The Haines Borough could have a completed harbor parking lot by summer of 2020 for a total price tag of about $6 million, said PND Engineers’ Brandon Ivanowicz, but money is limiting add-ons.

Ivanowicz presented detailed conceptual designs for a two-lane boat launch ramp, parking lot and harbor park at the second community meeting on the topic Thursday, Sept. 7.

“It’s not about me coming up with the drawing that I want you to have, it’s about what you guys want for your community,” Ivanowicz said.

Residents favored two options that expanded on a basic design preferred at the first community meeting. Ivanowicz said he edited the designs based on community comments and concerns.

Both concepts include 22-foot parking stalls for trailers in the parking lot that adhere to borough code. Discrepancy over parking stalls arose after the first meeting when PND Engineers discovered the parking spot size it originally included in designs, 9 feet wide by 18 feet long, was not compliant with borough code, which requires parking stalls to be 10 feet wide and 22 feet long.

Concept 1A includes 50 trailer stalls and 87 passenger vehicle stalls, compliant with Alaska Department of Fish and Game requirements to fund the work. The option also allowed for a drivable loop around the lot, added a sidewalk and easy access from the lot to the harbor park and widened the entrance to the sea-walk. Six community members preferred this option at the end of the meeting.

Concept 1C included the same provisions as 1A, but also allowed for more landscaping between the parking lot and Front Street.

“Concept 1C would be the best option…It meets all the parking demands and it also meets the desire for this landscaping along Front Street, “Ivanowicz said. “This is going to be my recommendation, or my personal preferred concept. I think it’s the best one.”

Six community members also voted for this option.

Ivanowicz also presented three other design options. One had parking spaces that did not adhere to borough code, while the other two included options for more landscaping and viewing platforms on the water side of the parking lot. A retaining wall with landscaping would set the borough back $552,500, and residents said it would block the path for snow plows to push snow into the water.

Fisherman Norm Hughes said that the landscaped islands in the designs “are a plow truck driver’s nightmare in the winter.”

Resident Joanie Wagner suggested landscaping around light poles that are already planned for the lot instead of including islands.

Ivanowicz said he thought the last two options would be unaffordable for the borough as the Department of Fish and Game would not pick up the bill for the add-ons.

Fish and Game committed to paying for the launch ramp and boarding float, concrete sea-walk, gravel pad for the parking lot, area lighting and the harbor park for an estimated cost of $4.1 million. Ivanowicz said this work could potentially be completed by summer 2019.

Paving and painting the lot would set Fish and Game back another $858,000.

Other features like safety rails ($390,000), lookouts with planters ($195,000), planter boxes ($78,000), and a concrete retaining wall and pad for a future harbor office ($576,875) would most likely be paid by the Haines Borough.

Resident Jerry Ballanco said he was concerned that the sea-walk would route people in front of the boat launch ramp, where people would be backing in trailers. He said it is a “potential serious accident waiting to happen” for a pedestrian to get hit.

“It’s kind of like crossing a street,” Ivanowicz said. “You’ve got to look before you walk.”

Hughes suggested PND Engineers add a drainage grate in the parking lot where people could wash their boats after taking them out of the water. He also asked if Fish and Game would fund a public bathroom at the harbor.

“The last thing you want to do before you hop on a boat and go on a sea cruise is use the bathroom, and right now presently in the existing parking lot we have one hole, one stall for all the public,” Hughes said.

Ivanowicz said it was unlikely Fish and Game would want to dole out more money on top of “digging in” for almost $5 million.

Chris Mertl of Corvus Design presented his conceptual plan for a harbor park. The park would be circular with sidewalks leading to a raised and covered platform that could be used for gatherings or performances. PND will host at least one more public meeting before choosing a conceptual design.