Sitka gets $1.1 million state grant to upgrade Eliason Harbor electrical systems and floats

Sitka's Harbor Department has secured a $1.1 million State of Alaska grant to upgrade electrical systems and repair aging floats at Eliason Harbor. The City and Borough of Sitka announced the award Wednesday in the fall issue of its newsletter, called CBS News after the City and Borough of Sitka's initials.

Eliason Harbor, the northernmost of the five small-boat harbors the city runs, holds commercial fishing, charter and recreational boats and is where most visiting vessels tie up. It was built in the late 1990s.

Design for the Eliason Harbor upgrades is nearing its final stages, the city said. That brings the project closer to bid-ready plans, the point at which the city could seek construction bids. The city described the grant as support for "essential electrical system upgrades" and repairs to "aging float infrastructure."

Elsewhere on the waterfront, crews finished a full rehabilitation of the Fisherman's Work Float. The Thomsen Harbor Lift Station is complete. New haul-out safety ladders and rails are in place at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park.

The newsletter does not name the state grant program behind the award. It gives no total project cost and no construction schedule. It also does not say how many floats need repair or which electrical systems will be replaced.