Facing a growing list of construction and utilities projects and land development plans adding up to tens of millions of dollars, the assembly moved May 12 to bolster the borough’s management team.

Following a 6 p.m. work session on the staff restructuring plan at City Hall, the assembly unanimously approved a resolution to reclassify several existing jobs to higher pay grades to reflect added work and responsibilities and created three new positions.

The changes and additions will cost an estimated $244,824 a year.

“It is essential that organizational resources evolve accordingly,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma noted during the work session, emphasizing that the current staff is facing “unprecedented” pressure from expanding construction and development portfolios and complex economic initiatives.

The borough has several multimillion-dollar projects underway or in the planning stages, including adding fill on the downtown waterfront for a new cruise ship dock and possible public area; a major upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant to meet stricter state and federal discharge standards; construction of a new flume to direct water to the community’s reservoirs; and development of the borough-owned 6-Mile Mill property for commercial use, including a possible privately owned shipyard and new barge landing.

The work list also includes new roofs and several million dollars of repairs to all three school buildings; major repairs and upgrades to the Public Safety Building; and continuing efforts to open up more acreage for residential development.

To ease the burden on department leadership, the assembly approved the creation of a public works assistant director at a starting salary of $80,604 a year, depending on experience.

This new role is intended to split the work currently resting on the public works director, specifically taking over the direct management of facilities maintenance.

“We need to improve departmental oversight as borough infrastructure demands continue to expand,” Villarma said during the work session.

The assembly also voted to add a new construction project manager position to the payroll, also with a minimum starting salary of $80,604 a year.

And in a shift of resources, the assembly opted to add a planning and lands manager position instead of funding a borough controller. With industrial subdivision planning and land leasing oversight becoming top priorities, leaders argued that the new role better reflects the immediate needs of managing borough-owned lands and underutilized assets.

The planning and lands manager job will pay a minimum starting salary of $80,604 a year.

The package of changes also includes boosting the capital projects director position to a higher pay grade, a raise of about $600 a month. The change recognizes a role that has shifted toward the highly technical oversight of a rapidly growing list of large-scale improvements and grant compliance requirements.

Similarly, the economic development director role was elevated one pay grade, about a $200-a-month raise, to account for expanded duties in industrial land development and long-range strategy.

The collective changes aim to align staff wages with a competitive labor market while ensuring the borough can successfully manage projects, Villarma said in his report to the assembly.

“These amendments represent a forward-looking investment in organizational capacity,” Villarma said. By restructuring now, the borough intends to “protect project outcomes” and ensure that the administrative framework is scaled to support what many officials see as a period of strategic transformation for Wrangell.