Sorted by date Results 1051 - 1075 of 1587
One could hear the proverbial crickets chirping after Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen brought up the assembly’s previous request to have a discussion about the possibility of re-appropriating money from the Kake access road project. During its last Borough Assembly meeting in January, several assembly members were in support of such a reallocation and suggested a bulk of the money go to projects for Kake and Petersburg. State Senator Bert Stedman appropriated the $40 million in 2012 for the project that would build a road and ferry connection from... Full story
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Monday’s regular Assembly meeting: There has been increased homeless activity, with squatters in vacant or abandoned buildings. The public is reminded to secure outbuildings. An investigator from the Alcohol Beverage Control Board visited Petersburg last week. The tabletop exercise for the new Emergency Action Plan for our Blind Slough Hydro was held on Thursday of last week Officers Rowley and Preston will be receiving mandatory certification training in Sitka in February. In prepar...
Shame on you To the Editor: I don't understand why environmentalists get so excited about the timber sales the Forest Service is kind enough to make available for logging companies. Why protest? Everybody knows trees are a “renewable resource.” Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, and Petersburg were all built on fishing, and logging mills – both lumber and pulp and some mining. Those towns didn't have to depend on tourism and chartering. If you look back in the 60's, 70's and early 80's these towns were booming, our economy was thriving. We had a lot o...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will discuss at its next meeting in February a request to the state asking the legislature to reallocate funding from the $40 million Kake Access Road project. Many Petersburg residents have expressed criticism and concerns regarding the road that would connect Kake to northwest Kupreanof Island, where a proposed ferry would increase traffic in between the two communities, and think the project isn’t sustainable and won’t serve its expressed need. The assembly discussed the idea of reallocating the funds dur... Full story
It is illogical that the remodeling of the Borough Municipal Building should go to a vote of the people. If the public voted not to fund the remodeling project, it would leave the local government in the exact predicament they now find themselves. The police department is presently housed in a substandard, non-compliant structure that is a danger to employees, prisoners and local citizens who rely on the department to provide first responder assistance in an emergency. Furthermore, the City of Petersburg and now the Petersburg Borough have...
During the January 19 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following: Power & Light has completed the major re-write of our Emergency Action Plan required by FERC for our Blind Slough Hydro. A tabletop exercise to familiarize plan holders with the new document has been scheduled for January 21. The next SEAPA meeting will be held in Wrangell on February 11-12. This will be the first meeting of the new year, so there will be an election of officers. We will be having weekly diesel runs on...
Some Petersburg officials and civic leaders are against using annual raw fish tax revenues to help pay back a potential loan that would help pay for a portion of the $9.9 million municipal and police building remodel project. Petersburg Borough Finance Director Jody Tow helped come up with the funding plan that would borrow around $1.3 million from Power and Light's electric fund and would pay those funds back with a portion of the annual fish tax revenues. Some think the bulk of those monies... Full story
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Seabird biologist David Irons drove recently to the Prince William Sound community of Whittier to check on a friend's boat and spotted white blobs along the tide line of the rocky Alaska beach. He thought they were patches of snow. A closer look revealed that the white patches were emaciated common murres, one of North America's most abundant seabirds, washed ashore after apparently starving to death. “It was pretty horrifying,” Irons said. “The live ones standing along the dead ones were even worse.” Murre die-offs have occu...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly advanced a funding plan for the $9.9 million police and municipal building remodel, and put the project out to bid. The remodel has been in the works for several years and architects have spent more than a year designing the facility. MRV Architect Corey Wall gave a tour to interested residents and borough staff Monday morning before the January 4 assembly meeting. He detailed the sinking concrete slab, which visibly affects the structure of the police station... Full story
December 30 A citizen informed an officer of a syringe floating in the harbor. A caller reported an individual attempting to gain entry to vehicles on 3rd Street. A caller reported a vehicle parked in overnight parking. December 31 A caller reported a blood trail in the woods believed to be from a deer near Neptune Street. A caller reported a male wearing a mask and flipping people off at Ira and 6th Street. A caller reported a suspicious male yelling and screaming. A caller reported lots of suspicious activity going on in the woods near...
The public has a final opportunity to review and comment on Petersburg Borough long-term planning objectives after the Borough Assembly approved a hearing schedule for the comprehensive and waterfront plans. The plans outline and recommend strategies for borough management, land use and the environment, transportation, economic development, recreation and tourism and waterfront development over the next 20 years. The comprehensive and waterfront master plan is the result of Agnew::Beck Consulting, an Anchorage firm the borough hired in the fall... Full story
An external auditing firm representative reported positive financial health for Petersburg Borough finances. The Petersburg Borough Assembly heard from BDO Auditor Michelle Drew at its December 21 meeting. “We did issue an unmodified opinion and that’s basically a clean audit report, which is kind of the highest report card you can get from an external auditor,” Drew said. “Everything we asked for was made available to us. We received excellent cooperation from everyone at the borough in getting ready for the audit.” The auditors looked at...
