A unanimous vote passed by the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday will allow the Port of Anchorage to borrow $75-million for the initial phase of a massive port makeover project. Included in the expansion project is a 1.5-mile steel wall which will be backed by millions of cubic yards of gravel and sand to create 135 acres of new land in the Knik Arm.

Before voting, the Assembly, including its four new members, listened to a public hearing on the expansion project. Of the six speakers, five urged the Assembly to re-evaluate the project before allowing it to proceed.

The project, according to port director and former governor Bill Sheffield, would cost more than $700-million. Original estimates put the cost at $375-million.

Julie Jessal, president of the Government Hill Community Council asked, "That's double the cost stated just last year. How much will it be next year?"

Jessal and others argued that the project never received the kind of environmental scrutiny that such a large project requires.

Speaking in favor of the project, Mike Adams, said the port is important for military and statewide cargo needs, and any delays would only increase the overall costs. Adams is a manager of a Chevron terminal at the port.

Bob Shavelson offered the assembly conflicting information when he said that the port's records showed a decrease in the number of tons of goods crossing the port. Shavelson is the director of the environmental group Cook Inletkeeper. Sheffield agreed with this assertion, and said that a refinery in North Pole had stopped shipping a petroleum product called Naphtha through the port. However, he went on to say that the refinery planned to start making fuel again which would would increase the number of tons being shipped to the port.

Since the project is being built in phases, Assemblyman Patrick Flynn noted that the money being discussed would allow for construction on the north end of the port. He said the city can decide later whether to keep pursuing the project.

Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg asked if the city would be committed to paying for the entire project if phase one was completed. To this Sheffield replied no.

Sheffield said in an interview that the project could be finished by 2014, if everything goes as planned. When asked about the increase in cost estimates, he said: "We're doing more than what we were going to do, and it's costing us more than we thought it was going to cost."

The project is said to be the largest public works project in the history of Anchorage.