City council approved a new contract to finish redesigning C float at the Bobby Storrs Boat Harbor at their meeting Tuesday night.

The contract is with PND Engineers for $515,000. PND has been a part of the redesign process since January.

Port director Peggy McLaughlin told the council that their preferred design for C float is a straight, linear pontoon float with no fingers off the side.

"It gives us all kinds of flexibility in terms of what we can moor there in size and width," she said. "And we will also have additional mooring space for vessels."

That’s because the float would be 20 feet further out into the harbor. McLaughlin says that puts it in deeper water and creates more space for vessels on the side of the float that faces land.

Right now, C float has four 42-foot fingers. Councilor Tom Enlow asked how much space they’d gain by removing those in the new design.

McLaughlin said she wasn’t sure yet. But she said the outside of the float could house wider boats if the fingers were removed. She also said the harbor would gain at least a couple of spots on the inside of the float and at the far end.

The newly approved contract with PND Engineers also asks for designs for the harbor’s A and B floats. But McLaughlin said those projects should take a backseat. She says they need to talk more with Bering Sea Fisheries and others with slips in the harbor about how they can avoid creating traffic jams.

Councilor Dennis Robinson suggested they talk to Unisea about moving the Galaxy Dock to free up space for the A and B floats. But he agreed that C float should be the priority right now.

"This little harbor is a badly neglected harbor over the years, and we need to do something about it," he said.

City manager Chris Hladick said money is also a concern. He said they risk losing their state grant if they don’t show progress on C float. PND has said the float could cost upwards of $3.5 million. Hladick says the state would pay for just under half of that if they act quickly. He says the A and B float designs aren’t as urgent.

"There’s still a lot of options," he said. "We just want to focus right now on just the C float without the fingers, because that’s how much money we have."

Mayor Shirley Marquardt noted that the council would have to give final approval to the C float design before any construction began. With that in mind, the council passed the resolution giving the design contract to PND, with the straight float as their goal. Councilors Enlow, Robinson, Roger Rowland, Zoya Johnson and Alejandro “Bong” Tungul voted yes. Councilor Dave Gregory was excused from last night’s meeting.

Council also approved a $131,000 contract for PND to redesign the lighting at the city docks. That project aims to reduce the height of the High Mast lights at the city and Coast Guard docks. It’ll also add LED lights at the light cargo and spit docks.

Also last night, the council adopted a new Hazard Mitigation Plan for the city. Once it gets final federal approval, it’ll make Unalaska eligible for more federal and state grants to help prepare for disasters.

Council also approved a three-year contract extension for Hladick as city manager. His closed-door performance review happened earlier this month.