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The Petersburg Borough Assembly is asking for an increase in financial information from organizations requesting community service grants from the borough during this year’s budget hearings. “One thing I would like to ask that be added to all of the people that are applying for these grants is to put a detailed financial statement like if you have holdings on property or bank accounts,” Mayor Mark Jensen said during Monday’s meeting. “It’s going to be tough times financially and if some people have a better wherewithal to take a little bit of a...
The Petersburg Land Selection Committee approved sending their initial recommended land selections to the borough assembly on Monday. The borough assembly unanimously approved the recommendations of the land selection committee at their meeting later that night. The action means the land nominations will now be submitted to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR). Assembly member Bob Lynn suggested the selection committee and assembly be prepared to select alternative lands to the...
The Petersburg borough assembly agreed to transfer the maintenance and licensed use of Mort Fryer Ballfield Park to the local Little League organization on Monday. The assembly voted unanimously to pass the resolution and hopefully save the borough on maintenance and upkeep costs. The agreement between the borough and Little League will end in 2018. Little League district administrator for Southeast Alaska Duane Bell attended the assembly meeting and spoke in support of the agreement to transfer. Bell said the change has been in the works for...
The North End Ferry Authority asked the borough assembly to draft a letter of support for the company’s grant application for $117,000. The assembly unanimously agreed to draft the letter of support. The grant money the company is applying for will support the Rainforest Islands Ferry addition of a bow extension to the M/V Rainforest Islander to aid in loading and unloading vehicles at launch ramps used by the service. It will also augment working capital during the initial full year of operations and retire short-term debt, according to a l...
In last week's edition of the Petersburg Pilot, a photo caption misidentified Gov. Bill Walker as Sen. Bert Stedman. In last week's issue, it was stated Petersburg school's food director Carlee Johnson, was governed by the healthy living grant, but she is actually required to follow the Healthy Hungry Free Kids Act of 2012. The Pilot regrets the errors....
The state is closing out the Kake Access road project and will be looking for other ways to improve access to the village. Residents from Kake, Petersburg and the City of Kupreanof have criticized the project that would have linked Kake to Petersburg by way of road and ferry. In September 2015 public comment documents from the Office of Federal Lands Highway (OFLH), some Kake residents supported the road for the employment opportunities the construction would offer Kake workers. Others criticized the project and said they’d rather have b... Full story
Petersburg High School sophomore Helen Martin returned from a trip to the legislature last month after participating in a program created by Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to engage young people in local and state politics. "It will be four days in Juneau in our office; total immersion, tracking legislation, sitting in on committee hearings, staffing the house floor and we're really excited and Helen is a beacon of enthusiastic energy," Kreiss-Tomkins said of the program and Martin. Martin was... Full story
Five years ago, when Carlee Johnson was offered a meal at the Petersburg school, it did not go well. Johnson was applying for the food service director position at the time, and believes it was some sort of pizza dish. "When I walked in for my interview, and they gave me a lunch that day," says Johnson, food service director with the Petersburg School District. "I told them, 'I will not keep this menu the same way. So if you want someone to come in here and do it the same way, you're asking the... Full story
A state finance legislative subcommittee's proposal to cut 100 percent of state operating grants to public radio would mean job and service losses for KFSK. According to a House Finance Budget Subcommittee narrative report, chaired by Rep. Lynn Gattis, "Between fundraising, federal revenues, advertising, and donations, the public broadcast budget approaches $13-$14 million annually, making this approximately a 20 percent reduction to the system," the report states. "I believe her (Gattis')...
WRANGELL — With a lot to learn about the state’s new marijuana regulations, residents met at the Nolan Center on Tuesday to hear what some of these entail from Cynthia Franklin, director of the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office (AMCO). Because of a travel freeze at the state level, the city covered the costs for Franklin to come down. “I figured it would be good to have the person who knows the most to come down and explain it,” explained City Clerk Kim Lane, who invited her. Wrangell’s council had not formally formed a committee to approach...
In previous Pilot stories it was incorrectly stated that an individual can’t hold multiple marijuana establishment licenses. There are four main types of licenses: retail, cultivation, manufacture and testing licenses. A testing license holder cannot hold the other types of licenses, however an individual can hold any of the three others. There is another type of license, a limited marijuana cultivation license, which cannot hold any of the other licenses....
Students from Petersburg High School's National Ocean Sciences Bowl team headed to Seward last weekend to compete against teams from around Alaska. The team is comprised of nine students who make up two squads, and they have been preparing for the event since the beginning of the school year. Their efforts paid off with a good team showing. The competition is very much like a sporting event. The teams pick names, they have a team captain and the event has rounds and brackets. The event features...
