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Applications for a federal energy efficiency grant for small businesses are open through the end of September, and Rural Alaska Community Action Program, an Anchorage-based non-profit, can help applicants, RurAL CAP Energy Development Specialist Shae Bowman told listeners at Wednesday’s virtual Sitka Chamber of Commerce meeting. The grant in question is the Rural Energy for America Program, REAP, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and aimed at rural communities. The grant offers assistance for the installation of renewable e...
During October's hospital board meeting, program facilitators presented a review of the PMC Youth Programs under the Petersburg Medical Center community wellness department - primarily highlighting Kinder Skog's past year as a PMC pilot program. The outdoor-based childcare program transitioned from operating under Petersburg Lutheran Church's Good Beginnings Preschool to PMC in August 2022 after the hospital board agreed earlier that year to establish a pilot childcare program in the Community W...
To Whom It May Concern To the Editor: I am 82 years old now. My great-grandchildren are seventh generation of family residents growing up in Petersburg. Kay and I were adopted and given Tlingit names by elder Pete Marten, Senior, fifty years ago, into a Tlingit society that has been scientifically and indisputably proven to exist in S.E. Alaska for over 10,000 years and literally hundreds of generations. Thirty years ago, Spencer Israelson, who spent his youth at Point Agassiz, took me to the mainland and showed me many petroglyphs that he and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly discussed potentially hiring an independent specialist to review the borough's current hiring practices and safety policies during Tuesday's meeting. Over a dozen people spoke and even more crowded the assembly chambers, filling it so much that some had to stand along the perimeter, to show support for a review. The assembly ultimately voted to direct borough staff to contact Alaska Public Entity Insurance-the borough's liability carrier-along with The Safety...
The borough’s FY22 Audit Report was presented to the Petersburg Borough Assembly at its meeting on March 6. According to Bikki Shrestha, an engagement partner with BDO USA, LLP, the borough received an unmodified opinion on its financial statements, federal single audit, and state single audit. Shrestha provided a review of the audit and financials in which he commended borough management’s cooperation throughout the audit process. The audit found no significant deficiencies and no material wea...
A joint House-Senate committee of the Alaska Legislature voted against accepting $20 million in federal aid to seafood processors, with lawmakers saying that a new state law prevents them from accepting that much money outside the normal state budget process. The 3-4 vote came Wednesday during a meeting of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, which makes financial decisions on behalf of the Legislature when lawmakers are not in session. The failed vote means seafood processing companies in Alaska will wait several more months to receive... Full story
The Petersburg School District board voted 4-0 to accept the draft of the FY22 audit during its meeting on Nov. 8 with Board Member Jay Lister excused. Bikky Shrestha of BDO USA, LLP, the district's accounting firm, presented the draft of the financial statements to the board and said that though it is still being reviewed, they do not expect the information in the draft to drastically change. Shrestha reported that there were no corrected or uncorrected misstatements related to accounts or...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass Ordinance #2022-11 in its third and final reading during Tuesday’s meeting, allowing for increases to the purchasing authorization limits of borough officials. The ordinance now gives the borough manager the authority to set the spending limits for individual department heads. It also increases the borough manager’s purchasing authorization limit, allowing the borough manager to authorize purchases costing more than a department head’s limit but less than $75,000. Previously depar...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed its FY23 budget by a 4-3 margin in its third and final reading on Monday with Assembly Members Dave Kensinger, Jeff Meucci, and Thomas Fine-Walsh voting against. There were no amendments proposed in its last reading but discussion saw similar points of concern raised by opposing assembly members. Fine-Walsh had concerns about how the budget would place “more emphasis on policing than education and housing.” “These are my priorities, these are the priorities of our community as they have been expre...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 5-2 in favor of the FY23 budget in its second reading Monday with Assembly Members Thomas Fine-Walsh and Jeff Meucci opposed. Three amendments to the budget were approved during the meeting. Assembly Member Bob Lynn made two amendments that were both approved unanimously. The first was a recommendation by Utility Director Karl Hagerman to correct the absence of lineman apprentice wages and benefits in the budget. The second set aside $40,000 in ARPA lost...
With the first statewide use of ranked choice voting in Alaska on the horizon, the Petersburg Borough Assembly discussed holding an information session to inform community members on how the new voting system works. The upcoming special election will use ranked choice voting, which was approved by Alaska voters in 2020, to determine who will fill the late Rep. Don Young's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives until the term expires in January 2023. During Monday's assembly meeting, Assembly...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The former head of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. claims her firing was “political retribution” by board members appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy, a Republican seeking reelection, denied any involvement in Angela Rodell’s removal last month, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The corporation’s board has provided no explanation for Rodell’s Dec. 9 dismissal. The vote was 5-1, with the lone dissenting vote cast by the only board member not appointed or reappointed by Dunleavy. Rodell was a commissione...
