Petersburg’s Borough Assembly tonight will decide whether to accept nearly $9 million in federal grant funding for a haul-out project at Scow Bay, a few miles south of town.
The $8.88 million “Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development” or BUILD grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration and was first promised in January 2025 under a different name, “Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity” or RAISE.
Scow Bay doesn’t have a bona fide vessel haul-out, but it does have an old concrete ramp originally built for seaplanes. It’s shallow, so hauling vessels out of the water is tide-dependent and sometimes not possible.
The Borough is pursuing a project to improve the Scow Bay facility — including constructing a deeper ramp, washdown pad, and extending the existing breakwater. The project is estimated to cost $14,387,917. That’s higher than it was in 2025. Permit limitations delayed the overall schedule. Meanwhile, construction costs went up significantly.
The Assembly needs to authorize it first, but the Borough plans to use the $8.88 million federal grant — plus millions of dollars in other approved funds from the Denali Commission, state loans, the Borough’s fisheries disaster funds and its economic development fund — to complete the construction. With the federal grant, which makes up over half of the funding picture, the project cost is fully funded.
Also on the agenda, local developer Skylark Park LLC is applying to buy two Borough-owned lots near Skylark Way and the town’s cemetery.
The company bought several lots last year for a planned subdivision, which it would extend with the two lots. Skylark wants to develop the land to add cheaper housing options near town. The Assembly will decide whether or not to move forward with Skylark’s application, and how the Borough should sell the two lots.
The Assembly will also initially consider a slew of budget adjustments. That includes adding grants for South Harbor’s C float replacement project and the Aquatic Center’s sewer line repairs; and expenses, including repairs to the municipal building heat pump and two walk-in coolers at the elderly housing facility.
That’s only a handful of nearly a dozen items on the Assembly’s agenda for tonight. The Assembly meets at 6:00 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers. KFSK will broadcast that meeting live, until it goes into closed executive session to discuss wage negotiations for the labor agreement between the Borough and the union representing its municipal employees.
