By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly gave unanimous approval of two grant applications at its Tuesday meeting: one for the Japonski Island boathouse rehabilitation project and the other for safety improvements to local roads.
Safe Streets
The city is requesting $550,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation “Safe Streets for All” program, a grant that requires a 20 percent local match.
The city hopes to apply for an Implementation Grant and partner with other organizations on major road and sidewalk projects, but needs an Action Plan first in order to apply, City Administrator John Leach told the Assembly Tuesday.
“My excitement was squashed a bit when we went to some of the meetings with multiple agencies helping us through this infrastructure bill and they said, ‘Is this area defined in your comprehensive safety action plan?’ And I said, ‘what’s a comprehensive safety action plan?’”
The expectation is the city will get the grant and develop the safety action plan, which will lead to not just funding opportunities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill but other potential grant avenues in the future.
“Hopefully, we will be able to go after real infrastructure funding with regards to roads,” said Melissa Henshaw, city public and government relations director. “Specifically, we’re looking at Katlian Street.”
Leach cited the narrowness of the road, and pedestrian safety. A member of the public spoke in support, citing the one-way traffic bottleneck where a house has fallen into the street.
“I watch behavior that is unsafe, period,” said Katlian Street resident Scott Saline, who said he sees “a couple of road rages every day.”
“An estimated project cost of $550,000 with a CBS match of $100,000 will consist of in-kind staff time and resources to manage outside consultants along with a $50,000 contingency,” the city staff memo said.
The Assembly asked a few questions about the grant process, before authorizing the administrator to apply for the grant.
Boathouse Grant
The other resolution passed unanimously to support the nonprofit Sitka Maritime Heritage Society application under the FY22 Historic Preservation Fund grant program for certified local governments.
The grant request was for $83,333, including the $33,000 local match of in-kind, donated and purchased services. The $50,000 grant would come from the state Historic Preservation Fund for Certified Local Governments.
The project will consist of installing and finishing the building restroom and building a deck, stairs, and ramp. The project also includes restoration of the remaining exterior walls that have not been repaired.
The city leases the property to the Maritime Heritage Society for $1 a year. The city retains an 8.5 percent fee from grants to cover administrative costs associated with grant management and reporting requirements.
Planning Director Amy Ainslie said that the city as property owner may be required to sign a covenant on the property if the grant is approved by the state. The covenant requires the city to maintain the property “in a good and sound state.” A 10-year covenant was signed in 2010, and expired in 2020.
Bruce Gazaway, a member of the Maritime Heritage Society board, said the organization has been working on the historic preservation project for close to 15 years, and has received about 10 of these preservation grants.
“We’ve been consistently successful in meeting the grant requirements and satisfying the granting agency,” he said. “We really would appreciate your support. We feel that we’re working slowly to restore a vital part of our maritime heritage and our maritime economy. Our goal in the long term is to create a museum of skills and to reopen this as a boathouse for fishermen and boat owners. We’re a long way from that but this grant would help us towards that goal.”
Asked how many more grants the MHS plans to seek, Gazaway said, “I would expect at least as many more. The building was not in good shape when the city acquired it. We ... took the lead in helping the city identify this property and encouraging the city to acquire it because of its historic value, and the fact that it was at one time a very important facility for supporting the local maritime industry.”
MHS does not have a permit yet for permanent occupancy but has been able to have “temporary events” such as boatbuilding and kayak building classes and tours and open houses in the structure, Gazaway said.
“We do make an effort to make it available to the public,” he said. “Unfortunately, in its current condition it’s not an ideal setting – it’ll take some more work before we’re really able to open it up for permanent use. The finishing of the bathroom would be a major factor in that, and that will do a lot make it more usable.”
Asked whether the charge to the society was enough to cover the costs, City Finance Director Melissa Haley said one of the challenges is the fact that it’s federal money that passes through the state and the city, to the nonprofit.
“All of the federal strings stay in place,” she said. The main issue is the procurement process and reporting requirements for federal grants, and the nonprofit must follow the same rules for procurement that the city has, Haley said.
