The bid deadline for the first phase of expanding the small boat harbor has been extended from Sept. 21 to Oct 19.
Haines Borough manager Bill Seward pushed back the deadline after the borough’s planning commission recommended 5-1 Thursday that more time be provided prior to awarding the contract. The commission wanted the time for extra public input on how the uplands part of the harbor should be tackled.
Planning commissioner Don Turner voted against the recommendation. “I don’t see any need for it,” he said.
The bids will be for the first phase of the harbor’s expansion, which is tentatively scheduled to be completed by June 2018.
The first phase had $19.5 million in state money earmarked to install a steel breakwater barrier, essentially an extension of the current stone breakwater. The first phase also covers filling in the uplands, which is a mix of stone, beach, grass and semi-marsh next to the existing harbor structure. It also covers some dredging and other work.
The borough has already used $2.7 million of the $19.5 million in state money for engineering and test drilling. The borough has roughly estimated that the first phase work will cost about $15 million. However, that figure won’t be nailed down until the bid proposals are reviewed.
The borough has already approved the land-use permit for the first phase. On Tuesday, several people who attended the meeting asked the assembly to overrule Seward’s delay order, but the assembly did not act on that request.
Thursday’s planning commission meeting was held for the commission and public to discuss what a contractor should consider as the expansion project goes forward. Most people at the meeting seemed confused because they believed it was a formal public hearing on the already-approved land-use permit, while it was actually a looser discussion on how to tweak the project.
Commission members were unhappy that the assembly bypassed them in the land-use permit process. “I think it is up to us to grant a land-use permit, and it should be for conditional use,” said commission member Heather Lende.
“We weren’t involved with the planning of the project,” said commission member Brenda Josephson.
Commission chairman Rob Goldberg said Haines is locked into the first phase. “Canceling the project and returning the funds are not possible,” he said. Such a move would jeopardize the borough’s ability to get future state grants, he contended.
However, audience member Paul Nelson said: “The administration is rushing this through because they don’t think the next assembly will tolerate it.”
Two assembly seats are up for election in October. Four of the six candidates attended Thursday’s discussion.
One was Lende. Another was the assembly’s representative to the commission, Diana Lapham, who supports the expansion. The audience included candidates Leonard Dubber, who opposes the expansion, and Tom Morphet, who wants a public referendum on it. (Disclosure: Morphet is the Chilkat Valley News’ owner, and Lende is the paper’s obituary writer.)
The commission decided to hold a yet-to-be-scheduled workshop session prior to Oct. 19 to get public input on what should be done with the uplands area. The uplands area has been targeted as a place to expand parking, although by how much has not been nailed down. Also, the question of whether the parking lot should be paved appeared to be an open issue to the commission
Goldberg also speculated that artwork on the steel breakwater could make the harbor more attractive. “I see that barrier and see a big blank canvas,” he said.
Meanwhile, the planning commission is scheduled to hold hearings on Oct. 13 on three appeals by Sue Waterhouse, Debra Schnabel and Paul Nelson. They argue that the Haines Borough code and the borough’s coastal management plan were not followed when the borough approved the land-use permit. Schnabel and Nelson’s appeals argue that a conditional use permit is needed for the first phase to proceed.
Three proposed phases are lined up after the first phase is complete. However, the borough administration plans to present them to the assembly only when federal or state money becomes available.
The second phase would include the installation of a ramp to launch sports fishing boats. The preliminary cost estimate is $3 million to $5 million. The borough is seeking money from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for this phase.
The third and fourth phases are interchangeable – depending on when state or federal money materializes and which one the borough will decide in the future to tackle first.
One phase would be a boat ramp for commercial vessels, which has a preliminary cost estimate of $6 million.
The other phase would add 39 boat slips to the 111 slips currently in the harbor. That would expand the linear feet of docking space from 925 feet to 1,500 feet. The extra slips would be able to handle 30-foot to 42-foot vessels.
Harbormaster Shawn Bell said 80 to 90 people are currently on the waiting list for dock space.
Expansion opponent and former assistant harbormaster Joe Parnell disputed that estimate. “Nobody is waiting to use the harbor. There are plenty of slips now out there,” he said.