Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 106
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following during Monday’s assembly meeting: The borough has seen increased littering and other activity in the Frederick Point area. We have assigned officers to extra patrol efforts in the area. Borough staff will meet with architects July 24 to discuss final design concepts for the police and municipal building renovation. Officer Williams is back from maternity leave. She and the baby are doing well and staff is happy to have her back. Assessor Mike Renfro arrived Friday and will be in town f...
During the June 16 Petersburg Borough Assembly, meeting Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report: Transient boaters are excited about the new harbor facility. About half are having issues with the electric meters and the boaters are requesting WiFi hookup. The recycling program is set up with individual vessels through the Harbor Office. Staff members hand out the blue bags and participants are required to return the filled bags back at the office for Wednesday pickup. Borough staff will monitor the program throughout the...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following during the last Borough Assembly meeting: New ordinances have been forwarded to the court for inclusion in the Courtview and TrACS systems. This will allow the court to recognize the revisions and ultimately allow for more efficient processing of citations. Preparation for the annual FERC inspection of Blind Slough has begun and includes installation of a flange and plat over the low-level outlet to facilitate the FERC mandated operation of the outlet valve. The valve hasn’t been o...
The Petersburg Borough recycling program has saved the borough $8,500 in solid waste disposal costs since the program began in February but the program still needs to see an increase in customers to pay for itself. In order for the recycling program to break even, 40 percent of Petersburg solid waste customers need to be recycling. Public Works Director Karl Hagerman said, although recycling rates fluctuate widely from week to week, the diversion rate is averaging around 27 percent when... Full story
Aluminum and Petersburg Scout Programs To the Editor: The Cub, Boy and Girl Scout programs of Petersburg would like to thank all those individuals who have supported these programs through the years by recycling their aluminum. With the start of the new Petersburg Borough co-mingling of all recyclable materials, we have noticed a significant drop in the amount of aluminum being recycled for the Petersburg scout programs at our bins located at the baler facility. I realize it is far, far easier to just dump everything into one bag and set it...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report during the last borough assembly meeting: Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart testified before Alaska Senate committees last week in reference the municipal remodel and drug trends in Southeast Alaska. The work on the Rasmus Enge Memorial Bridge project has commenced. The bridge has been closed to through traffic during the project and we will try to accommodate bridge residents and businesses as much as possible. The street crew will be sweeping and washing streets from 6:00 a.m. to...
Thank you Petersburg Indian Association To the Editor: Without the foresight and initiative to begin a voluntary curbside recycling program many years ago, many things would not have happened in Petersburg. Many different tribal members would not have had jobs over the years, faithfully picking up recycling from environmentally aware volunteer recyclers on a weekly basis. As the Borough introduces and welcomes Wes and Angie Davis, owners of Ruger’s Trucking, as our new recycling collection contractor I want to recognize and thank PIA, and t...
Higher than expected recycling collection contract bids have forced the Public Works Department to exceed its budget this year by $43,000. The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday night to award the $80,400 annual collection contract to Ruger’s Trucking. Assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor asked how soon the unanticipated budget shortfall would be corrected. “If we approve this contract, what is the vision to narrow that deficit as much as possible or make this potentially profitable,” Stanton Gregor asked. Karl Hager...
During the Borough Assembly’s March 3 meeting, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following: Interest in Losing Big has increased this year and continues to be a great program for our community. Just short of 400 votes were cast through the competition—triple what we typically had last year. The Parks and Recreation Department is beginning plans for the whale observatory. Staff is looking at rock needs, plants and shrubbery clearing over the next year, and is working with Public Works on the project. The Parks and Recreation Dep...
The borough manager reported the following information during his bimonthly report to the assembly. North Harbor main floats one and two are in place. Workers are busy driving the piles to grade as well as laying the waterline so the large fingers can get attached to the north side of float one. Anchor Electric is working long hours and is ahead of schedule. TAMICO, PND Engineers and Harbormaster Glo Wollen attended the pre-construction meeting for the drive down dock. Activity should begin within the next couple of weeks. Sgt. Kerr is back...
With less than two weeks to go before the borough’s recycling program begins, more than half of residential customers have signed up. As of Tuesday morning, 630 people signed up for the program, roughly 57 percent of total residential customers. According to a report Public Works Director Karl Hagerman presented to the borough assembly in October, the community needs to increase its recycling rate to at least 30 percent—roughly 760 tons of material—to pay for the program. The more the community recycles, the less the borough has to pay for s...
The borough manager reported the following during this week’s assembly meeting: The Sales Tax Committee meetings are scheduled for February 4 and February 25. It hopes to formulate a recommendation to the assembly at its February 25 meeting. The January 16 Transient Room Tax meeting to review outstanding grants wasn’t completed. Notices have been sent out to community service organizations that their request for budgeted funds is due by March 15. Annual DARE classes have kicked off. Officer Jared Popp will be administering the program to 5th gr...
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...
To the Editor: What is my Borough Assembly doing...? Around town some residents have called it coercion, others think it’s worse, seeing it as textbook intimidation. I think the correct label is more basic than that. Our Borough has called their new plan well meaning... and I agree their basic goal does have merit. It’s the new, improved, Borough recycling program. Yes, this voluntary (?) program will be paid for by Borough residents, who choose not to participate. Using a not to subtle monetary penalty, to bring pressure on folks to participat...
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...
Americans remained true to their seafood favorites last year with shrimp, canned tuna and salmon topped the list of the 10 most popular seafoods. That’s according to the National Fisheries Institute which compiles the list each year based on data from the government’s US Fisheries Report. Following the top three are tilapia, Alaska pollock, Pangasius, crab, cod, catfish and clams. Looking more closely at the numbers shows that for the first time in five years, crab consumption began to increase again after a steady decline since 2007. Per...
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
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 Borough Assembly voted to award the gymnasium floor refinishing contract to Alaskan Industries based on a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Dept. Alaskan Industries is the company that has worked on the floor for the last 15 years, said Parks and Recreation Director Donn Hayes. The cost for the floor refinishing will be $32,400, or $35,900 with the Petersburg branded logo installed in the middle of the gymnasium floor. Part of the funding, $13,000, has been provided by a grant...
The Petersburg Indian Association has been working hard to expand its recycling program and has unveiled a few new services recently. PIA Tribal Resource Director Jason Wilson has implemented new programs beginning with recycling services for big events. “We started this service during Mayfest,” Wilson stated. “We will offer it again for the July 4th event as well as any event in the community.” For this service, anyone planning events in the community such as weddings, reunions, dances, etc. will be able to call PIA and order bins to be plac... Full story
Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported to the Petersburg Borough Assembly at its regular meeting Monday evening on several topics including the trial commingled recycling program. “This program is off to a great start,” Giesbrecht said. “Over 1,100 pounds of recycling was picked up by Petersburg Indian Association in the first week.” The program is in the second week of a six week trial and it is already off to a good start. According to Petersburg Borough Public Works Director Karl Hagerman, he is hoping to offset some of the...
