Unalaska's harbor rebuild came in $10.6 million over, and the city is paying cash

Engineers put Unalaska's small boat harbor rebuild at roughly $14 million in 2023. When bids opened last month, the low one was $21.9 million, and the full construction budget with contingency runs to $25.3 million, close to double the original figure.

The city council voted Sept. 8 to cover the difference, moving $10.6 million out of the general fund rather than borrowing. It awarded the contract to Western Marine Construction the same night.

Staff told the council the city has the cash, and added a caveat: it is "questionable as to whether the General Fund could fully fund another project of this size" without taking on debt.

Port Director Scott Brown had already talked the council out of redesigning the project to fit the old budget. Doing that, he said in August, would add engineering costs and delay, and send the job back out to bid with no guarantee the next round comes in any lower. The council introduced the funding 5-0 without discussion.

The work replaces the harbor's A and B floats, 71 slips across about 1,230 feet of dock for boats up to 60 feet, used by the commercial fleet and the businesses that serve it. Substantial completion is due July 2028.

The same meeting added $1.9 million to the harbor's entrance channel dredging project, most of it also from the general fund.

The city has asked the state for $5 million from its harbor grant program and is pursuing up to $1 million more from the Denali Commission. Neither has come through, and neither is counted in what the city has to spend.