December 28, 2012
The Flywheel
Archive issue
NEXT MEETING: December 28, 2012
Floating Oil Storage & Production Ships
Marine and Power Engineer Scott Johnson takes time from his vacation to visit Richmond Rotary and tell a little bit about the FOSPs and related very large marine structures being built in Singapore for the Indian Ocean oil boom.
MEETING OF December 21, 2012
Welcome
President Jim Young had the flu, so Alan Baer stepped in and lead the meeting. The Pledge of Allegiance was lead by Bill Koziol, and Stoney gave the invocation. Alan offered this thought on the widely reported announcement that the world would end on this day: “ The Mayan calendar had a printing error.” Thanks, Alan.
Announcements
• Tom Waller reported on Jim Young’s signature program “Richmond Tales,” the play that The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts plans to produce. Jim spoke at Berkeley Rotary on Wednesday hoping to raise a donation or two.
• Sid started a collection for all the wait-staff. Everyone contributed. They do a great job.
• David Brown informed us the bike count was now 82 bikes from our club.
• Richmond Tree Planting: Saturday, January 19th at the Solano Playlot.
• Crab Feed Feb 2nd 2013. $40.00 each.
Recognitions
Happy and Sad Dollars
• Norman Lundberg had happy dollars. He’s off to the Easter Islands and Antarctica.
• Hank Covell had 54 happy dollars for his 54th anniversary. Congratulations Hank & Doreen.
• Herb Cole had happy dollars. He’s is off again to Texas to spend Christmas with his 95 year old mother and 92 year old father-in-law.
• Jonathan had Happy dollars for the Club’s great holiday party.
• Don Lau had sad dollars for the passing of Daniel Ken “Dan” Inouye, Medal of Honor recipient and United States Senator.
Norm’s Nonsense
More ponderisms …
– A married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.
-It is difficult to soar with eagles when you have to work with turkeys.
-All of us could take a lesson from the weather, it pays no attention to criticism.
PROGRAM
Subaru’s first shipment of vehicles arrive in the Port of Richmond.Subaru’s first shipment of vehicles arrive in the Port of Richmond. Shortly before arriving today, our speaker, Jim Matzorkis, Executive Director of The Port of Richmond, realized he was heading to the wrong Rotary club when he found himself driving up Cutting Boulevard. Oops! Jim has visited the Richmond Rotary Club before, but always at our former meeting venue, the Mira Vista Country Club. He turned the car around and aimed for the Richmond Country Club, where he arrived in time to give us an update and overview.
Richmond’s is a non-container port with 50% of the water access privately owned. It has no port commission. It is run by the Richmond City Council. For the past ten years, the port has invested in 53 acres of toxic clean up. This action and new rail systems resulted in a huge contract with Honda. Honda came to the Port of Richmond in April 2010 with a 15-year contract and $6 million per year revenue for the city. The Project will bring upwards of 250 permanent jobs. So to accommodate the new business, the City completed the $37 million project. The City then undertook another $750,000 of minor improvements to welcome Subaru.
Between Honda and Subaru, the port will receive 6,000 total cars from Saturday through Tuesday.
Subaru decided to expand to a second west coast distribution center (the first is in Vancouver, Washington) and Richmond proved ideal in location and partnership.
Port Executive Director Jim Matzorkis welcomes Subaru and its national traffic manager, Larry Strug, to Richmond.[/caption]In the next two years, The Port of Richmond will collaborate with its sister city in China to import electric cars & batteries. The Chinese port has already started to install Richmond’s car access systems, enabling both import and export. The Port of Richmond has restored “Rosie the Riviter” building. The Midway, and the Riggers Loft. Now the Port looking for tenants. The Port is home to the locally built “Red Oak Victory”. It has also cleaned up the Bay Trail, improved bike paths, and maintains the little known Scenic Overlook.
Rotating scribe, Alan Blavins