After its first choice was turned down for funding, the Haines Borough Assembly endorsed a less expensive Lutak Dock design plan with a decreased level of service.
PND Engineers released a report in October of 2014 saying the Lutak Dock, the borough’s entry point for freight and fuel, is “near the edge” and living on “borrowed time.” It said the dock’s structural cells are failing in several locations, leaking rock and fill into the ocean.
R&M Engineers presented several options to fix the dock in February. The Haines Borough Port and Harbor Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission both supported the second most expensive option that rebuilds the current cells and maintains the footprint of the dock.
The Haines Borough Assembly approved the $37 million design option in April in an effort to seek funding for the project.
Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel told the assembly last week that the borough was denied a $5 million federal grant to help start the project.
The design isn’t construction ready and, when applying for grants, the borough must be able to show the federal government that it has the funding lined up to complete a project in order to receive matching state grant funds, Schnabel said.
Schnabel recommended the assembly downsize the project because the chances of receiving state and federal funding would increase.
“We believe that if we stay with the larger project of $37 million our chances of being able to generate the funding that will be necessary for the match will not be achievable for us,” Schnabel said. “It’s an awful lot of money for us to be raising when we’re trying also to raise money for other things.”
Staff proposed a less costly plan that comes with a $21 million price tag but decreases both the footprint of the dock and its storage space.
The new plan would build “berthing dolphins” similar to the cruise ship dock.
Assembly member Tresham Gregg said he thinks the borough should “go for the gusto” and apply for grants that will build the best dock.
“I’m just concerned that we get the best possible design for the most varied needs for the dock,” Gregg said. “For instance, at some point we might want to have a cruise ship dock there. Is the dolphin design going to be able to accommodate something like that?”
Assembly member Heather Lende said the Lutak Dock project is the “most important thing we have to work on.”
Lende supported Schnabel’s other request to ask the state for $8 to $10 million of the $20 million set aside for the failed Juneau Access Project. Since the project is no longer moving forward, the state has now prioritized those dollars for transportation projects in Lynn Canal.
Schnabel submitted the funding request to Gov. Bill Walker last week. Haines is the only community so far to ask for the transportation funding, Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Aurah Landau said. The state hopes to outline a process for distributing those funds this winter.