The Skagway Assembly meeting on Thursday night is packed with big decisions. Spending the $2 million gifted by Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings, turning Broadway Street into a one-way thoroughfare during the summer, and a threat of legal action against the municipality are all on the agenda. 

Spending other people’s money is usually a good time. The Skagway Assembly, however, has its work cut out for it to properly distribute the $2 million gift NCL Holdings has promised the community, which according to NCL Holdings comes with no strings attached. The borough manager offered the assembly a shortlist of ways to spend those funds, and Mayor Andrew Cremata thinks there are good ideas on the list.

“A lot of it is falling back to programs that we implemented here last year that are proven effective. So the SNOW grant is a good example of that. We used sales tax funds, you know, municipal funds to fund that grant program, to keep year-round businesses open during the winter,” said Cremata.

SNOW stands for Skagway Normal Operations for Wintertime, and Cremata says those grants helped keep the community from shuttering this past winter.

“By helping them stay open during the winter months when we haven’t had a robust summer season is key for keeping people employed. And you know, puts money in the employee’s pockets so that they, in turn, go out and spend money. And it helps make sure we have a community,” said Cremata.

Also on the shortlist is:

  • $300,000 for the Food Bank
  • $200,000 for the Skagway Traditional Council
  • $200,000 for utility relief programs through the Skagway Development Corporation
  • $900,000 for Small Business Emergency Grants.

Also on the agenda for Thursday, the Public Safety Committee has been discussing making Skagway’s main shopping corridor, Broadway Street, one-way during the busy summer months. Cremata says this could be a solution that allows tour operators access to the historic district while making it safer for pedestrians.

“This is something that’s actually been tossed around for busier cruise ship seasons, but I think it’s always met with some resistance because tour operators like to be able to take their tour groups down Broadway. If you were to close up traffic completely, to create a scenario where AP&T couldn’t get in to fix a transformer or if something like that blew. So the one-way traffic is kind of a solution that would potentially get rid of some of the traffic issues there,” said Cremata.

Finally, there’s been a lot of buzz about the host cabin at the Municipal campground on the Dyea flats. Much of that buzz comes from Chilkoot Trail Outpost owners Fred and Kathy Hosford who have alleged the municipality built the cabin illegally. 

Kathy Hosford told KHNS that they consider the cabin to be unfair competition to businesses like hers and she’s threatening to sue if they can’t come to terms.

The Assembly plans to meet in an executive session with municipal attorneys to discuss the potential legal action. Cremata says anything dealing with potential lawsuits has to be addressed behind closed doors.

“I’m not a big fan of executive sessions. But in cases where, you know, potential litigation is involved, we have to have one. So I’m hoping we come out from the meeting with some kind of, you know, the knowledge and consensus to make good choices on behalf of the community,” said Cremata.

The Assembly meeting is this Thursday night at 7 O’Clock in assembly chambers and can be streamed live at www.khns.org.