It was standing room only when the Sitka Assembly met on March 25 to discuss the future of the long awaited city-owned marine haulout where Sitka’s fishing fleet can repair boats. On the table was a proposal from Kodiak-based Highmark Marine to operate the facility. In chairs and lining the walls were dozens of community members who did not want that to happen.
The city has been pursuing a publicly-owned haulout for years, after the community’s private yard closed to develop the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. In 2022, Sitka voters overwhelmingly approved $8 million in funding for a haulout. Last summer, the industrial park board was tasked with looking for a private business to operate it. Throughout a lengthy process, the board eliminated all offers except Highmark Marine’s.
In public testimony, fisherman Cody Dahlstrom said the prices proposed by Highmark’s boat yard would be cost-prohibitive.
“I really wish I could say that $500 difference on a haulout wasn’t a big deal, but it kind of is, and I think, you know, I could speak for most trollers, at least, that’s a pretty serious impact,” Dahlstrom said, and added, “I would feel a little little better about it if I knew that that money was staying in town.”
Others testified that they would continue to haul out boats at competitors like Wrangell’s boat yard because their rates are more affordable. Nevertheless, there was consistent support for having the haulout city-operated, or at least locally run..
Local pizzeria owner Mary Magnuson said the Highmark bid wasn’t what Sitkans voted for.
“We did not vote to build a facility to give away. This is like if I paid off my mortgage and invited ‘million dollar pizza company’ to come in, take over my building, only I’m still going to pay the electric bill, and you don’t have to give me any money,” Magnuson said. “I just want the place to still be a pizza place, and you can charge $50 a margarita and $100 a pizza. I don’t care. I just wanted to keep running.”
Highmark owner Cooper Curtis defended his proposal, saying his company’s rates were necessary to operate the business successfully. But he didn’t rule out negotiating with the city, or collaborating on creative ways to lower the price for users.
“We do not want to charge more than we have to, but at the same time, there’s a lot of risk involved, and a lot of knowledge and risk involved with operating a facility like this properly,” Cooper said. “And I’m not going to, we’re not going to submit a proposal that is not realistic.”
But the price wasn’t the only concern. Many felt the process of selecting Highmark was not competitive, and excluded offers from local businesses who, though they lacked experience operating a haulout, were nevertheless creditable operations. Assembly member Scott Saline was in agreement with those who questioned the process. Saline wanted to understand more about who else made proposals and why those proposals weren’t considered.
“I’m yearning for more information, and I don’t even know what to ask, other than the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck. We lost our hospital,” Saline said, referring to the city hospital sale several years ago, “And then we’re going to buy a haulout that people hate, and I’m afraid of that.”
Assembly member Chris Ystad, a fisherman himself, said he’d privately been hoping for a city-operated haulout, but said the city’s vetting of applications that landed on Highmark was sound, and he would support it moving forward.
A consistent concern broached by some assembly members is that a city-run haulout would likely be just as expensive, if not more so, as Highmark’s proposal, both from an operational standpoint and for users. Ystad said even though Highmark’s quotes were on the high side, they were reasonable, when considering that the cost of everything is going up.
“I understand the frustrations of the fleet, because these numbers are higher than I think any of us really wanted to see,” Ystad said. “My haul basically is going to go up $500 to what I’m accustomed to. But $500 in the grand scheme of things, for a fisherman, it’s not much, you know? I mean, it’s more, but it’s not something that’s going to really deter me. The fact of the matter is fuel to get to either of the other facilities [in Wrangell or Hoonah] is going to run me close to that. So it still makes sense to haul here.”
Ystad and several other assembly members briefly discussed the city’s long-term plans to develop a Port Authority that would oversee Sitka’s harbors, seaplane base, airport and the industrial park. Assembly member Thor Christianson said that could make a city-run haulout more achievable in the future. But that would take time, something he felt they didn’t have.
“But knowing the way government moves, not at the rate that we would like it, sometimes we’re looking at, conservatively, three years, and really probably more than that, to get the port authority up and running and everything doing that,” Christianson said. “This is a five year contract that we’re talking about. So even if we wanted to do that, and I think we probably will wind up going that way, we’re going to need to have it run for a number of years and we’ve got a proposal in front of us here, and quite honestly I want to be hauling boats out this year.”
Fisherman Eric Jordan, seeing that the assembly had the votes to approve the Highmark bid, used words from a Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler, to make a point.
“You got to know when to hold them and when to fold them. I was going to advise you that you also got to know when to walk away,” Jordan said. “And I don’t think this is a great deal, but I also believe in taking my own advice, and I see how the cards are dealt here. You’re going to vote to support this, and for good reasons. And so what I want to know, being interested in being adaptive to the changes, is, how do I get in line to get hauled out?”
Jordan proceeded to share his phone number and said he wants to be added to Highmark’s list the minute they start hauling boats.
The assembly voted 6-1 in favor of the bid with member Saline opposed. The assembly still has to vote on the haulout operating agreement, once negotiations between the city and Highmark are finished. Right now, boatyard construction is set to wrap by the end of April.
