Cruise ship tender fees may go up this summer. When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight, it will consider raising both tender and security fees by ten percent for the next three years.
The Port and Harbors Commission approved a 10% increase to tender fees earlier this month– that’s the fee a cruise ship company pays to taxi passengers ashore. According to a memo in the assembly packet, the increase would mean an additional $182,000 in revenue for the city.
The assembly will also consider approving an airport lease between the city and the state. The state owns Sitka’s airport, while the city owns the terminal building, and a multi-million dollar federal grant funded airport expansion project is kicking off this month. The city and state spent months negotiating the terms of the new lease which is up for renewal this year, and it means some changes to airport procedures in order to meet federal aviation requirements, like additional security and collecting additional fees for airport concessions, but the new lease does not include parking fees.
In other business, the assembly will consider partnering with the city of Juneau to secure grant funding for radios for the city’s fire department. It will hear two separate public records request appeals from former assembly candidate Austin Cranford. And it will go behind closed doors in an executive session to discuss a legal matter involving the Sitka Police Department.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
