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A special assembly meeting is scheduled Friday at 5 p.m. in Assembly Chambers to discuss the borough manager's proposed reorganization of the electric utility and public works departments. In its last meeting, the assembly voted in favor of the proposed reorganization, which would move Karl Hagerman, public works director, to electric utility director, while promoting Chris Cotta to Hagerman's current position. Scott Newman, acting superintendent of power and light, would return as foreman. The...
As discussion continues on the Power and Light reorganization, it’s important to quantify the savings and identify where they will be placed within the borough budget. Saving money in the Power and Light Dept. will not help the borough’s general fund. It will only bring savings to the Power and Light fund. The funds cannot be transferred to the general fund on an ongoing basis. Since the PMP&L fund is a self-supporting enterprise, it operates independent of the borough’s general fund. In other words, it pays its own way, as do the sanit...
The borough manager hosted a second public meeting last Thursday to hear ideas on how to decrease costs and increase revenue for Petersburg. The manager, Steve Giesbrecht, recommends the assembly take the public's suggestions, review them, and make a list of the top five or 10, he said. "The Assembly could then instruct us which ideas they want implemented," Giesbrecht said. "Using this process, the Assembly could work through the entire list." At the meeting, people filtered in for two hours...
WRANGELL — Following a clean bill of health from contaminants testing of dredge material at Shoemaker Bay, the harbor restoration project looks to be continuing on schedule. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities match grant funding in the amount of $5,000,000 was approved for the project in this year’s budget, enabling replacement of the harbor’s aging float network. The wooden float structure is in a deteriorated state, with one of its five finger piers currently unusable. Wrangell Harbor Department’s plan will be to replace...
The borough’s highest electrical job once again could go to Karl Hagerman, who had pulled his name from consideration in October following the election and scrutiny of his qualifications. One assembly member and an empty search for someone else made him reconsider. In a meeting on Monday, the assembly voted 5-2 in support of making Mr. Hagerman utility director of power and light, a title comparable to electrical superintendent. The move revisits Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht’s idea to reorganize power and light and public works, which he...
The Peterburg assembly narrowly struck down a resolution to repeal a federal ruling that limits development on national forest land, a decision it made after hearing public testimony from seven people on Monday. The resolution Monday supported an end to the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects social and ecological value and characteristics of roadless areas from construction and reconstruction, along with certain timber harvest activities, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The borough said this resolution was brought to...
January 11, 1918 At Monday night’s regular meeting the council voted that its members and representatives selected by the fishermen meet the next afternoon to look up the most suitable place for a fishermen’s municipal float and get an estimate of cost of construction of same. At Tuesday afternoon’s special meeting, a committee composed of Councilmen Jorgenson, Israelsen, and Steberg, and Erick Ness and Olaf Tenfjord as representatives of the boat owners, was instructed to make specifications and find the cost of putting in a float in front of...
The borough assembly held a work session on Monday to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on who's eligible for senior sales tax exemption, along with a shorter talk on a passenger fee for cruise ships. In a public discussion, hosted by the assembly to hear community member input, an agreement was made that an annual fee ought to be charged to those who'd like a sales tax exemption card. The goal would be to offset costs that go into processing exemption cards for those 65 or older. The...
January The Borough assembly started approval of a program called Local Improvement Districts, which asks Petersburg residents whether they would pay for road work in their neighborhoods. The Petersburg School Board discussed the possible loss of federal funding through a program called Secure Rural Schools. The school district reported a case of a Pertussis, or whooping cough, confirmed in Petersburg. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said it was not a public health emergency. An engineer led...
Dec. 27 — An officer responded to a report of a single vehicle sliding off the road in the 1000 block of Sandy Beach Road. Icy conditions contributed to the accident. No injuries or damage were reported. A disturbance was reported at a Lumber St. location. Police responded to a report of suspicious activity on Mill Rd. An injured deer was reported on N. Nordic Dr. Suspicious activity was reported on Lumber St. An officer responded to a report of domestic violence. A verbal argument was in progress. Dec. 28 — A vehicle slid into the ditch near t...
The Power and Light building at the Haugen and North Nordic Drive intersection is about to be taken in about nine feet. Public Works Director Karl Hagerman said the work to remove a nine-foot corner section of the Power and Light building could be done this month. Contractors are working on a plan to cantilever the upper floor and leave an 11-foot-tall opening for drivers stopped at Haugen Drive to have a better line of sight for drivers. "I hesitate to commit to a date when this will happen as...
It's flu season, and the Petersburg Medical Center is reporting several cases -- more than usual, including some who were immunized -- but all signs are pointing toward a vaccination that works. "We have seen more cases than we normally see around this time of year," said Liz Bacom, the infection control manager with the medical center. "But it's not like this is an atypical year versus another. Every flu season is different. "We are getting cases but they aren't super serious," Bacom said....
