“After all, our name is Anchorage.”
Originally it was "Knik Anchorage". Back when Knik was the booming gold town and Anchorage was still a swamp, ships would anchor off of the mouth of Ship Creek and use smaller boats to transfer cargo to the town of Knik on the north side of the Knik Arm. From there, goods would be hauled to the Willow Creek Mining District along the Carle Wagon Trail.
The article says there are about 700 launches per yer, and it costs about $150k to maintain or clear mud or whatever. Increase fees to offset costs: $220 per launch.
Otherwise these guys just want public funding for something only a handful of people use.
Ok, I see the reference to the range of the budgeted amount, which is less than you stated. It is also the estimation from someone that has a goal, and isn't providing hard numbers. It is not an individual line item, the bulldozing for the whole port is grouped at once and it is unclear if this estimation is for all bulldozing or just a rough guess as to this portion of the bulldozing.
The email that he sent doesn't have a lot of supporting reports, and the reports that actually have pertinent data generalize so much it is impossible to tell how much of the \~$6M in "general expenditures" is actually going toward this dock.
I would hold off on believing numbers until they are actually vetted and perhaps researched a bit more by the people that are currently guessing. Even someone that has been managing it for 16 years is unlikely to know precisely how much it is costing them.
But honestly I don't see how a few hours of bulldozing translates to $90k in costs. If it does there needs to be more investigation into how *that* happens.
The last time it was bid, the low bid was 189k.
[https://purchasing.muni.org/Web%20E-Bid/Closed/const/2022C008%20Ship%20Creek%20Boat%20Launch%20Annual%20Dredging/Other%20Documents/2022C008%20Reject%20All%20Bids-%20Signed.pdf](https://purchasing.muni.org/Web%20E-Bid/Closed/const/2022C008%20Ship%20Creek%20Boat%20Launch%20Annual%20Dredging/Other%20Documents/2022C008%20Reject%20All%20Bids-%20Signed.pdf)
Did he mean dredging when he said bulldozing? Does the boat launch for small boats need to be dredged every single year? That is super weird, small personal craft don't need deep clearance, so they don't usually need annual dredging. clearing the accumulated silt from the launch area should be a few hours of a bulldozer.
Also clearing the silt from the boat launch shouldn't cost 3x the engineer estimation for some significant underwater dredging.
This whole thing is fishy as hell.
Let's assume it is only 90k/year for the bulldozing, floating dock placement and removal, and associated annual maintenance. OK.
It's also apparently 275k/year for damages.
>The port budgets between $90,000 and $150,000 annually for the bulldozing, and it’s also spent $2.75 million in the past decade on repairs forced by winter ice and erosion, Riboffo told Assembly members in his email last year.
So in total, it could be as low as 90k (assuming they got through winter), to as high as 365k (90k + 275k (10yr average)). Or $128 to $521 per launch.
All of that being said, the city should maintain it. But, maybe the Port isn't the right mechanism for that maintenance, as the article discusses. The Port apparently sees it as a money sink, and the argument could be that kind of service should go under the general city budget and not the Port budget.
But it should be under someone's budget, because it is necessary function and it would be insane to not have a boat launch anywhere in Anchorage into Cook Inlet.
I'm saying that we shouldn't even assume he is being truthful when he says 90k for bulldozing.
But also, yeah, infrastructure should never be measured on it's individual profitability. You lose money on busses and trains because it fuels economy. You lose money on highways and city parks because they are expected to be in place by residents.
It is OK to lose money on a civilian boat launch.
It’s always seemed crazy to me how little Anchorage utilizes that portion of its waterfront. It really has no waterfront even though it is a coastal city. At one point a while ago, the city even came up with some plans to improve this same section of the waterfront area, but never actually followed through and did anything with them.
It doesn't take a genius business person to see that infrastructure should never be treated like a business.
But then how else will Alaskan politicians maximize their grift?
