Ketchikan City Council adds $151,000 for harbor storm drain as damage sites grow to four

The Ketchikan City Council voted 7-0 Thursday to add up to $150,999 to P&T Construction's storm repair contract, bringing the total to $249,999, to replace a failed storm drain near the Port and Harbors maintenance building out to the Narrows.

P&T first received up to $99,000 after the Oct. 15 storm to divert stormwater and slow erosion, City Manager Abner Hoag said. Hoag said the work falls under the disaster declaration and is eligible for state reimbursement.

The council confirmed that declaration Oct. 19, when the city's preliminary damage estimate topped $4 million, according to the disaster resolution.

Assistant City Manager Sean Hart said two more damaged sites, also covered by the contract, turned up after that meeting, bringing the count to four. One is on Fifth Avenue near the Armory, where erosion undercut trees. The other is just below the telecommunications building, where washed-out ground needs backfill.

On Fifth Avenue, crews removed the dangerous trees, temporarily stabilized the slope and installed a new manhole and 50 feet of pipe. That work is about 80 percent complete, Hart said.

At the harbor site, a relief pipe is in. Demolition of the old maintenance shop exposed a sinkhole beneath it, about 20 feet by 12 feet by 6 feet, Hart said. A new 60-inch pipe is in town awaiting better weather.

Hoag said a staff member believes a floor support at the edge kept the building from collapsing into the hole. Staff had moved its paint, fuel and diesel heating tank first. "We were super fortunate that we took the action that we did," Hoag said.

The city has spent about $80,000 on the harbor-area sites, Hart said. Hoag put the cost to finish at $400,000 to $500,000.

At Ward Cove, the landslide pushed substation buildings almost 8 feet off their foundations. "No customers lost power due to this," Hart said. A mobile substation went live Oct. 30.

Hart estimated repairs at up to $1.5 million over two to three months and said the state will cover whatever the pending insurance claim does not.