HOUSTON, Feb. 19, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Port Commission of The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) will consider awarding a $1.3 million contract (partially reimbursable by EPA and H-GAC grants) to Adobe Equipment to replace 15 yard tractors at Barbours Cut with the cleanest burning engines available on Tuesday, February 23, in the boardroom of the PHA Executive Building, 111 East Loop North (Exit 29 off Loop 610) in Houston. Chairman Jim Edmonds will preside over the regular public meeting at 9 a.m. with Commissioner Steve Phelps, Commissioner Jim Fonteno, Commissioner Kase Lawal, Commissioner Jimmy Burke, Commissioner Janiece Longoria, and Commissioner Elyse Lanier.
OPERATIONS MATTERS
(Agenda L1) The Commission will consider awarding a $1,259,925 contract to Adobe Equipment to purchase 15 replacement yard tractors with the cleanest burning engines available for use at Barbours Cut terminal. PHA has a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant that will reimburse 25 percent of the purchase and delivery cost of these environmentally-friendly units. A grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) fund, which will reimburse about 60 percent of this purchase, is also available to PHA.
FINANCE MATTERS
(Agenda I6) The Commission will consider awarding one-year contracts, effective March 1, 2010, for various primary and excess property and casualty liability insurance coverage at an estimated $3.2 million to the following carriers: ACE, primary casualty; Max America, hull and machinery; WQIS Syndicate, broad form pollution; Travelers, boiler and machinery; Travelers Lloyds, contractors' equipment; Lloyds and various domestics, property; Lloyds, terrorism and excess casualty; and Chartis, public officials.
ENGINEERING & REAL ESTATE MATTERS
(Agenda H2) Commissioners will consider amending the contract with Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. for Bayport Terminal Complex Phase I Program Management for $3,962,000. The contract has been amended annually to provide for specific tasks scheduled for the upcoming year. Proposed year nine services will include design management for gate expansion, security, railroad signals and electrical system modeling. Also included are construction management and inspection for the Phase 1 wharf, Phase 1 Stage 2 container yard, security, three building contracts, substation expansion, gate expansion and the sight and sound berm surrounding much of the terminal.
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, there are more than 8,000 vessel calls at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage and second in overall total tonnage. The port authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. The second recertification of those facilities in 2009 included an extension for the state-of-the-art Bayport Container Terminal. PHA is the first port authority in the world to receive ISO 28000:2007 certification for Port Police and the perimeter security operations at both the Barbours Cut and Bayport Terminals. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
To access the port's Web site photo gallery, please visit http://www.portofhouston.com/publicrelations/publicrelations.html and click the link for PHA Photo Gallery.