By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The long-delayed sale of the old Alaska Pulp Co. utility dock, and its associated tidelands, to Hanson Maritime Co., won Assembly approval Tuesday night.
Under the deal as passed, Hanson will receive ownership of the tidelands and 200-by-85-foot pile-supported wooden structure, which the company plans to renovate to use to expand its maritime enterprises. The company will pay nothing for the property or the condemned utility dock.
The deal calls for the company covering the $90,000 cost of demolishing the dock, “to be reconciled through disposal of tidelands valued at $67,280.00 to Hanson Maritime. The difference of $22,720.00 will remain un-disbursed to Hanson Maritime but will instead be credited as paid to the City and Borough of Sitka by Hanson Maritime. The difference of $22,720.00 shall be considered our bid for the property,” said a memo to the Assembly.
The sale was approved on a 5-0 vote after a discussion about the possibility that the city may eventually have to buy the property back in the event that Hanson’s business interferes with the future use of city-owned tidelands on both sides of the utility dock location.
Closed captions are projected on a screen during Tuesday’s Assembly meeting. (Sentinel Photo)
Assembly members attending the meeting were Valorie Nelson, Kevin Mosher, Richard Wein, Thor Christianson and Mayor Gary Paxton.
Lee Hanson, the purchaser, plans to use the property to expand his marine salvage and service business.
Christianson noted that Hanson’s offer has forced the city to start looking ahead about what it wants to do with the Gary Paxton Industrial Park waterfront.
“We have a better plan because of this,” he said of Hanson’s proposal.
A motion to give the city the first right of refusal failed, although Hanson said he didn’t have a problem with the amendment. Nelson and Wein cast the only votes in favor of the change. Others said they didn’t feel it was needed in the sales agreement since the city has other options if it wants the land for another purpose.
“I’m confident we’ve got the ability to figure something out,” said Interim Administrator Hugh Bevan.
Public comments related to whether Hanson’s plans would interfere with the development of a haulout facility urged the Assembly to hold off on approving the sale to Hanson until another plan is in place to accommodate the fleet’s haulout needs.
“I don’t think we should give this away until we’ve figured something out,” said Jeremy Serka.
Chris McGraw, general manager of the only commercial boat haulout facility in Sitka, said he plans to ramp down the service. He said his company hauls out 300 boats a year.
“We will be in operation through 2020 but likely by 2021 our capacity will be significantly reduced as cruise ship traffic increases,” McGraw said today. He said he has made suggestions to the city for a haulout business at the industrial park, and does not see any conflicts between his ideas and Hanson’s plans.
“I think they would complement each other,” McGraw said.
Marine Service Center
The Assembly agreed to hold a work session to decide whether to keep or sell the Marine Service Center on Katlian Street. Bevan said he has reviewed the current plan to put $2.8 million into improving the seawall associated with the freezer plant.
“I came to the conclusion that $2.8 million is not enough to make significant improvement on that wall,” that will extend its life by 15 years, he said. “A decision needs to be made to keep or sell it.”
If a decision is made to keep it, the city needs a “real plan” to rebuild the wall.
Assembly members weighed in with their preliminary views on keeping or selling the facility, but in the end agreed to a work session to discuss plans, tentatively set for Jan. 14.
Other Business
Turning to other business the Assembly:
– voted in favor of hiring a lobbyist to work on issues at the federal level. Bevan recommended the city focus on getting help with the renovation of the Green Lake powerhouse, restructuring the Blue Lake bond debt, and needed infrastructure on Japonski Island to accommodate the new SEARHC facilities and homeporting an additional Coast Guard vessel. There was general agreement to fund the lobbyist with the $117,000 designated for a community affairs director. There was some debate as to the merit of having a lobbyist, but the vote to go ahead was unanimous. “It’s the beginning of a long journey to do these things,” Mosher said. “It’s an investment in our future.”
– approved hiring Amy Ainslie as the new Planning Director, in line with the recommendation of the Sitka Planning Commission, other department heads and Bevan. Ainslie is a Planner 1, but has been performing planning director duties for the past year. She will work with Scott Brylinsky as she gets up to speed on the job. Brylinsky has served twice as interim planning director and has been hired as a consultant in the planning department.
– watched a video related to the Community Playground, and accepted an award for the project from a state parks nonprofit.
– reappointed James Poulson and appointed Sarah Lawrie to the Parks and Recreation Committee; reappointed Deb Miller and Lisa Moore to the Tree and Landscape Committee; reappointed Michael Reif to the Investment Committee and appointed Gregg Olson to the Police and Fire Commission.
– approved on first reading an ordinance to clarify the duties industrial park manager. The ordinance says that any duties not provided for in the services contract is the responsibility of the administrator or designee.
– briefly discussed the city’s responsibility to provide closed captioning services at Assembly meetings for those with hearing impairments, City attorney Brian Hanson said he and the city IT manager would meet with the person requesting the system, who has suggestions for improvements.
– rescheduled the Dec. 24 meeting to Dec. 23.
Executive Session
After meeting in two executive sessions, the Assembly voted 5-0 to direct the city attorney to proceed with the assignment of claims with Alaska Public Entity Insurance as discussed in executive session.
The Assembly also voted 4-1 to direct the Interim Administrator to negotiate a possible agreement with intentional investors and give him the authority to sign an agreement with the Baranof Island Brewing Company. Wein voted against.
