Public Workshop #2 - Concept Presentation: Thursday, February 28

On Thursday, February 28, 2019, PND Engineers, Corvus Design, and McDowell Group held an evening workshop where they presented concepts for the five sites. Each of the sites had between one and four concepts developed for each and were based on input received from Monday's Public Meeting and the two days of the Open Studio Session. After the presentation, the public had the opportunity to review the concepts and provide their input through the use of sticky notes and discussions with the planning team. Approximately 30 members of the public participated.

Click the link below to access the presentation. Images of the public meeting and the concepts provided are shown below.

Click link to access the presentation

The concepts presented to the community are pictured below with a brief description of each:

Small Boat Harbor:

Concept A: Includes the following:

• Extension of uplands (bulkhead) and development of a park strip along the whole length of harbor
• Improved and expanded boat launch with trailer parking
• Two dry stack buildings and launch with queuing float
• Realignment of Kobuk Drive near boat launch
• Public parking north of Kobuk Drive

Concept B: Includes the following:

• Extension of uplands (bulkhead) and development of a park strip along the whole length of harbor
• Improved and expanded boat launch with trailer parking
• Expansion of commercial district along North Harbor Drive to the east
• Realignment of Kobuk Drive 
• Public parking located behind expanded commercial district

Concept C: Includes the following:

• Extension of uplands (bulkhead) and development of a park strip along the west portion of the harbor
• Improved and expanded boat launch with trailer parking
• Boat storage, maintenance and travel lift
• Realignment of Kobuk Drive

Sea Otter Park:

Concept A: Includes the following:

• Addition of fill to create an additional 11 acres of developable land
• 15 acres for marine service yard
• 3 acres for fish processing expansion
• 750 linear foot of pile supported dock
• Relocation of SBS dock to the south
• Boat haul-out and wave barrier
• Fishing pier and trail along waterfront to downtown

Concept B: Includes the following:

• Addition of fill to create an additional 12 acres of developable land
• 15 acres for marine service yard
• 4.5 acres for fish processing expansion or new facility
• 900 linear foot of bulkhead dock
• Relocation of SBS dock to the south
• Boat haul-out and wave barrier
• Fishing park with pier, shelter, trail and parking

Concept C: Includes the following:

• No fill, haul-out or fishing access
• 7 acres for fish processing
• 600 linear foot of pile supported dock
• Relocation of SBS dock to the south
• Processor's employees park

Concept D: Includes the following:

• Addition of fill to create an additional 10 acres of developable land (plus another 2.5 acres for future fill)
• 10 acres for marine service yard
• 5 acres for fish processing 
• 600 linear foot of pile supported dock
• Relocation of SBS dock to the south
• Boat haul-out and wave barrier
• Fishing pier, parking, park and trail with access along South Harbor Road

New Boat Harbor:

Concept A: Includes the following:

• Maintains Hotel Hill (rock)
• Dry stack facility for 190 boats
• Dry stack launch and queueing float
• Waterfront park with shelter and kayak launch
• Boardwalk trail linking to downtown and around harbor
• Breakwater fishing trail

Concept B: Includes the following:

• Removes Hotel Hill (rock)
• Realigns South Harbor Drive through New Boat Harbor site
• Dry stack facility for 180 boats and bulkhead along Old Harbor
• Dry stack launch and queueing float (on Old Harbor side)
• Consolidate harbormaster facility
• Harbor related commercial development (lease)

Concept C: Includes the following:

• Removes Hotel Hill (rock)
• Dry stack facility for 360 boats (two phases)
• Dry stack launch and queueing float
• Harbor related commercial development (lease)

Old Town:

Concept A: Includes the following:

• Old Town historical park with trails and interpretation.
• Parking and small recreation facility near Richardson Highway as gateway to historical park
• Boat launch with seasonal boat storage (buffered from adjacent uses)
• Salmon fishing pond (relocated to north) with parking and trail systems
• Waterfront trail
• Note: Until geotechnical investigation can verify stability of this area, development is limited to recreation day-use activities and temporary storage.

Valdez Container Terminal:

Concept A: Includes the following:

• Dredge basin to -20 MLLW with bulkhead and breasting dolphins for barge
• Fill for expanded uplands 100' to the west of existing storage/use area
• Expansion of concrete pontoons by 400 feet to the west of existing with additional breasting dolphins
• Addition of  crane rails to concrete pontoons
• Relocation of scale house and extending length of scales
• Refurbishment of transfer bridges and existing pontoon to extend service life 25 year
• Refurbishment of causeway to extend service life by 25 years
• Development of right-of-way between Mineral Creek Loop Road and Richardson Highway to improve access
• Truck layover at Mineral Creek Loop Road

Public Input - Sticky Note Exercise 

The exercise following the public presentation gave the opportunity for attendees of the public meeting the chance to walk around and review each of the concepts with a member of the project team. Any comments or concerns were added to the concepts through the use of sticky notes. For the most part, those in blue represent elements that were desired or liked, while those in pink represent elements that were not as well liked or supported by the participants of the public workshop.

Small Boat Harbor:

Sea Otter Park:

New Harbor Uplands:

Old Town:

Valdez Container Terminal:

The information above summarizes public input received. If we overlooked or did not accurately portray your input please reach out to vcwmp@pndengineers.com.