Practical Property Peril Protections

By Sean Dewalt

In Alaska, commercial property exposures range from natural events such as wind, wildland fires, earthquakes, landslides, and floods to human-caused risks like burglary, vandalism, and arson. While severe wind events and earthquakes are almost impossible to predict with any certainty, perils such as avalanches, landslides, and floods tend to fall back to the old real estate adage of “location, location, location.” If the property is not susceptible to those risks thanks to distance, then the likelihood of a loss is nil. But for those day-to-day exposures that property owners are likely to encounter, the best defense is a solid offense. That means taking a proactive approach to property risk management to reduce the probability of losses. While it is understood that liability follows the property ownership, the focus here is on physical exposures and controls to limit risk incurred to structures and people.

The first step to protecting property is understanding the totality of vulnerabilities for the building. This is a risk assessment that can be easily conducted with the help of the commercial insurance carrier or loss control professional. The key to a complete, quality analysis is understanding not just the location of the property but also the operations at that individual location. Adequate controls for a multi-unit habitational occupancy may be significantly different than for a low-rise office building. Some operations have special hazards, which can include flammable and combustible liquids, spray-painting operations, commercial cooking, welding, and cutting. In buildings where these types of tasks are performed, a thorough review of the National Fire Protection Association regulations is necessary and should be adhered to closely.

There are a significant number of buildings in Alaska where mixed or multiple occupancies exist, such as restaurants or maintenance shops in the same location as apartments. These combinations of exposures pose a unique danger due to the comingling of high-risk special hazards and residential occupants. For many properties in this category, fire is a significant possibility, and the best mitigation solution to many of these potential perils includes active fire prevention and protection systems.

Private fire protection systems are fire safeguards at the property, such as fire extinguishers, alarms (both fire and smoke), and automatic sprinkler systems. Automatic sprinklers are the most reliable and effective fire protection devices available today, provided they operate correctly. The clearance for sprinkler heads is a minimum of 18 inches, so stacking items to the ceiling should be avoided. All of these systems have annual inspection requirements and should be part of a formal property inspection process. Insurance companies tend to give credits on insurance premiums for sprinklered buildings if the systems are inspected and maintained properly.

Formal property inspections are a great way to ensure that the building is taken care of consistently. A checklist for the structure that can quickly and thoroughly assess exposures and controls is highly recommended. The inspection sheet should address the interior, exterior, and adjacent property conditions of the building. It should also contain a process for reporting and mitigation of noted hazards and be retained for a length of time. It is important that the person carrying out the inspection understands what to look for and why. For larger buildings, professional security services can provide monitoring of surveillance equipment, guarding entry points, and verifying visitors. Professional property managers are another good solution to ensure that the property is adequately operated. Both types of professionals can perform building walk-throughs and are often formally trained in the inspection process.

Yet another good resource is the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). The IBHS is an independent, nonprofit scientific research and communications organization supported by property insurers and reinsurers. At ibhs.org you will find information about protecting buildings and property as well as links to information to help increase resilience for structures. Regardless of the chosen option, formalized documentation should be provided to the building owner for review and retention, including any deficiencies or risk mitigation work that was completed. A thorough inspection should start from the outside in, and from the top down.

1. Assess the structure’s cladding, roof, walkway, windows, doors, and any adjacent hazards such as trees or other threats.

2. Keep egress doors clear of obstructions such as snow or trash.

3. In the parking lot and around the building perimeter, sufficient lighting, security systems, roving vehicle patrols, adequate fencing, and solid

Stantec

The ConocoPhillips Building’s days as Alaska’s tallest inhabited structure are numbered. A new control tower for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport will rise 4 feet taller, to more than 300 feet, twice as tall as the existing airport tower. The Federal Aviation Administration selected Stantec to provide architecture and engineering design services. The current tower was built in 1977 to accommodate only four air traffic controllers. An increase in aircraft movements since then created a need for more controllers, leading to overcrowding. stantec.com

Amazon

The former Sears warehouse near Midtown Anchorage has a new tenant. Amazon is setting up a sorting facility in the 88,000-squarefoot building. Renovation is scheduled this spring. The warehouse has been vacant since Sears downsized in 2018, and last year it was purchased by Time Equities, Inc. amazon.com

Advanced Supply Chain International

A subsidiary of Anchorage-based Advanced Supply Chain International (ASCI) won a $12.4 million contract to provide logistics service support for federal agencies, both civilian and military, in Alaska. ASCI has been providing supply chain and asset management consulting and services to commercial and government customers since 1999, but this is the company’s first federal contract. The one-year contract comes with four one-year extension options. ascillc.com

Enstar | Chugach Electric

For the last few years, Southcentral Alaska has burned more natural gas than is produced in Cook Inlet, drawing on stored resources. That fact has Enstar and Chugach Electric Association each hiring consultants to evaluate options for importing liquified natural gas. Enstar notified the Regulatory Commission of Alaska that the cost of the consultant might be tacked onto customer charges. enstarnaturalgas.com | chugachelectric.com

