Sorted by date Results 601 - 625 of 717
Homeowners of the collapsed structure at 1010 Wrangell Ave. have filed an appeal in Superior Court against the Petersburg Borough Assembly's 30-day order to demolish or repair the home at the owner's expense after borough building officials determined the structure to be a 'dangerous building.' The building's foundation failed in September 2009. During June 2012, Community Development Director Leo Luczak sent notice to Karen Ellingstad that the structure had been deemed a dangerous building. Sin... Full story
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht forecasted a “status quo” budget to the borough assembly last Monday. “It’s a status quo budget meaning we’re not changing services,” Giesbrecht said. “We’re not going to offer more services. We’re not going to offer less services. We don’t expect to have to make major changes to mill rates or sales tax rates.” The budget assumptions offer a guideline for department heads as they begin creating their fiscal year 2015 budgets. In the FY 2015 budget, $200,000 is being transferred to a Property Development...
Staff is finalizing paperwork for the recent drive down dock bid. Tamico is planning the preconstruction meeting to go over schedule and other planning issues. Staff is preparing to advertise the Crane Dock Widening project rescheduled for mid-January. Delivery has begun for Rasmus Enge Memorial Bridge materials. Stacks of planks from The Mill have been staged at the long-term parking area at the Crane Dock parking lot. The Mill continues to cut the required planks and is also working with third party suppliers on the treated planks and pile...
January Petersburg residents contributed a record amount to the Salvation Army Christmas program last year-$15,618.17-more than $9,700 than the year before. Jan. 4, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck 58 miles west of Craig and 203 miles south of Juneau prompting a tsunami warning across Southeast. Petersburg Police Chief Jim Agner and Sergeant Heidi Agner announced their intentions to retire. Officer Ben King joined the Petersburg Police Department. The Petersburg Borough Assembly members were... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Sanitation Department has set February 4 to be the start date of the new comingled voluntary recycling program. Residents who want to participate must call Public Works at 772-4430 to sign up. Once that’s done, sanitation staff will drop off blue bags, free of charge, at residences and businesses during the week of January 20. Current residents who already practice curbside recycling will be automatically transferred into the new program. After the initial rollout of the recycling program, free bags will be available f... Full story
The borough assembly will hold a public hearing concerning the recent changes made to the landfill’s salvage program. The changes come after the sanitation ordinance was updated to include the new recycling program. Karl Hagerman, public works director, reworked the fee structure. Originally, a salvage permit cost $5 for two days and $100 for an annual permit. After the changes, the annual permit was eliminated and a day use permit now costs $10 for one day. Ole Whitethorn has now objected to the change several times during assembly m...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht presented the following report to the Assembly on Monday night. Joe Nelson and power and light staff are working on incorporating a thorough capital project plan into the electric rate study to better outline the needs of our electric system. Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs officials are drafting a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation in an effort to partner with Alaska Marine Highway to curb illegal controlled substances being transported on state ferries. Postal interdiction efforts...
Petersburg borough manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following during its November 25 meeting: Work continues on the new electric system for the North Harbor. Peak usage on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency system is significant with the cold weather. Wrangell now has a system peak equal to Petersburg’s. Chief Swihart will attend the Executive Development Conference December 3-6 in Anchorage. The seminar will include various trainings as well as meetings for Alaska Police Standards Council, Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police. Jenna D...
The Petersburg borough assembly held a public hearing on an updated sanitation ordinance that includes the co-mingled recycling ordinance Monday night but other changes to the ordinance sparked discussion. The new recycling program would allow residents to mix their recyclables in a bag that will be collected curbside. The program is being incentivized by increasing collection rates by 20 percent—an increase of around $5 for most users. But those who recycle won’t have to pay the difference. No one spoke to the recycling program but David White...
Borough residents will soon likely have the option to participate in a co-mingled recycling program after the assembly approved an updated sanitation ordinance during first reading. The Petersburg Borough will incentivize recycling by increasing garbage collection rates by 20 percent—a monthly increase of around $5 for most users. Those who choose to recycle won’t have to pay the difference. “The folks that choose not to recycle for whatever reason would then end up paying higher cost that would help fund the program,” said Karl Hagerma... Full story
Erin McKittrick, author of “A Long Trek Home,” and her husband Hig, visited Petersburg to talk about their expeditions across Alaska and promoted her new book “Small Feet Big Land: Adventure, Home, and Family on the Edge of Alaska.” The latest book chronicles her adventures with her husband and two young children as they tour the landscape. “Our life is somewhat made up of journeys and this book is a story of journeys,” McKittrick said. “It’s a story of some big capital J journeys up the Arctic...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to retain the Parks and Recreation and Public Safety advisory boards Monday but the function of the boards might change after the assembly learned it isn’t using them as the ordinance is written. Advisory boards currently meet to discuss potential issues or programs with borough department heads without direction from the assembly. They then bring recommendations to the assembly as issues arise. But the assembly has been systematically reviewing advisory boards during the past several months and will let s...
At its latest advisory board review hearing, the borough assembly voted to retain the Harbor advisory board as an elected body. The board review hearings come after several assembly members questioned the efficiency and viability of advisory boards and committees. Steve Giesbrecht, Borough Manager, said in an earlier interview many board members remain in place for several years and if and when they do leave it’s sometimes difficult to find replacements. “Good government involves a lot of input from its citizens,” Giesbrecht said. “If you hav...
