The Juneau Assembly will vote Monday night on whether to finalize its plan to divest from Eaglecrest Ski Area’s controversial gondola project. It would mean paying back a $10 million investment from Goldbelt Incorporated.
The decision comes after the Assembly voted in committee last month to go in this direction. The vote on Monday night will finalize that decision.
When the city purchased the gondola in 2022, the project was estimated to cost under $10 million. But the Assembly chose to back out of the project in April after its price tag skyrocketed to more than $37 million due to additional parts, high construction costs, and tariffs on imports.
Due to compounding monthly interest on the investment, the city actually owes Goldbelt around $12.2 million. But it has roughly $2.7 million still set aside for the project, so it still needs to scrounge up about $9.5 million. If approved, that money will come from the city’s general fund.
The Assembly will also consider an ordinance to spend nearly $560,000 to appraise properties on View Drive in the Mendenhall Valley, the street hit hardest by annual glacial outburst flooding. The appraisals are a step in the process for a potential federal buyout program of the flood-prone homes.
The Assembly will also consider whether to make a one-time appropriation of $270,000 from its general fund for a grant to Southeast Childhood Collective for summer childcare programs in Juneau. The funding is aimed at investing in the expansion of childcare for school-age children in light of the closure of the school district’s RALLY program last year.
Juneau residents have the chance to testify on ordinances on Monday’s agenda – as well as on non-agenda items – in person or online before the Assembly votes. People who want to testify online must notify the city clerk by 4 p.m. before the meeting. The meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
