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The Borough Assembly approved ordinances #2021-15 and #2021-17 during Monday's meeting in each of their third and final readings. Ordinance #2021-15 would move a chapter of the old city code which centers on disease control into the borough code. The ordinance limits the powers of the health officer, such as the power to compel vaccination, and makes it so the officer must act under and report to the assembly and the borough manager. It was reviewed by the Petersburg Medical Center, the police...
The Vakker Sted affordable housing complex, soon to be home to 15 low income housing units, on Excel Street across from the Petersburg Medical Center will have to wait a while longer before it can welcome residents. The complex, which was expected to have tenants moved in by January 1, 2022, will likely not open until March according to Glenn Gellert of Swell, LLC. Though the project was pushed back, Gellert said it is progressing fine. "It's not the fastest project that we've ever done, but...
Trish Oppenheim was not actively seeking out opportunities for work, but when she heard about the need for a nurse at the Petersburg School District, she stepped up to the challenge. Oppenheim has 14 years of ICU experience in a range of settings including the NICU, PICU, recovery room, and the operating room. For the last two years she worked in triage for Providence battling COVID-19. "I'm typically an ICU nurse, but teaching is obviously a huge part of our job as a nurse," Oppenheim said....
During Monday's meeting the Borough Assembly listened to a presentation by John Heberling on the Petersburg Municipal Power & Light 2021 electric rate study conducted by D. Hittle & Associates. The rate study proposes increases to electrical rates for all classes of customers in Petersburg with the full rate adjustment being made over the span of two years. The study identified future energy issues and how they would impact the forecasted cost of energy to Petersburg. The two major factors...
The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board met Thursday to discuss the latest COVID-19 outbreak attributed to the delta variant and its effects on the community. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter presented a graph highlighting the two highest spikes in COVID-19 cases in Petersburg since September of 2020. The first spike occurred near the end of February and beginning of March 2020, shortly after Alaska's emergency declaration expired, and peaked at just under 70 cases. The second spike occurred near...
The Borough Assembly approved Resolution #2021-14 during Monday's meeting, signifying their support of the map proposed by the Senate minority in the upcoming redistricting of the state. At the last assembly meeting on October 19, Assembly Member Chelsea Tremblay presented each of the six maps that the Alaska Redistricting Board showcased when they recently traveled to Petersburg. Tremblay voiced her support for the Senate minority map at both the redistricting board's public hearing and after...
The Petersburg Medical Center is continuing to seek grant funding with its plan for a phased approach to build a new medical facility in Petersburg according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. PMC sent a letter to Congressman Don Young in February detailing the master planning of the facility with the hope of obtaining $14 million for the next steps of the projects. That value was based off an estimate drawn up by their grant writer and other consultants. The same letter was sent to Senator Lisa...
Salmon season in Southeast Alaska is wrapping up in a year that has seen an estimated 58 million fish harvested according to Troy Thynes, regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The final numbers for fish tickets are still preliminary, but, of the estimated harvest, pink salmon was the clear leader with 48.2 million fish. It was also 41% higher than the recent 10-year average. "The main thing is the pink salmon run came in a lot stron...
The Borough Assembly discussed a resolution during their October 19 meeting which seeks to protect transboundary salmon rivers between Alaska and British Columbia. Resolution #2021-11 asks for a permanent ban on tailings dams and a temporary pause in activities relating to Canadian mines along the border. The resolution references the United States-Canada Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which support the need to maintain the...
The Petersburg Medical Center is recovering since the most recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Petersburg according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. The number of cases across the State of Alaska began to climb in July of 2021 and hundreds of new cases are still being reported each day. The case count is causing high alert levels in many boroughs and census areas statewide according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services' COVID-19 Dashboard and the state activated its crisis standard of...
The active COVID-19 case count in Petersburg rose to 11 Wednesday according to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard. The count is up from the five reported on October 20 with six new positives in the last seven days. According to the dashboard, the risk level to both the Petersburg School District and the Petersburg Medical Center is moderate. The school district has continue to enforce universal masking and contact tracing is underway. 67.38% of Petersburg Borough residents are fully vaccinated...
After two years of COVID-19 impacting the livelihoods of performers and artists, the Petersburg Arts Council is looking to reunify people and bring about a return to normalcy. Canadian musical artist Royal Wood will come to Petersburg November 2 for a concert hosted by the arts council in the Wright Auditorium. At the onset of the pandemic Wood, like all other live performers, had his world flipped upside down as he faced the struggles of his new reality. "I've been in motion as a touring...