December 9 A caller reported a case of Facebook fraud. A caller reported theft of services and trespassing on Lumber Street. A caller reported a disabled vehicle on N. Nordic Drive. It was to be moved the following morning. A caller requested a welfare check for an individual on Lumber Street. December 10 A caller reported black ice on Mitkof Highway. DOT was notified. A caller reported vandalism to a vehicle on Haugen Drive. It was later determined it was just ice on the vehicle. The Fire Department was called out for a possible chimney fire...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is planning to launch major renovation projects for a number of highway segments and ferry terminals next year. On the Marine Highway, the DOT is asking for bids on a new terminal building in Kake. Ferry system manager John Falvey says the Kake project will also install sanitary sewer and water lines. Construction will take place in the summer, with work completed by fall. A similar projected is expected in Angoon next summer. In Ketchikan, DOT is planning a $...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a resolution on Monday to establish budget policies with the intention of providing sound management of borough funds. The adoption of the document means setting guidelines to assist with annual budget preparation and current administration requirements. Document guidelines include policies regarding how to handle the general fund balance, capital projects and employee travel, among others. The only amendment to the resolution was brought forth by assembly member Nancy Strand concerning the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly heard the latest update for the ongoing yearlong efforts of the consulting firm, Agnew Beck, to develop a comprehensive and waterfront master plans. Project manager Shelly Wade and land use expert Chris Beck, gave a lengthy presentation about firm's progress so far in completing the public hearing drafts of the project. The drafts have been released and are now available to the public for a comment period. Wade and Beck shared the highlights of the plans and their proposed future implementation. Over the past...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Monday’s regular Assembly meeting: Power & Light is nearing the end of a major rewrite of the Emergency Action Plan required by FERC on our Blind Slough hydro. Power & Light and Public Works spent significant time putting up Christmas lighting for the tree and street poles. Excellent cooperation made the job go smoothly. Thanks to Power & Light, Public Works, Matt Bryner, Pete and Theresa Litsheim, Ray and Gladys Olsen for such a beautiful community Christmas tree this year. The P...
Marc Fries a scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. continues his work to track the Petersburg fireball, which passed over Petersburg early on Saturday, Nov. 21. Fries told the Pilot, via email on Wednesday, "I've been able to find the location of the camera at the harbor with sufficient accuracy to plot the azimuth from the camera towards the fireball. Shadows from the fireball are clearly visible in that camera image. The blue line in the Google Earth image is the direction...
Petersburg Harbor video surveillance footage may confirm a meteor did pass over Petersburg in the early morning hours of Sat., Nov. 21. Eyewitness reports placed the fireball at times ranging between 2:22 a.m. to 2:33 a.m. Petersburg Harbor video surveillance footage shows a bright flash of light lasting for two seconds on nearly all its camera feeds at 2:25 a.m. The Petersburg Public Library video camera also captured images of a bright flash of light at exactly the same time. Johnson Space Center NASA scientist Marc Fries points to data that... Full story
November 24 Police issued a citation to John Murray, 55, for a parking violation. A driver received a warning for failure to stop at a stop sign on Haugen Drive. A driver received a warning for failure to stop at a stop sign on Gjoa Street and Nordic Drive. A driver received a warning for failure to stop at a stop sign on Gjoa Street and Nordic Drive. A driver received a warning for failure to yield in a school zone. A caller reported possibly being followed. A caller reported an individual driving recklessly and almost causing an accident. A...
Petersburg Borough Assembly members brought up the idea of keeping and expanding the U.S. Coast Guard presence in town after attending the Alaska Municipal League Conference last month. Assembly member Bob Lynn said many coastal communities across Alaska want the same thing. “What I also came away with was everybody right now is scrambling for ways to generate revenues for our communities,” Lynn said. “They would like to have more Coast Guard presence and they’re actually beginning to vie for some of the 154 class vessels in their area....
(Updated November 28, 2015 @ 2:35 p.m.) Amongst the rumors and speculation pulsing through Petersburg’s streets and social media news feeds last weekend, a Johnson Space Center NASA scientist points to data that suggests a falling meteor shook Mitkof Island last Saturday morning, which could mean many Petersburg residents woke up to the flash of a fireball and the blast of a sonic boom. John Havrilek witnessed what he described as a blinding streak of light and the sound of an explosion. ... Full story