The dredge material coming from areas near Icicle and Ocean Beauty Seafoods is dryer and more in line with what the borough was expecting. The material, originally meant for use as scrap metal capping at the landfill, was too slurry for the application forcing borough officials to create a rock berm to contain the watery dredge spoils. Karl Hagerman, Public Works Director, said the new material is holding up well on slopes. “Both materials are helping the situation at the landfill and are m...
The borough needs more residents to recycle to pay its bills and is developing a new comingled program in an attempt to boost recycle participation. “Comingled” means recyclers will no longer have to separate their materials into different containers. Karl Hagerman, Director of Public Works, made the recommendation to the borough assembly Monday. “Comingled recycling is the best way, in my opinion, to increase local recycling rates dramatically over what we’re doing right now,” Hagerman said. “Our current effort of 10.5 percent recycling r... Full story
Petersburg Public Works Director Karl Hagerman’s co-mingled recycling recommendations to the borough assembly come after a successful trial run that saw recycling rates increase by more than 400 percent this past summer. The sanitation department along with Petersburg Indian Association ran the six-week pilot project in June and July to get an idea about how participants would judge the comingled bag recycling system. According to Hagerman’s recycling report, 120 participants were drawn from residents who already recycle. Before the trial, the...
The public works department made an emergency repair to City Creek Dam after a safety inspection revealed erosion to a joint on the spillway. Karl Hagerman, Public Works Director, said the repair to the borough’s backup dam consisted of packing an eroded joint with grout. “This emergency repair to fix the joint is a band aid,” Hagerman said. Ultimately, Hagerman said, the entire spillway will need to be resurfaced and added, “small problems turn into big problems on dams.” For now the dam is working as intended and won’t fail anytime soo...
The new Petersburg Library grand opening celebration was packed with visitors last Saturday. Senator Burt Stedman and Rasmuson Foundation CEO Diane Kaplin spoke during the event. Among many remarks and thanks, Kaplin made a point to thank Borough Librarian Tara Alcock for her dedication to Petersburg’s library. “I really want to congratulate Tara. She has worked very, very hard on this,” Kaplin said.“You can tell when you walk into a library if it’s a great library. The second you walk in t...
Petersburg officials are improvising as the North Harbor’s dredge material is more fluid than they expected. Because copper levels were too high to dispose the spoils into the ocean, the original plan was to use the dredge material to cover the landfill’s scrap metal pile but Karl Hagerman, Public Works Director, stated in a report to the borough that when the project began September 12, “it was immediately evident that the material being delivered to the landfill was different than what the sanitation department was expecting.” The Army Co...
Some initial concern over the Petersburg Road Improvement Plan turned out to be less of an issue than originally anticipated. The $4.1 million dollar project began in September of 2012. According to a project report written by Bryce Iverson, SECON Project Manager, “…2,800 cubic yards of concrete were placed, over 4,800 linear feet of curbs and gutter, 3,100 square yards of sidewalk, and nearly 10,000 square yards of concrete pavement.” The initial concrete pouring phase was put on hold because of early season freezing temperatures. Barry Morri...
Tommy Joseph, master woodcarver and Tlingit artist, gave a Technology, Education and Design talk in the borough assembly chambers last Thursday. Joseph talked about his experiences traveling the world learning about Tlingit battledress and how he incorporated that knowledge into pieces he crafted called “Rainforest Warriors” that are in display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. His work was inspired in 2004 while researching the battledress used during 1804’s Battle of Sitka that pitte...
The borough assembly is planning to let the utility and motor pool advisory boards dissolve after no member made a motion to keep either one at its September 3 meeting. This after several assembly members questioned the efficiency and viability of advisory boards and committees in August. The borough sent out an evaluation form to be filled out by advisory boards department wide as it considers whether or not to keep them. Questions on the form includes how many times it has met in the past year, what issues had been addressed and why and what...
As Petersburg continues to iron out its borough formation, the assembly will decide which committees and boards to dissolve or keep active. Boards to be considered for removal are; Transient Room Tax, Public Safety, Utility Advisory, Motor Pool, Parks and Recreation and Public Library. Those boards act as advisors to the borough and its corresponding departments. Although, they’re all on the chopping block, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said several will likely stay such as the Harbor Advisory Board and the Library Board. During T...
The Banana Point floating dock project has been canceled after conflicting interpretations within the U.S. Forest Service concerning the use of grant funds. The Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake Resource Advisory Committee, or RAC organized the project that was two years in the making. RACs fall under the authority of The Secure Rural Schools Act, which is meant to provide collaboration between local communities and federal land managers to create projects on federal land. Each U.S. Forest Service region in the country has a RAC. The local RAC...
The Rasmus Enge Memorial bridge on Sing Lee Alley might prove to be beyond repair after officials pull planks and inspect the stringers underneath. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the borough currently isn’t allowing its garbage trucks to drive over the bridge and told other large trucks not to cross the bridge either. Giesbrecht said the bridge has been re-planked many times over the years and that process weakens the stringers—boards the bridge planks are nailed to. “It’s like Swiss c... Full story
