The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a few changes to the Borough’s budget during a regular meeting on Feb. 2. The move transfers $431,365 left over from last year’s budget into two different funds: $131,365 will go toward the town’s Assisted Living facility at Mountain View Manor, which is operating at a deficit, and $300,000 will be put toward repairing the sewer system at the borough-owned aquatic center. The parks and recreation department’s maintenance budget was also increased by $5,000 —added to the ordinance at the previous Jan. 20 assembly meeting— to cover a recent electrical failure at the facility. The Assembly passed the ordinance unanimously with a final 7-0 vote.
The Assembly also considered zoning a parcel off Dock Street near the U.S. Coast Guard float in Petersburg. This borough-owned tidelands parcel is currently not zoned, and if approved by the Assembly in three readings, it would be zoned Industrial, within the Marine Industrial Overlay zone subdistrict.
Property zoning laws regulate how an area is used. The Assembly adopted the marine industrial overlay zoning law last year as a way to make sure Petersburg’s industrial waterfront property is used for marine purposes.
American Cruise Lines has applied to lease the parcel from the Borough to build a gangway and mooring float to have a guaranteed space to dock its small cruise ships during the summer. The Borough is currently negotiating the lease contract terms with the company for the parcel. Zoning this portion of tidelands would help the Borough control its use. The Assembly voted in favor of zoning the parcel for the first time on Feb. 2.
The Assembly continued considering a couple of other ordinances during the meeting. One of them would vacate a right of way on Seventh Street, near the corner of Gauffin Street and Aaslaug Street, convey the strip of land to the Borough and combine it with the adjacent land to create a sellable lot on Lake Street. The Borough intends to sell it for residential development.
The other ordinance would increase various fees for using the town’s harbor, starting in March. Harbor fees were last increased in 2022. Petersburg’s harbor department and the local harbor and ports advisory board recommend the increase “to bring harbor revenues in line with expenses,” according to the ordinance’s language.
The Assembly unanimously agreed to move both ordinances forward, and each will be considered a third and final time at a later meeting.
