McDowell Group, city officials and PND Engineers are making the final round of meetings to complete the Dillingham Waterfront Strategic Plan.
The consulting firm McDowell Group and PND Engineers overseeing Dillingham’s Waterfront Strategic Plan is nearing completion. They returned to Dillingham last week for one more round of comments from the community.
Residents who attended the meeting continued to ask about harbor space, project timing and future dredging efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Susan Bell with McDowell Group shared her optimism about for the next steps.
“A lot what is clear is there’s momentum," Bell said. "Following up with the Port Advisory Committee -- but really taking it to D.C and seeing what can be done for the community and that’s a really exciting place to be.”
But as City Manager Tod Larson warns, the overall project will take some time to complete, and timeframes within the plan could change.
"This may take 15-20 years it’s a living plan as far as I can see," Larson said. "We just need to chip away at it. We’re not going to get $40 million in a big bucket so we’ll see if we can get a smaller bucket and carry it ten times maybe.”
The McDowell Group and the city also met with the Curyung Tribe to discussdicuss the draft. They plan to meet with the Port Authority Committee by the end of this month. Soon after that, it’s off to Washington D.C., where they will present the plan to lawmakers in their pitch for federal funding.
Contact the author at tyler@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200