The Rasmus Enge bridge is expected to see repairs to its deck and structural components next summer according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta. The bridge was built in 1945 and last saw major work in 2014 after state inspectors identified some issues. It was closed Monday and Tuesday for periodic maintenance focused on repairing sections of rotting wood, but there is more work that needs to be done on the bridge in the future. "We are going to do a complete replacement of the deck, probably...
The moose harvest closed Friday with a final count of 129 moose according to Hilary Wood of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The total count, including illegal moose, was a four-year high, beating 2019's total by two. The number of moose harvested on Kupreanof Island, including the area around Kake, was higher than the previous three seasons, totaling 61, six of which were illegal. Though Kuiu Island's final count of 21 fell short of the 29 reported in 2020, it still numbered higher than...
The Borough Assembly held their second reading of Ordinance #2021-17 Tuesday night which would make changes to recycling collection and would introduce measures to combat problems with bears coming to town looking for food in garbage. The assembly also hosted a public forum on the ordinance, but no members of the public chose to speak. The ordinance is comprised of four key components which include preventative measures regarding bears, recycling collection changing from once every week to once...
There are now 5 active cases of COVID-19 in Petersburg as of Wednesday according to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard. The count is down 14 cases since the Petersburg Medical Center last put out a press release on October 11. The dashboard labels both PMC and the Petersburg School District risk levels as moderate. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 830 new cases of COVID-19 in the state Tuesday. There were also 19 new resident hospitalizations and eight Alaska resident...
The Borough Assembly walked through each of the six maps being considered by the Alaska Redistricting Board during Tuesday's meeting and discussed each map's affects on Petersburg. The districts are redrawn every decade based off data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each of the 40 districts must be socioeconomically integrated, reasonably compact, contiguous, and have an approximately equal number of people. This year that number is 18,335 per district. Members from the Alaska...
The Borough Assembly held their second reading for Ordinance #2021-15 along with a public forum during Tuesday's meeting which would update a chapter of old city code regarding disease control and move it into the Petersburg Municipal Code. The ordinance, which was approved in its first reading 6-0 with Assembly Member Taylor Norheim absent, would limit the powers of a health officer and revise antiquated language. Many people spoke during the public hearing about their problems with the...
Proposition #2 passed during the October 5, 2021 municipal election, allowing the Frederick Point East subdivision to be removed from Service Area One after it gathered the necessary majorities of Service Area One voters and Frederick Point East voters. The next step in the process is to code properties in the subdivision to the right tax code according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht who said the tax assessor is in town if the borough needs a second pair of eyes to help with the...
The 2021-2022 Dungeness crab harvest is predicted to total 4.23 million pounds, over two million less than the last harvest, according to Joe Stratman, the lead shellfish biologist for region one with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Numbers released so far include the harvest data for the 2021 Dungeness crab summer season in Registration Area A, which is comprised of the inside waters of Southeast Alaska. The commercial Dungeness fishery summer season totaled 3.09 million pounds...
A switch replacement at the Blind Slough hydroelectric plant will have to wait until April of next year after the work slated for this fall was delayed according to Utility Director Karl Hagerman. The work, unrelated to the Blind Slough hydroelectric plant refurbishment project, aims to replace a remote operated switch called a VacPac at the plant's substation. "There was some concern from the utility, actually many years ago now, that that VacPac had reached the end of its service life and so...
The 45th annual Oktoberfest Art Share, sponsored by the Muskeg Maleriers, will be held Saturday in the community gym. The event will be similar to its previous iterations and will feature the creations of local artists including rosemaling, baked goods, Christmas decorations, and more. Sally Dwyer, one of the organizers of the event, said there is something for everybody. "We've got quilters, we've got painters, we've got booksellers, we've got artists, we've got cupcake makers, brownie makers....
Members of the Alaska Redistricting Board traveled to Petersburg Thursday to present proposed redistricting maps and receive public comments. The board was on a tour of communities in Alaska to allow residents to view the maps and learn more about the process. The districts are redrawn based off data collected from the 2020 U.S. Census and are required to have approximately equally sized districts. In Alaska, the state is divided into 40 districts which each contain about 18,335 people...
The Petersburg School Board discussed COVID-19's continued impact on the school during Tuesday's meeting. The majority of students have returned to in-person learning according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Classes were moved online on September 28 after several cases were reported among students and staff at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School. The schools reopened on October 5, but some students remain in quarantine because of close contacts. "It's been a relatively normal...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 16 active cases of COVID-19 Wednesday after several cases were cleared by Public Health. Seven new cases were recorded Monday, two of which were diagnosed in Petersburg while five cases were identified among Petersburg residents visiting another Alaskan community. PMC says there is concern of significant community spread in Petersburg, especially from gatherings where people are not masking or social distancing. Both the PMC and school risk levels are...
