Alaska Marine Lines may pay for the construction of a new ramp at Lutak Dock and lease its working space from the Haines Borough.

Borough manager Debra Schnabel said after a meeting in late February between the assembly, port and harbor advisory committee and the planning commission, dock safety was the biggest concern and the borough needed to act fast. Freight operators have been passing containers over the side of the dock instead of using the ramp.

“Borough staff determined that we needed to move as quickly as possible to get a facility usable by freight handlers here,” Schnabel said.

Schnabel reported at Tuesday’s assembly meeting that she and public facilities director Brad Ryan, harbormaster Sean Bell, finance director Jila Stuart and executive assistant Krista Kielsmeier met with AML Operations Manager Don Reid this month to discuss the roll-on roll- off ramp at Lutak Dock to make it more efficient for cargo operations.

Reid said, “We determined that one option may be for Alaska Marine Lines to lease property at the dock and install a barge ramp and dolphins that work effectively for our type of cargo operation.”

If the company moves forward with this option, AML would construct a roll-on roll-off ramp at the company’s expense. It would own the ramp and lease uplands work space from the borough.

“It seemed like a very easy meeting to come to an agreement that the borough and community would benefit best,” Schnabel said. “It’s an easy win-win situation to provide ground on which AML could attach a ramp and build it with their own money.”

She said AML management believes it can build the ramp facility it needs for under $3 million, whereas the borough was projecting to spend between $8 and 10 million.

When asked why AML decided on this agreement, Reid responded “We are in the beginning stages of exploring this option so it would be premature to say that any decisions have been made.”

AML’s Michael Ganey said at the February meeting that not improving the roll-on roll-off ramp would increase handling costs of freight by 50 percent.

Schnabel said borough staff are working on a lease to ensure the borough has the ability to manage and make improvements to the rest of the dock. AML is researching who owns the tidelands and further examining the community’s preferred ramp design.

The lease would assure third party use at published rates, Schnabel said, assure some level of stabilization for wharfage charged over the life of the lease, and would coordinate with a borough business plan for Lutak Dock.

Schnabel said the agreement will come to the assembly for approval this summer.