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Sitka public briefed on seaplane base plan; FAA process, $36 million estimate and public comment periods outlined
Summary
City staff provided an update on siting, environmental review, cost and schedule for a proposed Sitka seaplane base. The FAA-supported design is estimated at about $36 million with a local match of about $2.2 million; a draft supplemental environmental assessment and a Section 404 Corps comment period were highlighted. Public commenters raised
Joseph Bea, the airport terminal manager for the City and Borough of Sitka, told the assembly Feb. 25 that planning for a new seaplane base is advancing through FAA review, environmental studies and public comment periods.
Bea said the FAA now supports a build that brings expanded uplands facilities into the base build, adding tie-downs and a haul-out; a future marine expansion would require additional funding. He said the project is anticipated to cost about $36,000,000 with a CBS match of about $2,200,000.
Bea outlined the environmental review schedule: a draft supplemental environmental assessment (SEA) will be posted for public comment in mid-summer, and the Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) consultation process has been reinitiated. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently taking public comments on the Section 404 wetlands permit for work inside Sitka Harbor; that comment period was noted as open through March 12. Bea also said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between CBS, the FAA and the State Historic Preservation Office will be posted this spring; that MOA is intended to set mitigation and protocols for inadvertent discoveries during ground-disturbing work.
Schedule: Bea said the planning and environmental work is expected to be complete in spring, with design reaching 100% next year, construction in 2027–28, and operations beginning in 2029. He said the SEA and other siting documents will be posted to the city’s seaplane base website as they become available.
Public concerns: During the persons-to-be-heard period, cultural resource specialist Anne Poulnau urged the assembly to reconsider the project location, saying at least a dozen World War II-era features eligible for the National Register of Historic Places would be destroyed. Poulnau said mitigation developed during the Section 106 process was “inadequate” and described a remaining concrete bunker, rockery wall and emplacement trenches as tangible historic resources that contribute to Sitka’s wartime history and that, she argued, could support cultural-heritage tourism.
Bea said the SEA and MOA are intended to ensure compliance with NHPA Section 106 and to establish “clear procedures, roles, responsibilities, and authorities” for treating inadvertent discoveries that may occur during construction.
The assembly did not take an action on the seaplane base at the meeting. City staff asked the public to use the Corps’ Section 404 comment period, and to review the posted MOA and siting studies when they are released. Bea also noted the Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Terminal expansion was nearing substantial completion this summer and that a community reception is expected before the facility becomes a secured area.
Key figures and deadlines from the presentation and discussion: estimated total cost $36,000,000; CBS match $2,200,000; Corps Section 404 comment period open until March 12; SEA draft for public comment expected mid-summer; design to reach 100% next year; construction 2027–28; operations beginning in 2029.