The assembly approved a bid award on Monday to spend about $59,000 on the electrical portion of a power outage response project, which raised questions from members as to why it can’t be done by Power & Light linemen. The award was given to Engineered Solutions Group, Inc., which is tasked with installing a new sectionalizing switch in Circuit 63, so the utility can isolate Icicle Seafoods and the Trading Union during outages and other line work, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works Director, in a letter to the borough manager. It’s called the...
The Petersburg Borough wants to hear ideas from the community that could save the public money, and it’s offering a stage without an assembly meeting tone. “I hear from people all the time that this meeting scares people,” said Steve Giesbrecht, the borough manager, speaking at an assembly meeting. “They don’t want to come and talk because it’s very formal, so I am going to try to go the other way with this.” Giesbrecht is referring to his proposal to host a series of public open houses, or gatherings, which he said could facilitate in...
WRANGELL - Until further notice is given, the clerical offices and courtroom at the Wrangell Public Safety Building have been closed down temporarily. The closure began Monday morning, with the Alaska Court System citing air quality concerns for staff using the premises. The space is rented from the city, which maintains the entire facility and surrounding property. "We've got some water issues that need to be addressed," explained Neil Nesheim, area court administrator for the First District...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly talked at length in a meeting last week about forming a tax committee, made of community members who could explain how tax finances work and eventually bring recommendations to the council. “I’ve had a chance to talk to several members of the community who had all kinds of questions about senior citizen property tax exemptions and overall sales tax,” said Jeff Meucci, an assembly member. “And what the trends are.” As a result, the assembly agreed to ask community members to sit on a short term – possibly si...
The remodel of the Petersburg Municipal Power and Light building is asking for an additional $60,000 in contingency dollars to address items that were left out of a ‘bare bones’ plan in 2015, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. “There wasn’t a whole lot of thought about this being the long term headquarters of the department,” Hagerman said. “Being that the construction of a new headquarters in Scow Bay has been eliminated from consideration and the current offices will be the PMPL headquarters for many years into the future, the...
Fish and Game board process is a public process To the Editor: Dear Alaskans, As your chairs to the Alaska Boards of Fisheries and Game we want to take this time to update you on our upcoming meeting season for 2017-2018. For those new to Alaska or our state’s fish and game regulatory process, the Boards of Fisheries and Game are composed of seven individuals from around Alaska who meet each year to enact changes to your fish and game management system. For example, by passing a regulation the Board of Game might open a new moose hunt in wester...
The Petersburg Christmas Tree will be located outside the municipal building this year instead of next to the Scandia House hotel. The tree had for years been on Pete and Theresa Litsheims’ lot. The borough decided to change its location to the municipal building as to not inconvenience downtown parking. “We’ve relied upon the incredible generosity of Pete and Theresa Litsheim to stage the community tree,” said Karl Hagerman, the Borough Public Works Director. “The change is borne out of a desire to lessen the seasonal impact to their bus...
The Petersburg borough manager on Monday was cleared to start recruiting for an electrical superintendent, requiring that he find an applicant with knowledge of mechanical operations and a supervisor’s background. At a meeting Monday evening, there were four assembly members in favor and three against, enough to approve a job description for the Power & Light top position. The requirements include, among other qualifications, five to seven years of supervision experience, along with knowledge of hydro and utility power distribution systems. ...
The assembly on Monday approved a bid award to the Power & Light department for a project that would make restoring power during an outage quicker and safer. In a memo to the borough manager, Public Works Director Karl Hagerman requested about $48,000 for the Retaining Wall Project, which would add a switch to Circuit 63. This would make turning the power back on, or energizing, easier. Also it would isolate Icicle Seafoods and the Trading Union, which are among the borough’s biggest energy users. “Load separation allows the utility to bri...
Officials in Petersburg were scrambling about two weeks ago when the borough recycling program almost shut down because the country recycling is sent to nearly refused to take it. The recycling in Petersburg is exported to China, and in a national effort to become more environmentally friendly, it announced that importation policies would become stringent, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. The borough works with a recycling company called Republic Services that sends disposables to Seattle. From there, most is sent to China,...
There wasn't an oval to fill in or a write-in candidate to name, but voters helped make a decision for a man in the middle of one of the most talked-about issues in Petersburg. Karl Hagerman withdrew his name from consideration for the electric department's top position, dealing a blow to the borough manager's plan to restructure Power & Light. Since May, Manager Steve Giesbrecht planned to make Hagerman director of the electrical department. The reorganization would have reportedly saved the...
WRANGELL - Finalized designs to replace existing facilities at Shoemaker Bay Harbor have been greenlighted by the Wrangell Assembly. Built by the state in 1977, management of the harbor and responsibility for its upkeep were devolved to the city in 2003. The wood-and-iron floats have since reached the limits of their useful life, and plans to replace them with a more modern design have been in the works for several years. A design for new floating facilities and a dredging of the harbor was put...
