Borough sells tidelands for development as marine service business

The borough assembly unanimously approved the sale of a parcel of tideland property on Peninsula Street to Ketchikan-based Micony for the development of a marine service business.

The sale, which was finalized at the Dec. 20 assembly meeting, will transfer nearly 40,000 square feet of borough property into private ownership. The borough sold the land for $83,989, which is $27,511 less than the appraised value of $111,500. The price decrease is permitted under Wrangell’s municipal code, which allows the borough to sell property at less than appraised value if it will be used for economic development purposes.

“Given the economic development that this would bring to the community, that difference in price would be less than a year payout,” Borough Manager Jeff Good said. The $27,511 difference will be recovered “directly in property taxes in less than a year once the facility is fully constructed,” according to borough documents.

The parcel is west of the Reliance dock.

Micony managing partner William Goodale requested to purchase the tidelands in an Oct. 31 letter to the borough assembly. “We are in the process of bringing a marine service business to Wrangell which requires water access,” he wrote. “It is our intent to construct a building on the water side of the property with a floating dock that would go dry at lower tides.”

He wrote to the assembly that Micony did not want to lease the property because of the significant investment that would be required before the business could become operational. The borough usually makes its tideland property available under long-term leases.

In the first few years of operation, Goodale anticipates bringing three to four skilled marine service jobs to Wrangell. Eventually, he hopes to expand the business to employ over 10 workers, he told the assembly at a Nov. 28 special assembly meeting.

“I am very happy to see this progressing,” said Assemblymember Anne Morrison at the Dec. 20 meeting. “It’s economic development and I think that as an assembly, as a body, we should not be standing in the way of anything that looks like it’s going to bring a spark of life.”

The business will specialize in boat construction and servicing, according to a statement submitted to the assembly by Good.

The sale is part of the assembly and borough’s ongoing effort to get municipal property into private ownership where it can be taxed.