January
- A $60,000 grant was accepted by the Port from the Oregon Business Development Department for Lower Mill Environmental Remediation.
- The Port closed on Lot 300 at the Lower Mill Site, adding 2.36 acres to the industrial land development site.
- The Riverside property sale to Sheppard’s closed on January 19 at a price of $649,374.
- Pfriem Family Brewers became the sole tenant in the 20,000 square foot Halyard Building when a lease was finalized for Suite 104.
- Staff continued the investigation related to the damage on the Hood River Interstate Bridge resulting from a suspected allision with a barge tow last fall.
February
- OneGorge sponsored “A Gorgeous Night Out” with information/advocacy receptions held in Salem and Olympia.
- High school senior Payton Rigert began her semester-long internship at the Port, assigned to research, article writing, implementation of a digital filing system, and digitization of historical photos.
- The Hook Waterfront Trail project was awarded to Emery & Sons Construction Group in the amount of $75,024. A $25,895 grant from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and a $20,000 contribution from Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District helped fund the project.
- A contract was ratified with Advanced American Construction, Inc., for fabrication and installation of two Lift Span Guides for the bridge at a cost of $62,000.
- A joint meeting with the Port of The Dalles convened for discussions of potential collaborative efforts to enhance the region’s economic zones.
March
- A new portofhoodriver.com website was launched with improved navigation, ecommerce functionality, and a streamlined process for document sharing. The site was developed by Gorge Web Design.
- Commissioner Brian Shortt and Special Projects Manager Genevieve Scholl attended the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association’s Mission to D.C.
- An application to designate the Hood River Interstate Bridge as part of the National Highway System was approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Long-time Port employee Glenn Brittenham retired after 28 years of service as toll-collector.
- After completion of a Lot 1 concept plan begun by Walker|Macy, Berger Abam was retained for planning services associated with development of the subdivision application.
- Utility design work for Lower Mill Site was completed, and requests for bids issued soon thereafter.
- The Port of Hood River held its Spring Planning Work Session, an in-depth opportunity for the Commission to provide direction to staff for the annual budget process and updating of the 10-Year Financial Model.
April
- The Port’s budget committee met to review the proposed agency budget for Fiscal Year 2016-17.
- The Hook Trail opened to the public, connecting the waterfront trail to the new rigging area at The Hook.
- A contract for engineering drawings for the reconfiguration of the South Taxiway at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield was approved in the amount of $173,489, with 90% of funding provided by the FAA.
- JAL Construction completed the mass grading and clean up at Lower Mill Site, and free clean mulch became available to the community.
May
- A new Lost & Found policy was adopted limiting Port storage and inventory to items of higher value, and low value items like flip-flops and towels to be placed in a public bin located at the Event Site. The new policy should decrease staff time required to manage the Lost & Found.
- An agreement was executed to permit the National Geographic vessels Sea Bird and Sea Lion to overnight on twelve dates at the Cruise Ship Dock.
- Subrogation engineers evaluated the Lift Span on the Hood River Interstate Bridge for the potential insurance claim resulting from the allision.
- A picnic table with a plaque honoring former Port Commissioner Don Hosford and his wife Virginia was installed at Marina Park.
- P-Square Solutions installed two of the four lane controllers at the toll booth as part of Phase I of their project work plan. Lane 1 and 2 lane controllers would be installed in late June.
June
- An oil train derailment in Mosier created major traffic backups on Interstate-84 and the Hood River Interstate Bridge.
- The FBO agreement was assigned from Classic Wings Aero Services to Hood Tech Corp., Aero, Inc. (TacAero).
- A contract was approved with DKS Associates for a Bridge Signage Needs Assessment.
- Lift span engineering and testing services were approved with Parsons Brinkerhoff and HDR Engineering.
- A glider concession at the Hood River Airport was approved for Hood River Soaring.
