During its first meeting of the year, Petersburg’s borough assembly reviewed and unanimously approved its annual list of community capital projects.
The Borough has roughly 70 proposed projects on the list of requests for state funding. Several of those are listed as top priorities, though a project’s rank doesn’t affect the likelihood of it getting funded.
The number one request on the state list is $67 million for the third and fourth phases of the new hospital project. Funding for replacing the hospital building has been the Petersburg Borough’s top priority on the annual request list for years.
The Borough is also requesting $2 million from the state to help fund the disinfection study and engineering for new wastewater plant infrastructure. The Borough must improve its wastewater system to comply with new federal requirements. Upgrading the plant is estimated to cost at least $12 million for construction.
Other top requests to the state include funding for refurbishing the aquatic center at the town’s parks and recreation facility, installing ADA ramps at South Harbor, and the conceptual design of improvements the Borough wants to do at Papke’s Landing south of town, including to the dock, floats, and boat launch. The Borough is working on acquiring ownership of the land.
These funding requests come at a time when the state is in a pinch — limited revenue to meet demands. Namely, low oil prices are likely to strain the state’s budget, and lawmakers await Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal to stabilize the state’s finances.
“Our legislators will review [the list], even in bad years, when it comes to capital spending,” Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said at the Jan. 5 meeting. “If they have money at the last minute, they’ll review the list and see if there’s anything on the project list that they can maybe possibly fund.”
However, Giesbrecht noted that the likelihood of receiving state funding for local capital projects in recent years has been “almost about zero.”
Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor said the state “has not been very giving” for funding local capital projects.
“I’m generally cautiously pessimistic about what we’ll receive,” he said. “But I appreciate the [Borough] staff’s thoroughness in identifying our needs.”
