When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight, it will discuss options for improving the Rocky Gutierrez Airport. The state operates the airport, and the city owns the terminal building. It’s been working on a plan to improve the airport since 2016.
Public Works Director Mike Harmon outlined some of the problems in a memo to the Assembly– the terminal is congested, the passenger departure lounge is too small and often too hot, there are problems with the TSA screening area, and the addition of Delta Airlines in 2015 made the airport even more congested.
In 2017, the Assembly approved a plan to collect fees from airline passengers through a federal program to fund the project. Harmon wrote that the city also anticipates receiving a TSA construction grant, and $7 million in grant funding from the state.
Even with the patchwork of available funding, the project has a funding shortfall of around $3.5 Million. Harmon is recommending that the assembly move forward with construction in phases, as funding is secured.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 5 p.m. for a work session with Visit Sitka, and convenes for its regular meeting at 6. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live at 6, following Alaska News Nightly.
