A few weeks ago, I wrote to the Empire regarding the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly’s consideration of a massive, over-engineered construction project involving erosion mitigation along the Mendenhall River in the area of Meander Way in Juneau.
We explained that, in addition to hundreds of hours already expended by CBJ, the city had agreed to absorb an additional estimated $260,000 in city funds to pursue the project. Engineering for the project was performed by the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) which estimated an overall construction cost of $7.8 million.
The project affects only 26 properties along the Mendenhall River which is a small portion of the total number of homes constructed on the river. The majority of that construction amount, $5.8 million, would be provided for by federal funds from tax payer dollars. Any remaining amount, roughly $2 million, is expected to be paid in equal amounts by the 26 homeowners affected by the project. Of the 26 properties involved, only five require significant riverbank erosion repair and protection.
I feel the $7.8 million cost represents an outrageous waste of Juneau’s and federal taxpayer’s funds when only a handful of properties require repair. As a responsible homeowner, I feel each property owner should be responsible for river erosion risk affecting their properties and not ask for government assistance. I asked that readers contact their CBJ Assembly representative and express their concern regarding this extraordinary waste of taxpayer’s monies and the outrageously high cost of the overall project. We’ve been informed the CBJ Assembly will, once again, discuss this boondoggle at its Monday, Jan. 29 meeting and we encourage all CBJ citizens to contact their CBJ Assembly representative and express their desire to see this radical project stopped.
Curtis Goehring,
Juneau