The Haines Borough has reached an agreement with Alaska Marine Lines (AML) for construction of a new roll-on, roll-off ramp at Lutak Dock.
At present, AML has been using the crumbling Lutak Dock face to unload cargo.
In 2014, PND Engineers, Inc. conducted a structural assessment of the facility, and determined the dock had “reached the end of credible 60-year service life” and was operating “on borrowed time.” In March 2018, the assembly passed a resolution to close the dock face by March 2020 “or upon substantial completion of a viable roll-on, roll-off ramp, whichever comes first.” In 2019, the closure date was extended to March 2022.
The borough has applied for several grants to renovate both the dock face and the roll-on, roll-off facility, as well as submitting funding request to the Alaska Legislature. So far nothing has come through.
Under the agreement with AML, the borough will lease a portion of land at Lutak Dock to the company for 30 years. AML will pay for the construction of a multi-million-dollar roll-on, roll-off facility on the leased parcel. The company will have preferential berthing rights at the facility, but the ramp will be open to other users.
The arrangement comes with a reduction in AML payments to the borough.
Currently, AML pays the borough roughly $210,000 annually in dockage and wharfage fees, borough chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart said. In 2021, AML is expected to pay roughly $56,000 ($26,136 in annual rent and roughly $30,000 in property tax). For the next year and a half, AML will not pay wharfage. After that, the rate will increase annually until 2024, at which point the company will operate at a 25% discount.
An ordinance approving the agreement is scheduled for its second public hearing before the assembly on June 23.