A number of port and harbor issues are in front of the Ketchikan City Council later this week, including a plan to stabilize the shoreline along Thomas Basin harbor, a breakwater project out at Hole-in-the-Wall harbor, and ongoing improvements to Ketchikan’s downtown cruise dock.
The owner of the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show is heading up the effort to improve the Thomas Basin shoreline. The existing sheet pile wall is deteriorating, and the business – which is right above Thomas Basin — would be seriously affected if the retaining wall fails.
There was ongoing discussion and disagreement about who is responsible for fixing the wall, and neither the city nor the business owner has agreed that they own it and/or are responsible. But, the business owner has gone ahead with a plan to install a rock wall to reinforce the existing sheet pile.
The City Council will decide Thursday whether to comment on the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show’s plan, which has been submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers for review.
Also Thursday, the City Council will vote on an approximately $178,000 contract with Pool Engineering to build a breakwater out at Hole-in-the-Wall harbor south of town. The project will replace the existing breakwater structure.
The cruise dock improvements include planning and design work toward an overhaul of the Berth 3 barge, along with improvements and modifications to the fixed structures at the dock while that overhaul is happening at the Ketchikan shipyard. The planning and design contract with Moffatt & Nichol is about $438,000.
A separate contract with that same company also is on Thursday’s Council agenda. Through that $340,000 contract, Moffatt and Nichol will take the lead in planning and permitting for removal of a rock pinnacle that’s about 700 feet off of Berth 2. Removal of that pinnacle will improve navigation safety in Tongass Narrows, especially at low tide.
Thursday’s Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment is scheduled at the start of the meeting.