Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 2016
Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr has filed a lawsuit against the Petersburg Borough. The suit, filed Nov. 3 with the Juneau Civil Superior Court, alleges that the borough defamed Kerr and portrayed him in a false light, according to court records obtained by the Pilot. On June 27, 2022 the borough responded to a public records request filed by KFSK with a statement saying the borough's HR department had received a complaint in the form of a timeline from Kerr alleging that he had... Full story
During its meeting on Monday, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted in favor of sending a letter supporting an Alaska Airlines proposal to continue providing Essential Air Service to Southeast communities through April 2025. The vote was 6-0 with Assembly Member Dave Kensinger excused. The assembly's letter highlights Alaska Airlines' ability to connect Petersburg with major hubs like Seattle and Anchorage, the reliability of flights during inclement weather, and the service's economic...
During a special meeting on Nov. 11 the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously in favor of appointing the law firm of Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens to serve as the special legal counsel in a lawsuit brought against the borough and Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson in her official capacity. The decision to appoint the law firm, which was chosen by the borough's insurance provider, was initially discussed during the regular assembly meeting on Nov. 7. The assembly, wanting to hear advice and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance adjusting the borough's FY23 budget in its third and final reading during its meeting on Nov. 7. No amendments to Ordinance #2022-15 were made during its final reading. The supplemental budget lists 18 revisions to the budget including accepting $123,158 in state legislative grants for lighting projects at the ballfield and the ice skate pond, rebuilding the EMD-16 Generator and the Caterpillar 398 Generator, and increasing the...
The Housing Task Force held their second meeting on Nov. 2 where they fleshed out their ideas for what the borough could do to address local housing challenges. Before the meeting, Assembly Member Dave Kensinger, the task force's facilitator, categorized their ideas into three groups-what could be done now, what could be done soon, and big ideas that would take time. In addition to reviewing their ideas, the task force also discussed creating two subcommittees that could work between now and...
Thank You To the Editor: We would like to express a heartfelt THANK YOU to the community of Petersburg and all the volunteers that made November Rain possible this past weekend! The three day swim meet hosted teams from Petersburg, Ketchikan, Craig, Wrangell, Juneau and Sitka with a total of 114 swimmers participating in over 100 events. Without our dedicated volunteers and their many hours of work, this meet would not have been possible. The Board of Directors and over sixty Viking Swim Club swimmers want to say Thank You to each person that...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will hold a special meeting on Nov. 11 to decide if it will appoint the law firm of Jermain, Dunnagan, & Owens to serve as the special legal counsel in a lawsuit brought against the borough and Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson in her official capacity. During its meeting on Monday, the assembly discussed the appointment of the law firm which had been recommended by Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht and Borough Attorney Sara Heideman. After a lengthy discussion, the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted against a resolution during Monday's meeting that would have set 6 p.m. as the start time for all assembly meetings. Resolution #2022-17 narrowly failed by a 3-4 vote with Assembly Members Thomas Fine-Walsh, Dave Kensinger, Bob Lynn, and Jeff Meucci opposing the time change. The resolution came after Jim Floyd presented the assembly with a petition with over 70 signatures at its last meeting, which alleged that holding assembly meetings at noon makes them...
Bob Lynn was elected vice mayor by the Petersburg Borough Assembly during its meeting on Monday in a 5-2 vote with Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Scott Newman opposed. Newman made a motion to elect Assembly Member Donna Marsh as vice mayor, which was seconded by Assembly Member Dave Kensinger for the sake of discussion. Kensinger said that he was not opposed to Marsh becoming vice mayor but thought that it would be prudent to elect someone who had been on the assembly for at least a...
After a recent fire put the Ketchikan harbor department at risk of a lawsuit for not requiring boat owners to carry insurance, the Wrangell Port and Harbors Department is considering issuing an insurance requirement for vessels, though the decision-making process is still in the early stages. At the Ketchikan harbor, the owner of a boat damaged in the fire aboard a nearby vessel has threatened legal action against the city for losses. According to Wrangell Port Director Steve Miller, the borough harbor department is weighing its funding needs...
WRANGELL — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that its updated permit for the Wrangell wastewater treatment plant will contain stricter limits on the amounts of bacteria the facility can discharge into Zimovia Strait. Wrangell will need to update its treatment operation to include disinfection of discharged wastewater, which will decrease fecal coliform and enterococcus bacteria counts. The borough will have five years to comply with new requirements. Disinfection will be “a major project for us,” said Borough Manager Jeff Good....
Members of the newly formed Housing Task Force held their first meeting in the assembly chambers on Oct. 26 to begin discussing ways the borough could address local housing challenges. "The main thing that we're trying to do is to come up with a set of recommendations that we can give to the assembly and then they can decide what they want to do," said Dave Kensinger, the facilitator of the task force and a member of the Petersburg Borough Assembly. The task force features a group of Petersburg...
November 8th is our State Election; don’t forget to Vote! To the Editor: Mark and I are supporting Rebecca Himshoot for State House representing our district. She is a strong supporter of education, teachers and stabilizing school funding. She will work for accessible housing, invest in infrastructure, work to improve our Alaska Marine Highway, and will safeguard our Permanent Fund for future generations. Rebecca will stand up for women’s reproductive rights in our State. She is committed to fishing issues and creating more jobs that will hel...
