The Cordova City Council met for both a work session and a special meeting in late November to discuss multiple agenda items, including the 2023 city budget and a multimillion dollar plan that would improve Cordova’s South Harbor.
New business at the council’s Nov. 30 special meeting included a resolution for the South Harbor Rebuild Project, which has been a behind-the-scenes production in town— and not without its challenges.
Cordova City Manager Helen Howarth shared some insight on the progress of the project — from its conception to securing the funding to make the idea into a reality.
She said that over the last few years, the city has received funding in the amount of $35.7 million from state and federal grants, as well as through fundraising efforts.
“We started assembling other resources and got serious about the project,” she said. “We hired a team of folks to help us with pre-development work … and in that process we came up with a $32 million project. That was pre-COVID.”
But the South Harbor Rebuild Project ended up being more expensive than the council originally thought, she said, so the body started to prioritize the most critical needs.
The council approved moving forward in talks with Turnagain Marine Construction, and although a contract isn’t signed yet, Howarth said she’s hopeful that negotiations with the company will produce positive results.
“I think we are going to get ourselves into a good place,” she said.
An additional $3.9 million for the project was asked of the Cordova City Council during the special meeting last week.
“We are going to have a good harbor, we are continuing our conversations and negotiations with Turnagain, we are still looking for funding,” Howarth said. “I promise you, that is a huge thing for our staff here and for myself — is to find more money. We must move forward because we are on a timeline.”
As it is projected now, by Sept. 15, 2023, all the boats will need to be removed from the South Harbor to begin construction.
“We are going to have crews in here working all winter long to get this thing finished so that boats can be back in their slips before the fishing season starts in the spring of 2024,” Howarth said.
Additionally, during the Nov. 22 work session, the council discussed the 2023 city budget. Howarth said the body is making every effort to avoid raising taxes.
“We are working really hard to put a balanced budget together that didn’t raise property or other taxes and acknowledged the need for the city to re-emerge from COVID,” Howarth said.
Places in town including Bidarki, the pool, museum, and library have seen an influx of visitors post-COVID, and the city has made efforts to meet demand.
“We have had to ramp up our staffing back to levels where the community can be supported in using our facilities. There may be user fee increases, but for the most part we are bringing back and improving services to the community,” Howarth said.
