The Ketchikan City Council is kicking off the annual legislative priorities process during its regular meeting Thursday, with a discussion of which projects it wants on the community’s funding list, used for lobbying the governor and Legislature each year.
In a memo to the Council, City Manager Karl Amylon suggests five projects for the Council to consider. The top project is the most expensive: expansion of the Swan Lake reservoir, with a cost of more than $12 million. Other projects on his list are replacement of the viaduct at Sayles and Gorge streets; various water, sewer and storm drain replacements; and completion of the downtown promenade.
The projects would cost a total of about $23 million, although the funding request would be closer to $21 million.
The community’s priority list is put together by a Lobbying Executive Committee that includes representatives from the City of Ketchikan, the City of Saxman and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. Last year, the process didn’t work out so well, with bickering over which projects were selected for the top three spots.
Also Thursday, the Council will consider a motion designating nearly $1.5 million in unspent state grant funds from the Bethe Substation reconstruction project to the Whitman Lake hydroelectric project. That transfer already has been approved by the state.
The Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
