The Port of Houston Authority Commission today voted unanimously to pay the Transportation Worker Identification Credential enrollment fee on behalf of the PHA commissioners, commission counsel, employees and some temporary workers.
Port Director Tom Kornegay said the fees, now required by the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Coast Guard, are estimated to not exceed $100,000 for port employees and officials, but the total cost of the program could exceed $300,000.
"Everybody who comes in the gate is going to have to have a TWIC or go through some other sort of clearance process; or be chaperoned, escorted or whatever you want to call it," Kornegay said. "Things are going to change within a few months."
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The commission approved a $186,640 amendment to its contract with Klotz Association, Inc. for Bayport Terminal Complex Phase I Container Yard Design.
The commission approved an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad Company for railroad corssing imporvements related to the widening of Main Street in Galena Park. The project was first estimated not to exceed $228,978, but based on a staff update the motion approved by the commission limited the cost at $275,000.
All other agenda items were approved. All votes were unanimous.
Two residents of La Porte near the Barbours Cut Container Terminal attended the commission meeting to complain about containers being stacked as many as six high. "We can see them over the trees."
"The port authority does not have any containers," replied Chair Jim Edmonds, adding that the complaint will be referred to the shipping companies.
Other complaints dealt with noise and other issues in the Bayshore area, at Barbours Cut and at the new Bayport Container Terminal. Kornegay said that those issues are being revisited.
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"We have been talking recently with the elected officials in La Porte and Shoreacres about the issues again," Kornegay reported. "We will be presenting to them some alternatives for them to present to the community."