Clarise Larson

With major cruise tourism developments on the horizon in the capital city, the City and Borough of Juneau is resurrecting a task force to look at whether its current approach to managing tourism is working.  

At a Juneau Assembly committee meeting Monday night, members approved the relaunch of the Visitor Industry Task Force and its members. Mayor Beth Weldon said the task force will be crucial in informing the direction the city takes to guide any future growth. 

“There is some issues that need to be addressed, and our tourism director relies heavily on these recommendations on how to move forward with her job,” she said. 

Juneau saw another record-breaking cruise ship tourism season this past summer, with more than 1.7 million passengers coming off ships and into town. 

The task force launches as Goldbelt Incorporated is planning a new $500 million cruise ship port on the backside of Douglas Island. And, that plan coincides with another dock development by Huna Totem Corp., an Alaska Native village corporation based in Hoonah. The Assembly approved the corporation’s plan to build a new cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau this spring. 

Weldon said she wants the task force to make big picture recommendations, like a 10-year tourism plan for Juneau. She also wants them to tackle more specific issues like addressing crowding and congestion in Auke Bay, regulating the whale watching industry and reducing ship emissions.  

Juneau Assembly member Ella Adkison will chair the committee, along with eight members that Weldon handpicked. They are Kirby Day, Kirsa Hughes-Skandijs, Sarah Lowell, Matt Catterson, Meilani Schijvens, Adrienne Scott, Shem Sooter and Jeremy Timothy.

Some members are returning from the previous task force, which originally sunsetted in 2020. Weldon said they represent a wide range of perspectives on tourism’s future. 

“I would say this community is no longer deadly against — as a community as a whole — deadly against tourism,” she said. “Nor are we a community that’s opening our gates wide for tourism.”

The task force has until the end of June to submit its recommendations to the Assembly. The first ship of the 2026 cruise season is slated to arrive in late April. 

A Superior Court judge is allowing the City and Borough of Juneau to refile eviction cases against the tenants who are refusing to vacate the historic Telephone Hill neighborhood in downtown Juneau. 

The city wants to demolish the homes on the hill this winter to make way for denser housing, but some tenants are refusing to leave and filed a lawsuit to prevent demolition and preserve the homes. 

Last month, a District Court judge dismissed the city’s eviction cases a few days before the city planned to evict the tenants, pending the outcome of that lawsuit. 

Then last week, before Thanksgiving, a Superior Court judge ruled that the evictions and demolition were two separate issues and should be handled as such. That ruling opened the door for the city to refile eviction cases against the tenants who remain on the hill. 

The lawsuit is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Dec. 12. 

Fred Triem, the attorney representing the tenants, said the latest ruling doesn’t say anything about where the case might be heading. 

“It’s not an indication of what the final ruling will be. So I’m not either encouraged or discouraged by what took place the other day,” he said. “It’s just kind of a neutral scheduling event.”

Juneau’s City Attorney Emily Wright said she agrees with the judge — the demolition and evictions should be handled separately. 

“These last tenants need to move out, and we’re taking possession of the houses that we own as a city — we’re the landlords,” she said. 

The city refiled the three eviction cases last Wednesday and requested that they be heard within 15 days of filing. But the tenants’ lawsuit could take much longer to resolve. Wright previously said the city plans to take swift action if the evictions are approved, like changing the locks and removing remaining belongings from the homes as soon as possible.

Wright said the city plans to file new cases against two other residents who were given an extension to move out but haven’t done so. 

Juneau’s Parks and Recreation department began hosting pick-up pickleball three days a week at the Floyd Dryden gymnasium this fall. In the last decade, new players across the country — especially seniors — have been picking up the sport. 

And as Juneau’s population continues to grow older, the city says interest in pickleball is growing with them. 

The patter of pickleballs and squeak of sneakers filled the Floyd Dryden campus gymnasium in the Mendenhall Valley last Wednesday afternoon. The game looks sort of like tennis, but with a lower net and a plastic ball that sails through the wind.

Fred Hiltner waited for his turn to hop into a game. The City and Borough of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation department began hosting $5 pickup pickleball games this fall. Residents can drop in to play, to have fun, make new friends and stay active. 

Hiltner said he has been playing pickleball outdoors for a year and a half in Juneau and was excited when the city began offering it indoors and out of the elements.

“At first I thought it seemed like kind of a silly game, and a friend tried to get me to play, and I thought, ‘I don’t think so,’” he said. “Then I gave it a try, and I just love it. It’s really a fun game that anybody can play, and great exercise.”

Hiltner is retired. He said he was drawn to the social aspect of the sport and how easy it is to learn at any age. 

“A lot of people who might not be getting out — old people like me — have a great opportunity to get out and play together,” he said. 

Pickleball has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. It’s particularly popular with people over age 65, who make up a large part of Juneau’s population.

“Juneau is an aging community, and pickleball has been growing,” said Lauren Verrelli, the deputy director of the Parks and Rec department. “I’ve been with Parks and Rec for almost 10 years now, and it has just been exploding over the past 10 years.”

She says the city began hosting the sport after people asked for pickup games. About 15 to 20 people attend each session. 

A 2023 report by the Juneau Economic Development Council found that for the first time, the over-60 population in Juneau outnumbers the under-20 population. And Juneau’s older population is only expected to grow in the coming decades, according to population estimates released by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development earlier this year.

Verrelli said the goal is to create more chances for people of all ages to stay active throughout the winter. 

