City eyes former mill property

City officials will this month give serious consideration to purchasing the former site of the Wrangell Mill.

The city had always been considering a purchase of the mill property, located near 5.5 mile Zimovia Highway, but were waiting for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to weigh in on the site before evaluating the mill. Earlier this month, the DEC notified the borough that the property had passed environmental muster and was ready for sale, said borough manager Jeff Jabusch.

“There was some contamination out there, like most industrial sites,” he said. “I think before they could sell it to anybody, they had to get that cleaned up.”

Initial discussions began under previous borough manager Tim Rooney, Jabusch said.

“The city sometime ago said (they) may be interested in the property, and once you have that cleaned up then holler at us, and that’s what they’ve done,” he said.

The mill property has been on the market since the mill’s closing in the 1990s. Several past prospective offers have fallen through. As recently as February, the Economic Development Committee discussed the possibility of purchasing the land and turning it into what would become Wrangell’s fourth harbor, and a place to house the coming 300-ton boat lift with adequate space to maneuver large-scale craft for servicing. That discussion came about in part because the property is already zoned for waterfront development, according to committee members and city documents.

The Marine Services Center currently doesn’t have a building deep enough to house longer boats the lift is capable of servicing, according to contractors operating out of the Center.

Documents list the appraised value of the waterfront property at $2,791,800. An additional appraisal – zoned residential – is appraised at $39,800.

Jabusch said he’s heard of past negotiations, but that in prior episodes, the parties had been other private companies.

“We’ve never really gotten into any negotiations,” he said. “We weren’t gonna buy it – and even talk about it – until the cleanup happened.”

While the property’s large flat area and proximity to the newly renovated Zimovia Highway are tempting, a city purchase isn’t a foregone conclusion, Jabusch said.

“I’m not sure definitely is the word, but I think we’re interested,” he said. “It just seems like no one else is gonna do something out there big enough that they would wanna buy it.”

Among the potential uses listed in his March 20 report to the borough assembly, is a possible location for Raven Guitars, a planned business funded by seed money from the Paths to Prosperity competition, or other wood processing plants. It could also serve as a potential replacement site for the existing freight terminals, Jabusch wrote.

“We’re interested in it because I think that is a very good economic development project that could happen,” Jabusch said. “It’s right on the water, it’s already used as industrial, it’s a big piece of flat land. There’s some good things about it. The bad things about it are: even after you buy it, you’re gonna have to put some money into it.”

A gradual development approach may prove more feasible in the event of a borough purchase, Jabusch said.

“Maybe you start small and do a couple things just to get it going,” he said. “Then, as more and more people want to use it, you put more and more money into it, kind of develop it as it goes rather than try to do all of it at once. When you start doing docks and water and sewer, and all those things, you can get into some money pretty quick.”

He cited the existing Marine Services Center, itself the site of a former mill, as one example.

“I think people believe that it has a lot of potential,” he said.