Department mission
The Port Authority Department mission is plan for, finance, construct, operate and maintain transportation related facilities and activities for the purpose of connecting our North Slope communities to better serve our residents.
General information
The purpose of the Department is to plan for, finance, construct, operate and maintain transportation related facilities and activities within the boundaries of the North Slope Borough. These facilities and activities, or Projects, are intended to provide emergency response capability, environmental protection, improved efficiency of local cargo operations, facilitation of resource development, and provision of training and employment opportunities for local residents. These facilities and activities shall be pursuant to the
Development Plan.
The term “Project” shall mean the acquisition, construction, financing, installation, and improvement of a port facility, airport, road, pipeline, right of way, communication system or other transportation or cargo related facility, emergency and oil spill response or other maritime service within the North Slope Borough.
History of the North Slope Borough Port Authority
The timeline associated with the NSPAD’s founding is illustrated below. In the early 2000s, the NSB and North Slope citizens identified the need for formation of a regional entity capable of advancing investment in hard infrastructure—ports, roads, communication networks. Hard infrastructure and its counterpart, soft infrastructure (healthcare, schools, law enforcement), are the building blocks of communities. Availability of both infrastructure types is linked to economic prosperity (Puentes, 2015). Through the work and effort of many throughout the NSB, the North Slope Borough Port Authority Ordinance was drafted and adopted in 2014. In the subsequent year, an NSPA executive director and board members were selected. Political turbulence, however, paused initial organizational steps and it wasn’t until 2018 that work commenced on the preparation of the Authority’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP).
In 2019 while the NSB prepared its 2019 Comprehensive Plan and advanced other initiatives, the need for the Authority was again validated and the LRDP process reactivated in 2020. On December 1, 2020, the Borough Assembly adopted changes to the NSPA enabling ordinance shifting the independent Authority to a Department under the NSB. The full updated Ordinance (2014-01-1) is provided in Appendix A of the North Slope Borough Port Authority – Long Range Development Plan in the links section below.
Links
Contact
Hina Kilioni, Acting Director
Direct Number: (907) 852-0258
Cell Phone: 907) 319-9555
