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Father’s Day is on Sunday. Children across the country will honor their dads at family gatherings with gifts, cards and special meals. On this occasion, we encourage dads to consider the creation of a special gift for their children. It is a time consuming project that will reap personal rewards well worth the effort put forth. Why not write a family history and distribute it to your children next year, or two years from now? Other dads have done this, including my father, who wrapped up his 64-page compilation just months before his death a...
Discussion about relocating the Petersburg Borough Power and Light building has been under discussion for decades. Often the discussion came to an abrupt end because of finances. Even when Power and Light had the funds to pay for construction of the building, the Assembly nixed it. In these tight fiscal times, new construction may be a tough sell, but there is a valid reason to move Power and Light away from the busiest intersection on the island. Before the discussion about remodeling both the old municipal building and the power and light...
With the filing of the second initiative petition comes additional time to continue discussion on the Borough’s recycling program. Yes, it delays the purchase of recycling equipment, but it does allow citizens, the assembly and the borough staff to reach consensus on how the program may be carried out. The report this week by Karl Hagerman noted the diverse range of pricing of recycled materials. Glass is priced at a negative $30/ton while aluminum comes in at $1,500/ton. Currently the Borough receives a $67/ton value for their mixed loads, o...
While the sanitation department gets the go-a-head to purchase recycling carts and a new collection truck, the Borough’s recycling program took a giant hit Monday night. The goodwill that is necessary to build the recycling program was sacrificed to meet the financial goals of the sanitation department. Ruger’s Trucking built a significant following as they fulfilled their contract to collect recycling for the Borough and many of their supporters have vowed to pull out of the program due to the heavy handed treatment dealt to Wes and Ang...
With only 90-days to conduct the public’s business, we never cease to be amazed at the bills that attract consideration by our state legislators. In the, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” category comes SB 6 and a companion bill HB 64 that proposes to eliminate daylight savings time in Alaska. Why? First, it puts Alaska out of sync with the rest of the country, particularly our neighbors in Canada and for S.E. residents, the west coast cities where we conduct much of our business. Second, public safety would be compromised. We need more dayl...
Despite the proposed statewide budget cuts, our legislators will not close paved highways elsewhere in the state. Likewise, they won’t restrict two-lane highways down to a single lane. But that will be the effect a proposal by a legislative subcommittee that is proposing a 10-percent cut to the Alaska ferry system. Some proposals call for taking ferries out of service, including replacement vessels that go into service when vessels are taken out of service for repairs or annual Coast Guard required overhauls. Southeast communities will not o...
Other school districts, or any other employer wishing to hire Dr. Lisa Stroh, should contact the Petersburg City School District for an employment reference and ask the question “was she fired or did she resign her position?” Parents of students, the residents of Petersburg and student body, as well as Stroh’s next employer, deserve a response to the question. We disagree with the payment of six months salary and benefits to the outgoing superintendent who apparently resigned voluntarily due to family medical reasons. Why would the Distr...
Petersburg's Fedrelandet #23 Sons of Norway membership should take a bow. According to Rikke Saetermo who hails from Alta, Norway, Petersburg is more Norwegian than many communities in Norway. Saetermo (a visiting foreign exchange student) elaborated that Petersburg's version of Little Norway represents a time past in her home country. (See interview in last week's Petersburg Pilot) Saetermo explained, "It's old Norwegian. Norway is nothing like this at home, but I definitely see some old stuff...
The borough assembly is listening. Let them know if they should participate in the purchase of land at Papke’s Landing. Some feel the Assembly should walk away from the property purchase. Too many adjacent landowners could make development of the property dicey. Yet others say, yes. The purchase of upland lots will allow for additional parking for users of the launch ramp and dock. One couple wrote that Papke’s is a link to Mitkof Island for many Kupreanof Island residents. Given the relatively strong financial standing of the borough gov...
Having failed twice in 2000 and again in 2004, we didn’t imagine Alaskans would legalize pot in 2014. But they did. Alaska will now be headed down the road followed by Colorado and Washington State, which approved legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012. In a nutshell officials will find that intended provisions to regulate pot sales are much less restrictive than those in place for alcohol. Furthermore, retailers in Colorado have successfully evaded tax collectors and the $130 million in anticipated tax revenue has panned out to about $20 m...
In addition to selecting members for the Borough Assembly, school board, hospital board and other boards and commissions, voters will determine the fate of six ballot propositions. We encourage the passage of proposition 1 which exempts municipal officers and elected officials from the State financial disclosure law. While some borough elected officials found the law easy to comply with, others refused to file for elective office because of the requirement. Petersburg has been exempt from the law’s requirements for decades and it has caused n...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority has become an outright embarrassment for the founding communities of Wrangell and Petersburg. From name-calling on the streets of Wrangell in September of last year, to this week's closure of the office after Manager Mick Nicholls and Administrative Clerk Rhonda Christian were placed on paid leave and asked to leave the office. Interestingly, both incidents were related to disagreements between the TBPA office employee duties and their right to be involved with decision making by the commissioners. When SEAPA CEO...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority needs to censure its president, James Stough, for his action two weeks ago that ordered, via letter, the end of negotiations to allow the Southeast Alaska Power Agency to take over operations at the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric Project. Stough took the action without the approval and in some cases without the knowledge of his fellow commission members. It was an irresponsible move and he had no authority to carry it out without the joint approval of his fellow TBPA commissioners. Again, without the support of fellow...
