When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (9-13-21) it will consider a resolution in support of developing a public seaplane base on Japonski Island.
The resolution, if approved, is a step toward receiving over $4 million dollars in grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration. In 2019, the city received a federal grant that funded environmental impact studies for the project. If the city receives the second wave of federal funding, the money will go toward purchasing land and designing the facility. Over $800,000 is budgeted for the land purchase, a parcel owned by the Alaska Department of Education, associated with Mt. Edgecumbe High School. In August, the State Board of Education authorized the commissioner to negotiate the sale of the land to the city.
According to a memo from Public Works Director Michael Harmon, if the city receives the grant funding, the design, permitting and bidding is expected to take around 2 years. Construction of the base is estimated to cost around $15 million dollars.
In other business, the assembly will consider an update to the temporary mask mandate. The current mask mandate is set to expire on September 28 or when Sitka goes from high to moderate alert level. With the update, the mask mandate would still go dormant when Sitka’s alert level drops down from “high” but would reactivate if the alert level increases to high again. If approved on second reading at the September 28 meeting, it will be in place until March.
The assembly will also consider a land sale of a portion of the “Old City Shops” property to the Sitka Community Land Trust. It will also consider a resolution calling for a temporary halt to permitting and development of Canadian mines along salmon rivers that cross the border between Alaska and British Columbia, until an international agreement on watershed protections between the two nations is reached. The group will also consider entering into an agreement with the Birds and Benches working group to install several benches in the Harrigan Centennial courtyard, including a bench honoring Alaska Native Civil Rights leader Elizabeth Peratrovich. The benches would take the place of the statue of Alexander Baranov, which was moved to the Sitka History Museum last fall, after the public called on the assembly to remove it.
The Sitka Assembly meets tonight at 6 p.m. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
Editor’s Update (9-14-21, 7:09 PM):
This story has been updated to reflect that the mask ordinance the assembly is considering, if approved on second reading at the September 28 meeting, will be in effect through March 22. The previous version of the story listed an incorrect expiration date.
