Private firm to invest in new Ketchikan cruise ship berths
A private company proposes to build a $50 million new cruise ship dock in Ketchikan, at the former Ketchikan Pulp mill site at Ward Cove in the Southeast community. The developer, Power Systems & Supplies of Alaska, owned by the Spokely family of Ketchikan, is in partnership with Godspeed, Inc., owned by the Binkley family of Fairbanks, to form Ward Cove Dock Group to do the project. Completion is planned in mid-2020. The plan is for a two-berth dock, and the company is working with Norwegian Cruise Lines, which will help in financing in return for preferential berthing rights for cruise ships.

The proposal will take pressure off the city of Ketchikan to increase its dock capacity in the city’s downtown to accommodate larger cruise ships, but a long-term expansion is still needed. City officials are also working on ways to alleviate summer season congestion when multiple cruise ships are in town.

Earthquake damage more serious than thought at Anchorage’s port
Anchorage officials discovered more serious damage from the Nov. 30 earthquake to the aged Port of Alaska structure than believed earlier and have reduced the load capacity of the port’s Terminal 1, which is adjacent to the port’s petroleum docks. The new damage puts the dock structures at significant risk from another seismic event or even an accident like a collision by a vessel. Reconstruction of the petroleum dock, now underway, needs to be completed as quickly as possible, port officials said.

Skagway reassesses values of shoreside lands; could up fees for White Pass
Skagway’s borough assembly is wrestling once again with White Pass & Yukon Route, its tenant on borough-owned port uplands, on an appraisal that could reset annual lease payments. The assembly had asked for a new appraisal and two were done, including one by Horan & Co. of Sitka, the borough’s long-time appraiser, and one by Integra, a Denver-based company. Horan appraised the property value at $2.2 million, its current value, but Integra submitted an estimate of $14.7 million. The assembly rejected Horan’s appraisal but has not yet decided on Integra’s, the Skagway News reported. If the higher estimate is accepted the White Pass annual lease would jump from $127,000 per year to $882,000. In former years White Pass operated a historic railway to Whitehorse, in Yukon Territory, but now operates the rail line as a summer tourist attraction operating on part of its former route.

Aug. 19 deadline for new Anchorage airport hotel proposals
State transportation officials have set Aug. 19 as the deadline for proposals from developers to build a 150-room hotel connected to terminals at Ted Stevens International Airport. Construction is expected to take two years and is planned to begin in 2020. There are many hotels now within a short driving distance but this would be the first lodging facility actually in an Alaska airport.

Municipalities weigh changes to hotel/motel taxes
The Kenai Peninsula Borough will have a new 10 percent hotel/motel tax on its municipal ballot this October. If approved, the tax is expected to raise $825,000 in Fiscal 2020 and $3.3 million in Fiscal 2021. The money will be used for education. Fairbanks’ city council rejected a mayor’s proposal to hike city hotel/motel taxes from 8 percent to 9.5 percent. The council proposed lifting the city’s current “cap” on property taxes as an alternative.

McKinley Capital now has $4.5 billion under management
Anchorage-based McKinley Capital Management now has about $4.5 billion in assets under management. It is now headed by Rob Gillam, who took over as CEO on the death of his father, Bob Gillam, who founded the firm.

Mat-Su Borough drops out of municipal league in a snit over Dunleavy budget cuts
In a snit, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough assembly voted to end its membership in the Alaska Municipal League because of the group’s opposition to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed major cuts to municipal school debt assistance and state aid to local school districts. Mat-Su is the governor’s home turf and he is popular there, but the swipe at AML, the statewide local government association, doesn’t make sense because Dunleavy’s proposals would hit the borough hard – $20 million a year is estimated – and Mat-Su’s schools are already crowded and under budget pressure. Wasilla and Palmer, cities within the borough, are still AML members. To participate in AML programs like the sales tax initiative mentioned above municipalities must be members. The Mat-Su Borough has no sales tax but Palmer and Wasilla do have taxes.

Alaska near bottom on childrens’ health, well-being, report says
Alaska is near the bottom among states in childrens’ health and well-being, a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Baltimore philanthropy group. Alaska ranked 45th among the states in 16 benchmarks. New Mexico was at the bottom of the list; New Hampshire was at the top. Among categories, Alaska ranked 50th in health; 49th in education; 33rd in economic well-being and 21st in family and community well-being. Alaska also had the nation’s highest rates of children and teenagers dying, from vehicle injuries and suicide, and the nation’s highest percentage of teens who abuse drugs. Alaska’s indicators have not gotten worse in recent years but other states have improved, which pushes Alaska down in the rankings.

Anchorage to hike fees at city-owned airport
Anchorage’s assembly approved hikes in fees for the city-owned Merrill Field to ease operating losses. The increases take effect immediately, prompting protests from local aviators who use the field and businesses that locate there. The city has been investing in upgrades that are partially federal-supported, but higher costs have drained reserve funds set aside for the projects and the airport.

GCI to build 5G wireless network in Anchorage
General Communications Inc. will begin building a 5G wireless network in Anchorage this summer in partnership with Ericsson, a Swedish telecom company. The upgrades will increase capacity of GCI’s wireless networks 10-fold, and will require a $30 million investment. Completion is scheduled in 2020 but 5G service will begin in the first part of the new year. AT&T has launched a form of 5G in its markets, including Anchorage.

Earthquake damage a pall on some Southcentral home sales
Lingering damage from the Nov. 30 Southcentral Alaska earthquake has created problems for some homeowners selling their properties although realtors say the actual effects on the market are difficult to gauge, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Generally, homes are moving slower, exacerbating the effects of the state’s lingering recession. Single family homes sold in the Municipality of Anchorage were down 6 percent between December and May compared with the year previous; prices were down 1 percent and properties were on the market for more days, according to Alaska Multiple Listing Service data.

Kodiak lodge owners face big tab for oilspill
The U.S. Justice Department ordered two Kodiak lodge owners and a tenant to repay $8 million spent on oil spill containment and cleanup of a February, 2018, fuel spill at Shuyak Island. The cleanup cost $9 million in total, the U.S. Coast Guard said. A major storm cause a building at the lodge to collapse, resulting in 3,000 gallons of fuel being spilled into the water. Fuel had been stored in a bladder but the Coast Guard said the storage was not an approved facility. The lodge owners and tenant said they are unable to pay the cost, which was funded from the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.