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While political hopefuls for the statewide election in November were addressing residents and ANB/ANS delegates last Friday, Borough Assembly members met in a special session to canvass and certify the municipal election held Oct. 7. Of ten absentee ballots that were sent in, eight were qualified to be counted during the meeting. The other two ballots were sent in by individuals not yet registered to vote, though the reception of the ballots will register those individuals to vote in future elections. The eight new voters were not enough to...
A host of politicians and political hopefuls were in town last week to speak at the ANB/ANS Grand Camp and many arranged meet-and-greets with community members as well. Among them was Republican Governor Sean Parnell who's fighting to defend his position in November's election against Independent candidate Bill Walker who has teamed up with Democrat Byron Mallott. Petersburg was not a campaign stop for Parnell, rather he used his time here to discuss what he's done in his term so far. His two...
Borough residents will have to look elsewhere for school happenings and movie times than the usual spot along Haugen Drive, as, come the construction season of 2015, a large electronic sign advertising events will be relocated about a block away. Rick Dormer, principal of Petersburg High School, said the school and state had something of an understanding on the billboard when it was first installed. "They have a letter saying it's O.K. putting the sign there and using that land," Dormer said,...
Though local public officials have been exempt from doing so in the past, they will now have to file financial disclosure statements in accordance with state statute. According to the preliminary results released by the borough, just 31 votes separated proponents and opponents of the proposition in Tuesday's municipal election. The issue came up for reconsideration due to the municipality's incorporation as a borough last year. In the past proponents of the exemption have argued that requiring financial disclosure, which includes income... Full story
Petersburg Assembly Members finalized the 2015 Capital Projects list for the borough, looking to primarily address infrastructure upgrades in the top items. “The borough departments, as well as the school and hospital, have reviewed the 2015 Capital Needs list and have provided updates to the list,” Mayor Mark Jensen said, adding that Borough Manager Stephen Giesbrecht had recommended keeping the list smaller at 10 to 12 items to, hopefully, increase legislative attention. The list of Capital Projects remained largely unchanged, shuffling only... Full story
Petersburg Assembly members voted, with a few caveats, to express their support to the state for a new ferry service to land in the borough. Despite earlier alternatives offered, the North End Ferry Authority (NEFA) had circled back to Banana Point, submitting a letter requesting the borough’s support of the location to get the project on track to begin carrying passengers in May of 2015. The letter, signed by NEFA Manager Kent Miller, included copies of its land use permits applications to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the p... Full story
Assembly members accepted a large grant from the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve the security of the borough. The grant, totaling $80,138.94, was divided between three items, the bulk of which is allocated to “purchase and install communication tower to include testing, inspection, labor, travel, hardware and pad work,” budgeted at $63,739.50, according the Project Budget Details Report. “The tower is going to give us much better cover...
Assembly members unanimously moved to go out to bid for the design of a haul-out facility at Scow Bay, looking to begin the long process that will eventually transform 11.5 acres of waterfront property into a work yard to properly clean vessels. Though the idea has been bounced around for many years, it was only recently that the borough gained an actual opportunity to put plans in motion. “In 2011 the Planning and Zoning Commission, Harbor Advisory Board and City Council approved a conceptual design for a small vessel haul-out, including a was...
Petersburg’s revised parking laws are on the books, but assembly members may be waiting for the return of Police Chief Kelly Swihart in January for help in adjusting the letter of the law to match its intent. Starting with the first reading of Ordinance 2014-20, part of the borough’s traffic codes, assembly members swiftly found a few troubling spots in language they feared might hurt more than help. Assemblyman Bob Lynn posed the first concern on interpretation, citing the additional parking restrictions, on 11.42.020 of the code. “Essentially...
The Federal Subsistence Board is accepting applications through January 23, 2015 to fill seats on the 10 Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils. Council membership appointments are typically 3-year terms. There are approximately 35 seats open for appointment among all Councils. The Councils meet at least twice a year and provide critical advice to the Federal Subsistence Board on subsistence management issues. Council meetings serve as a forum for regional public involvement in Federal subsistence management. Council members must be...
Petersburg Assembly members accepted the bid from Agnew::Beck, an Anchorage firm, to design the borough's new Comprehensive Plan and included Harbor Master Plan. The firm was the second lowest bidder at $195,000 and was recommended by an ad hoc committee of top borough staff, including Manager Stephen Giesbrecht and Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera. The committee commended the firm's “experience with small, coastal Alaska, but not in southeast. They did some research and bring in new ideas,” though it was noted only two site vis...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service has awarded a contract for a timber sale in southeast Alaska to the region's last mid-size mill, Viking Lumber Co. Lawsuits were filed over the Big Thorne sale before the contract was awarded, and Tongass National Forest spokesman Kent Cummins said no ground work would be done by Viking until the courts decide the case _ likely next spring. Cummins told the Juneau Empire in a story Thursday that he couldn't comment on the size of the contract or on how many companies had bid until the contract w...
Assembly approves PILT payoff, other business by Erik LeDuc The aftereffects of Petersburg incorporating as a borough continue to shake out, with the neighboring City of Kupreanof catching peripheral issues. “Because of the formation of the Borough of Petersburg, the City of Kupreanof no longer receives (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) funding,” Mayor Mark Jensen said. “The city has asked the borough to distribute the equivalent of what they would have received in PILT funds had the borough not been formed.” While no assembly member contest...
