Skagway this week could take another step closer to performing an archeological study on the site of the former Pius X Mission School and may approve a multi-million-dollar design plan to improve its waterfront infrastructure. KHNS’ Mike Swasey spoke with Mayor Andrew Cremata on Wednesday for a preview of this week’s borough assembly meeting where both topics are on the agenda.
Swasey – Let’s start off with the archaeological assessment of the Pius X Mission School site where Garden City RV park is. It looks like there’s a bid that’s ready to be accepted, tell us more about that.
Cremata – Yeah, so the assembly directed staff to find someone who can do this ground survey. So the one recommended by staff is the one there in the packet. And I imagine that this is probably going to be a pretty easy decision for the assembly, considering there’s been unanimous support for this from the start.
Swasey – And how much is this survey going to cost the municipality?
Cremata – Oh, let’s see it was, at the most, it was like $111,000. Am I remembering that correctly?
Swasey – Yeah, that was it. And then how much of that is, you know, is the STC gonna absorb a portion of that? Or is the municipality on the hook for all of it?
Cremata – My take on it is that the municipality is the one who is paying for it. They’re the property owner at this point. I think that was the direction from the assembly table, if I’m not mistaken.
Swasey – And then what sorts of things are they going to be doing? Are they going to use ground-penetrating radar? Are they going to section-off areas? Is it going to impact the RV park over the summer?
Cremata – Well, I can answer part of that, it’s definitely going to have some impact on the RV park. And I do think that there are going to be, it’s going to be done in sections, it’s not going to be where the entire park is done at one time. I don’t understand the science behind it that’s not my forte. I’ve always been under the impression there’s going to be ground-penetrating radar. And if there’s other debris, if that is difficult, are they gonna have to do excavations? Those are good questions that I don’t know the answer to.
Swasey – And when is the start date?
Cremata – So I think everyone is hopeful that this gets done in June, July, somewhere in that neighborhood. But that is a tentative start date, for sure.
Swasey – Okay, let’s move on to the Ore Dock development plan. It looks like it’s a pretty expensive plan just to draw up designs, $4.5 million in designs. Tell us, you know, a little bit more about what to expect from this plan.
Cremata – We’re talking about our future here. So, and you know, plans and engineering, they’re expensive. Really, these engineering estimates are not out of bounds by any means. They’re well within the parameters of what you’d expect for a project of this magnitude.
This is setting up Skagway to be one of the premier destinations for the cruise industry for the next 30 to 50 years. We’re going to have one of the nicest docks, a dual-use dock, in all of Alaska. And it’s an ambitious timeline and I’m hopeful that the assembly swiftly moves it forward so that we can have that dock in place and ready to accept Quantum Class vessels in 2024.
Swasey – And do you have an approximate cost?
Cremata – Well, I know what it was. It was $48 million before Phase Three was added on. But with the Phase Three that the planning and zoning and the port and harbor committees decided to put on it, that raises that cost. So I’m not exactly sure what that final number was.
Swasey – Okay, so it’s going to be over $50 million. And how long is that going to take the municipality to pay? Do we have an idea of how to pay for it?
Cremata – Well, there’s multiple ways it could be paid for. I think, you know, a lot of the conversation we’ve had has been around revenue bonding. So we’re going to have customers that want to use these docks to bring in Quantum Class vessels, you know, the larger vessels, Breakaway Class vessels, into Alaska here in the coming years. And because we have users, that’s guaranteed revenue that’s going to come to the municipality for the use of the dock. So when you’re looking for a way to pay for it, revenue bonding is a low-interest, fantastic way to pay for it because it doesn’t come out of taxpayers’ pockets. The users are ultimately the ones paying for the construction of the dock.
Swasey – Alright, Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for the assembly preview.
Cremata – Hey, thank you. Have a great day.
Skagway’s borough assembly meeting can be streamed live at 7 p.m. Thursday at khns.org.