The purchase of the state’s largest daily newspaper by an on-line only publication, Alaska Dispatch proves that print is not dead. Newspapers and other publications have value and they drive sales for brick and mortar stores and for on-line enterprises. An Alaska Dispatch editor said the purchase of the Anchorage Daily News would give the Dispatch, “a chance for us to get even more reporters on the ground and do more journalism.” They could hire a lot of reporters for the ADN purchase price of $34 million, so it appears the revenue gener...
An early morning fire destroyed the incubation room and other infrastructure at the Crystal Lake Hatchery last week. The structural loss was valued at an estimated $3 million by the facility manager, Loren Thompson. The fish stock losses were pegged at over a million dollars in value to both the commercial and sport fisheries, which benefit from the annual releases from the hatchery. The State of Alaska self-insures its loss and rebuilding the incubation facility is not a given in these tight budget times for the state. However, it doesn’t t...
The incubation building and the generator shed at the Crystal Lake Hatchery were both destroyed in an early morning fire Tuesday. Petersburg firefighters responded and fought the blaze in 9 degree temperatures. Hatchery Manager Loren Thompson said 1.2 million incubating fish were killed. It took out about one half to two-thirds of the production and included 200,000 Coho and one million Kings. An alarm went off at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to Thompson. "I walked out the door, saw the... Full story
With this edition, the Petersburg Pilot turns 40 years old. Wrangell publisher Jamie Bryson brought this publication into being on February 8, 1974. The Pilot’s predecessor, Petersburg Press folded in January and Bryson stepped up to the plate to make sure Petersburg continued to have a newspaper. He had the equipment and staff in Wrangell to produce the paper and many volunteers and staff member Jean Ellis in Petersburg to write stories, columns and ads. Most important to the operation was Bryson’s airplane, which enabled him to fly back and...
While walking through Sandy Beach Park this week I found a plastic grocery bag on the ground, about 20-feet from a trash can provided by the Parks and Recreation Dept. I marveled that someone didn’t care enough to walk a short distance to properly dispose of the bag, rather than throw it on the beach. Trash cans are quite plentiful and appropriately spaced throughout the park. As I followed the driveway to Sandy Beach Road, I continued to gather trash strewn along the route, and to make a long, sad story short, by the time I covered less than t...
Too often elected officials are turning their administrative hiring duties over to corporate head-hunter organizations which advertise and screen candidates to fill positions for city managers, hospital administrators, police chiefs and school superintendents. We applaud the Petersburg school board for breaking the mold, by conducting the hiring process in-house. Their current superintendent Rob Thomason will write and publish the advertisements, screen resumes, post the hiring timeline, schedule telephone and in-person interviews and then...
The announcement at Monday’s borough meeting that construction of a new sawmill could begin as early as this spring, was good news. The employment of 35 to 50 employees will bring new people and new dollars to Petersburg. With the departure of Petersburg’s largest sawmill in 1987, which relocated to Haines, Petersburg lost over a million dollar annual payroll. Salmon and crab harvests were so substantial; the town’s economy barely felt the loss of the timber income. Both Stikine River Forest Products owner John Glenn and Forest Service Range...
The Petersburg Medical Center is asking the Borough for financial assistance with capital project expenses. This has caused the Assembly members to ask questions about the operations of the hospital concerning everything from the administrator’s recently amended employment contract, hospital indebtedness, investments and the procurement of construction contracts and change orders. At their meeting last month, the assembly refused to release the city attorney’s memorandum regarding the Petersburg Borough Relationship with Petersburg Medical Cen...
Tuesday’s joint work session with the Wrangell and Petersburg assembly members leads us to believe the work of the Thomas Bay Power Authority is no longer needed. It’s time to disband the organization and turn their responsibilities over to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which owns the Tyee facilities. The Thomas Bay Power Authority deserves praise for what it has accomplished since it formed in 1974 and began its search for a viable hydroelectric operation for the two towns. The Tyee project was built by the State of Alaska and was later p...
How do you relocate147 boats and the moorings they’re tied to? Harbormaster Glo Wollen found the way. As Petersburg’s North Boat Harbor took on the appearance of an old west ghost town, it was evident that boats were being relocated with a minimum of fuss. “It took a lot of juggling — sometimes moving boats hour by hour,” Wollen said. “The planning has been underway for the past two years. We started the process with the assumption that everybody was going to be inconvenienced,” she added. In addition to the existing pleasure and commercial ve... Full story
The speed limit on Sandy Beach Road should not be established by a referendum, or a public opinion poll. The police chief needs to set the speed based on hard facts, not from a volley of public comments. In the name of public safety a few well-meaning souls have decided drivers cannot safely operate within the right-of-way of a paved, well lighted roadway designed to safely accommodate vehicles operating at 35 miles per hour. The State Dept. of Transportation built the road with a design speed of 40 miles per hour. Wide, paved berms allow...
The public deserves a complete and candid explanation from the Petersburg Medical Center administrative staff concerning the allegations and information presented at the May meeting of the board by Ramona Thompson, an employee of PMC just prior to her termination before the board meeting on May 23. At that meeting, Thompson presented a long list of problems at the facility that have resulted in billing errors, loss of billable income, a warning from Medicare and other concerns. Thompson charged that department heads are not working with the...
