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A resolution that would have opposed the Kake Access Road project and asked state legislators to reappropriate the remaining balance of the $40 million in funding for the project was voted down by the borough assembly at their meeting on Monday. Most assembly members were in support of a road connecting Kake to Petersburg, though they did not agree with the road ending at Twelvemile Creek. They had hoped the road would stretch closer to Petersburg. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci suggested the road...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly recently considered a resolution urging the Legislature to re-appropriate money from a critical $40 million Kake-Petersburg road project to the Alaska Marine Highway System. This engages in an unnecessary ferry versus road debate at a time when we're pursuing all avenues of transportation for Southeast Alaska: ferries, airports and roads. Some points to consider: • Road funding from the 2012 capital appropriation for the road cannot be used for ferries. • It can...
Sen. Bert Stedman told the community while attending the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday that the future of the Alaska Marine Highway System depends on how negotiations go with Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Stedman said that legislators will discuss the AMHS and present possible scenarios to the governor when Dunleavy releases his operating budget; however, without enough votes to override the governor's anticipated vetoes, negotiations won't be too aggressive. "If you don't have the...
Second-graders at Rae C Stedman Elementary School heard a story on the Greensboro sit-ins and were given a dictionary on Friday as part of two programs through Wells Fargo and the Petersburg Elks Lodge. For ten weeks this school year, Shannon Howard will be reading a book each Friday to Mary Midkiff's second grade class as a part of a nationwide Wells Fargo program that promotes literacy. After Howard finishes reading the book, it is donated to the class. "I read the book, the book stays in the...
Kake/Kupreanof road To the Editor: The assembly will be considering a resolution on the Kake/Kupreanof road next week. No matter what happens some people will be upset at the final vote. Either way, I hope the public sends their thoughts on the Kake project to the State House Finance Committee, housefinance@akleg.gov. (Or visit the LIO for assistance submitting comments!) Considering the project was initially funded with no public hearing at the state level, a project with murky purpose and a...
A resolution opposing the Kake Access Road project was discussed at an assembly meeting Tuesday, but assembly members won't vote on the resolution until their March 2 meeting. Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor requested that resolution #2020-01 be discussed at Tuesday's meeting to allow residents time to become aware of the resolution and to give their feedback to the assembly before they vote on it in March. The resolution cites the state's current "fiscal crisis" and the "99 percent shut down"...
Discussed by the Petersburg School Board at their meeting last week was a senate bill being put forth by Alaska legislators that would mandate school districts offer a preschool program and ensure students are reading proficiently by third grade. "We have heard that this is a fast moving bill," said School Board President Mara Lutomski. "Both sides, the House and the Senate, expect that it will probably most likely make it through and arrive at the governors' desk in some form. It doesn't mean...
With the M/V Matanuska going out of service last week, ferry service via the Alaska Marine Highway has completely shut down. According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation, new issues have been found with the ferry's reduction gear system. The Matanuska, at the time of writing, is being towed to Ketchikan for repairs. "AMHS is aware of travel needs for upcoming school and community tournaments in March and is exploring options for alternative service in the event...
Stedman should put ferries first To the Editor: As residents of the towns near the proposed Kake Road, we firmly oppose it. The $40 million raised for this "road to nowhere" should instead support the return of the Alaska Marine Highway System to our coastal Alaskan communities struggling without ferry service. It is one thing to waste taxpayer money on a project no one is asking for, and another to do so while claiming funding for vitally needed and popular ferry services doesn't exist. This...
A letter to Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins requesting information on the proposed Kake Access Road project was approved by the borough assembly at their meeting Monday after amending the letter to remove a paragraph suggesting the road was a waste of funding. The letter follows a similar correspondence between the borough and the Department of Transportation's project manager, Greg Lockwood. In a letter to Lockwood, the assembly requested a public meeting with DOT officials...
During these times of limited capital project spending around the state, the proposed Kake to Petersburg road should not be a priority. Funding for the project was allocated in 2012 by Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) under a "Roads to Resources" program. Ignoring the fact that the project has taken nearly 8 years to develop, much has changed since the project was funded. Biggest among them is the state's realization that they have to live within their means. Next is the fact that the...