The board that oversees Alaska's multibillion-dollar investment portfolio has fired Angela Rodell as chief executive officer of the Permanent Fund Corp. Legislative leaders and Finance Committee members are upset at the surprise decision and plan to hold hearings to ask questions. The fund this past fiscal year grew more than 25%, with record returns on its investments. The board on Dec. 9 voted 5-1 to remove Rodell. The five votes came from members last appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The...
The Petersburg School Board met virtually for its regular meeting on November 9 where members listened to a presentation on the audit for the year ending June 30, 2021. Bikky Shrestha from BDO USA, LLP presented a summary of the company’s findings to the board including the financial data from FY21. According to Shrestha, BDO conducted the entire audit remotely and Shrestha was the only person who was able to come to Petersburg. Apart from a couple of issues on the financial statements, Shrestha said, “the majority of the audit went really smo...
The Borough Assembly discussed the future of the planning and zoning code revisions after a long hiatus during Monday's meeting. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci requested the discussion to find out where the borough is in the process of revising the code and what is next. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said that the people involved would need to regroup because of how long it has been since work was done on the project. "Now that we've had a year off worrying about COVID, let's reopen the file and...
An audit of the borough's finances for the 2020 fiscal year reveals an overall positive change in the borough's net position from July 1, 2019 through June 20, 2020, according to documents presented to the Borough Assembly at their Feb. 22 meeting. The audit was conducted by BDO and was presented to the assembly by Sam Thompson, an auditor with the accounting firm. The audit showed a positive change in the net position of $825,913 for the 2020 fiscal year. Additionally, the unassigned fund...
The Borough Assembly awarded an equipment procurement contract for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric project to Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon, Ltd. for a total of $2,002,396 at their meeting Monday. Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon, Ltd., which is based out of the United Kingdom, was one of five companies that responded to Petersburg Municipal Power & Light's Request for Proposals. The company has agreed to defer the start of any work on the equipment until funding has been secured by the Borough. Utility...
A 2020 audit of the Alaska Region timber sales program by the Forest Service Financial Compliance & Oversight Branch of the United States Department of Agriculture concluded that two timber contracts in the Tongass National Forest had been mismanaged. According to the audit, the timber sale cruising, appraisal, sale preparation and contracting program for the Big Thorne Stewardship Contract (BTSC) and the Kosciusko Good Neighbor Authority Agreement (KGNAA) weren’t always managed in accordance w...
Maybe the reality of math has changed To the Editor: I just read a recent opinion that reality is what you see and not what you think you see. I thought to myself, "I see." But I guess I think I see because there was a real head scratcher in your December 17 edition. On the back page in a column titled "Elections office: Audit affirms AK initiative passage," paragraph 4 reports that the certified results passed with 174,032 'yes' votes and 170,251 'no' votes. It further stated that the audit sho...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An audit of a statewide ballot measure sought by Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer affirmed the measure’s passage, the Division of Elections said Monday. Meyer, who oversees elections, last month said he would seek an audit of Ballot Measure 2 to help put to rest questions some had raised about the “validity” of election results tied to vote tabulation equipment the state uses. The ballot measure would end party primaries and institute ranked choice voting for general elections. The audit, conducted last week, followed certifi...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A recount Friday affirmed a win by Democrat Liz Snyder over Republican House Minority Leader Lance Pruitt for an Anchorage House seat, though her margin of victory narrowed slightly. Results certified Monday showed Snyder had defeated Pruitt by 13 votes. But Friday’s recount showed an 11-vote margin of victory, with 4,574 for Snyder and 4,563 for Pruitt. This year’s election was a rematch from 2018, when Snyder lost to Pruitt. The recount was not requested by Pruitt but by 11 others identified in their petition as voter...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The results of Alaska’s general election were certified Monday, the Division of Elections announced. Certification followed a review of ballots, voter registers and other materials by a bipartisan board. Certification initially was targeted for Nov. 25. Nationally, state-by-state certification of results has generated interest as President Donald Trump and some supporters have sought to sow doubt about the outcome of his race, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Alaska was among the states Trump won. In a tight Anchorage House rac...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Board of Regents on Tuesday named Pat Pitney interim president, a position she is expected to hold at least a year while a search for a permanent president is underway. Pitney is expected to take over Aug. 1, according to a system release. Michelle Rizk has been acting president. Rizk was named to that position last month, after Jim Johnsen resigned. Pitney is director of the Legislative Finance Division, which provides budget and revenue analyses for the Legislature. She was budget director u...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Department of Administration audit has found that the state’s National Guard units improved the handling of sexual assault and sexual harassment since 2014, but some problems remain. The administration department’s oversight unit said the National Guard increased sexual assault and prevention training, set up new procedures for addressing complaints and created a new military judicial system under laws passed by the Alaska Legislature, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. Citing the results of anony...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House abruptly adjourned Tuesday after ratifying plans for using more than $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief aid, one day after reconvening to take up the issue. The Senate passed its own ratification bill but stayed in session to consider the House version, which aides said is identical. A vote is expected Wednesday, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration moves ahead with plans for distributing funds, including community and small business aid. Payments to communities could begin as early as Friday onc...
