The Petersburg Borough will seek state funding for a potential float replacement project in the town’s biggest harbor.
Some of “C” Float’s 50-foot fingers are several decades old.
“These are circa 1970 original Middle Harbor finger floats that were repurposed in 1985 when the South Harbor was built,” Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen said. “So they saved a little bit of money, and now we get to pay for it.”
At a meeting on July 21, Petersburg’s assembly agreed the borough should apply for the $617,000 state grant to help fund the float replacement project. The borough’s harbor fund would match that amount. Engineers estimate this project would cost about $1.3 million total.
But it’s not guaranteed the borough will get that state grant money. Wollen explained that after the borough applies, the project gets ranked by the state. That ranking, paired with how much money is available in the state grant program, determines if the project qualifies for funding.
“We hope that we’ll qualify high and if we don’t get it this year, maybe next year,” said Wollen. She noted that this project has been waiting in the wings for a few years as the department gradually works to upgrade harbor infrastructure.
Assembly members also agreed to contract Alaska-based PND Engineers to help with the potential project. Wollen said the harbor department could reuse the designs to replace more finger floats in South Harbor in the future.
If the Petersburg Borough gets the grant, it would have 18 months to complete the replacement project.
