Sawmill property auction postponed
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TweetA public foreclosure auction of 24 acres of former Chilkoot Lumber Company land adjacent to a 530-foot dock was postponed this week following a temporary restraining order.
The outcry auction was scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, March 17 on the steps of the Dimond Courthouse on Fourth Street in Juneau.
The auction notice cites $12 million owed by Chilkoot Lumber Co., Inc. to Signal Capital Corporation, plus accrued interest of $24 million and $22,000 in administrative costs.
Chilkoot Lumber Co. was owned by the late Ed Lapeyri, who operated a sawmill at the site for about four years starting in 1987.
The mill property, including a deep-water port, is often mentioned during public discussions of docks and industrial development in Haines. The land slated for auction does not include the former powerhouse site.
Haines Borough Assembly member Debra Schnabel raised the issue of the auction at Tuesday’s assembly meeting, saying that the sale of the property could have significant consequences for the community.
In an email to borough leaders Wednesday, Schnabel suggested the borough might send a representative to the auction to make a bid on the property but due to late timing, the borough would be limited to the borough manager’s discretionary spending allowance, or about $25,000.
(A full assembly vote is required for borough spending above the allowance.)
Lori Lapeyri, executor and legal representative of Ed Lapeyri’s estate, would only say this week that the auction was not going forward.
The Haines Borough website shows Chilkoot Lumber holding 12.6 acres of property adjacent to Lutak Inlet with a total assessed value close to $1 million. It also shows Chilkoot Lumber holding 7.8 acres of uplands properties with a value of $431,000.
A previous lien on the property held by the Haines Borough for unpaid property taxes was resolved, borough staffers said this week.
The site and historic sawmill dock were used for decades to berth freighters bound for Japan and other ports.
Lapeyri had previously operated sawmills in Haines and Petersburg.
