TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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City Readies Defense In Dock Bid Lawsuit

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER

Sentinel Staff Writer

City Attorney Brian Hanson told the Gary Paxton Industrial Park Board Thursday that outside counsel has been hired to defend the city in a lawsuit alleging that the municipal charter was violated in the awarding of a contract to build a dock at the industrial park.

The city will “immediately initiate vigorous defense of allegations made in the complaint,” Hanson told the Sentinel today. “We’re confident in our defense.”

The attorney hired for the lawsuit is Anchorage-based Michael Gatti of Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens P.C., he said. 

Gatti has 30 years legal experience, as a municipal attorney serving many Alaska municipalities, the firm’s website says. He also works as City Attorney for municipalities across the state. 

Marko Dapcevich, who was Sitka mayor from 2004 to 2008, filed the lawsuit against the city and City Administrator Mark Gorman, claiming the city failed to follow the competitive bid process required by the charter in choosing the contractor for the multi-purpose dock.

All of the initial bids for the project were rejected because they were higher than the money available. The city then negotiated with the firms that had submitted a bid when the dock was first advertised by the city. 

The charter says, “contracts for public improvements . . . shall be by competitive bid and awarded to the lowest qualified bidder,” Dapcevich said in the lawsuit. He is calling for the court to issue an injunction requiring the city to cancel the project until it takes place in conformity with the charter requirement for competitive bidding.

Garry White, director of the industrial park, said the board finds the lawsuit “disheartening.”

“A great project we’ve been working on for two decades now is in jeopardy,” he said.

If Dapcevich is successful, it would be disastrous to the project, White said. 

The city would probably lose all the cash it secured for the dock from a statewide bonding package, as well as the funds spent fighting the lawsuit, White said.

“It’s a pretty bad deal for the development of the park and that dock project, which we’ve heard a lot of positive comments from the community about,” White said. 

Dapcevich, who works out of state, identifies himself in the lawsuit as a registered voter and taxpayer residing in Sitka. He was also an applicant for the municipal administrator position, but did not make it to the final round. 

The city has not yet filed an answer to Dapcevich’s complaint, Hanson said. It is due on April 26.

The city has been trying to develop a dock for commercial fishing needs, freight and even bulk water shipping at the industrial park for more than a decade. The city acquired the industrial site from Alaska Pulp Corp. in 1999, and completed a Sawmill Cove Waterfront Development Plan in 2002. 

The city had received $7.5 million for the dock in a statewide bonding package approved by voters in 2012, but initial designs of a dock exceeded the budgeted amount.

 

Last year, the GPIP board approved a contract with Turnagain Marine Construction Corp. to build a floating dock. Prior to negotiating the $6.8 million design-build deal with Turnagain, the park board had advertised for bids on the multi-use deep water dock and found that all offers were for more than the $7.5 million available.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.

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