Unalaska, AK – The City Council will meet tonight to discuss more issues related to the Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor. One item of business relates to the city's acquisition of property from the Ounalashka Corporation to build the road to the new harbor. After long negotiations, the city offered $1.8 million, the assessed value of the surface rights, to the O.C. in exchange for the property. The O.C. would gift the city the value of the subsurface rights. However, the corporation also wants to negotiate the conditional use permit that would allow them to dig a rock quarry on Little South America. O.C. CEO Wendy Svarny-Hawthorn explains that they want to remove the rock and make more developable land on the peninsula. They can't do that without a land use permit that the city's previous planning director said was in violation and is not viable.

The city's attorney says they cannot legally provide that permit as part of this negotiation because it must come through the planning commission. The city will potentially stop negotiations with the O.C. and acquire the land for the stated price as a taking, meaning it would be court mandated that the O.C. sell the property.

Tonight the council will discuss two different resolutions that make the acquisition of the land possible either through direct negotiations and sale with the O.C. or through the court mandated process.

The council will also discuss potentially moving the drive down working dock for the new harbor from the C-float to the A-float. The new location would mean that eight 150' long boats could still moor on the C-float, but two 60' foot slips would be removed. Director of Public Works Nancy Peterson said this move satisfies the community's needs. "Making C float as long as possible to be able to incorporate moorage for 150'vessels is really important to people in the community." Longer boats also bring in more revenue for the city.

At the same time, the working dock provides a working space for the smaller vessels that isn't available elsewhere in town. "We feel that the added service that this drive-down float is going to provide for vessels 60' and under offsets the loss of those two slips. We still will have moorage available in the existing boat harbor. And we have the flexibility in the longer slips we designed for this harbor to put two 60' vessels instead of a 120' vessel, if that's what the moorage demand actually ends up being," Peterson said.

A hard dollar cost for the newest proposal won't be available until April 30 but should stick within the $1.8 to $2.2 million dollar range. That means no firm decisions will take place on the harbor tonight. It's unclear if the council will or will not have to hold a special meeting to finalize the plans or if it can wait until May 11.

The council will also determine the money that they will provide the school district. The suggested funding this year is $3.8 million.

During the work session council will hear from the housing consultant as well who is working with the city and HyettPalma to develop a housing and land development plan for the town.

The meeting will start tonight at 6:00 pm in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.