Juneau taxpayers at large would carry $4.7 million of the Mendenhall barrier bill as a quarter of the district objects

An amended local improvement district proposal assigns 60 percent of Phase 1's cost, about $4.7 million, to Juneau taxpayers at large, with properties inside the district paying the remaining 40 percent. Such a district charges owners who benefit from an improvement for part of its cost. Of 466 properties in the proposed district, 117 formally objected to a plan charging affected owners about $6,300 each. Property owner Stephen Bower has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt or alter barrier installation, alleging permitting problems and issues with the district's funding structure.

On Monday, Sept. 14, the Assembly appropriated $582,000 for additional phases of the barriers, from a Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant, and $427,990 for 2024 flood response and repairs, from FEMA. The tribal grant traces to a 2024 Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska resolution naming the housing authority sole applicant for up to $900,000 in federal Indian Community Development Block Grant Imminent Threat funds. The Assembly considered the same subaward in August; it repairs 1,300 feet of riverbank.

That glacier lake outburst flood, caused when a glacier-dammed basin releases, came on Aug. 5 and 6, 2024, crested at a record 15.99 feet and damaged roughly 290 residences, with Juneau's emergency declaration describing hazardous material spills and likely displacement of hundreds of people. Assembly minutes from November 2024 put Phase 1 at an anticipated $7.83 million, with Phase 2 budgeted at $22 million.

At an Aug. 31 Assembly worksession, Member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said Juneau has spent "a little under $10 million of like CBJ taxpayer money" on the barriers, thanks to grants and partnerships, and that the Army Corps has agreed it is responsible for ongoing barrier repairs. The city manager's memo for that worksession says the city "will likely remain responsible for regular maintenance."

The Assembly also adopted transfers of $500,000 for riverbank restoration after the barriers come down and $4,033,711 toward repaying the state loan that financed them.