The Skagway Borough Assembly last week talked about how to proceed with a senior center project, port consultant proposal, and purchase of scenic Long Bay property.
Earlier this month, voters narrowly approved borough funding for the senior center and housing facility in the form of a $6 million bond. The next step is to send out a request for engineering proposals.
The assembly civic affairs committee and the senior center ad hoc committee will discuss the specifics of the request before sending it out. There is currently $375,000 budgeted for engineering work on the project.
The port consultant matter was also sent to committee. Recently, the assembly chose a proposal from Moffatt & Nichol. Mayor Mark Schaefer hopes to negotiate down the company’s estimated $400,000-plus price tag.
“My personal thought is I’m not happy with their number,” said Schaefer. “It’s way too much money. I think that part of what the committee needs to do is get pretty hard-nosed with them and work on that number and get it to something a little more reasonable.”
Schaefer appointed a steering committee to provide direction to the port consultant. The committee includes Assemblymen Steve Burnham Jr. and Jay Burnham, and port commissioners Tim Bourcy and John Tronrud. Their first meeting is Oct. 31.
The assembly also approved a budget amendment to account for the $800,000 purchase of private property on Long Bay. The assembly has talked about forming a committee to discuss uses for the land formerly owned by Bud Matthews. The borough’s intent is to preserve it for community use.
Correction: The port consultant steering committee will meet Oct. 31, not Nov. 3.
Having spent twenty years and nineteen winters in Skagway in the 80s and 90s, I cannot imagine a worse location for senior housing. Seniors need to be close to medical and support facilities. Not just doctors, but also pharmacies, labs, and therapists, and other medical services. Much of the winter Skagway has problems with transportation, both by air and water, and the drive to Whitehorse can be dangerous, or the road closed at the border. Senior facilities in Alaska should be located in cities where adequate medical facilities are available. Encouraging seniors to live year-round in Skagway is not a good use of city funds. Besides—you need more young people in town—not old duffers like me!
The first steering committee meeting is 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 31. The next Assembly meeting is November 3rd, at 7pm.