By Marcia Kuszmaul

Homer Independent Press

The City of Homer has received an award of $250,000 in federal funding for the Homer Harbor Critical Float Replacement project through the Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending process, according to the city manager’s report for the Feb. 9 city council meeting.


The funding was included in the H.R.7148 – Consolidated Appropriations Act 2026 signed into law on Feb. 3.


This project aims to replace two critically deteriorated float systems and gangways in Homer Port and Harbor. The structures range from 38 to 61 years old, no longer meet current design or safety standards, and were rated in serious to critical condition in a 2022 condition assessment. 


The appropriation complements $1.1 million support from the Denali Commission and matching local funding. The project is moving toward 100% design completion and awaiting award decisions of fiscal year 2025 Port Infrastructure Development Program to help fund construction.


City Manager Melissa Jacobsen acknowledged the advocacy of Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Nick Begich in securing the funding.


The appropriation “recognizes both the harbor’s vital role in supporting transportation and freight connections across vast expanses of Alaska and the critical condition of our aging float infrastructure — a project we have advanced to construction-ready status in recognition of the pressing need to maintain safe and reliable harbor operations,” Jacobsen wrote in her report.


Through the same bill, Murkowski helped protect FY26 funding for the Denali Commission, the Anchorage-based independent federal agency, that has been a significant partner in this and other harbor projects and has helped Alaska villages develop infrastructure for decades. The President’s 2026 Budget had zeroed out new funding for the Denali Commission and had proposed “an orderly closeout of the commission.”