Federal funding may be coming down the pike for Sitka’s marine haulout project.
In an interview with KCAW, municipal administrator John Leach said that Senator Lisa Murkowski and Representative Mary Peltola have earmarked $5.77 million to help complete the first stage of the project, which is slated to cost $15 million.
Leach said there’s still a long way to go before that funding is secured.
“It’s headed to the Appropriations Committee next week, and if it passes there, then it’ll go to Congress sometime in July,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll hear a confident answer on that probably until the end of the calendar year.”
If the funding does come through, Leach said the first phase of the project will be fully funded. That will get Sitka a bare-bones haulout. It won’t include restrooms, electrical infrastructure, or a large boatyard. Leach said that staff are continuing to look for grant opportunities to fund phase two, but that he hopes a stripped-down facility can serve Sitkans in the meantime.
“Even if it’s just the the baseline work they can do, if the boat can come out of the water, if they can get washed and painted and put back in the water, that’s a lot more than what we can do now,” he said.
Sitka has been without a marine haulout since 2022 when the privately owned haulout closed, forcing the fishing fleet to travel to other communities. Later that year, voters approved an initial $8 million dollar appropriation to construct a haulout with funds from the sale of the Sitka Community Hospital building.
Phase one is scheduled to be complete by spring 2025.
