The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly on Jan. 12 debated a proposed $500,000 commercial passenger vessel (CPV) grant to the City of Ketchikan for downtown visitor improvements, including bear‑resistant garbage cans, benches, Salmon Row sidewalk work and rain shelters. Members expressed differing views about prioritizing small, immediate 'tangible' improvements versus larger projects such as new restrooms on Creek Street, which residents repeatedly raised during public comment.

City tourism manager Laurie Boisa told the assembly the city had installed an initial set of bear‑resistant trash containers as a pilot and that proposed funding would help extend that pilot, replace worn benches and improve Salmon Row access. Boisa said: “when we first came, we came big because if you don't ask, you can't get.”

Given incomplete cost breakdowns and questions about whether the city had completed designs for the Salmon Row work, the assembly voted to postpone the CPV grant decision to the Feb. 2, 2026 meeting to allow city staff to provide more detail. Later in the meeting the assembly directed borough staff to develop a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the City of Ketchikan to identify the best location for public restrooms on Creek Street and to place a $500,000 placeholder in the FY27 CPV budget toward that purpose. That MOA motion, as edited to specify Creek Street, passed 5–2.

Members and staff acknowledged the challenge of building restrooms (permitting, environmental constraints on creekside sites, winterization and durability) and emphasized the need for robust cost estimates and design work. Several members said smaller improvements could be implemented more quickly while restroom design and permitting proceed. The city and borough agreed to continue cooperative discussions through staff and the cooperative relations committee and to return with more detailed estimates at the February meeting.