North Slope Borough adopts eminent domain policy reaching beyond the seawall

The North Slope Borough Assembly voted 8-0 Tuesday to adopt an eminent domain policy, broadening its scope after Assembly Member Frederick Brower struck language that limited it to the Utqiaġvik seawall project.

Mayor Josiah Patkotak backed the change, saying the mayor and designees, not the borough attorney, Port Authority director or finance director, will carry out the policy. He said the borough had never used eminent domain before, and Borough Attorney Won H. Kim found no prior general policy on the books. Patkotak said the Code Book Committee can still review the policy.

An ordinance would take an easement from landowner Andrew Kroll for the five-mile seawall project; its public hearing is Nov. 10. Patkotak said Bureau of Indian Affairs allotment owners have received fair market value for their land.

Kroll told the assembly he isn't opposing the project. "I'm not here to oppose anything. I'm here as a willing seller," he said, citing a $17,074.56 gap between his asking price and the borough's appraisal of $6.94 a square foot. He urged the assembly to settle "before public money goes to lawyers instead of the wall."

Port Authority Director Ian Stroud said the authority has committed about $125,000 to landowners during his two months in the role.