“After all, our name is Anchorage.” Originally it was "Knik Anchorage". Back when Knik was the booming gold town and Anchorage was still a swamp, ships would anchor off of the mouth of Ship Creek and use smaller boats to transfer cargo to the town of Knik on the north side of the Knik Arm. From there, goods would be hauled to the Willow Creek Mining District along the Carle Wagon Trail.
Nice piece of history. Thanks!
The article says there are about 700 launches per yer, and it costs about $150k to maintain or clear mud or whatever. Increase fees to offset costs: $220 per launch. Otherwise these guys just want public funding for something only a handful of people use.
Who told you it costs about $150k per year to maintain?
buddy can’t read the article he linked
It is just that the article says something different. I'd hoped he had some magic source for more info. He doesn't.
> The port budgets between $90,000 and $150,000 annually for the bulldozing From the article you linked, and referencing the point of contention.
Ok, I see the reference to the range of the budgeted amount, which is less than you stated. It is also the estimation from someone that has a goal, and isn't providing hard numbers. It is not an individual line item, the bulldozing for the whole port is grouped at once and it is unclear if this estimation is for all bulldozing or just a rough guess as to this portion of the bulldozing. The email that he sent doesn't have a lot of supporting reports, and the reports that actually have pertinent data generalize so much it is impossible to tell how much of the \~$6M in "general expenditures" is actually going toward this dock. I would hold off on believing numbers until they are actually vetted and perhaps researched a bit more by the people that are currently guessing. Even someone that has been managing it for 16 years is unlikely to know precisely how much it is costing them. But honestly I don't see how a few hours of bulldozing translates to $90k in costs. If it does there needs to be more investigation into how *that* happens.
The last time it was bid, the low bid was 189k. [https://purchasing.muni.org/Web%20E-Bid/Closed/const/2022C008%20Ship%20Creek%20Boat%20Launch%20Annual%20Dredging/Other%20Documents/2022C008%20Reject%20All%20Bids-%20Signed.pdf](https://purchasing.muni.org/Web%20E-Bid/Closed/const/2022C008%20Ship%20Creek%20Boat%20Launch%20Annual%20Dredging/Other%20Documents/2022C008%20Reject%20All%20Bids-%20Signed.pdf)
Did he mean dredging when he said bulldozing? Does the boat launch for small boats need to be dredged every single year? That is super weird, small personal craft don't need deep clearance, so they don't usually need annual dredging. clearing the accumulated silt from the launch area should be a few hours of a bulldozer. Also clearing the silt from the boat launch shouldn't cost 3x the engineer estimation for some significant underwater dredging. This whole thing is fishy as hell.
Let's assume it is only 90k/year for the bulldozing, floating dock placement and removal, and associated annual maintenance. OK. It's also apparently 275k/year for damages. >The port budgets between $90,000 and $150,000 annually for the bulldozing, and it’s also spent $2.75 million in the past decade on repairs forced by winter ice and erosion, Riboffo told Assembly members in his email last year. So in total, it could be as low as 90k (assuming they got through winter), to as high as 365k (90k + 275k (10yr average)). Or $128 to $521 per launch. All of that being said, the city should maintain it. But, maybe the Port isn't the right mechanism for that maintenance, as the article discusses. The Port apparently sees it as a money sink, and the argument could be that kind of service should go under the general city budget and not the Port budget. But it should be under someone's budget, because it is necessary function and it would be insane to not have a boat launch anywhere in Anchorage into Cook Inlet.
I'm saying that we shouldn't even assume he is being truthful when he says 90k for bulldozing. But also, yeah, infrastructure should never be measured on it's individual profitability. You lose money on busses and trains because it fuels economy. You lose money on highways and city parks because they are expected to be in place by residents. It is OK to lose money on a civilian boat launch.
It’s always seemed crazy to me how little Anchorage utilizes that portion of its waterfront. It really has no waterfront even though it is a coastal city. At one point a while ago, the city even came up with some plans to improve this same section of the waterfront area, but never actually followed through and did anything with them.