Lutak Dock. (R&M Consultants)

Lutak Dock. (R&M Consultants)

The Haines Planning Commission is holding a special meeting at 6:30pm Thursday April 7 to discuss the Lutak Dock redevelopment plan, and provide recommendations to the Borough Assembly. See Zoom login details here. 

The plan currently has three phases to redevelop Haines’ aging freight and fuel dock. Haines was awarded a federal infrastructure grant of $20 million in December, which just about covers phases one and two. That includes creating an uplands area for port facilities and storage, and demolishing and rebuilding the dock. Phase three would include an extended bulkhead, or docking area, to the adjacent state ferry terminal, and a second elevated ramp for loading and off-loading barges.

The Haines Borough is working on garnering state funding for the remainder of the project. With the combined design and permitting work, the total estimated cost for all three phases is just under $28 million.

The Lutak Dock redevelopment plans are posted on the April 7 calendar item at haines.gov/calendar.

On Thursday, the Planning Commission will review and provide recommendations to the Haines Borough Assembly, who are slated to vote on a resolution supporting the three-phase plan – at their next meeting Tuesday April 12. 

The plans drew renewed controversy last month after the Haines Ports and Harbors Committee heard proposals from several Yukon mining representatives who expressed interest in the renovated Lutak Dock serving as an ore export facility.  The discussion was not posted on the committee’s March 24 agenda.  Mining representatives proposed the need for a deep water ore terminal facility with capacity of up to 500 containers per barge in the next two years, and up to 2,500 containers per barge load as more Yukon mines come online in the next 10 to 15 years. They agreed that the renovated Haines dock could serve that purpose. 

On the construction side, the Haines Borough put out a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the redevelopment project and received proposals from three construction companies: Turnagain Marine Construction, Western Marine Construction, and Pacific Pile Marine, according to the Haines Borough Manager Annette Kreitzer’s report in the April 12 Assembly meeting packet. Kreitzer says they will be asked for more information on design and construction plans, and her office will make a recommendation to the Assembly in May.

Again, the Haines Planning Commission is holding a special meeting at 6:30pm Thursday April 7 to discuss the Lutak Dock redevelopment plan, and provide recommendations to the Borough Assembly, who is scheduled to vote on a resolution supporting the plan on Tuesday.