July
- The Port Commission convened for its second Hood River Interstate Bridge Replacement Work Session to discuss the different approaches to consider as well as goals, assumptions and timelines.
- Trenching and excavation work for the new power conduit around Marina Green was completed.
- The Port made progress on wetland and site planning on the Airport north ramp, with coordination between Century West, Vista GeoEnvironmental Engineering and Schott & Associates.
- Engineering intern Andrew Porter, a recent graduate of Santa Clara University, completed work on a Stormwater Plan for Lot 1 before heading off to grad school at University of Pennsylvania.
- A $1.36 million ConnectOregon VI grant was awarded for the “Hood River Airport Aviation Technology and Emergency Response Center” at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield.
August
- Good wind, weather, and lots of customers made the 2016 season a great one for kiteboarding, windsurfing and stand-up paddleboard lessons and rental concessions.
- The Marina fuel pump was replaced. The $13,992 project was funded in part by the Oregon State Marine Board.
- An Executive Director Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2016-17 was approved by the Port Commission.
- A new ceilometer, which measures the height of clouds, was purchased and installed to upgrade the Airport’s AWOS (Automated Weather Observing System) at a cost of $27,500.
- The large cruise ship vessels The AmericanPride and Queen of the West continued landings at a new location next to the Commercial Dock outside the Marina Jetty.
- The completion of Waterfront Trail was celebrated with a ribbon cutting at the Nichols Basin Trail plaza, attended by funding and community partners.
September
- The Hood River Fly-In, held September 10-11, experienced record attendance with 538 aircraft on Saturday.
- Beam Excavating achieved final completion on the utility project at the Lower Mill Industrial Site.
- Pacific Power removed the transformer on Marina Green and planned removal of the chain link fence around the transformer, placement of Century Link telephone cabinet underground, as well as grading and grass seeding the area.
- The Port accepted a grant for $237,510 from the FAA for a revised south taxiway design at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield. The Port’s match was $23,751.
- n Foundation and utility work was underway in the Expo project redevelopment by Key Development.
- The Hood River Interstate Bridge lift span returned to full operational status after repairs were completed and new equipment installed to stabilize the vertical lift.
October
- Anne Medenbach and John Mann completed inspections of all Port buildings and properties to identify maintenance issues and plan for improvements in the coming year.
- The Port contributed $5,500 to the Community Energy Plan, a joint agreement with the City, County and the Port to lower energy consumption and increase the use of renewable resources. Marla Harvey will lead the effort as the Clean Energy Coordinator/Planner.
- Waterfront Coordinator Liz Whitmore presented the 2016 Waterfront Annual Report to the Port Commission. The completion of the Waterfront Trail in late summer was the lead news in the report.
- Port Commission and staff worked on legislative strategies and goals related to the replacement of the Hood River Interstate Bridge.
November
- Installation of new GFCI breakers at pedestals on north C Dock continued in efforts to resolve reoccurring electrical issues on the dock.
- The Port Commission held its Fall Planning Workshop on November 15 featuring wide-ranging discussions on key initiatives and policy matters facing the Port in an effort to provide general direction to staff.
December
- The Port submitted an application for federal “FASTLane” funding for pre-construction activities associated with replacement of the Hood River Interstate Bridge; including a Final Environmental Impact Statement, preliminary engineering, and right-of-way acquisitions. The request included a project cost of $8.71 million for a grant amount of $5.05 million and a local match of $3.66 million.
- The FAA approved reclassification of the Ken Jernstedt Airfield runway to a Utility designation in line with its actual use by smaller weight aircraft without instrument approach landings. The Non-Utility designation was unsuitable for instrument approaches by larger aircraft due to surrounding mountainous topography.
- A contract with Kapsch TrafficCom IVHS Inc. was approved for Toll System Hardware Upgrades in the amount of $281,579, while another contract for $97,777 was approved with P-Square Solutions LLC for Toll System Architecture.
- Moorage rules and regulations for 2017 were approved by the Port Commission.