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The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a resolution on Monday to establish budget policies with the intention of providing sound management of borough funds. The adoption of the document means setting guidelines to assist with annual budget preparation and current administration requirements. Document guidelines include policies regarding how to handle the general fund balance, capital projects and employee travel, among others. The only amendment to the resolution was brought forth by assembly member Nancy Strand concerning the...
The memorial policy has received much debate for and against the removal of memorials from the Petersburg school grounds and Petersburg School District properties. The policy was approve unanimously by the board in a room filled with almost 30 people, including many school staff members. The policy was in its final reading, and the only amendment to the language was the removal of “temporary memorials” and changing it to “temporary memorabilia.” The approved policy states the conditions that are acceptable when dealing with memorial activit...
The planning and zoning commission denied the permit application for a conditional use permit to Aaron and Katrina Miller at their monthly meeting on Tuesday. Commission member Yancey Nilsen moved to approve the permit, but the motion failed to gather a second, effectively killing the application. In early-November, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to give Millers nine months to remove their stored fishing gear and other items from their residential lot at 107 Arness Heights Drive. The Miller family has until July 15 to comply...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly heard the latest update for the ongoing yearlong efforts of the consulting firm, Agnew Beck, to develop a comprehensive and waterfront master plans. Project manager Shelly Wade and land use expert Chris Beck, gave a lengthy presentation about firm's progress so far in completing the public hearing drafts of the project. The drafts have been released and are now available to the public for a comment period. Wade and Beck shared the highlights of the plans and their proposed future implementation. Over the past...
Marc Fries a scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. continues his work to track the Petersburg fireball, which passed over Petersburg early on Saturday, Nov. 21. Fries told the Pilot, via email on Wednesday, "I've been able to find the location of the camera at the harbor with sufficient accuracy to plot the azimuth from the camera towards the fireball. Shadows from the fireball are clearly visible in that camera image. The blue line in the Google Earth image is the direction...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will delay voting for funding the municipal building remodel project, after construction costs came in higher than estimated. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht learned last Friday the anticipated $9.8 million project is now totaling $10.2 million, according to MRV Architects, the firm hired to complete the remodel design. The Borough Assembly was scheduled to vote December 7 on funding the project, but that date will likely be pushed back to January. Giesbrecht said he’s asked MRV architect Corey Wall to i... Full story
With the holidays upon Petersburg and Black Friday in the rearview mirror, retailers are looking for ways to help keep shoppers local and combat online shopping. Heidi Lee of Lee’s Clothing says the holiday season really gets jumpstarted with the lighting of downtown. Lee says the store has spearheaded the Christmas tree lighting and parade for years because it helps encourage residents to get in the holiday spirit and start visiting downtown stores, in addition to making downtown look good and festive. Lee’s Clothing makes a concerted eff... Full story
Petersburg Harbor video surveillance footage may confirm a meteor did pass over Petersburg in the early morning hours of Sat., Nov. 21. Eyewitness reports placed the fireball at times ranging between 2:22 a.m. to 2:33 a.m. Petersburg Harbor video surveillance footage shows a bright flash of light lasting for two seconds on nearly all its camera feeds at 2:25 a.m. The Petersburg Public Library video camera also captured images of a bright flash of light at exactly the same time. Johnson Space Center NASA scientist Marc Fries points to data that... Full story
Anthony Haube, convicted of the 2005 murder of Micheal Gerber in Petersburg, is down to his last option in the appeal process after his latest attempt was denied. The decision by the Alaska Court of Appeals last week means that Haube only has one move left in the state court appeal process, the Alaska Supreme Court. Court records say on April 1, 2005, a fight happened between Haube, Gerber, Thomas Lyons and Thomas Evenson while the men were in a Sing Lee Alley apartment drinking and playing...
The Petersburg Borough Planning and Zoning Commission will hold their monthly meeting the morning of Dec. 8. Among the agenda items are a couple public hearings and multiple discussions of unfinished business. First up for unfinished business is the continued discussion from the last meeting about Gregg Townsend’s conditional use permit application. The application is for operating a gun repair business and using his Federal Firearms License to mail order guns for residents at his Gjoa Street residence. The commission postponed voting on the m...
Petersburg Borough Assembly members brought up the idea of keeping and expanding the U.S. Coast Guard presence in town after attending the Alaska Municipal League Conference last month. Assembly member Bob Lynn said many coastal communities across Alaska want the same thing. “What I also came away with was everybody right now is scrambling for ways to generate revenues for our communities,” Lynn said. “They would like to have more Coast Guard presence and they’re actually beginning to vie for some of the 154 class vessels in their area....
SITKA — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this week the preliminary guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2016 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 15,674 tons based on a 20% harvest rateof a forecast mature biomass of 78,372 tons. To forecast biomass, the department uses an age structured analysis model using a long time series of egg abundance and age composition data from department surveys conducted during and following the spring fishery. Herring egg abundance is estimated using aerial surveys designed to map the length o...
