September 22, 2005
Thursday PM

Let's do the Ward Cove deal. It is my understanding that the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly gave the manager the nod to work a deal with Renaissance Development. I was told by both the KGB manager and Renaissance that the offer of 9 million was countered by the KGB to have the Admin. Building excluded from the sale and that this deal was accepted by both sides.

As I understand the KGB lease with the AMHS for the Admin Building, we will not see any actual profit from the lease until 2014. Not exactly shrewd negotiations on the Assembly's part in order to "purchase" a handfull of jobs. This lease was mostly brokered behind closed doors and did NOT follow the existing KGB policy in place at the time to long-term lease &/or sell Borough lands & properties. The AMHS now seeks to acquire a huge part of the Ward Cove waterfront for a winter lay-up facility for up to 4 vessels. The problem with that is it may well kill the Renaissance deal. The AMHS lay-up facility would add a handfull of seasonal jobs and the Renaissance's $150,000,000 development will yield many many times that number of jobs. If Capt. Falvey and Robin Taylor get their way they will pay dimes on the dollar for a lay-up facility that will remain vacant through the summer months when the demand for moorage in SE Alaska is the highest.

I urge the KGB management and Assembly to conclude the deal with Renaisance and let them deal with AMHS. In this way AMHS will get a fair deal, at fair market value instead of expecting another KGB handout.

Rob Holston
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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