By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board of directors voted Tuesday to put out a request for proposals on purchase of the old Alaska Pulp Corp. utility dock at the park.
Lee Hanson, president of Hanson Maritime Co., submitted a proposal Dec. 3 to develop the dock and property for his marine services business.
“During that meeting public works and finance staff said sales of property needed to go to competitive bid,” said Garry White, director of the industrial park. “That hasn’t been the past practice of the park.”
The GPIP board was scheduled to consider Hanson’s offer Tuesday at its regular meeting.
But White said City Attorney Brian Hanson (no relation) told the board at that meeting that in his opinion the sale should be by competitive bid, the same as for other city property.
The board could have forwarded Hanson Maritime’s offer and the board’s recommendation to the Assembly to accept or reject, but opted instead in favor of putting the property out for a request for proposals, which White said is a competitive bid process. There have been no other recent offers on the dock or that piece of land, White told the Sentinel today.
White drew attention to the language in the enabling ordinance that established the industrial park, which said that park land and property should be treated differently from other city property.
“Unlike other property owned by the municipality, the former Alaska Pulp Corporation mill site was acquired not for governmental purposes from the state or federal government, but for economic development and disposal. In general, the property will not be used for public improvements. It will be leased or sold to individuals and corporations to develop business opportunities and provide jobs. For that reason, it is important to enact a procedure for property management and disposal at the site which more closely corresponds to private sector disposals.”
There are examples throughout the history of the park in which land was leased, and later sold, without a competitive bid process – in line with what the board believed was suggested by the enabling ordinance, White said.
“We’re in a new paradigm here,” he said today.
He said Hanson Maritime’s proposal for developing the utility dock fits in well with the board’s strategic plan for the industrial park.
“Our first priority is a multipurpose deepwater dock, that’s been done,” White said. “The second is an access ramp or infrastructure for boats to be hauled out, and we’re working on that. Our third is for a marine services industry. Mr. (Lee) Hanson presented a plan that fits within our goals of the board and him, to develop for marine services.”
He said the city will put out a request for proposals soon, with offers due on Jan. 17.
“Hopefully, we get some bids,” White said.
The 200-by-85-foot dock, supported by five rows of piling, was built in 1958 by Alaska Pulp Corp., White said.
“The dock has had little maintenance or use in the 18 years that (the city) has owned the structure,” he said in a memo to the board. “The overall condition of the dock seems poor with no physical assessment completed by the city. Access to the dock has been blocked with barricades.”
Hanson Maritime is proposing acquiring the dock and tidelands totaling 33,640 square feet for no cash to the city.
The Hanson company pointed out that the dock was scheduled for demolition under a $90,000 contract to Turnagain Marine. The company asked to be “let out of its obligation to demolish the dock, having substantially underbid the task. Hanson Maritime is suggesting the City of Sitka view the utility dock as having a negative value in excess of $90,000. We further suggest the tidelands have a negative value in that in order to utilize them for a new purpose, you would have to first demolish the dock at a price that exceeds the value of the tidelands.”
(White said the board used the funds originally intended for the dock demolition to upgrade a bridge to the park’s new multipurpose dock.)
The company said its project would reduce the city’s liability, create jobs, and place the property on the tax rolls. Preliminary plans call for relocating the company’s barge, tug and crane to the property, where there are also plans to build a welding and machine shop that would complement GPIP’s planned boat yard.
Hanson Maritime cites boat repair and refurbishment, dive services, spill response, limited storage and support for other GPIP businesses in its proposal.
“Lee has an aggressive schedule to transform (the property) to get ready for the next fishing season,” White said.
The board considered whether to recommend Hanson Maritime’s offer be accepted, or go through the RFP process. In the end, the board decided to go with the request for proposals.
White said he believes the board for the past 18 years has followed the guiding principles of what it calls “the Gary Paxton Special District.”
City code says, in reference to the district, “Any sale, purchase, or trade of land other than short-term lease (which may be approved by the municipal administrator) shall be subject to approval by the Assembly by resolution,” and that “All land transactions by the board in accordance with this section shall be governed by this chapter rather than Title 18 of this code ...”
Title 18 relates to city property acquisition and disposal.
