Sorted by date Results 801 - 825 of 1808
Beginning this week, Public Works will not be picking up commingled recyclables for a minimum of six weeks, while the borough's new baler is being installed. The current baler has already been removed from the baler facility, and staff is prepping the floor for the new baler that is set to arrive next week. Commingled recyclables need to be dry and baled before being shipping to the recycling facility, so the borough can't store the material in the baler facility while construction is ongoing;...
Trade is best option To the Editor: I find it interesting that those who have written to you opposed to the Petro-Borough land trade have a few things in common. A. none have come and visited with me as Harbormaster concerning their thoughts or ideas and B. none have given Staff, the Harbor Board or your readers a solution. The fact is in 2006 the then City of Petersburg (now the Borough of Petersburg) took over ownership of the Port of Petersburg, one of the largest facilities in our...
Mayoral candidates Jeff Meucci General Information Age: 64 Experience: I served on the Petersburg Park & Recreation advisory board, the Petersburg City council and served two terms as the Petersburg mayor from 1995 thru 1999. I was appointed to my current Borough Assembly seat and was elected to my Assembly seat two years ago. During my time as the Petersburg Mayor I traveled extensively as the number one advocate for the City of Petersburg. Why do you seek public office? I am seeking public...
Six candidates running for the three seats up for election on the Petersburg Medical Center's Board of Directors answered questions from representatives from KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot during a forum on Tuesday. Incumbent George Doyle, Incumbent Cindi Lagoudakis, Lisa Nilsen, Joe Stratman, Stacey Thorsen and Jackie Tyson each had two minutes to answer each question. Each candidate was asked the same question, and the order of the candidates changed with each question. The candidates each...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a work session on top of their regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 24. The work session was to discuss the Alaska Municipal Sales Tax Authority, a statewide entity that the Alaska Municipal League is currently working to organize. The tax authority is meant to act as the “clearinghouse” for tax collection from remote retailers, according to the agenda packet. For towns like Wrangell, only large online retailers like Amazon meet certain thresholds to collect and remit local sales taxes. Aleisha Molle...
A forum was held on Thursday to give representatives from KFSK, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Pilot the chance to ask the two mayoral candidates questions on local issues. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Jeff Meucci were given two minutes to answer each question. Both candidates were asked the same question and the order of the candidates changed with each question. After giving their opening statements, each candidate began answering questions. Some of the...
The borough assembly signed on to a Salmon Beyond Borders letter on Monday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to act against Canada's inadequate mining regulations in British Columbia. Watershed from Canada's abandoned, proposed, developing and operating large-scale mines in B.C. impact or pose a great risk to American interests as the watershed from the mines flow into the United States, according to the letter. Salmon Beyond Borders asks that the U.S. Department of State work with Global...
Workers become part of us To the Editor: The silver fish came in unimaginable numbers to the steams, creeks and rivers of their birth; and the people followed. First, perhaps 15 thousand years ago, there came the Tlingit. The bounty of the land nourished them, and their culture thrived. Much later came the Russians, then the Norwegians and other peoples from the "Old World". The honor and respect their hosts were due was not given, yet the fish sustained them. Demand for the sea's harvest from...
George S. Doyle General Information Age: 66 Experience: Three years Medical Center Board Member Why do you want to serve on the PMC Board of Directors? Supporting a fiscally and professionally strong Medical Center for our community. As a current board member, I've become more aware of how dedicated the staff of the Medical Center is in providing quality care and services. What are your ideas to make the hospital run more cost efficiently? On a day to day basis the Medical Center staff does an...
A second forum was held last Thursday after the mayoral forum for the four assembly candidates running for two seats on the borough assembly. The candidates gave support for local issues and answered questions from representatives from KFSK, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Pilot. Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Marc Martinsen, Chelsea Tremblay and Aaron Hankins were each asked the same questions and had two minutes to respond. The order of the candidates changed with each...
An assessment of Mountain View Manor by the Fox Group in July found that the facility is effectively run and that there are no recommendations at this time to improve the facility's financial position. "That's a good and bad thing to hear," said Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht at an assembly meeting last month. "It's a good thing meaning it's managed very well. It's a bad thing in the sense that there's not necessarily ways to make that place break even." The borough assembly directed...
Voters will decide if they want the borough to take out loans to fund eight utility projects totaling no more than $8 million after the assembly passed ordinance #2019-05 in its third reading last week. The loans will be through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and will be paid back over a 20-year period at 1.5 percent interest. The responsibility of the repayment of the loans would fall on water and wastewater rate payers. The wastewater department has five projects planned...
