Wrangell’s Port Commission gave its go-ahead to a tidelands purchase proposed by the Stikine Inn’s owners.
Bill Goodale, who jointly manages the dockside hotel with his wife, Cheryl Goodale, appeared at the February 2 meeting to explain his proposal. He wishes to purchase from the city 25,450 square feet of submerged tidelands and 2,000 square feet of uplands to the north and west of the hotel’s current property line, with the intent of expanding and adding to the building.
“We’re hoping for 30 rooms, plus retail space on the lower floor,” Goodale said of the addition.
This would about double the inn’s available rooms, and add a permanent shop front area accessible from the Front Street dock area that would replace the current stall structure there.
Goodale got the proposal into motion in March 2015, when he approached Planning and Zoning with the purchase request. The city subsequently had the property assessed, which Appraisal Company of Alaska valued at $101,200 in a July 2015 report.
Goodale felt that valuation an overestimate, and has made an offer of $64,507, which the Borough Assembly will consider. For its part, the Port Commission saw no conflict with its operational interests from the sale, and harbormaster Greg Meissner likewise took no issue with the proposal.
Development of the expansion plan was undertaken with R&M Engineering, which was hired to design the plat proposal following Wrangell’s waterfront development planning sessions in January and February 2015. Based on the public input given during that, Goodale felt expansion of his hotel would allow for larger conferences and more visitors to be accommodated.
During the meeting, he pointed out that the city finds itself at pains to host larger scale events, such as Southeast Conference in 2015 or the Chief Shakes house rededication the year prior. Even with various bed and breakfast establishments and the now repurposed Sourdough Lodge and Thunderbird Hotel operating, visitors have had to double up on rooms or seek alternate lodgings, such as the Trident Seafoods bunkhouse.
In his proposal, Goodale pitched that a larger Stikine Inn would help offset the recent loss of the other hotels, and would help bolster the local economy. According to figures prepared by RainCoast Data of Juneau for Wrangell’s waterfront planning sessions, the visitor industry has been the community’s second-largest private sector for employment, and roughly 14,700 visitors brought in $4.1M in 2014.
The expansion could benefit local government as well, bringing additional revenue at a time when funding sources at the state level are in jeopardy. Through additional sales, transient and property taxes, Goodale estimated $100,000 or more could go toward the city’s coffers each year as well.
Progress on the expansion has been slower than first hoped for, particularly after an air crash last April killed two of the engineers assigned to the project. That put work on a lengthy hold, as did the assessment of the property. If sale at an agreeable price can be arranged with the Assembly, Goodale said he would then need to obtain Army Corps of Engineers permitting before work could begin. In all, the project could take three to five years to realize.
In other port business, Jenn Miller was accepted as an appointee to the steering committee for a proposed Mariners Memorial at Heritage Harbor. The five-member committee has been set up to raise funds for and construct the memorial, which will commemorate those lost at sea. Miller’s addition brings the group to full strength, and it can now begin meeting in earnest.
Commission chair Clay Hammer noted she and her family have a vested interest in the memorial’s eventual completion, her husband Ryan Miller having been killed in an accident while fishing in 2005.
“This has been near and dear to their heart,” Hammer said. “I think she would be a great addition to the team here.”
The commission also touched on the topic of floathouses up the Stikine River, the owners of more than a dozen of which have been contacted by the Department of Natural Resources in an effort to either get them permitted or removed from the river. Letters went out last October, and already one floating facility has been removed by its owner.
Hammer told fellow commissioners he had spoken with the DNR Division of Mining Land and Water, which is addressing the issue. Due to outlined land usage guidelines, he was under the impression that long-term permitting might not be possible for some or all of the involved floathouses.
“If those floathouses get kicked off the river they’re going to need a place to go,” he pointed out, and asked Meissner whether city harbors could accommodate an influx. Space could be an issue during the spring and summer, and some could have to be used for storage rather than as liveaboard use due to sewage management. A temporary, seasonal arrangement may be considered.
In one last piece of business, Wrangell’s Marine Service Center will also be looking at its policies for operating its two mobile boat hoists. On January 30 a large similar lift at the yard in Port Townsend slipped off the pier while moving a vessel, putting it out of commission and causing slight damage to the boat. According to the PT Leader, no one was injured, but Meissner said he would be looking at ways to ensure a similar accident does not happen in Wrangell.
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