Buness wants to see more boats using Wrangell's services

Chris Buness describes herself as a "self-propelled boater" - a kayaker and canoer - but that does not diminish her interest in providing services for motorized boaters and working to attract more of them to visit Wrangell.

Buness is running for a three-year term on the port commission in Tuesday's municipal election. She and incumbent John Martin are the only candidates on the ballot for the two three-year terms.

"I'd love to see more folks from other communities" moor their boats in Wrangell or visit the community, Buness said, adding that the harbors have capacity to handle more visitors and vessels.

She built a floathouse in Wrangell in 2008, then after a couple of years went back to college to earn her master's degree in environmental education and communications. She has been renting out the floathouse for short-term guests, enjoying the chance to meet fishermen and people from all over the world.

Buness sees floathouses as one of several options for helping Wrangell to add more housing in the community - an issue important to her. She and her sister, Stephanie Hatton, started a business last year, Stik Built Homes, to see what they could do to improve the availability of housing in town.

They have bought a piece of vacant property and also a foreclosure home in their quest to help bring new housing stock to Wrangell.

The sisters are designing a generic set of plans for a floathouse, and Buness has been studying harbor ordinances in Wrangell and elsewhere, learning the rules - and helping to prepare her for running to serve on the port commission.

Buness serves on the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau board, and until recently served on the board of the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority, comprised of seven communities working together on solid waste management. She also is a member of the Wrangell Fire Department.