Juneau assembly directs staff to develop LID concepts for Haskellberry phase 1b; service-area planning also advanced

The Juneau City and Borough Assembly on June 2 directed staff to develop Local Improvement District (LID) concepts for phase 1b of the Haskellberry HESCO barrier project and to continue developing concepts for a long-term service area to fund flood mitigation work.

Manager Custer, who presented the staff memo, told the committee phase 1a — a near-complete HESCO barrier project — protected substantial public property and that extending barriers through phase 1b would protect an additional 96 parcels (about 90 housing units) but raises technical, ownership and cost questions. "Extending that we don't have time to do any armoring there, and it needs about $1,400,000 of armoring along that bank," Custer said, adding the unarmored riverbank raises the risk of failure in a catastrophic event.

The memo and committee discussion laid out trade-offs: the continuous HESCO line is the most effective short-term flood fight, but armoring the riverbank to protect the barriers is costly and involves parcels owned by ADOT and private entities that aren’t uniformly receptive to armoring. Staff told the committee they had…