“I think that’s what we’re here for, like all of our parks and recreation facilities, for people to get in and have a place to recreate in the winter – in the dark, cold months,” she said. 

Dan Kromarek is 88 years old and he’s taking advantage of the opportunity. On Wednesday, he teamed up with Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Elliot Welch, who won the boys singles state tennis title this year. 

Back in the day, Kromarek used to do judo and martial arts, but started playing pickleball during the pandemic to keep himself active after a surgery. He’s been hooked since. 

“It’s just an easy exercise that keeps you interested,” he said. “You got to have something to keep you interested, rather than do a solo thing where it’s pretty hard to get out and do stuff on your own.”

Welch runs the pickleball program for Parks and Rec. 

“To get paid and to play — that’s fun,” he said. 

Verrelli said the department planned to expand the program to evenings, too, but now that’s on hold as the city faces potential budget cuts following this year’s local election.

She said the city still plans to renovate the outdoor tennis courts at Floyd Dryden next summer to include two dedicated pickleball courts. A long-term goal is to create even more pickleball courts at Jackie Renninger Park in the Valley in the coming years.

UPDATE, Dec. 1:

The comment period has been extended to Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. 

Original story:

The comment period for the first phase of construction of a new ferry terminal north of Juneau ends this Friday. 

The state’s proposed Cascade Point Ferry Terminal is slated to be located just beyond where the road ends in Juneau on land owned by Goldbelt Incorporated, a local Alaska Native corporation.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities began soliciting public comment for the first phase of construction in late October. 

Shannon McCarthy, DOT’s communications director, said the current public comment period is only for the first stage of the project and is not the end of public input for the overall project. She said a no-build option is still on the table, even though DOT has already signed a $28 million contract for the first phase of construction.

“We have been talking about this project for a long time, and it really does fit in with kind of the philosophy of shorter ferry trips, longer roads, so that we can really have that operational efficiency,” McCarthy said. 

The first stage would develop the access road to the site and a staging area for future construction. According to DOT, construction could begin as soon as next summer.

The Cascade Point terminal would be Juneau’s second ferry terminal, located about 30 miles north of Juneau’s already existing terminal in Auke Bay. 

Under the Dunleavy Administration, the state has been pushing for the project for several years, saying it would benefit travelers by reducing operating costs and travel time between Juneau, Haines and Skagway. A Canadian mining company also wants to develop an off-site ore terminal at the site in partnership with Goldbelt. 

DOT recently released an economic analysis of the terminal that portrayed it as having more pros than cons, despite criticism from regional officials, conservation groups and members of the Alaska Marine Highway Oversight Board. City officials in Haines and Skagway have also openly opposed the project. The Juneau Assembly hasn’t taken a stance on the project. 

“This is really a part of a larger strategy to really reinvest in the marine highway infrastructure,” McCarthy said. 

Written and emailed comments must be submitted by this Friday. McCarthy said the public comment period for the second stage of the project is slated to open in the coming months.

In this newscast:

• Maggie McMillan is the new Juneau Arts and Humanities Council Executive Director. The JAHC announced the hire Friday, more than six months after the former director stepped down in May.
• A District Court judge has dismissed the eviction cases against three tenants refusing to vacate their rentals in the historic Telephone Hill neighborhood in downtown Juneau.
• Juneau’s sole electricity provider, Alaska Electric Light & Power, is appealing the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s decision to approve a new public utility. This month, the Superior Court of Alaska consolidated two separate cases involving disputes between the hydroelectric companies.
• A lawsuit from Alaska’s only Native reservation will proceed over the objections of other Southeast tribes. That’s after a federal judge declined a request from a coalition of tribes, including the largest in Southeast, to throw out Metlakatla Indian Community’s lawsuit challenging the state’s authority to regulate its fishermen.
• The Trump administration has a new offshore drilling proposal to offer nearly all of the oceans off Alaska to potential leasing.

Earlier this week, the Juneau Assembly approved spending $320,200 in mostly federal grant funding to purchase an amphibious wetland rescue vehicle for the Juneau International Airport.

The vehicle is called the Marsh Master MM-2MX. At the Assembly meeting on Monday, City Manager Katie Koester said emergency responders would use the vehicle to rescue people who get stranded in wetland areas surrounding the airport.

“The reason that this response vehicle is necessary is if there were to be an accident, an airplane crash in that area, we would need to allow emergency responders to respond quickly and in large volume to that event,” she said. 

The approved purchase includes a $300,200 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration and $20,000 from the airport budget in local matching funds. Airport Manager Andres Delgado said the vehicle can be used in a variety of emergency situations.

“As far as its water capabilities, it does float, and it can traverse ice and muskeg and really harsh terrain as well,” he said. 

The airport’s board of directors approved the purchase last month. The Assembly approval came this week, despite Mayor Beth Weldon and Assembly member Neil Steininger voting against it. Weldon served as a division chief at Capital City Fire/Rescue for two decades. She said she didn’t think the amphibious vehicle was necessary. 

“I appreciate us trying to get a specialized piece of equipment, but as people know, I come from the fire department. I have seen these, and I just don’t see it as something that we need right now,” she said. 

CCFR Chief Rich Etheridge said the department typically responds to three to four incidents a year in the wetlands. People sometimes get trapped there when the tides come in behind them. The ongoing maintenance of the vehicle will be paid for out of the airport’s budget.