An ordinance that would have added language to borough code outlining a procedure for addressing the assembly by written comment was stricken down at an assembly meeting last week. Ordinance #2019-07 would have clearly stated how members of the public could submit written comment to the assembly, but in its first reading, an amendment was made that prevented assembly members from reading written statements by members of the public out loud at assembly meetings. "I think that there needs be a...
The public should be given the maximum opportunities to make public comments at any gathering of the borough assembly. Written comments can be read by the city clerk, when requested, and the writer cannot be present. This has happened often in the 43 years we have observed gatherings of both the city council and now the assembly. Members of the assembly and other administration staff have read comments when the clerk needed a break. What's wrong with that? Given that assembly meetings rotate...
Parks and Recreation will be taking into consideration community feedback on changes to the department, including an increased age requirement for unattended children, as it moves forward following public outcry about the changes. At the Aug. 16 assembly meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Chandra Thornburg answered questions and took comments from assembly members about the community's concerns over proposed changes to the community center. Over 15 letters from residents were submitted to th...
A new ordinance would prevent assembly members and the borough clerk from reading letters submitted to the borough assembly out loud during assembly meetings. Ordinance #2019-07 was passed as amended in its first reading at an assembly meeting on Friday. It adds language to the borough's code regarding the procedure for addressing the assembly by written comment at a public meeting. The new wording states that a person can submit a letter to the borough clerk to be transferred to the borough...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will hold their second meeting of August tonight at 6 P.M. to vote on four ordinances, two of which are in their final reading, and the Kiseno St. sewer replacement project. If Ordinance #2019-05 passes in its third reading, then voters in the 2019 municipal election will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow the water and wastewater departments to take out loans not to exceed a total of $8 million for capital improvement projects. Ordinance...
Petersburg will hold its annual municipal election on Oct. 1 from 8 A.M. through 8 P.M. in the activity room of the community center. Residents will vote on who will fill 17 public office seats up for reelection, including the mayor's seat, as well as one proposition. The first day that residents could apply for candidacy was July 23, and the last day to file was Aug. 20. The borough will submit voter registration forms to the Alaska Division of Elections for community members up until the...
Ongoing concern about cruise ships dumping their grey water and sewage into Petersburg's harbors and nearby waters caused assembly members to agree on Friday that the borough needs to take some form of action. "I was at the harbor on Tuesday and that was all I could think about," said Assembly Member Jeff Meucci. "'Oh that's great. There's stuff in there.' I think we need to sort it out with [the cruise ship industry] and let them know it's not acceptable here." At the start of the assembly...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will hold their first meeting of the month on Friday, Aug. 16 at 9 A.M., to vote on three ordinances and discuss raising the minimum age to enter the Parks and Recreation Center without a parent or guardian. Ordinance #2019-05 will go up before the borough assembly in its second reading. If passed in all three readings, voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow the water and wastewater departments to take out loans not to exceed a total...
On July 12, the cruise ship Safari Quest discharged their wastewater into Petersburg Harbor due to a malfunctioning fan. The fan impeded the normal processing of wastewater and a small amount of poorly processed material was released into the harbor before the mistake was noticed and the valve was shut off, according to Dan Blanchard, CEO of UnCruise Adventures, in a prepared statement. "We sincerely regret the incident and want to assure the community this is not our usual practice," said...
Frustration is mounting at both the police and fire department over funding for a police sergeant position and an EMS coordinator. The 2020 borough budget includes line items of $127,224 to fill a vacant sergeant position and $96,147 to fill the EMS coordinator post. Repeatedly the police chief and fire department volunteers have spoken to the need for filling the two vacancies The topic has been thoroughly covered both during the borough's annual budget deliberations and at many regular...
The borough assembly denied Police Chief Jim Kerr's request to advertise and fill a vacant police sergeant position at an assembly meeting last week. While the borough's 2020 operating budget does allocate funds for the position, assembly members decided not to fill the position, citing uncertainty in the ability to continue funding the $127,224 position in the future. The assembly increased the millage rate in service area one to 12.3 mills earlier this month as a response to Gov. Mike...
The borough assembly voted against filling a vacant EMS coordinator position last week that would free up Fire/EMS Director Sandy Dixson's time to apply for grants, while designating an individual that could train more EMS volunteers. "If people don't think that this is a big deal, you will come this winter or some late night when something is going haywire out at your house or there's a car accident and you don't have enough people, then people are going to get really upset at why we don't have...
The borough assembly approved an ordinance last week in its first reading that would give voters the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow the water and wastewater departments to take out loans not to exceed a total of $8 million for capital improvement projects. The responsibility of the repayment of the loans would fall on water and wastewater rate payers. The loans will be through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and will be paid back over a 20-year period at 1.5...
