City Construction Projects Continue Apace

Jay Barrett/KMXT
At Thursday’s Kodiak City Council meeting, city manager Aimee Kniaziowski gave brief updates on various maintenance and construction projects around town. Some are coming along quicker than scheduled, such as the latest phase of water and sewer upgrades in Aleutian Homes.
“The curb and gutter is complete. Multiple retaining walls are under construction, the D-1, sidewalks and street pavements are schedule to start in two weeks, and traffic will be limited to local access only. And we expect the contractor, Brechan, to be done by the end of this month, which is way early. We really appreciate it; the project’s gone very well.”)
She said Ohno Construction is doing some repairs to the Baranof Park football field around the mascot logo in the center of the field, and has extending the warranty on work done on the baseball field:
“Last spring and winter we had a problem with standing water on that field. They’ve agreed to extend the warranty and give it another year. What we think that happened was the ground was frozen underneath, not allowing the water to drain through. And we haven’t seen that back up. They want to observe it some more before they start tearing up that turf.”
Kniaziowski noted the asphalt milling and repaving going on along Mill Bay Road. Work at the intersection of Birch has already been done.
“They’re working on three other segments that in are chronic drainage areas, problem areas. Benny Benson, Bancroft, and kind of right in front of King Fisher Air. So hopefully, they’ll mill that, replace it and increase the crown of the road, and hopefully we can nurse that along a little bit and make that road hold together for a longer time.”
Mill Bay Road was completely resurfaced about five years ago, but ruts and potholes developed over the last few years.
Down on the waterfront, Kniaziowski said Harbormaster Lon White is working with the state to facilitate the Pier 1 replacement project:
“They’re going to be starting on that here this month. Pacific Pile and Marine is the contractor, and they’ll begin pulling down the old Pier 1, which is an old timber-pile dock, and replacing it. The ferry and the state, they’re looking for options for ferry office space and a construction office. Initially we thought maybe they would come to Pier 2, but it looks like they’re looking around. They’re going to try some other things.”
She also informed the council that a Parks and Recreation department crew has been trying to clean up around the Mall, and tended to the trees and flower beds there as well.