Skagway attorneys say the municipality is not bound to consider White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad for a new lease and that the railroad will not be compensated for improvements to the waterfront.
Last month the railroad warned Skagway to renew its waterfront lease or be prepared to pay compensation. The municipality hired Anchorage firm Brena, Bell, and Walker to represent it regarding the lease.
Last month’s letter from the railroad’s attorney to the municipality says Skagway should halt its work to solicit others to manage the port. The port has been controlled by the railroad since the 1960s.
But attorneys for the municipality rejected that argument in a letter last week. Skagway’s attorneys responded that any negotiation of a new lease is at the discretion of the Assembly. The letter adds that the railroad’s contamination of the port may disqualify it from consideration for a future lease.
This fall Skagway’s assembly declared its intent to take over the municipal port after 2023—and seek proposals for the area that includes three deep-water docks that berth hundreds of cruise ships each summer.
Skagway voters rejected White Pass railroad’s bid to renew the lease in a 2015 referendum.
Skagway attorneys also rebutted the railroad’s claim to compensation for improvements to the waterfront. Per the lease and the law, they argue, those improvements will belong to the city when the lease expires.
