Ketchikan delays RFP for investor
Ketchikan’s city council opted to delay a Request For Proposals for private investment in expansion of one of the city’s cruise ship docks so that the city’s engineering consultant, Bermello Ajamil & Partners, can resolve concerns over which berth to expand. Meanwhile, locally-owned Survey Point Holdings, which is also involved in a private cruise dock project in nearby Ward Cove, gave the city its estimate that a 400 ft. by 50 ft. floating dock could be built for $20.5 million. City officials had been concerned that costs might be much higher, as much as $40 million. Ketchikan wants to expand its facilities to handle larger cruise ships so as to remain competitive in the market. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has extended the public comment period on the Wards Cove project, being developed by Wards Cove Dock Group, which includes Survey Point Holdings. That project involves a floating pontoon dock of 500 feet by 70 feet and includes a shoreside visitor and passenger transit center. The facility will be open for business next summer.

Anchorage port upgrade: $900 million
Anchorage’s municipal finance officer, Alex Slivka, said city officials feel a more realistic estimate of Port of Alaska reconfiguration and updating is about $900 million, not the $1.9 billion figure published after an early engineering estimate, and which got businesses that are port customers concerned. The $900 million figure assumes a smaller port facility sized to the expected needs and not a rebuild of the structure at its existing size. The first-phase petroleum and cement terminal replacement now underway is projected at about $250 million in total. Projected costs of work now underway are lower than expected.