Ketchikan Gateway Borough caps Homestead snow plowing contract at $25,000

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough will pay Magnum Enterprises up to $25,000 to plow Homestead Service Area roads this winter. Borough Manager Ruben Duran and Magnum owner Bill Kacenas signed the snow removal agreement Oct. 15 and 16. The Homestead Service Area Board hears an update on the contract Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 pm.

The contract pays $90 an hour for plowing, $60 a yard for sand and 54 cents a pound for ice melt. Magnum is paid only for time its equipment is working in the service area, not for travel or repairs. Roads must be plowed before 6 am. If Magnum misses that deadline, or does not cover a route within 60 minutes after its equipment breaks down, the borough can hire another crew and bill Magnum for the difference. Plowed snow may not block driveways, and Magnum must repair any damage it causes by June 1.

Plows go out on Old Homestead Road once new snow tops half an inch. On Fawn Mountain, Big Rock, Anchor Ridge and Misty Mountain roads, crews wait until snow reaches 3 inches, or until drifting snow or ice makes travel unsafe. The board kept both thresholds Aug. 27, according to its draft minutes.

The money comes from the service area's contractual services budget, which spent about $21,600 last fiscal year against a $15,000 budget, a packet worksheet shows. In August, the board was told the borough is absorbing the school district's share of service area costs for fiscal 2027 and kept residential pricing the same.

The contract runs through June 30, 2027, with up to four one-year extensions if the borough funds them.