By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The boat haulout is once again up for discussion at the Tuesday Assembly meeting, with an eye on putting a question to voters in the October 4 election on how to cover the cost.
Kevin Knox and Rebecca Himschoot co-sponsored an agenda item for discussion, direction or decision on a community solution related to the haulout.
Sitka has had no haulout since Halibut Point Marine closed its facility this spring to pursue tourism projects at its cruise ship dock.
“With the deadline approaching at the end of July for a ballot referral from the Assembly, Rebecca and I wanted to have the discussion to see if there was interest in moving an item forward on a boat haulout at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park,” Knox said. The city has issued three requests for proposals since 2009 but no project has come to fruition.
The city has also applied a third time for a federal RAISE grant to build a haulout, although the Assembly has not resolved the question of running it.
The main challenges are the upfront costs and the cost of operations. The memo from Himschoot and Knox said the state provided $12 million of the $20 million infrastructure and development costs for a haulout in Wrangell, which currently is being used by Sitka’s fleet.
“There’s a lot of interest from our fleet to have a boatyard; however, our current efforts have not been able to realize the development of one,” Knox said. “If we want to have a full discussion about building and operating a boatyard it has to involve a discussion or a decision on community helping pay for it.”
That could include a general obligation bond and a way to cover debt service, which would need to go to voters, Knox said.
Garry White, GPIP director, has been providing support on all the discussions and RFPs related to the community haulout at the industrial park. He said today that the models he has been looking for Sitka show a subsidy is needed to build a haulout with costs starting at $10 million. But he added that once it is built the user fees and leases should almost cover operations.
