The borough has been awarded a $25 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbor floats, install new pilings and improve parking.
The federal money, which requires no match from the borough, will fund most of the estimated $28 million project that will include an overhaul of the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, new fire suppression systems, pilings and relocated parking.
The borough will likely get the remaining $3 million for the project through the state’s harbor matching program, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said June 26.
This grant brings the total amount of money Wrangell could receive in federal and state funding this year up to $52 million, the largest amount of money the borough has ever brought in.
Villarma said the downtown harbor is probably not as safe as it should be, nor is it suitable for growth. The new plan for the harbor will allow for larger vessels, which he said might mean more commercial fishing boats or charter vessels.
He estimated the project will take four to five years. The first year to year and a half will consist of environmental permitting and design. The construction will likely begin in summer or fall 2027, he said.
The harbor project will be huge for the community, Villarma said, noting that without this grant, there is no way Wrangell could ever afford $28 million in improvements. Under the budget approved by the borough assembly on June 25, the port and harbors account will have about $1.5 million in reserves as of next summer.
The harbor grant is part of a $1.5 billion U.S. Department of Transportation program under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Carol Rushmore, who retired as Wrangell’s economic development director last year, prepared the grant application under a borough contract this past winter.
The $25 million for the harbor is only part of the money the borough has brought in over the past six months. The borough was awarded $695,000 in federal money distributed through the state for the middle school roof, $5 million in state dollars to help strengthen the water reservoir dams and $200,000 from the state to start planning an emergency access road from the southern end of Zimovia Highway.
The borough also will receive $6.5 million in state grant money for repairs to all three school buildings. That money will be combined with a Wrangell voter-approved $3.5 million bond issue from 2022 to pay for a long list of repairs and improvements to the community’s decades-old school buildings.
Legislators appropriated the school repair grant funds in May, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state budget on June 28.
The borough also has applied for $10 million of federal funding to improve its wastewater treatment operations, $2.5 million for construction of the emergency access road and $2 million to rebuild the roof and siding at the Public Safety Building, though all are subject to congressional appropriation, which is uncertain.
In total, if Wrangell gets all of its wishes, Villarma estimated it could total $52 million in federal and state money. The $25 million for the harbor is the largest single federal check for Wrangell since it received $37 million in the late 1990s after Congress appropriated funds for all of Southeast Alaska to lessen the economic pain of the demise of the timber industry.
Villarma said that with all these projects in the works, he hopes more people and more jobs will come to town, “I think we’re going to see a bit of a stimulus,” he said.
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