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The Petersburg Borough will hold a public auction December 16 during an assembly meeting for the purchase of borough land. Lots 2, 3,4 and 5 on Block 263 on undeveloped portions of Valkyrie Street will be up for auction. John and Miriam Swanson applied last April to purchase lots 2 and 3 and possibly lot 4. The planning and zoning commission originally recommended the land be sold privately but after further review changed its recommendation. According to the resolution approving the public auction, the electric department has expressed...
The Viking Wrestling team took fourth place in a tournament in Wrangell last weekend. Head Coach Dan Van Swearingen said the team as a whole was much more aggressive last weekend than in their first tournament of the season. "We were punishing some of our opponents," Van Swearingen said. "I like to see that." DJ Toyomura beat a returning region champion and pinned him in the first round. Billy Ware walked through his final 14-1. The coach said two of his better wrestlers didn't attend the...
The Vikings volleyball team played its final home games against Thunder Mountain last weekend. Although the Vikings lost its matches they put up a tough fight against the Juneau squad. Head coach Jaime Cabral said the two seniors put up great defensive plays and the rest of the young team-made up of freshmen and sophomores-are progressing well. "We couldn't have asked for as much hard work as they've put in," Cabral said. "They've done everything that we've asked." The Vikings haven't taken...
Petersburg recently found out that it has won Yachting Magazine's '2013 Best Towns' competition. Dan Harding, Associate Editor for Yachting Magazine, wrote in an article, "Joining the ranks of Oxford, Maryland and Beaufort, North Carolina, the Alaskan fishing village has reminded us that the appeal of a destination is not always measured in amenities and attractions, and that natural beauty and character are what make a place truly special." And the same sea lion plaguing boaters this year might be the same animal Harding included as part of... Full story
After five weeks and 500 photographs, Mike Renfro and his crew of five have finished inspecting property for the Petersburg Borough assessment. Renfro works for Appraisal Company of Alaska out of Anchorage—the company the borough contracted to conduct the project. In segments between July through October, Renfro and his team inspected around 350 improved properties out the road on Mitkof, Kupreanof and other ancillary areas. When asked what an average day was like Renfro responded jokingly, “Rainy.” The bulk of Renfro’s job during an inspect... 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...
An auditing company presented their financial report to the Petersburg School Board Tuesday evening and congratulated the district on reining in its expenses. The school district’s revenue over expenses was $153,000 in total. It also increased its general fund balance by more than $100,000 from last year. Eric Campbell with BDO gave the presentation. When he went over the student activity fund budget Campbell said there were more student activity funds than he’s ever seen. “Every student in Petersburg has an activity fund,” Campbell joked....
More than ten business leaders in the Petersburg tourism industry met Monday to discuss how the season fared this year and what could be done better in the future. Although the general consensus was that last summer was a success, there are some kinks to work out. Sally Dwyer, Chamber of Commerce director, said one of the complaints she heard from tourists was the lack of public phones in town. “There are no public phones in town,” Dwyer said. “We were letting them use our cell phones.” Public phones were taken down due to vandalism and lac...
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...
