Assembly, community against drafted letter

On Monday, the borough assembly voted against sending a letter drafted by Mayor Mark Jensen to Viking Cruise Lines stating that Petersburg isn't ready for larger cruise ships to come to town.

In the letter, Jensen said the town isn't ready to handle more than 250 tourists from ships in any given day, and he is concerned with an increase in traffic flow during the busy, summer months on Nordic Dr. He also writes that he is worried that larger cruise ships could lead to Petersburg becoming a tourism town, overflowing with people like in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Skagway.

"At this time we feel...