This photo shows the rockslide area neighboring a Skagway cruise ship dock. (Courtesy Andrew Cremata)
The mountainside above the Railroad Dock in Skagway is separating at a rate of more than an inch every year, a plan for waterfront redevelopment is made public, and the Princess Medallion Pay Program is one step closer to being banned in Skagway. KHNS’ Mike Swasey spoke with Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata for the latest on these stories and more.
Swasey – Mayor Andrew Cremata thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk about all the developments in Skagway. A lot came out of the most recent assembly meeting, including an assessment of landslide potential above the railroad dock. What’s the latest happening down there?
Cremata – The assembly approved the expenditure to bring in our own engineers slash geologists to have a hard look at the area above the railroad dock where all the landslides have been happening. Obviously, anybody who has been down there has seen that large overhanging rock, but there’s a much larger area up there that has been compromised. We learned recently that that area is slipping away from the mountainside, an inch and a half – two inches per year. And so obviously, with that kind of movement, there’s great concern about the safety of people (on) the dock there. So we’re gonna be taking a hard look at that.
Swasey – And is there anything that needs to be done or that can be done to help prevent people who work underneath that area from being injured by a landslide?
Cremata – Well, obviously these landslides aren’t happening all the time. But the only way to be 100% safe down there is to not be underneath it.
Swasey – So is there a plan to move the staging area from right at the end of the dock to, let’s say the small boat harbor?
Cremata – I think that’s something we’re going to be tackling right away. Obviously, we’re going to have to work in conjunction with White Pass, they have the rail easement. And so I know a lot of the gathering areas for people who are taking shore excursions and tours are on that land or on the dock. So you know, you have other issues underneath of that area, including the fuel tanks from Petro. There’s a tour sales booth down there, the bathrooms, it’s a major staging area. So there’s a lot we have to look at. And it’s in stages of infancy of looking into it. But it is a number one priority for us right now.
Swasey – Staying on the waterfront, the port redevelopment 30% design plans have been made public. What are those plans looking like?
Cremata – Oh, they look great. I know it’s an ambitious timeline. But at the same time, this is a multi-year process. It’s already been going on for quite a while. And so KPPF presented the Ports and Harbors committee and the assembly with the 30% plans. And it looks great. It’s good to see that we’re progressing and staying within budget.
Swasey – Are those plans available online for people to go see?
Cremata – Absolutely, yeah, they were included in the assembly meeting packet.
Swasey – On www.skagway.org. Let’s move on to the clinic board, a resolution was passed to allow funding for some training for the volunteer board (of directors). Tell us more about that.
Cremata – Well, so I went through all of the onboarding materials for the clinic board last week and came to the conclusion that it’s going to be necessary to make sure that every board member who serves is empowered to fully understand their role as a board member, and the liabilities they incurr by being a board member. It’s not to say that all of the clinic problems fall squarely on the shoulders of the board. But the way I look at it is this is a clean slate, we’re going to empower every board member to be the best they can be. And if we have a highly functioning board, in turn, we’re going to have a highly functioning clinic. There’s also training for the assembly and mayor on there, so that we can interact with the board in a more positive way.
Swasey – And finally, Princesses Medallion Program, which is this kind of cashless credit card-less pay system that would cost participating businesses and Skagway up to 18%, plus city tax, plus tips. What happened with the ordinance brought by assembly person Potter?
Cremata – It passed the first reading so it was a 4-2 vote. So there’s, you know, a couple of dissenting opinions. But that’s a healthy way for democracy to work. Obviously, the overwhelming majority of business owners are in favor of this action. So there’s a couple of weeks to make some tweaks to the ordinance and then it’ll come before the assembly for final approval at the next assembly.
Swasey – In one of those dissenting views Assembly person Bass commented that how much are we going to regulate businesses from doing business?
Cremata – I certainly respect that opinion and don’t necessarily disagree, the vast majority of the time. But you know, another example of government regulating predatory type businesses would be Payday Loans, which numerous states have made illegal because they are predatory. So, you know, one could make the argument to that, you know, it is the role of government to step in when business practices could be perceived as predatory.
Swasey – Mayor Andrew Cremata thank you very much.
Cremata – My pleasure, have a great day.
The audio from Skagway’s latest assembly meeting can be found under the meetings tab at skagway.org.