Assembly members took a look at the cost of cleaning for the borough’s departments, briefly weighing their options between contracting out or keeping the work in-house before accepting the bid from Apex Janitorial. “The lone bid was in excess of budgeted expenses, prompting a thorough review of contracted services versus hiring a custodial staff for the borough,” Mayor Mark Jensen said. “At the conclusion of the review, and working with the lone bidder, the administration staff is recommending the borough award a professional services contract...
Petersburg’s Alaska Native Sisterhood and Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 16 will play host to the 102nd annual Grand Camp Oct. 8-11, returning after 43 years of convening elsewhere around Alaska. “Each year the camp itself in each community works to address the needs in the community,’’ said Brenda Louise, ANS 2nd Grand Vice President and member of Petersburg’s Camp 16. “Each community, depending on how big or active the camp is and what issues they see as needing addressing in their environment, would write resolutions and bring them to Gra... Full story
When he first took a job with the City of Petersburg, now Petersburg Borough, Leo Luczak didn’t expect to be with it long enough to retire from it. “It was supposed to be full time, temporary for three to four months, and it’s been 28 years,’’ he said. Starting as building inspector, Luczak was quickly fitted for new hats, gaining the titles and duties of Community Development director and supervising a building maintenance crew. The new roles came with new learning curves as well, throwing him headlong into bureaucratic waters he had only... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center is continuing to balance the books and expand its services, but the budget still will be tight around the edges as it moves forward on some big ticket purchases after recent, costly, repairs. The hospital’s resource committee had met on Sept. 22 to discuss which projects to fund, now and in the future, as members weighed their chances of PMC’s requests appearing higher on the borough’s own capital projects list to be submitted to the state appropriations committee, and therefore be more likely to receive state fundi...
Recently, the Petersburg and Wrangell boroughs helped one another with a 'handshake agreement' that sent Wrangell's bucket truck over to its neighboring municipality for about a week, Petersburg crews worked fast to make the most of their time, preparing to send the vehicle back on the Friday morning ferry. "We're trimming over top of the power lines where the snow builds up and makes problems,'' said Petersburg Line Foreman Scott Newman. "We've got some of it done and still have a lot more to...
Petersburg's hospital won top marks and recently was honored with the Quality Achievement Award, the highest possible, from the Mountain Pacific Quality Health foundation (MPQH), Liz Woodyard, Petersburg Medical Center's CEO, reported, recognizing the efforts of Quality Specialist Shelly Hjort in providing accurate, timely reports. Medical facilities were scored on seven national quality areas, a composite score known as the Appropriate Care Measure. Heart attacks and failures, pneumonia,...
Petersburg Medical Center board members revised the hospital’s Paid Time Off policies during their Sept. 25 meeting, placing a closer cap on how much time off employees can bank away, moving from a previous two-year limit to 18 months. Under the new policy, approved unanimously by board members, PTO accruals would max at 300 vacation hours for two- or less year staff, up to 480 hours for those employed for a decade. Previously, those numbers ranged from 400 to 640 hour limits. “Grandfathered’’ staff, those who were hired at PMC prior to Marc...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Citizens, not the courts, should decide whether the definition of marriage includes same-sex couples, the state of Alaska said in court papers filed Friday. The state is defending in federal court an amendment to Alaska’s constitution that bans gay marriage. In May, five same-sex couples - four married outside of Alaska and one unmarried couple - sued to overturn the ban approved by voters in 1998, saying it violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. In a filing Friday, a...
Subscribers, click link below to access a downloadable PDF file of Home and Garden Edition.................................................................................................................................................................................. http://www.petersburgpilot.com/home edition 2014.pdf...
Petersburg once was host to sound enterprise of commercial shrimp fisheries and processing plants, drawing in hundreds of thousands - even millions of pounds of shrimp, ranging from the tiny pink crustaceans commonly found gracing salads to their larger brethren that are fried, grilled, battered and steamed in cuisine across the world. Most of that ended in 2005, after Trident Seafoods acquired the local venture, Norquest Seafoods, once Alaskan Glacier Seafoods, and shut down its last shrimp... Full story
Long-time Petersburg residents Joey Doyle and Beth Richards were small-town strangers before an unlikely event brought them together last year. "I kind of knew who she was, but we had never really socialized or anything like that," Doyle said. "We're sisters now." Not unlike twins, they solidified their sisterhood in a hospital room. But Doyle and Richards don't share a mother, they share an organ. It was a kidney transplant that brought them together. Joey has polycystic kidney disease (PKD),... Full story
Petersburg voters will head to the polls Oct. 7 to weigh in on seven propositions, the majority of which would impose stricter limitations on the senior sales tax exemption currently in place. The current municipal code exempts individuals 65 years and older from paying Borough sales tax on all items except for alcohol and tobacco, business purchases and purchases made for others not qualifying for the exemption. Proposition 2, if passed, would establish a sunset date, Dec. 31, 2019, after which no new exemption cards would be issued. Seniors... Full story
