Petersburg committee recommends assembly approve American Cruise Lines lease for Dock Street mooring float

A Petersburg Borough committee voted unanimously to recommend that the borough assembly approve a lease of roughly 22,000 square feet of borough tidelands at the end of Dock Street to American Cruise Lines for construction of a mooring float.

The recommendation, made during a public hearing, advances the company’s application to lease borough tidelands but does not finalize lease terms. Committee members and witnesses said key lease details — including who manages and schedules the dock in the offseason, how maintenance costs are allocated, and whether the borough can use the float when American Cruise Lines (ACL) is not docked — will be resolved in later negotiations and in a formal lease agreement.

Harbor Master Glo Waller told the committee the harbor supports the application and that ACL and the borough are having parallel conversations about a jointly planned project. “We support the application,” Waller said, adding that the packet’s illustrative terms are subject to negotiation and that any later contract could allow borough use if the facility is built to be compatible with harbor needs.

Waller pointed to language in the ACL project materials (page 17 of the packet) that would give the borough the option to take over management and scheduling of the dock from Sept. 30 to May 1 each year. Under that proposal, the borough would make no payment to ACL for that period, would assume full maintenance costs except for damage caused by ACL, and would split revenue derived from the dock 50‑50 with ACL. Waller said the schedule and maintenance timing raised operational concerns — for example, the packet suggests some repairs could be deferred to fall or winter because summers are busy.

Bob Martin, chair of the borough’s Harbor Board, said the board had discussed an engineering concept (referred to in packet materials as “concept 7”) and generally liked the plan but had not concluded how construction would be funded. “The harbor board hasn’t really entirely weighed on this,” Martin said, adding that he personally supported the plan because it would not require borough funds up front and because ACL offered provisions the borough could incorporate into a lease to control access when ACL is not using the dock.

Eric, identified in the meeting as an ACL representative, said the company received the same scam email that a resident had raised in public comment and that ACL is willing to negotiate lease terms and community uses. “We’re open. We want to work with the community,” Eric said, and noted the borough had already approved funding to partner on a piece of the dock project, though final details remain to be negotiated in a lease.

Public speakers and several committee members expressed general support for the project on economic and waterfront‑enhancement grounds, while some members emphasized they want the borough to retain input on offseason access and on maintenance‑cost arrangements.

The committee’s motion recommended that the borough assembly approve leasing the property at the end of Dock Street for construction of a mooring float and adopted the packet’s findings of fact. The motion passed on a roll call vote with all voting members present recorded as voting yes.

The recommendation now goes to the Petersburg Borough Assembly for final action. Lease negotiations and any required permits, zoning reviews and detailed engineering will take place before construction, committee members said.