Borough prepares for deep-draft dock construction

MAT-SU -- The bids have been opened and the Mat-Su Borough Assembly last week selected two companies to provide the steel and pipe needed to construct the deep-water dock at Port MacKenzie.

The two contracts total nearly $3 million -- about $2.25 million for steel pilings and about $675,000 for pipe. The money was fronted by NPI LLC, as part of a use agreement also finalized last week. The wood-chipping company is working with the borough on the dock in return for the right to build an $8 million conveyor system to the dock which they can use to load wood chips for export to Asia. NPI agreed to cover the cost of the steel and pipe in order to expedite the construction process at the port.

The bid selection process took a little longer than expected. The first round of bidding wrapped up last month, but a bid challenge was filed and it appeared as though the process had stalled. Borough Manager John Duffy, in November, told the assembly going through the bid challenge could eat up most of the lead time that was hoped to be gained by the agreement with NPI. The assembly agreed to rebid the steel and pipe, hoping to save some time.

Terry Nininger, project manager for NPI, complimented the borough staff on the fast turnaround.

"It probably cost us two weeks, but it could have cost us a lot more," Nininger said.

NPI, Nininger said, is currently hard at work preparing their 18-acre leased site for operation as soon as possible next year.

"We have a crew of 10 guys, and we're working eight hours a day, seven days a week," Nininger said.

The crew is clearing and preparing the site for what will be a five-acre paved pad for wood chip storage and other use. The crew is also working on 1.3 miles of road at the lease, Nininger said, that will connect to Port MacKenzie road. The road is halfway finished and they hope to have everything ready for asphalt by the end of January. Shipments of the conveyor should be coming in about May, Nininger said, and NPI will run the conveyor down the hill from their site to the face of the existing fill dock, allowing them to ship gravel, possibly by the end of May.

Meanwhile, the borough is moving ahead on issuing the $10 million in bonds for construction of the deep-water dock. The bonds are expected to be priced and sold by February. Although estimates vary as to a particular day, the deep-draft dock may be completed and ready for use as early as August.

"This will get us out to deep water," Assembly member Jody Simpson said of the bid selection. "It will do just exactly what the people who voted for the $10 million in bonds expected to see for their money."