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 responsive bidder.

Who will run the boatyard, and whether its rates should turn a profit, break even or draw support from other departments, are questions Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht raised in a memo. The Assembly set a work session on boatyard operations and finances for Feb. 3.

The project calls for a concrete haul-out ramp, a timber boarding float, steel piles, a wash-down pad, a utility building and sewer and other utility lines, according to the borough's invitation to bid. It must be substantially complete by May 1, 2028.

Federal grants, state loans, Denali Commission money and local funds are financing it, including an $8.9 million federal grant and state loans authorized up to $3.5 million. The borough estimated construction at $12 million to $15 million, and the bid came in just under the engineer's estimate, staff told the Assembly.

The site opens to the contractor Dec. 7, after Scow Bay leases end and tenants clear out, a borough staff member said. The fire department's training props have to leave too; the borough hasn't settled on a permanent site for them. The staff member called in-water work tied to Fish and Game permitting the contractor's "real crunch."

John Murgus, owner of Petersburg Marine and Boatyard, said work sessions are usually listen-only and asked that the public be allowed to take part in this one, since the decisions would affect most boats in the harbor. He spoke for himself and small businesses that rely on the haul-out. 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. As far as he knows, he said, the boatyard is not part of the harbor enterprise, and he called talk of dipping into harbor reserves "a little bit misplaced and premature."