The project would replace pilings and fill in gaps in the dock to serve larger vessels. (Courtesy: City of Unalaska)

With state funding set to be tight in coming years, Unalaska is turning to the federal government for help financing a $44 million overhaul at the Unalaska Marine Center.

Ports director Peggy McLaughlin told city councilors Tuesday night that she’s planning to apply for a competitive Department of Transportation grant called TIGER. The program is offering rural communities $100 million in funding this year.

Unalaska is asking for a big piece of that pie -- $27.3 million. That’s a little over half of what it will cost to replace pilings and fill in gaps at the city dock to serve larger vessels.

The ports department made a similar request last year. McLaughlin says it scored well, but didn’t make it to the final round. She says making more progress on environmental permits and concept designs should help their chances this year.

One missing piece McLaughlin had hoped to include in the TIGER grant application was a preferential use agreement with a shipping company, to show the dock had a long-term tenant to justify the upgrades.

Last month, city council rejected a plan to put that partnership out to bid. City councilors were told that a long-term contract would have made it easier to secure extra financing for construction.

City councilor Roger Rowland was out of town for that discussion. This week, when the federal TIGER grant was up for consideration, he asked: "At the risk of opening a can of worms, would a long-term use agreement help the process?"

"It would have enhanced this, for sure," McLaughlin answered. "But I do believe that we have other long-term use agreements at the UMC that we can use for that. And we’ve got long-term demonstrated revenues that I believe we can be creative with. Not necessarily calling some of that partnership -- some of it clearly is partnership -- but being able to outline that there is a long-term revenue history of solid revenue stream."

McLaughlin also says offering a match for the grant should help their application. The city is putting all $10 million in its port net asset fund on the table, along with what they’ve already spent on preliminary designs.

Council awarded a half-million dollar contract to PND Engineers on Tuesday night to produce drawings and survey work, and to solicit input. 

McLaughlin says that should provide some of the information they’d hoped to get from the shipping industry by putting dock use out to bid:  

"That’s the key to the launch of the public process where we talk about what do the users need," McLaughlin says. "What’s going to be available to them for the services and operations that they have, and what are they going to need in the next 10, 20, 30 years?"

That conversation will start with a public meeting on April 29. McLaughlin plans to invite the companies that use the dock right now -- including Horizon and Maersk Lines, fuel and seafood companies.

TIGER grants are awarded to projects of national or regional significance, according to the DOT website. Communities have to start their projects within two years of getting an award and wrap up by 2022.

In the past, TIGER grants of about $1 to $3 million have gone to ports upgrades in Seward and Juneau, and village road paving in Western Alaska. 

This year's grant applications are due in early June.