Each year, the borough compiles a list of big-ticket infrastructure improvement projects, ranked by priority, that it uses to apply for grant funding. This year, the borough is involving the public in its ranking process for the first time. On Nov. 1, Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad led a public forum to educate the community about the borough’s ongoing capital investment projects and learn which ones are most important to residents.
An updated list that reflects the desires of the community is an important step in accessing grant funding, explained Al-Haddad. In recent years, she has seen “more grant funding agencies who really want to know (a project) is on your CIP list,” she said.
A “capital investment project” — or CIP — is a public construction or maintenance project with a value of $25,000 or more. The list does not include work currently in progress. The borough has “$24 million worth of projects in play right now,” said Al-Haddad.
Since many of the borough’s infrastructure needs cost millions of dollars more than the borough can afford, submitting competitive grant applications is an essential step in maintaining community assets.
Of the 76 projects on the borough’s capital investment master list, 20 are priorities.
On their preliminary list, borough officials have ranked projects based on several key metrics, including the risk to public safety if the project is postponed, its usefulness to the community and its longevity and readiness.
The upper reservoir bypass is at the top of the current list. This would connect the upper reservoir to the water treatment plant, protecting 14 mobile homes, nine single-family residences and the wastewater treatment plant from damage in the case of dam failure.
The second priority is the rehabilitation of the Public Safety Building. At the Oct. 4 municipal election, the community voted down a resolution to borrow $8.5 million for repairs on the facility’s “critical structural issues,” said Al-Haddad. The Public Safety Building houses the state motor vehicles licensing office, Fire Department, Police Department, courthouse, jail and U.S. customs office.
Borough Manager Jeff Good emphasized the building’s dire condition and the impact that losing it could have on the community. Without repairs, the structure only has “a couple of years” left standing before its occupants will have to find somewhere else to work, he said.
The court, Good said, is “already asking the hard questions about if they’re going to move.”
The borough’s third priority is the Alder Top, or Keishangita.’aan, village subdivision, which would add roads and utilities to the former Wrangell Institute property. The project would prepare the land for future residential development, which could ease the community’s severe housing shortage.
Other high-priority projects include wastewater treatment plant upgrades, dam stabilization, downtown road resurfacing, barge ramp replacement, Meyers Chuck harbor replacement, power plant rehabilitation and sewage system upgrades for Zimovia Highway and Shoemaker Loop.
To provide feedback on the CIP list, fill out the Capital Improvement Community Survey, available at wrangell.com. A copy of the borough’s provisionary list is also available on the website.
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