The City and Borough of Juneau and one of Juneau’s most recognizable businesses are about to enter negotiations on the purchase of land.
On Monday, the CBJ Assembly gave City Manager Rorie Watt the go-ahead to begin negotiations with Alaskan Brewing Company for the city to sell four lots to the brewery. The city is currently using the land to house its water utility and the public drop-off for household hazardous waste (HHW). Alaskan has also been renting a portion of the water building for more than a year, using it as office space.
As detailed in multiple city meetings this year, the sale of this property could be mutually beneficial for the city and the brewery. It would allow for the brewery to expand, having the area to put more offices or retail space. No decisions have been made as to how the brewery can use the land, Communications Manager Andy Kline said.
The benefit for the city, on the other hand, is that moving the HHW drop-off facility could actually streamline the city’s waste disposal service. As Recycleworks Manager Michele Elfers has explained in multiple city meetings this year, the city could create a kind of “one-stop drop off” that provides a spot for HHW, recycling, composting and scrap metal.
Elfers wrote a memo to the Committee of the Whole in November detailing that waste management facilities are spread throughout the Lemon Creek area. Junk vehicle processing with Skookum is on Anka Street, the HHW facility is on Commercial Drive (for now) and Waste Management is at the landfill. Consolidating at least a couple of these could make disposal easier for residents and encourage more recycling, Elfers said.
[Recycling rates could rise in next four years]
She recommended moving the HHW facility to a spot on Anka Street next to the junk vehicle processing area, and said in a meeting in March that the water utility could move to a small property on Barrett Avenue that the city owns.
As for the four lots being sold to Alaskan Brewing, Elfers wrote in her memo that it’s worth an estimated $2.6 million. Lands Manager Greg Chaney said this Wednesday that the city will be sure to re-appraise the property as the process moves along. The Planning Commission will also share its thoughts on the sale at its Jan. 23, 2018 meeting.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
