City council will decide how to move forward in addressing residents’ concerns about affordable housing in Unalaska at their meeting tonight.

At their special session on housing, several councilors expressed support for offering tax abatements for developers and finding ways to lower the cost of utility extensions for new subdivisions.

Tonight, they’ll choose from a list of directions to staff on how to do that -- like finding out the pros and cons of deferring or ending certain property taxes, or setting up a housing website or a forum with government lenders.

Council may also talk better financing for new utility line extensions. And they'll weigh the possibility of a request for private proposals to create housing for city workers.

They’ll also hold a public hearing on an increase to the solid waste budget for shipping scrap metal off the island.

The city has agreed to pay for their contractor Ron Moore to ship the scrap metal, no matter the cost. They asked for proposals from barging companies last month. Samson Tug & Barge was the low bidder at $345,000.

At their last regular meeting, councilors said the city needed to find a way to recover lost revenue on scrap that didn’t cross the landfill scales and wasn’t charged tipping fees. But most were in favor of the idea of the contract. Councilor Roger Rowland said it was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of a community need that’s been much more expensive in the past.

Council will vote on the budget amendment to cover that potential Samson contract after the hearing tonight. Their meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.