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City & Corps of Engineers Resume Feasibility Study on Large Vessel Port Expansion
The need for a Large Vessel Harbor has been prevalent for some time. Planning for the expansion began back in 2004 when the US Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Alaska Dept of Transportation partnered to look at the feasibility and scope of the proposed project.
Due to factors at the time, among them the price of armor rock and management of derelict vessels, the project was deemed outside of the benefit to cost ratio that would make it competitive for federal funding dollars. Project planning was put on hold, but the search for alternative solutions to those factors continued so as to not lose the data already gained from years of study.
Recent review of the project with both the Army Corps of Engineers and the City's term contract engineering firms, R&M Consulting and HDR, determined that several of those situational factors have now changed, including:
- the possibility of new and local sources of armor rock and other construction material elements
- a partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop a dredged materials guidance plan for the Homer Spit
- A chance to better define the fleet benefits
- A recognized need to mitigate the navigational hazard that the small boat harbor entrance has, given its use by both small and very large vessels.
This, combined with the fact that the need for large vessel harbor space has only grown, prompted City Council to pass Ordinance 18-03 in January 2018. The ordinance approves using $50,000 of Harbor Reserve funds to cover half the cost of a renewed joint study of the port expansion with the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Section 22 Planning Assistance to States Program Study began in September 2018, with the Army Corps of Engineers picking up the other half of the cost. The study is expected to be completed by Spring 2019 and will provide guidance on the next steps.
City Council recently designated the Large Vessel Port Expansion project top priority in the City's Capital Improvement Plan.
The Section 22 Study will look at the past work and data collected from the Army Corps of Engineers, State of Alaska DOT, Northern Economics Inc., and the City. It will also analyze how new factors including the new availability of local and competitive building materials and increased demand for moorage from the large vessel fleet affect feasibility. The end goal of the Section 22 Study is to assist the City of Homer in preparing a comprehensive plan for the development and utilization of the Homer Port and its proposed large vessel port expansion, as well as conservation of the water resources already in place.
Positive findings from the PAS preliminary study will give confidence that reinstating the General Investigation Study will produce a benefit to cost ratio that justifies the investment of federal dollars in Homer.
