By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board at a short meeting Thursday approved a short-term land lease and heard about the pending lease of other park property to the Sitka Community Boatyard LLC for a boat haulout facility.
GPIP director Garry White said in an interview today that the board unanimously approved CBC Construction’s request to lease 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of land for one to two months at $2,500 per month.
The company plans to burn construction debris and put the ashes in a Rabanco trailer for shipment out of town. CBC said it received approval of their plan from the Sitka Fire Department.
Board members at the meeting – Scott Wagner, Vaughn Morrison, Chris Ystad and Lauren Mitchell – voted in favor of the request. Mike Johnson was absent.
White also updated the board on the plans for the haulout.
Sitka Community Boatyard LLC hasn’t yet signed the property lease for which the Assembly approved terms last fall, he said, adding that funding is an issue right now.
Jeremy Serka, one of the owners of the boatyard company, said today those involved are looking for funding sources to cover the initial $3 million in costs of the Travelift pier, plus $2 million in related expenses. Funding could include loans and grants, plus local investment.
“We have some funding scenarios we’re waiting on,” he said.
The boatyard company has a design for the Travelift pier, and has filled out permit applications for construction, Serka said.
The city has not committed any funding for the project, but the Assembly has placed funding for the “working waterfront” on its list of legislative priorities. The request includes both the boatyard project and repair of the seawall at the Katlian Street Marine Service Center.
White said he’s working with city staff on an Economic Development Administration grant. He added that the EDA grants are capped at $5 million.
But it’s not clear at this point how or whether the city and boatyard group will work together on the project. City Administrator John Leach said today a partnership between the city and Sitka Community Boatyard would require a new competitive process.
“We obviously want them to be successful which is why both the GPIP board and Assembly voted to move ahead with their proposal,” Leach said today.
The goal of the boatyard group had been to start hauling boats by this spring, when Chris McGraw plans to stop boat hauling at Halibut Point, which is now the site of a cruise ship dock and the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. Projections for this summer’s cruise ship business show as many as 478,000 passengers visiting Sitka this summer.
Serka said the boatyard group is looking at the haulout project at GPIP as more of a service and a necessity for the fishing community, rather than a business opportunity.
“We hate to lose the vessels and the people to another town because we don’t have the infrastructure to support them,” he said.
In other business, White reviewed other projects at GPIP. In his written report to board members, he noted the GPIP dock is seeing a lot of use during the summer. Most of the use is related to the commercial fishing fleet with vessels moving nets and other gear across the dock.
White has received a request from the cruise industry for 7 to 8 port calls of a 300-foot cruise ship at the GPIP dock. He and Harbor Master Stan Eliason are working with cruise officials on infrastructure needs and a security plan.
