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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Sitka Haulout: It’s Back To the Drawing Board

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board agreed Thursday that the city should issue a new request for proposals to construct a boat haulout facility at the industrial park.

Board Director Garry White is already working on the request in the wake of the news last week that the city did not receive any part of the $6.5 million requested for the project in this year’s round of federal BUILD grants.

White said the Assembly and the community still must now consider some key questions, and some tradeoffs, when it comes to the haulout.

“Everybody should understand the city has no funding for the project,” he told the Sentinel. “We have to have a conversation: what amount of control are you willing to give up? ... It comes down to, if it’s the public sector, it’s going to take public funds; if it’s the private sector, we don’t have control.”

(Sentinel photo by James Poulson)

 

White said he hopes haulout user groups can come together on a plan that will allow the project to go forward. 

Three months ago the Assembly rejected all offers received under a previous RFP. City Administrator John Leach had recommended rejecting one of the bids because of changes in the company’s proposal, especially the “new funding design and city infrastructure requirement.” A few Assembly members agreed it also made sense to wait until the outcome of the BUILD grant request was known before putting out a new one.

On Sept. 15 the city learned only one Alaska project received a BUILD grant, $21 million for the Anchorage International Airport Intermodal cargo and cold storage facility. 

The city is working under a time crunch for building the haulout because Halibut Point Marine plans to close the only publicly available boat haulout in Sitka by spring 2021.

(HPM manager Chris McGraw said today that he is expanding facilities on the site to serve an increase in cruise ship visitors, as well as for a restaurant and tap room featuring local beer, and more tour staging areas.) 

White estimated a minimum boatyard setup at the industrial park would be an EPA-approved washdown pad and haulout pier, costing at least $4 million.

Since boat maintenance facilities are essential in a fishing port like Sitka, a number of potential users of the new haulout attended the GPIP discussion on the issue last Thursday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. They re-emphasized the importance of the haulout to the fishing fleet, local maritime trades and the rest of the community. They wanted to make sure the design and plans accommodated Sitka’s vessels – not particular user groups – and have space for working on boats hauled out.

White said Monday he wants to continue moving forward, though the federal funding did not come through. He added that he has heard a number of interested parties say they can put together a plan, but noted that any plan must have a funding source.

“We don’t have a consensus, or budget set by the Assembly,” he said. “Based on the loss of revenue over the summer – a loss of sales tax revenue – I don’t know if that’s even achievable.”

White said he hopes the interested parties can work together.

“We’re encouraging the tradespeople to work with the stakeholders to develop their own financing package and submit a response with their vision of the development,” he said.

“I would like to see the same thing and that’s what we were originally looking at,” local welder Jeremy Serka said today. “The potential is there and I think everybody sees that. ... I think for $2 million we could be hauling boats out with a traditional Travel-lift. We just need to find the right people that want to be involved in it. It’s a moving target so we’ve got to keep adapting, finding the corporate structure and financing.”

He said he plans to meet with other interested parties to continue the discussion.

 

 

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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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