The barge ramp, freight staging and storage area has been downtown for decades, but maybe not the next decade.
The borough assembly has created a six-member special committee “to review and oversee the transition of barge service operations to the 6-Mile mill site property.”
The borough purchased the former mill property for $2.5 million in 2022, with the intent of developing it or selling or leasing it to private parties to develop for industrial uses.
The intent behind moving the barge ramp and freight yard to 6-Mile would be to open up the downtown property for waterfront development, including tourism-related businesses.
“The borough assembly and the community have consistently expressed a strong interest in relocating barge and freight operations to the 6-Mile deepwater port, with the goal of unlocking the full potential of Wrangell’s downtown waterfront,” according to the resolution that created the committee.
“The relocation would allow for the redevelopment of the current downtown barge yard, enabling the implementation of a comprehensive waterfront development plan that aims to enhance economic opportunities, attract new businesses and create a more vibrant and accessible waterfront for residents and visitors alike.”
The new committee — created by the assembly Jan. 28 — is scheduled for its first meeting March 13. Members are Borough Manager Mason Villarma, Assembly Member David Powell, Port Commission Member John Yeager, Economic Development Director Kate Thomas, Port and Harbor Director Steve Miller and at-large member Frank Murkowski, former governor and U.S. senator who lives in Wrangell during the summer months.
“I am hoping that we can methodically identify all the needs, the pros and cons” of the current location and possible relocation, Yeager said.
It will take “a lot of homework” before the committee will be ready to make any recommendations, he said.
Such as highway traffic, Yeager said. Directing the weekly freight barge out the road would put more trucks on the highway. “We’re going to get people aggravated with the amount of traffic,” he said.
The committee will work with the visitor industry and borough’s economic development staff to figure out “how much improvement we would really see” if the barge ramp is relocated to 6-Mile, Yeager said.
The borough has a $421,000 federal grant that can help cover some of the early planning costs of relocating commercial freight operations to 6-Mile.
The ramp and dolphins that serve as a docking berth for barges were built almost 50 years ago. The ramp, which moves up and down with the tides, has grown old and in need of frequent repairs.
Then-Borough Manager Jeff Good, in a 2023 report to the assembly, explained, “The problem with it is it’s under-designed for the amount of load we’re putting on there. … The metal ramp is old, and after years of withstanding heavier loads than it was intended to bear, its structure has been compromised.”
Powell is particularly concerned about the borough’s liability with continued use of a deficient barge ramp.
One of the first orders of business for the committee will be to contract with an engineering firm for a condition assessment of the ramp and other infrastructure, Villarma said. The last assessment was conducted in 2011.
“The condition of our barge ramp continues to degrade,” he said.
The borough spent about $250,000 to repair the ramp’s floatation tanks in 2022.
Almost three years ago, an engineering firm estimated that building a new ramp at 6-Mile would cost about $18 million, though construction costs have escalated significantly since then.
The borough cannot afford to spend that much money, Powell said. He also pointed out that Wrangell is one of the only municipalities in Southeast that owns and operates a barge ramp; commercial users own the infrastructure in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau and elsewhere.
Powell said the assembly has been talking about finding a better location for the barge ramp since before he was first elected almost a decade ago. “I don’t know if that (6-Mile) is the right spot,” and he is determined that the special committee will consider all options.
He said the barge lines that serve Wrangell — Alaska Marine Lines and Samson Tug and Barge — would be invited to the committee meetings.
Alaska Marine Lines will work with the borough as the community looks at its options, Jim Jansen, CEO of Lynden, the parent company of AML, said in an interview last week.
Villarma said the best option for the borough would be if the barge lines built the ramp, mooring dolphins and whatever else is needed at a new site, and the borough contributed with financial incentives. Those could include free land, reduced wharfage fees and property tax incentives.
“There are lots of tools we could use,” he said.
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