The Ketchikan City Council meets Thursday, and members will talk again about a failing sea wall at Thomas Basin.
At its last meeting, the Council agreed to pay for half of a $44,000 study to evaluate the sea wall, which supports land near the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. That motion called for the Lumberjack Show and other private property owners in the area to pay for 25 percent of the study and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough to pay the other 25 percent. However, the borough hadn’t been approached about that proposal.
In a memo to the Council, City Manager Karl Amylon writes that it would be premature to approach the borough at this stage. In a revised motion for the City Council to consider, the private property owners have agreed to pay for half of the study with the city paying the other half.
Amylon notes that the motion includes an additional $100,000, which is from a cruise passenger vessel tax fund that already had been dedicated to the project.
While everyone agreed it needs to be fixed, there is some question about ownership of the sea wall. City officials say it does not belong to the City of Ketchikan.
Also Thursday, the Council will consider rescinding an application to obtain state-owned uplands at Knudson Cove and Hole-In-The-Wall harbors. According to a memo from Port and Harbors Director Steve Corporon, owning the uplands could make the city responsible for maintenance now performed by the state.
The Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
