The City of Homer is looking to the state to provide funds to move the port and harbor expansion ahead.
The Homer News reported earlier this year that federal funding had fallen through for a study assessing whether it was technically feasible and financially viable to expand the harbor, delaying the project.
The harbor expansion project aims to alleviate the needs of a current fishing fleet and meet demand for moorage that exceeds what is available.
Vessels are growing in size and exceed the length of the harbor’s current largest stalls. There are also currently more than 400 small vessels on the waitlist for stall space. However, the city does not have confirmed federal funding support at this time.
Resolution 23-121, passed and adopted by the Homer City Council Nov. 13, expresses the city’s continued intention to pursue the port and harbor expansion project by seeking funding through the state. The resolution supports that the full funding of $7,644,677 be paid through the State of Alaska Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Program in the FY2025 state capital budget.
The purpose of the 50/50 matching grant program, established in 2006, is “to provide financial assistance to municipal or regional housing authority owned harbor facilities,” according to the state website.
Regarding harbor expansion, the city council notes in Resolution 23-121 several instances where the state has financed critical transportation links in the past several decades, especially in regard to community port and harbors.
The resolution states that “given Alaska is a maritime state and that our harbors are foundational to both our way of life and the economy it is in the public’s best interest to maintain this critical infrastructure by using State, Local and Federal funds to recapitalize crucial harbor moorage infrastructure.”
Three communities in the state were provided with funding for their harbors in fiscal year 2024: Wrangell, Whittier and Sitka, according the state website. None of the grant funds received by these communities are anywhere near the funding request in the city council’s resolution. According to the grants program website, the largest amount will be provided to Wrangell with funding approved at $1,092,138.06.
Despite acknowledgement that the project is currently lacking in federal funding support, members of the council continue to express the need to hold accountability as the local sponsor for the project. They want to look for alternative ways for harbor expansion to move forward. However, “if there’s no federal money, it’s not going to go forward. It’s not going to happen,” council member Rachel Lord said at the Nov. 13 meeting.
In response, Mayor Ken Castner said that he has been aggressive in working with Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office in Soldotna to try to get more information regarding federal support for the project. He said he has not had a response in four weeks. “I don’t have any idea if there are any new plans afoot,” he said.
Aside from expansion uncertainty, the harbor has issues that need to be addressed immediately.
At the Nov. 13 meeting, the council passed Ordinance 23-54 to amend the FY24 city budget to appropriate $15,000 from the Port Reserve Fund for repair of a “sink hole” or erosion site at the city’s deep water dock. The ordinance also notes that due to the one-time nature of the repair the costs “are better represented by the Reserve Fund rather than use of the annual maintenance budget.”
At the end of July, the damage site was discovered “under the dock where the dock trestle transitions to the shore to the extent that daylight could be seen all the way to the road surface,” according to the ordinance.
“To date, repairs have progressed by acquiring engineering services, renting a steel plate for temporary support of the damaged area, removing the degraded and compromised material and filling the area with retaining wall block and concrete. Asphalting and permeant sealing must now be done to complete the project,” the ordinance states.
