Waterfront development on the horizon as City Council approves master plan revamp

Future waterfront development in Kodiak was the first order of business at last week’s Kodiak city council meeting. Councilmembers unanimously approved $100,000 to begin the process of updating the city’s Waterfront Master Plan.

The last time the city of Kodiak updated its Waterfront Master Plan was back in 2010, and Kodiak’s harbormaster Mike Sarnowski said getting a new one on file is crucial for the future of Kodiak’s city-owned coastline.

“Having a master plan written up will help us in the future for future grants because we’ll know what’s our strategic goals for the waterfront for the city,” he said.

Grants are competitive – the city was passed over last year for a grant to fund improvements at St. Herman Harbor. Sarnowski’s hoping the city can tap into federal infrastructure money for an overhaul there this year. But there’s other areas of community interest to develop – like Gibson Cove, between town and the airport – and other grants they can apply for in the meantime. 

The next phase is community engagement. Sarnowski said the city is using ComFish, at the end of March, as a kickoff to solicit resident feedback.

“We’re going to have questionnaires to give to people, we’re going to get community forums together, so we’re going to try and get as many people and ideas together,” he said. 

The process is still in its infancy, but Sarnowski said that work done now will make a difference in the years to come.

The City Council unanimously approved Fairbanks, Alaska-based PDC Engineering’s proposal to revamp its Waterfront Master Plan at Thursday’s meeting. The city is paying for $75,000 of PDC’s $99,774 price tag with a Denali Commission grant. The rest is from the city’s harbor fund.