Restoration of Inter-Island Ferry Authority service from Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island to Wrangell and Petersburg would take money. The service ended in 2008, and the two communities will talk about what it would take to bring back the run, how much it would cost and who would pay. The Petersburg borough assembly last month voted unanimously to send a letter to the Wrangell assembly to start talks on possibly restoring the route. Wrangell assembly members at their Oct. 25 meeting directed Borough Manager Jeff Good to talk with his...
Alaska’s midterm general election is underway. Early and absentee voting has begun, and election day is less than two weeks away. There are many important decisions on the ballot, and perhaps most important of all is the ballot measure question: Shall there be a constitutional convention? This question was asked last month of Petersburg’s candidates for assembly, and it was the one and only topic that everyone agreed on. Regardless of political leaning the resounding answer was “No.” Donna M... Full story
Thanks Petersburg To the Editor: Thank you for buying our bread Petersburg. We were able to donate $101 to WAVE. Simone, Charlotte, and Sylvia Nilsen Thank you, Jeigh To the Editor: Thank you Jeigh Stanton-Gregor for your eight and a half years of service to the people of Petersburg on the borough assembly. We will miss your thoughtful, level-headed consideration of issues. You are always fair and respectful of everyone. As vice-mayor you’ve put in lots of extra hours filling in for the mayor. We’re sure your family will appreciate having mor...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 6-1 to approve an ordinance adjusting the borough's FY23 budget in its second reading during Monday's meeting with Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh opposed. The assembly unanimously approved of two amendments during the second reading of Ordinance #2022-15. The first, proposed by Assembly Member Bob Lynn, would create a new special revenue fund to account for $1,006,800 million allocated to the borough in new American Rescue Plan Act funding. Finance...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously during its Oct. 17 meeting to nominate Assembly Member Dave Kensinger and Chelsea Tremblay to a new housing task force formed by the Alaska Municipal League (AML). The task force is seeking nominations from member communities and it will also have a child care subgroup. According to a Nils Andreassen, the executive director of AML, the goal of the task force is to gather information from members about their housing challenges and collaborate on...
The results of this year's municipal election were certified by the Petersburg Borough Assembly at a special meeting last Friday. Three ballots-two of which had been postmarked by election day and received by the borough and one questioned ballot-were counted during the meeting which brought the total number of ballots cast to 1,194. After the ballots were counted, the assembly voted 5-0 to certify the election with Mayor Mark Jensen and Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor excused. This year's...
The long-awaited unofficial results of the 2022 municipal election were released Wednesday evening after early and absentee ballots were counted throughout the day. According to the unofficial results, Mark Jensen won the mayoral race with 642 votes and will retain his seat. He was followed by Bob Lynn with 363 votes and Jeff Meucci with 177 votes Incumbents Jeigh Stanton Gregor and Chelsea Tremblay both lost their seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly to newcomers Scott Newman and Donna...
Saturday morning a group of concerned Petersburg residents met at the Wright Auditorium to participate in the second Childcare Community Café to address the childcare crisis affecting the local workforce, businesses, families, and economy. The meeting, hosted by the SHARE (Supporting Health Awareness, Resilience, and Education) Coalition, began with a viewing of a 23-minute video entitled "Voices for a Better Future: Community Impacts of Childcare in Petersburg," followed by a community... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to appoint 14 people to the Housing Task Force during Monday's meeting. Members of the task force include Gary Aulbach, Jay Barnard, Annette Bennett, Joyce Cummings, Darcie Ewert, Larry Hofstad, Sarah Holmgrain, Ashley Kawashima, David Kensinger, Malena Marvin, Jeff Meucci, Erin Michael, Jalyn Pomrenke, and Jeigh Stanton Gregor. The assembly also chose Stanton Gregor to act as the group's facilitator after a unanimous vote. The group was...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance which would adjust the FY23 budget for known changes in its first reading Monday. The assembly voted 6-1 in favor of Ordinance #2022-15 with Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh opposed. The supplemental budget accounts for some funding received from state grants, items that could be purchased, and repair work that was not included in the original FY23 budget. The adjustments to the budget are as follows: • Accept $123,158 in state l...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to send a letter to the Wrangell Borough Assembly seeking to open a discussion on the possible expansion of the Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) to serve the two communities. The IFA currently runs between Hollis and Ketchikan daily and is composed of two ships-the M/V Stikine and the M/V Prince of Wales. The letter comes after former Gov. Frank Murkowski visited Petersburg on Sept. 22 to discuss the current state of transportation in Southeast...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to spend $20,000 to find out the estimated costs to develop multiple subdivisions during its Sept. 19 meeting as it looks to open up more lots to address the housing crisis. The total expenditure was approved in two parts and the estimations will be completed by PND Engineers. Both expenditures passed in 5-1 votes with Assembly Member Bob Lynn opposed. First the assembly approved spending $4,000 to revise the estimated costs of the Fram Street and Hungry Point subdivisions, which was also completed by PND...
