Juneau strike team says whole borough, not river homeowners, should pay local flood match

A three-member Assembly strike team recommends any local share of Juneau's long-term glacial flood protection be spread boroughwide rather than charged to Mendenhall River homeowners. Assemblymembers Maureen Hall, Nathaniel Brooks and Neil Steininger met Sept. 8 on flood funding. In a memo for Monday's Committee of the Whole, City Manager Katie Koester said the group agreed a long-term fix protects commercial and public infrastructure used communitywide, and that losing valley homes would deepen the housing shortage. Koester wrote it is meant to provide "a starting point for Assembly discussion."

At best, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not have a rough cost estimate for an emergency water conveyance prototype until spring or summer 2027, putting a bond question on the October 2027 ballot. Assembly Member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said at an Aug. 31 worksession that the Corps had aimed to provide a "rough order of magnitude idea of that cost by December," a target the memo pushes back.

A 90,000-cubic-feet-per-second flood, the Corps' worst case, would affect 3,001 parcels and 2,265 structures, including 2,067 homes, assessed at $1.5 billion. Current HESCO barriers protect to 63,500 cfs, covering 1,456 structures, 1,371 of them homes, assessed at $840 million.

Juneau is seeking a 90-10 federal-local split on the long-term solution. USACE covered Phase 2 barrier work, about $35 million, and Phase 1 repairs in full. CBJ put up $3 million in general funds to match the USACE flood study.

The group held off on a flood control district and easements until the timeline is clearer. "There was little appetite for utilizing eminent domain," Koester wrote. Members instead weighed a temporary easement with an annual lease payment.

Juneau is pushing for 90-10 cost-share language in the Water Resources Development Act and a state revolving loan. A local improvement district, which bills benefiting owners, put 60 percent of Phase 1 barrier costs, about $4.7 million, on taxpayers at large. Of 466 district properties, 117 objected, including Brett and Debra Coblentz, who cited uncertain effectiveness and unfair cost burden.

Koester wrote the need for a dedicated funding source will be informed by October's municipal election.