Petersburg Borough Finance Director Jody Tow presented the borough's FY 2017 budget proposal before the Petersburg Borough Assembly and members of the public. On Tuesday, March 1 Tow went over several of the significant changes in expenditures and revenues this fiscal year. "There are three threats that I see affecting the future of the general fund budget," Tow said. "It's the state funding cuts and possible federal funding cuts and the increase in the senior citizen population and how it's...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is attempting to set a new course concerning the means of monitoring halibut and groundfish fisheries. The electronic monitoring (EM) cooperative research project is expanding options for commercial fishing vessels beyond bringing a human observer on board. "It is a significant hill to climb," says Chris Rilling, who oversees the North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Fisheries Observer Program, which is part of NOAA's National Marine Fisherie...
The Basic Hunter Education Course will be offered in Petersburg later this month, and hunters 12 to adult are welcome to get signed up with Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). Brent Akers has been volunteering as an instructor for the program for around 10 years. "Normally the course is focused on students that haven't had much hunting experience," Akers says. "But it's open to everybody." The program is based on a 12-year-old reading level, but experienced hunters looking to freshen...
As Petersburg Borough administrators draft a local marijuana ordinance, borough manager Steve Giesbrecht asked questions for the Borough Assembly, and the community, to answer regarding commercial marijuana regulations in the borough. “What you have also is a list of six questions that we need some guidance on to fill in the blanks on this ordinance before we finalize it enough to bring it back to the assembly for a vote,” Giesbrecht said. Giesbrecht and other staff have been creating a draft ordinance and found it most helpful to copy and pas... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly tabled a discussion regarding the takeover from the state of several dock facilities within the borough. In a January 21 letter, the Assembly wrote the state to request the transfer of state owned facilities Papke’s Landing, Kupreanof and Entrance Island docks to the Petersburg Borough. In a February 11 letter from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Marc Luiken, the commissioner said he applauds the borough’s willingness to accept responsibility and stewardship for the har... Full story
Buschmann Park in downtown Petersburg received a long awaited addition last Friday. The bronze sculpture named "Everything starts with a dream" by local artist Eric Larson was installed. "It's a huge relief, I was apprehensive taking it down there, but then once it went in it was like 'oh, yeah,'" Larson says with a chuckle. Larson estimates the piece weighs around 700 pounds, and there is still some electric work to do until it can be officially unveiled later this year at the Little Norway... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly advanced the borough’s comprehensive plan Monday evening. The plan outlines and recommends strategies for borough management and the development of transportation, economy, recreation and tourism over the next two decades. The plan is several years in the making. A consulting firm in Anchorage, hired to update the borough’s plan, met with community members during that time, took surveys, interviewed citizens and received public comment. Planning and Zoning (P&Z) member Dave Kensinger attended the ass... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a Petersburg Planning Commission letter regarding a proposed amendment to the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan. On its website, the U.S. Forest Service stated an amendment was needed after U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack directed the Tongass to transition its management plan to be more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. “An amendment is needed to accelerate the transition to a young-growth forest management program, and to do so in a way that preserves a vi...
The Alaska Marine Highway System brings more to S.E. Alaska than transportation. It’s also an economic driver for all of Southeast. Most of the benefits fall to small rural communities. For every $1 in benefits paid to subsidize the system’s operation, $2.30 comes back to local economies in jobs, spending, shipping and other services. The report from the McDowell Group states the ferry system is directly responsible for 1,017 jobs and indirectly responsible for 683 who are employed by businesses benefitting from the state ferries. Put another w...
The parking lot of the municipal building increased by a couple spaces this week after a Public Works crew demolished the old Mitkof Sales and Service garage on Sing Lee Alley. The borough bought the building a couple years ago, and it was being used for dry storage, but the structure was essentially vacant, says Public Works director Karl Hagerman. "It's been there for an awful long time, since the 50s," he says. "You never know what you're going to get into when you do a demo project, but the...
Joe Bertagnoli knows the inherent difficulties of trying to announce a basketball game live on the radio all by himself. Bertagnoli has called a couple different sports for KFSK, including baseball and basketball, and last year he was the only voice listeners tuning into basketball games on the radio heard. However, this season, he has someone to help call games and banter with at times, his grandson Brayden Larson. Early in the basketball season Bertagnoli asked Larson and his friend Thomas... Full story
JUNEAU (AP) — Fishing industry and lawmakers on Thursday puzzled over the origins of a proposed one percent tax increase in fisheries business taxes and fisheryresource landing taxes. During a hearing on the bill by the House fisheries committee, fishermen testified that they did not understand the origins of the increase. It is expected to raise $18 million in new revenue for the state annually, according to the Department of Revenue. It is one of six proposed industry taxes from Gov. Bill Walker, including increases to mining, motor fuels, a...
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its annual Board of Directors meeting on March 2 and 3 starting at 9:00 a.m. on both days. The meeting will be held this year at the NSRAA Boardroom, 1308 Sawmill Creek Rd, in Sitka. The agenda will include operational plans, and consideration of the FY ’17 Budget. Copies of the agenda will be available in the NSRAA office, and online atwww.nsraa.org. Meetings are open to the public....
