Council Hears Cruise Ship Report

Erik Wander/KMXT

At the Kodiak City Council regular meeting on Thursday evening, the Kodiak Island Convention and Visitors Bureau presented a report on the recently completed cruise ship public forum held in October. The brief presentation took place during the "citizens to be heard" portion of the meeting.

KMXT’s Erik Wander has more.

Janet Buckingham is the executive director of the Kodiak Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. She said the forum was a success and provided valuable feedback from members of the community on the impact of cruise ship visits.

— (Buckingham 1 15 sec. "Approximately 50 people … and feedback.")

At the city council meeting, Buckingham described the survey process and some of the results of the survey that resulted from the public forum. She said comments, both written and verbal, centered on the number of cruise ship visits and the size of ships visiting Kodiak.

— (Buckingham 2 45 sec. "It is not a scientific … certain size of ship.")

Buckingham pointed out that many responses included concern about the changing character of Kodiak to accommodate the cruise ship industry, as has happened in other communities in Alaska. She also said none of the largest of cruise ships are scheduled for the coming year.

— (Buckingham 3 52 sec. "Over and over, we heard … scheduled for 2009.")

Buckingham said that a varied range of concerns were expressed at the October forum.

— (Buckingham 4 52 sec. "Concerns about the cruise … of water and air.")

Buckingham said that most of the respondents recognized the importance of the cruise ship industry to Kodiak but were mostly concerned about the possible changing character of the community, the quality of experience for visitors and the potential loss of quality of life for Kodiak residents. Buckingham will make another presentation at the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly’s meeting on February 19th. I’m Erik Wander.

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