Skagway’s borough assembly looks at conducting an archeological assessment at the RV park which once was the site of a Native boarding school, a hiring committee has selected a candidate for the new port director job, and there may be a new parking ordinance in town. KHNS’ Mike Swasey caught up with Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata for a preview of Thursday night’s assembly meeting.
Swasey – Big meeting coming up on Thursday, let’s jump into it. It looks like the assembly wants to move forward on an archeological assessment of the spot where the Pious Mission X (Boarding) School was.
Cremata – I do hope that that is approved so that we can continue to move forward on that property and, you know, take the actions that the (Skagway) Traditional Council has recommended.
Swasey – Will you tell me a little bit about the ore peninsula proposal?
Cremata – The idea here is that to be able to bring in post-Panamax class ships, we’re gonna have to do some upgrades, there’s the floating component, you know, those kinds of things that are necessary for that. So this is phase three of the port master plan, and it’s something that the community has identified as a priority. So it seems to me that this is a no-brainer, the assembly is going to move this forward so that we can get the engineering done, then figure out how we’re going to pay for it and build it.
Swasey – All right, and what to tear down because it sounds like the timber dock’s got to go and the or loader’s got to go?
Cremata – Absolutely, we can’t bring in the larger ships with the ore loader there. So the ore loader is definitely going to go.
Swasey – And is that on AIDEA to get rid of it? Or is that ultimately gonna just fall on the municipality’s shoulders?
Cremata – Well, that’s a really good question. AIDEA has hired a company to assess what they’re going to do with their assets on the port, including the loader. And they’re going to have their public meeting on October 27. And I’ve been told that the information about what that study found is going to be revealed, finally. So I am curious, and I’m sure the rest of the community is interested in what AIDEA is going to do with those assets.
Swasey – How about the off-street parking ordinance?
Cremata – Well, you know, one thing I’ve learned over the past two and a half years is no issue in the community draws more passionate dialogue than parking. And so I expect that there’ll be some correspondence and communication about the off-street parking, but this has gone through a long process. So I’m curious to see how it pans out.
Swasey – But the ordinance calls for a specific set of instructions. If you’re building a new property, you have to have a certain number of parking spots per tenant, or hotel room, or whatever. There’s a whole set of circumstances, right?
Cremata – Exactly, yes.
Swasey – So that means if you buy a piece of land where you used to be able to just put a house on it, now you’d have to put a house but you’d also have to put at least a parking spot.
Cremata – Right. And you know, I think that when you drive around town, it’s pretty obvious that there are a lot of vehicles parked on the street, and it makes it hard if you’re in a smaller vehicle to be able to see. So this is, I think, a way of addressing those safety issues.
Swasey – Okay. Port director hire, what’s happening there?
Cremata – Cody Jennings was the selection of the hiring committee. She’s been the tourism director for a number of years now and she’s done this exceptional work there. And so we’re excited to have her on board and can’t wait for her to put her feet on the ground and start using that same work ethic on issues involving our port.
Swasey – Congratulations, Cody Jennings, assuming that goes through the assembly in a smooth fashion. Can we talk about Hamilton Construction? Are they leaving town, what’s happening?
Cremata – Well, I don’t know the answer to that question. But I hope he’s not leaving.
Swasey – But he’s selling the property in the municipality is interested.
Cremata – Correct. It’s a good price on the property. You know, if we were to go out there and build a structure of that size, it would cost us quite a bit more money. So the finance committee decided to approve to move this purchase forward. And so the assembly now gets to weigh in on it, and we’ll see where we’re going to go with it.
Swasey – All right, Andrew, thanks a lot for the meeting preview. Appreciate it.
Cremata – All right, man. Have a good day.
The assembly will also certify election results and hold an executive session about the lawsuit over the campground host cabin in the municipal campground on the Dyea flats. The meeting can be streamed live at khns.org at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
