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City manager: dock project federal reviews cleared; RFP expected in August
Summary
City manager Heidi told the Seldovia City Council that federal environmental reviews for the dock project are complete and the city plans to issue a request for proposals in August, with construction and float installation to follow next year if schedules hold. She also updated the council on an Upper Dam safety inspection, a water-meter pilot and an energy-improvement project.
City manager Heidi told the Seldovia City Council on May 12 that federal-level environmental reviews for the town's dock project are complete and the city is moving on to state and local permitting; the draft MARAD grant agreement is under review and engineering is roughly 95% complete.
Heidi said the US Fish and Wildlife Service returned a "no effect" determination on the city’s environmental assessment, meaning "our responsibilities under the ESA have been met and that we can move forward with our projects." She said the city is on track to release an RFP in August and hopes to award the contract in September; float manufacturing for the project will take about eight months, so installation would likely occur the following spring if the procurement schedule holds.
"We're scheduled to get the RFP out in August," Heidi told the council. "Maybe we could get it out a little bit earlier, but I'm not going to count on that. I think we're still right on schedule for that August time period, hopefully getting it awarded in September..."
Heidi also reported on other operational matters: Northern Geotechnical completed an Upper Dam periodic safety inspection on May 6 and will send a draft report to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the city within 30 days. The city received 10 water meters for a pilot program (Badger meters adaptable between 5/8- and 1-inch service sizes) and will begin testing installations soon.
On the city office and maintenance shop energy-improvement project, Heidi said the selected approach is spray-foam insulation; council members flagged potential fire-code covering requirements. Heidi said the project specification includes a fire-stop coating for the foam to meet an industry standard (noted in the meeting as a 15-minute barrier), and she agreed to follow up with the state fire marshal’s office to confirm code compliance.
She also summarized a wetlands pre-proposal (in partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Seldovia Village Tribe) due July 17 and said solicitations for three Seldovia water and sewer projects are expected to be posted by the end of the following week after an extension was granted.
The manager’s updates give the council a near-term procurement timeline for the dock and a set of operational next steps for meters, dam inspection reporting and building upgrades. Council members asked follow-up questions about meter sizing, inspection scope and the fire-covering requirement for spray-foam insulation; Heidi said she would follow up with engineering and the fire marshal’s office.
Next procedural steps noted in the meeting included state and local permitting to follow the federal reviews and a planned RFP issuance in August for the dock project.