Thank you To the Editor: To whomever maintains the Bill Musson trail it’s greatly appreciated. Andrew Greinier Road to nowhere To the Editor: Assembly Members please support sending a letter to Senator Stedman to not support the road being built from Kake to 12 mile. This is a total and complete waste of $40 million dollars and no one in Petersburg or Kake are in favor of this road and wasting $40 million, it makes us all look bad. It’s a “Road to Nowhere”. Who in Petersburg or Kake is going to leave a vehicle or boat at 12 mile to access...
The Petersburg School Board approved an updated math curriculum for the district and the purchase of related materials totaling approximately $42,000 at the board's meeting on Tuesday. A whole new math curriculum is being adopted at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School that was constructed last year by second grade teachers Becky Martin and Mary Midkiff, according to Elementary Principal Heather Conn. The curriculum teaches math to students in a spiral manner. "We will see the same information...
The community lap pool is closed this week due to an above average amount of water being pumped into the pool to maintain regular water levels. Parks and Recreation Facilities Supervisor Stephanie Payne said the cause of the phenomenon is unknown at this time. A pool dye kit has been ordered that may help staff determine what has been causing the pool to need extra water to keep it at capacity. Payne said she first noticed the problem late last week. Parks and Recreation made the decision to...
A patchwork of logging roads already exists, and the project would connect those roads to make a 35-mile, single-lane road between Kake and 12-mile Creek north of the city of Kupreanof. The money was allocated in 2012 by State Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, as part of a program called "Roads to Resources" meant to help access to natural resources. "We need to have a transportation system in Southeast," Stedman said in a phone interview. "This road is part of a bigger drive to help stabilize and exp...
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
With the increasing presence of cell phones in the district, the Petersburg School Board held a discussion on the district's cell phone policy at a school board meeting last week. At Rae C. Stedman Elementary School, cell phones are not allowed to be seen during school hours, and must be kept in students' backpacks. Principal Heather Conn said she hasn't seen any cell phones this year so far, though she has seen them in past years. When a student is caught with their cell phone out, they must dr...
Sarah Ellen Culbertson Gilliland, 81 of Petersburg, Alaska slipped quietly away from us to be with her Savior, Jesus, on Dec. 2, 2019 in Redmond, Oregon. She was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas on April 10, 1938 and was the loved wife of Harvey Gilliland for nearly 51 years. They became the parents of William C. Gilliland on July 13, 1971 and Emily C. Elam on Nov. 11, 1973. She graduated from Arkansas A&M University with a Bachelor's degree in education. She was a primary grade teacher in Benton,... Full story
The borough is in the process of renewing an agreement with the state to receive $6,200 annually for the maintenance of the Ernie Haugen public use area, according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta at an assembly meeting on Monday. At an assembly meeting last month, the borough assembly approved letters to Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asking them to inquire into cooperative agreements between the borough and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for the management...
A resolution supporting alternative one of the draft environmental impact statement for the exemption of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest will go before the borough assembly at their first meeting in December after the assembly pushed the vote back by two weeks at their meeting on Monday. The United State Forest Service released the findings of its draft environmental impact statement earlier this month that showed the United States Department of Agriculture supported...
The Petersburg Police Department will begin the process of seeking and hiring a police sergeant after the borough assembly on Monday gave Police Chief Jim Kerr authorization to fill the position. In the years that the police department has been short a sergeant, the borough has had to spend a considerable amount of money on overtime, according to Kerr at an assembly meeting in July. In the 2018 fiscal year, Kerr said the borough spent $155,214 in overtime. The police sergeant position, which...
They are certainly cute but the voracious appetites of sea otters continue to cause horrendous damage to some of Southeast Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries. How best to curtail those impacts will be the focus of a day long stakeholders meeting set for November 6 in Juneau. “All of the people who have anything to do with the otters hopefully will all be in the same room at the same time,” said Phil Doherty, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association (SARDFA) based in Ketchikan. A 2011 report by the McDowell Group...
The borough assembly held a discussion at their meeting on Monday on the idea of the borough partnering with the Petersburg Indian Association to take over the maintenance of Greens Camp from the state. Public Works Director Chris Cotta said that the state has paid the borough in the past for the maintenance of Greens Camp, along with Banana Point Boat Dock and Wilson Creek. For the 2019 calendar year, the state cut their funding from $6,200 to $3,000, but the borough still has yet to receive...