Catholic parishioners of Wrangell and Petersburg were disheartened to learn the priest serving both communities has been hospitalized while visiting family in California. Fr. Thomas Weise, 46, was taken ill late Nov. 25 after experiencing cardiac arrest. As of Dec. 1 he remains in intensive care, and is in a critical but stable condition. Weise is the pastor at St. Rose of Lima parish in Wrangell and St. Catherine of Siena parish in Petersburg, splitting his time between both communities. He was...
(Updated November 28, 2015 @ 2:35 p.m.) Amongst the rumors and speculation pulsing through Petersburg’s streets and social media news feeds last weekend, a Johnson Space Center NASA scientist points to data that suggests a falling meteor shook Mitkof Island last Saturday morning, which could mean many Petersburg residents woke up to the flash of a fireball and the blast of a sonic boom. John Havrilek witnessed what he described as a blinding streak of light and the sound of an explosion. ... Full story
Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht provided a rundown on the latest details concerning the borough’s boundary dispute along with the comprehensive and waterfront master plans at its November 23 meeting. The plans—documents that guide long-term community planning and growth over the next two decades—are in their final stage and will be formally presented to the assembly in early December. Major additions to the harbor master plan include a condition assessment of the harbor facilities. “That was the big piece that was missing from th... Full story
After last year’s Legislative session, all state agencies are working on reduced budgets due to low oil prices, including Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT). The agency’s expenses are paid for by the state general funds and that funding goes to maintenance and operations of roads, airports and the Marine Highway System. “When we receive a reduction in our operating, really the only area in the department’s budget that we can make these reductions in, is the operations and maintenance of our roads, airports or ferry system,” says ADOT...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a letter supporting grant funding towards the Alaska Department of Fish and Game local knowledge study of salmon fisheries in southeast Alaska. “The proposed project is important to our community as a means of archiving and disseminating our cultural heritage as it relates to local salmon fisheries and the stocks that sustain them,” the letter states. “We support the collection of local and traditional knowledge that is held among our community members. Documenting this knowledge and making it avail...
When Kate Smith moved to town she immediately found the community welcoming, and the fact she found a cute cream-colored house to live in just made it that much sweeter. Smith came to Petersburg just over two months ago to take a clinician position at Petersburg Mental Health (PMH). "I really like it a lot, everyone here is so friendly," Smith says. "It's such a wonderful community, everyone is so sweet. It's been great so far." In 2012, Smith graduated with a master's degree in social work from...
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Amidst the more commonplace reports of neighbors playing loud music or callers reporting "suspicious activity" in the Petersburg Pilot's police report, another complaint is making a regular appearance. The complaint, or some variation of it, has appeared in the police report nearly every week for the past several months: "A caller reported religious pamphlets littered along the roadway." The litter or pamphlets, as reported, consist of two tracts, about the size of Monopoly money and around 20... Full story
Hammer and Wikan is attempting to purchase land from the Petersburg Borough in order to expand the square footage of their grocery store. The expansion process would double the size of the back room of the store, and move the receiving dock from the front parking lot of the store to the rear of the building. “It would make it a lot easier to get around, it would give us more room,” says Larry Martin, CEO of Hammer and Wikan. “We would be able to put a lot of Costco products in there.” Martin says the Hammer and Wikan board of directors began t... Full story
The president of the Ministerial Association Bob Carter, is also the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and he oversees the Samaritan's Purse local Operation Christmas Child program. The annual program brings local churches and community members together to fill up shoe boxes with meaningful gifts for underprivileged children living in poverty. "It's been picking up every year, and the folks in town are very enthusiastic about these boxes," Carter says. "We have some people that go... Full story
Petersburg School District administrators and teachers are wondering what's next after the state released results from the new Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP) testing assessments. PSD students scored higher than the state average, but scores in every grade were below the median level in mathematics. (Note that median is not a measure of average, but the middle number in any list of numbers and is sometimes more accurate than an average score if data is relatively skewed.) Fifty percent of...
The results of the 2015 School Climate and Connectedness Survey Report are in and have given the Petersburg School District a gauge of how the district is perceived to be operating. It was a survey taken last spring by students and staff. They answered a different set of questions based on multiple categories like peer climate and school safety. Funding for the survey went through the district’s healthy living grant, and was administered by the Alaska Association of School Boards. “The initial reaction is good,” says Principal Rich Dorme...
Viking wrestlers headed to Craig last weekend for three days of nonstop matches with teams including Craig, Ketchikan, Mt. Edgecumbe and Wrangell. Fourteen wrestlers made the trip and many of them got ten or more matches in a scramble style tournament, according to assistant coach Robert Schwartz. “It’s been kind of a rough season, but it was a good weekend,” he says. “Lots of experience and time on the mat.” Israel Collison won most of his matches with pins, and his technique continues to improve. Collison lost to the number one wrestler in th...
