Kodiak is moving forward with plans to replace its largest boat harbor. Kodiak’s City Council agreed with Turnagain Marine Construction’s preferred design for the replacement of St. Herman Harbor, with some modifications, at a work session on Aug. 6.
Over the past few months, since mid-April, Anchorage-based Turnagain Marine has been going through public input and adjusting two proposed designs for the replacement of the harbor. The company and the city entered into an agreement in November of 2023 for Turnagain Marine to provide planning level design and public involvement services for the St. Herman Harbor replacement project. It's estimated that roughly 75% of the Kodiak harbor's revenue is generated by commercial fishing boats.
The company only received 25 total survey responses through a short-lived online survey. But at this year’s ComFish trade show when the two designs were unveiled, there was much more public feedback given in person. Josie Bahnke, Kodiak’s Acting City Manager, said the design team made two changes after that April event.
“First change is floats dedicated to the 30-foot class of vessels, which account for a substantial beam common in those vessels," Bahnke said. "And secondly, probably most exciting to our home ported fleet, is the new O float will incorporate a drive down dock into the design.”
A drive down dock allows for some vehicles, like a truck with a flatbed trailer, or a forklift, to safely drive on and off the dock.
The design to replace St. Herman Harbor takes into account the next 30 to 50 years of the harbor’s existence and the vessels of the future that will be using it. As part of that vision, Turnagain Marine, and many who gave public feedback, expect to see an increase in 58-foot boats or bigger coming into town.
Currently, St. Herman Harbor includes about 330 slips. The design for its replacement, Concept B, would maintain a similar number of 331 slips while also accommodating larger vessels with 50 to 60 foot slips. And it would add a new O-float which would be the drive down dock. The majority of public comments received by the company stated that Concept A 's navigation channels are too narrow. But Concept A included a total of 379 slips.
Robin White with Solstice Alaska Consulting, part of the Turnagain Marine Construction team, said the project is still in the preliminary design phase. She gave a presentation about the updated design options and the next step of acquiring permits to the city council on Aug. 6.
“Essentially to get this project as close to shovel ready as possible, so that you [the council] can seek funding for the final design and construction of the project," White said to the city council.
White also recommended the city conduct a geophysical survey of the harbor to determine if blasting might be needed or not to smooth out specific high spots. It is believed there are high spots at end of I and J floats, which could require blasting or other work to fix. White said her team documented four feet of water coming over the top of those floats during an extremely low tide.
Although the council discussed this presentation during a work session on Aug. 6, and couldn’t vote on any formal business items, all members spoke in favor of moving forward with Turnagain Marine’s recommended design, Concept B with the addition of Concept O-1. The city also plans to pay for a geophysical survey to be done in the harbor in the near future.