Alaska Renewables

A startup company is proposing the largest wind farm in Alaska yet. Alaska Renewables, formed two years ago by former UAF oceanographer Andrew McDonnell and engineer Matt Perkins of Nevada, has two subsidiaries pursuing projects in Southcentral and the Interior. Little Mount Susitna Wind would install up to eighty turbines near Tyonek, generating as much as 250 MW, ten times the size of the Eva Creek wind farm near Healy, currently the largest in the state. Shovel Creek Wind filed for permission from the state for a project near Murphy Dome, 20 miles northwest of Fairbanks, for at least sixty turbines generating 200 MW. alaskarenewables.com

Northline Seafoods

Sitka-based Northline Seafoods secured funding to build a mobile commercial salmon processing platform for Bristol Bay. The vessel, named Hannah, will deep freeze whole fish from catcher vessels. At the end of the season, it will haul the load to Bellingham, Washington, for storage, reprocessing, and distribution. Northline Seafoods is refitting a disused barge hull with a $40 million federal loan and $22 million from Greater Commercial Lending. Hannah replaces Northline Seafoods’ previous processing barge that grounded in a windstorm in September 2020. northlineseafoods.com

Great Harvest Bread Co.

The operator of one Great Harvest Bread Co. in Fairbanks opens a second location this month. Tricia Cray has owned her current Great Harvest Bakery and Café on College Road since 2012, and the franchise is doing so well that she is expanding to a former Pizza Hut about two miles away. The new shop includes a drive-through window. The Montana-based chain has franchises nationwide but only one other location in Alaska, at the Metro Mall in Midtown Anchorage. greatharvestfairbanksak.com

McGinley’s Pub

Shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McGinley’s Pub in downtown Anchorage reopens this month under a new name: Blarney Stone. One of the co-owners, Jack Lewis, says the atmosphere is even more Irish, and the space on G Street is being renovated with a new entrance. Lewis is the only coowner remaining from the pub’s launch in 2007; others, including former mayor Dan Sullivan, left the partnership during the pandemic.

Alaska Public Media

 Alaska Public Media (AKPM) chose a Midwestern broadcasting executive for the new position of Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Administration. In this role, Dorothy McGrath works with CEO and President Ed Ulman and the organization’s executive management on strategic initiatives, cross-departmental projects, and capacity-building objectives. McGrath also provides administrative coordination for all divisions of AKPM while providing direct supervisory responsibility for human resources and business services. McGrath is a 33-year veteran of public broadcasting, most recently serving on the senior management team for Milwaukee PBS. She began her career in the production department at Nebraska Public Media and worked at KMOSTV in the Kansas City, Missouri area. In Milwaukee, she led the local production and logistics support efforts during the PBS NewsHour’s production of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

KNBA 90.3

KNBA, the Anchorage-based radio station owned by Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, added two veteran journalists to its broadcast newsroom.

 Rhonda McBride comes aboard as News Director, bringing more than thirty years of experience covering rural issues and Alaska Native culture, language, and history. She has also reported on state and local government, fisheries,

Alaska Native corporations, and the oil industry. She moderated the first US Senate debate north of the Arctic Circle during the 2016 election. McBride’s work has been recognized both nationally and locally, through the Alaska Press Club, the Northwest Pacific Emmys, the Society of Professional Journalists, and more. In May 2022, she was inducted into the Alaska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Jill Fratis, the new News Producer for KNBA, previously was station manager of KUHB in St. Paul. She has experience in both early childhood and technical education and as a tribal government service coordinator and wellness advocate for the Aleut Community of St. Paul.

McKinley Management

McKinley Management added three new positions to its executive team.

Jill McLeod comes aboard as General Counsel. McLeod was previously a partner at the international law firm of Dorsey & Whitney, where she managed the firm’s Anchorage office and was a member of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice group. Prior to joining Dorsey, McLeod served as in-house counsel for ConocoPhillips in Anchorage, providing expert legal advice to the company’s Alaska North Slope asset group.

 Ian Walser is McKinley Management’s new Chief Financial Officer. He was previously vice president, controller and compliance for Alaska Growth Capital, which changed hands in September from Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) to become McKinley’s fourth business unit. Walser had been ASRC’s state tax manager. As a CPA, Walser also has experience in corporate and tax accounting, and he also spent time in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 The new Chief of Staff, Shareen Crosby, works closely with McKinley’s executive team to develop Alaska business opportunities and provide project management, research, and writing support. “Shareen’s role is designed to help optimize our executive team and support our business development process,” says CEO Rob Gillam. Crosby has been published as a restaurant critic and worked for the last seven years as chief of staff to state Senator Natasha von Imhof.

Coffman Engineers

 Coffman Engineers brought Josh Crowe into its structural department as a Senior Structural Engineer. He joins Coffman as the firm’s project demands increase. Crowe is already working on a significant seismic evaluation and retrofit of a multi-story building. Crowe has twenty-one years of experience in construction administration and marine and structural engineering. He is a licensed civil and structural engineer in the state of Alaska and is knowledgeable in both steel and concrete design and construction methods. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and