Coast Guard Security MeasuresMEMORANDUM
February 10, 2003
TO:The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM:Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT:Comments Regarding Proposed Coast Guard Marine Security Measures
Administrative Services Manager Pauline Joyce is transmitting information in response
to the Coast Guard Marine Security Regulations and suggested comments from her and
Fire Chief Dan Brown regarding the key areas that might impact the City and community
projects.
These comments will be sent to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Pauline Joyce, Administrative Services Manager
Dan Brown, Fire Chief
MEMORANDUM
February 7, 2003
TO:Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM:Pauline Joyce, Administrative Services Manager
SUBJECT:Comments Regarding Proposed Coast Guard Mar ne Secur ty Measures
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information and suggested action in
response to Coast Guard marine secudty regulations promulgated in the federal register
and on a fast track.
Fire Chief Dan Brown and I attended a meeting in St. Louis in response to proposed
regulations published in the federal register and the request for comments by the end of
February. This meeting was very helpful and contacts were made with the appropriate
Coast Guard officials to better understand the impact of the proposed regulations, their
targeted concerns for the initial enforcement efforts and areas of concern for the City
that needed to be submitted in writing.
I have attached suggested comments from both Dan and I regarding the key areas that
might impact the City and that we feel will provide us with at least a voice in how and to
what extent the regulations and their interpretation impacts City and community
projects.
CC:Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
William Baum, Economic Dev. Director
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Draft 2-4-03
Comments from the City of Dubuque, Iowa
Regarding Docket Number USCG-2002-14069
Fire Chief Dan Brown and Administrative Services Manager Pauline Joyce were
in attendance at the January 31 meeting held in St. Louis and prepared the
following comments for the City of Dubuque:
The first concern to be addressed is the definition of facility. The City of
Dubuque, in partnership with the Dubuque County Historical Society and the
Dubuque Chamber of Commerce and State of Iowa, have developed a sedes of
projects known as "The America's River" project for the Port of Dubuque. These
include improvements to a 90 acre urban renewal area on the Mississippi River
and adjacent to the Ice Harbor. Included in the projects is a new National
Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the Grand River Center (new
education and conference center), the new Grand Harbor Resort Hotel and
Water Park, renovation of the histodc brewery and shot tower, development of a
new wetlands, docking facilities for the William M. Black which will be used as a
boat and breakfast facility, creation of new parking lots, historic lighting and
landscaping for the lots and streetscape, and a 45,000 square foot office building
currently in the design phase, and a dverwalk built on top of the floodwall that will
be completed this spdng. The entire area has been planned and developed as a
major tourist attraction, with pdvate, city, county, state and federal funding of over
$188 million dollars committed to date.
It is imperative to communities, like Dubuque, who have made significant
investments in their dverfront properties to attract tourists, that facilities such as
those named above not be included under the definition of facilities required to
have facility plans as outlined in NAVIG11-02. These facilities are not connected
with or serviced by any passenger or other types of vessels navigating the
Mississippi. Their only relationship to the dver is their location along the
Mississippi River.
The second concern we would like addressed is the Port Secudty Committees. It
is recommended that these committees have a local government representative
if that community either has a port facility or has local businesses that are
required to have Facility Plans. The local police and fire agencies have expertise
regarding local resources and existing emergency plans for their community.
The addition of security structures may hamper the response of emergency
personnel and the placement of apparatus for use at the incident. It is imperative
that facility plans be consistent with national and local fire codes and that the
adopted Port Secudty Plan be coordinated with existing emergency plans and
Code requirements.
A third area of concern is the language regarding secudty plans for areas where
large gatherings take place. We have several such events that are annual
events held along the dverfront. The community has created their own secudty
plans for such events and has coordinated these with affected state and federal
agencies. There is no doubt that some of these events have a much higher level
of secudty than others, and we recognize that there is a need to review each
event to determine what additional security measures need to be addressed. It is
our recommendation that security measures for such events as the "Taste of
Dubuque" and "Evening at the Pops" be developed and approved by the
Commander of the Port, rather than having a formal facility plan required for each
area that could potentially be used for large gatherings. The City of Dubuque
has a formal process already in place for handling Special Event Permits. This
process involves Police, Fire, Health, City Clerk, Legal and Finance Department
reviews to insure safety of the public and protection of public property, including
any liability issues. This supports the case for ensudng local government
representation on the Port Secudty Committee.
Finally, gaming representatives were present at the meeting and provided
considerable input regarding the significant economic impact that screening
passengers could have on their ability to stay in business, remain competitive,
and what this could mean in terms of lost income to States who have gaming
boats. We agree with their statements regarding the significant economic impact
the loss of boat revenues would have on State government, and also add, that in
our case it would also have an adverse affect on local government funding and
contributions the gaming boat makes to the community. Please consider the fact
that these boats navigate only a shod distance from their home port, and that
these extreme security measures would certainly discourage patrons from
boarding their vessel.
Gaming is considered an important element in the overall tourist attractions for
the Port of Dubuque.