By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel staff Writer
The Assembly agreed Tuesday that Sitka needs a boat haulout, but did not reach agreement on whether or how the public would help pay for it.
At the end of more than an hour of discussion, Kevin Mosher and Thor Christianson volunteered to work with city staff on some funding options, including ballot measures for the Assembly to consider at a future meeting.
“No matter what we come up with, we’ll have lots of public input,” Christianson said.
Mosher said he plans to work with Christianson and City Administrator John Leach to come up with an ordinance on a ballot question.
At the outset of Tuesday’s discussion, Mosher spoke on the importance of a haulout to the entire community.
“If we’re going to have a haulout, we’re going to have to pay for it, if we don’t get grant funding,” he said. “If we don’t have a haulout there will be a trickle down effect and maybe (we) won’t be the fishing community that we are. It’s a big decision and it should be made by voters.”
City staff, the Assembly and the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board have been working for years on ideas and funding scenarios for building a haulout at the park. The problem became more pressing this spring when Halibut Point Marine shut down its commercial haulout.
The city has applied a third time for a federal RAISE grant to help cover the cost.
Kevin Knox, who co-sponsored the discussion item on the agenda, said its purpose was to close the loop on whether there is a “community solution,” if grant funding does not come through.
“My goal is to have a discussion with public expertise,” Knox said.
The Assembly packet included several possibilities for raising funds, including a sales tax increase, but some Assembly members said they did not want to put questions to voters that they knew had little chance of passing.
“I’ve seen ballot propositions go down in flames, because people are opposed to new taxes,” Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz added today.
City Administrator John Leach commented today that “It’s important to note that if the argument is made that it’s core infrastructure critical to the community, then the community needs to be involved in the process and contribute to the decision on how public funds are spent. The public needs to have a say.”
The meeting lasted three hours, and the haulout discussion took place after the Assembly made quick work of the rest of the agenda, including passage of the fiscal year 2023 budgets.
A request for proposals seeking offers on building the haulout resulted in one from a group that organized as Sitka Community Boatyard LLC, which obtained a commitment from the industrial park for a lease on a parcel of park land for the project. When their plans didn’t work out the group relinquished the lease, but said they continue to look for solutions.
Linda Behnken, one of the partners in SCB, stressed the importance of moving quickly since boat owners are leaving Sitka to get boatwork done, and Sitka is losing economic activity.
“People are going to other communities to sell fish so you’re losing raw fish tax because they can haul in Hoonah or Wrangell after they sell their fish,” Behnken said. “You’re losing that economic activity. Without a boatyard through the winter you’re going to lose those year-round high paying service sector jobs.”
Behnken asked the Assembly to consider options for raising revenue that would target an amount closer to $3 million, rather than the $10 million under discussion. She suggested a one-time search for capital upfront instead of an ongoing subsidy.
The possibility of a town hall meeting was brought up at the Assembly meeting as a next step if the Assembly does not settle on a direction and particularly if the city is not successful in getting grants.
One idea raised by Leach was for a new RFP with the city pitching in $500,000, with requirements of what the successful bidder would need to install and accomplish, such as ramp improvements, power and water, a reinforced access road, and a DEC-approved washdown pad.
The discussion ended with Christianson and Mosher agreeing to work with Leach and other staff on possible ballot questions for raising funds for the project.
Ballot questions for the fall ballot need to go before the Assembly by July 26 as an ordinance for first reading.
