around the U.S. to make sure that we're staying informed on what is actually happening out there. Obviously working with our partners, as Chris stated.

1:10:35 We have a lot of partnerships locally. So we are keeping a constant communication with them to understand what they are seeing and what we are seeing. And because at the end of the day, we're all doing the same fight. So it's best to share all the information together. As I become certified, we're trying to do that the best we can. And then testing. We not only test internally, but like I said, we test externally too. We have to make sure our environment is secured the best that we can. So we're going to shift a little bit to cybersecurity and business continuity. Business continuity is one of the most important things, because we have to keep the port running and keep the lights going. So the environment that we're in, a couple industry-wide trends that we're seeing. In 2025, maritime cyber incidents roughly doubled. Last year we saw close to 1,200 cyber-related incidents throughout the maritime industry. So that's a lot. That's a lot of work.

1:11:35 So it's not going to be slowing down for 2026 either. I expect it to be close to double again, unfortunately. And when these events do happen and these partners are breached, we're typically seeing a recovery window now moving into the weeks instead of days. It used to be days for a very long time, but now that attacks have gotten so sophisticated, and somewhat easier, depending on if you're using ARNOT, to complete it, they're a lot longer lasting. And then in modern ransomware attacks, they're also targeting backup systems. So best business practice is always to keep a backup of all your data. Keep it here, and then keep it there. These attacks are starting to try to find those backups, data sources, and make sure that these backups are going to be there.

1:12:35 These businesses can't come back online. So why this matters for us, we all have to understand it together, and try to figure this out. So prevention is still the precedent, and that's what we're taking the most serious. That's why we have two cyber staff here. But understanding that recovery is really the next best option as well, just in case something does happen. And then our posture. We are doing today a little bit of information on that. As Chris stated in extreme detail, we are doing a lot of port-wide monitoring, understanding what's in our environment, what we can see, and what we can't see. We are doing external attack service scanning. Like I said, we have to make sure that if we can, nobody can get in, and if somebody can, then let's find it first. And make sure to close up that whole process. Thank you.

1:13:35 And then sector information sharing, as stated a lot. We are wanting to make sure everybody else knows what we're doing, and vice versa. Because somebody down the road may be seeing one thing, and we won't know about it for a couple hours. Testing. We are doing regular security awareness exercises, as Chris stated. We are doing it both internally, and then we have ongoing testing of our safeguards and defenses. Just to make sure the things that we are putting in place actually meet what they say. And then talking about backups, understanding that we do have our backups in place. And if something were to happen, if we did move to that backup system, will it actually work? So we actually go through our backup system, and actually run it, and it will not hurt

1:14:34 the operations. People won't even know about it. So we prove that everything actually works. And then responding. If something does actually happen, how do we respond? So we have documented incident response plans. So if incident A happens, then we're going to follow subset A, B, C, and D. And then making sure that all of our defined roles are actually there. So we're not guessing. We're trying to figure out who to actually go to. And as Chris stated, when we have to report anything, we have upwards of 8 different agencies. Not all of us are going to memorize all those agencies, the phone numbers, the emails that we have to go to. So we just write it down. And then understanding the posted incident. We in the security community call in postmortem reports. So we do them.

1:15:34 Already here. And understanding that at the end of an event, we can go back and look at it five years from now and understand what actually took place, what we did to fix it, and what we learned from it. Continuity when it counts. So these are kind of the steps that we take in place. So if something did happen, this is what we're going to actually happen. We're going to first contain whatever is actually going on. If it was a single device. Or a plethora of devices. We're going to find that group. And then we're going to isolate it just to its own home. That way it can't start spreading around the network. Operating. As I said before, our contingency procedures and our incident response plans, we're going to follow those plans and playbooks and understand what needs to be stood up to be able to run and keep the business going in an unfortunate time. And then once everything is actually taken care of.

1:16:34 And secured and we can confirm that, we're going to start restoring from our backup data and make sure that all of our tested procedures actually work and go through. And then communicate just notifying those who need to be told about what's going on and make sure everybody knows what is happening. So the main takeaway of continuity is we're always going to be prepared. But if something does happen, we're not too alarmed. Obviously, it's a scary time if something does happen in a cyber event here. But we plan for hours and hours at a time, understanding what we need to do. And know that though the restore time and event time may be weeks now, we're not going to be sitting there for months on end and trying to figure out what to do. So we always have to plan. That's it for me. Any questions?

1:17:33 Not a question, but a comment. Thank you. And as somebody who misses rotary phones, I really appreciate those of you who are really digging in and taking this seriously to protect everything and everyone. I really appreciate the tests of all of us as well. I think that's a great thing. A great-- I got caught once, so I really appreciated it when that happened. And an email tricked me. So yeah, just thank you for all of this work and staying nimble and prepared as it continues to change every minute. So thank you. I was going to ask, because I know, Chris, you've presented at WPPA a couple of times.

1:18:33 And I'm wondering what we're seeing with some of the smaller reports, because I know they're-- I'm assuming they're lacking a lot of the kind of bandwidth to address some of these things. But they're no less exposed. Yeah. So they are starting to hire some more, bringing both IT staff and cyber staff on board. So some of the smaller ports that I'm in communication with, in the last six months, they've hired-- they've hired a lot of cyber people. So that's a good sign. I think we'll see more of that coming up. I mean, it's just with the regulation. If they are MTSA regulated, it's going to be a struggle to do that without staff. So like I said, through our partnerships, if they need a policy, if they need to be pointed in a direction, I'm always there to help. And same with Logan.

1:19:33 You know, we're happy to share not only our threats, but our best-- our practices and our policies and stuff like that. So I think that's something we're seeing across the state through-- you know, everything's changing so fast. People have kind of given up on trying to do it on their own. And they're using their partnerships. And you know, I think we've got past to like, you know, if you're at another port, you're a competitor. On the IT and cyber side, that's not the case. I mean, there's great interactions with-- through the ports and, you know, sharing our best practices and, you know, like what solution to use. I think that's one of the biggest ones is we get hit constantly with sales pitches. And so, you know, get that word of mouth and say, you know, we're using this solution. Look at it to solve this problem.

1:20:33 And I think that's really beneficial, so. Well, I appreciate your support of some of the smaller ports and the fact that we are working together. Yeah. Can I ask a follow-on to that really quickly, which I also appreciate. I mean, in all of our departments, we have such incredible staff. And we're at a size where we're able to offer a lot in support to some of the smaller ports, and I really appreciate all the different information-sharing groups that there are. A question that I had listening to that, though, was what are the follow-on effects for, say, us, for larger ports that may have more of that infrastructure, the follow-on effects of the smaller ports not having as much infrastructure? Like, despite their best intentions, there may be more that could happen to them because they just don't have the support that we have. Are there follow-on effects for us?

1:21:33 Yeah. I mean, I think that's a really good question.

1:21:38 I think that's a really good question.

1:27:41 Thank you.