Petersburg Assembly awards $13.5 million Scow Bay haul-out contract to lone bidder

The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 6-0 Monday to award Rock-n-Road Construction a contract worth up to $13.5 million to build the Scow Bay boat haul-out. The company was the only bidder, and its bid was responsive.

The borough's invitation to bid calls for a concrete haul-out ramp, a timber boarding float, steel piles, utilities, a wash-down pad, sewer lines and a utility building. Federal grants, loan financing, Denali Commission money and local funds pay for the project, including an $8.9 million federal grant and state loans authorized up to $3.5 million.

A harbor staff member said the bid came in $10,000 under the estimate, as does the written report of Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, who called it "just a little bit under the engineer's estimate." The staff memo says about $200,000 under the engineer's "most recent" estimate. PND Engineers reviewed the bid and recommended the award.

The site opens to the contractor Dec. 7, after Scow Bay leases end and tenants clear out, a borough staff member said. The staff member called in-water work tied to Fish and Game permitting the contractor's "real crunch." At the Assembly's Oct. 20 meeting, a speaker said the work was expected to take 18 months to two years.

Scott Pullar, representing 13 Marine, asked in August to stay at the site until about May 1, saying an earlier move would be costly. Director Liz Cabrera said delay could add significant costs.

The Assembly also set a work session on boatyard operations, management and financial planning for Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 9 am. Giesbrecht's memo asks who should run the boatyard and whether rates should turn a profit, break even or draw support from other departments. John Murgus, owner of Petersburg Marine and Boatyard, speaking for himself and small businesses that rely on the haul-out, asked that the public be allowed to take part in that session rather than just listen, saying the decisions would affect most boats in the harbor. Mayor Bob Lynn said the Assembly would look at that.

"The harbor is an enterprise fund primarily, at least to a lot of us. It's where we keep our boats. We pay rates and it's a significant amount," Assembly member Bob Martin said. He said as far as he knows, the boatyard is not part of the harbor enterprise, and he called talk of dipping into harbor reserves "a little bit misplaced and premature."