Courtesy: City of Unalaska

City council will meet tonight at a special time to debrief from the midterm election and take up changes to a few capital projects.

That includes budget amendments for replacing and redesigning the floats at the Bobby Storrs Small Boat Harbor. Council will vote on adding more than $2 million from the city ports fund to the project’s budget, along with about a $1.8 million state grant. 

In a memo to council, ports director Peggy McLaughlin says the lowest bid for the floats project came in a little higher than they’d expected – around $4.4 million. Between that, and the fact that some of the project’s budget was already spent on planning and design, McLaughlin says they'll need some extra money.

Also tonight, council will vote on updating Ron Moore’s contract to remove scrap metal from the island. Council agreed at their last meeting that the city should take on Moore’s rising shipping costs to allow him to keep working in Unalaska. 

If they approve that contract change tonight, the city will have to look for a shipping company to barge the scrap away, at a projected cost of around $250,000.

Council will also get a report from city manager Chris Hladick on his outlook for recreational marijuana use in Unalaska. It was legalized during last week’s election and takes effect in a few months.

Hladick says he’s already gotten requests for licenses to sell marijuana. But the city hasn’t set up a program to regulate the drug yet. Hladick says state legislators, like the Aleutians’ new representative Bryce Edgmon, weren’t expecting the marijuana plan to pass -- and it could be a while before they figure out how to manage it.

Council meets tonight at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

CORRECTION: The original headline for this story contained an error. The city is looking at adding about $2.1 million in funding for the Bobby Storrs float project. The $1.8 million state grant was already factored into the project's budget.