This year’s moose hunt is the third highest harvest on record with a total of 85 animals taken from the region. The highest record was in 2009 with 108 moose being harvested and the second was in 2011 with 88 moose taken. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the majority of moose are taken during the first two weeks of the hunt, which was the case this year as well. Forty-six moose were taken during the first half of the hunt while 39 were taken d... Full story
The Petersburg High School wrestling team won the invitational tournament it hosted last weekend. Eleven schools from across Southeast attended the round robin tournament. Petersburg head coach Dan van Swearingen said his team out-pinned its opponents. “Our team pinned all night and that’s why we had such high scores,” Van Swearingen said. “We were pinning machines.” DJ Toyomura, Bill Ware, Logan Turcott and Kaleb Simbahon all went undefeated over the weekend. Van Swearingen said a highlight... Full story
President and CEO of United Way of Southeast Alaska, Wayne Stevens, is in Petersburg for the next several days to encourage businesses to take part in its Workplace Campaign. “We’ve added Petersburg as one of our communities where we have an agency representation so we want to try and engage the community,” Stevens said. The Workplace Campaign is a program that local businesses can implement. It gives employees the chance to donate a certain amount out of their paychecks each year. “Philanthropy is not the amount you give,” Stevens said. “Ph... Full story
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 Petersburg Borough approved a resolution urging Governor Sean Parnell and the Alaska legislature to increase transportation funding across the state. The Alaska Municipal League, or AML, is urging municipalities across Alaska to request increases in transportation funding. AML is a statewide nonprofit organization representing 140 cities, boroughs and unified municipalities that aims to influence state and federal decision-making. The AML drafted its own resolution that asks for a local match component for state funded transportation grants...
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 Petersburg Vikings volleyball teams traveled to Sitka for conference games and Juneau for a tournament last week. Head Coach Jaime Cabral said although the girls didn’t win last Wednesday’s and Thursday’s conference games, they had every game in their hands. The team held the lead several times and the each game was close. The varsity team headed to Juneau and won games against Sitka, Ketchikan and Thunder Mountain during the tournament. “All of a sudden the tides have turned and I think the switch clicked on for our girls,” Cabral sa...
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
This fall’s Humpy 500 saw five carts zip down PFI hill Saturday afternoon. Kids teamed up to build and design their go-karts as well as costumes that matched their theme. The Torpedo Shark, driven by Annie Christensen, and its team took first place for Best Design and third in the costume category. Noah, driven by Chase Lister, and its team took second place in the Costumes category and third place in the race with a time of 21.10 seconds. The Fat Squid, driven by Lisa Murph, and its team t... Full story
The Pacific Pile dredge crew, based out of Seattle, finished dredging the North Harbor and have moved to the area in front of Ocean Beauty where they will spend the next couple weeks. A crew of three men operate the dredge barge named ‘The Web’. Mike Eldridge, operator, typically runs the excavator. He watches a screen that displays water depth and tracks how far down he needs to keep digging. As Eldridge closes the bucket and digs out dredge material a splotch of yellow appears like a spo... Full story
The Borough Manager reported to the assembly last Monday that Mountain View Manor received a 100 percent score on the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation inspection and there continues to be a waiting list at both Elderly Housing and Assisted Living. He congratulated Scott Newman who has taken over as the PMP&L Line Foreman. An annual street light survey is underway. Citizens are asked to report any streetlights that are not working. The borough is working on a draft RFP for the Borough Comprehensive Plan, Economic Development and Harbor...
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...
In the first match of this weekend’s play, the two squads were going back and forth leading in points. Ultimately the Vikings fell to the two time defending state champs. Head coach Jaime Cabral said he decided to try a new rotating defense against Mount Edgecumbe after losing points to short tips Friday night. “We threw a new defense at them that we’ve never practiced and they (Vikings) adjusted perfectly to it,” Cabral said. Cabral said the team only lost one point to the tips Saturda...
One hundred and ninety people ran and walked in the 14th annual Beat the Odds race in an effort to raise awareness and money for cancer research. The rain held off Saturday morning for runners and walkers who were participating in the event. The Mitkof Dance Troupe performed in the community gym and Mindy Anderson spoke to the crowd before the race kicked off. “Many of you here have cancer yourselves and we know that some day we’re going to beat this,” Anderson said. “We’re going to beat the...
The lights are off and a closed sign is scotch taped to the door of the Federal Building in downtown Petersburg. Jason Anderson, U.S. District Ranger, is the lone occupant. On Tuesday, he looked as if he had come into the office during time off, garbed in hiking pants and a black t-shirt rather than a forest service uniform. But his desk was stacked with piles of papers looking very much as if there is still work to be done. “We were told not to spend a lot of time finalizing other project work... Full story
