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The Petersburg Borough assembly unanimously approved moving forward with police and municipal building remodel design and construction plans. The $506,654 plans and design will help lock in construction costs and get the project shovel ready, which Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said helps the borough when it lobbies for capital project funding during next year’s legislative session. Giesbrecht estimated a project shortfall of around $4.7 million for the renovation of the police station, jail and municipal offices. That cost does not i...
The public will vote this October on whether or not they want Petersburg Borough elected officials to be exempt from the public official financial disclosure law, which requires public officials to disclose income sources and business interests. According to state statute, the disclosure of financial earnings is meant to discourage public officials from acting upon a private or business interest in the performance of public duty. If the exemption is not approved, bodies such as the borough assembly, school board and planning commission would...
Mandy Kivisto opened up a new photography studio as the Little Norway Festival kicked off last week. Kivisto has only been seriously into photography for two years, but since then her photos have been published in Alaska Magazine and Alaska Airlines Magazine, and she's earned a handful of awards for her work. The name of Kivisto's business, Altered Perceptions Studio, was inspired by the experience of looking into the view finder of a camera she got for Christmas two years ago. "I hadn't had a...
Salvation Army Lieutenants Caleb Fankhauser and Christin Fankhauser are saying goodbye to Petersburg after three years of service in the community as they transfer to Homer next month. "The Salvation Army is a lot like the regular military," Caleb Fankhauser said. "You get told this is where you're needed and you get sent and salute and go." The Fankhausers came to Petersburg fresh after graduating from the Salvation Army Seminary-a training school in Los Angeles, Calif. "It's a great place, esp...
In last weeks story entitled “Ragnarok Rollers host first official bout during Little Norway Festival”, it was stated that heckling is encouraged. Heckling is, in fact, not encouraged during Ragnarok Roller Derby bouts. The Pilot regrets the error....
Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen will revisit the offering of a request for proposals (RFP) for a borough comprehensive plan after the assembly voted down such a request at its last meeting. “Due to the great importance of a comprehensive plan to the community and the absence of several people from the May 5 meeting that could have provided more information I believe the topic deserves further discussion and debate,” Jensen said. Jensen and assembly member Kurt Wohlhueter did not attend the May 5 meeting where assembly members John Havrilek and...
This year's Little Norway Festival will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Norwegian Constitution on May 17, 1814. Mayfest began in Petersburg more than 50 years ago and Janet Holten, Chair of the Little Norway Festival, said it has grown ever since. "In 1958 when Alma Wallen and Bernadine Trones founded the festival, I don't know if they would have ever dreamed that it is as big as it is now," Holten said. "It was to mark the coming of spring, the sending off of the fleet,... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will discuss the impacts of the University of Alaska timber sale on South Mitkof Island after two members of the community shared their concerns last week. Dave Beebe represented the City of Kupreanof and spoke before the assembly. He cited studies by Geologist Dr. Douglas Swanston from the 1970s regarding unstable slopes and potential landslide issues posing threats to public safety. “Essentially the whole state holding is documented as unstable slopes within a half mile of pubic roadways,” Beebe said. “If... Full story
The Petersburg roller derby team has been practicing and gearing up all winter and spring for such an event but what should derby spectators expect? “They should expect to see a bunch of women in really tight pants skating around in circles hitting each other,” said Roller’s head coach Rebecca Anderson. Anderson said roller derby bouts are similar to football games. “Take a football field and imagine both teams are lined up at one goal line,” Anderson said. “Imagine that both quarterbacks, instead of passing the ball, the quarterback... Full story
In the face of declining funding for the Tongass National Forest, Petersburg Ranger District managers are looking to the public for help to figure out which type of recreation programs and facilities will stay and which will go. “We’ve come up with a general niche that we think would be suitable for the community, suitable for the district to continue to maintain in the future,” Petersburg District Ranger Jason Anderson said. “But it does leave stuff off the map. There are certain things that aren’t going to get addressed and the idea was...
It’s common knowledge the Vikings reined supreme 1,000 years ago as they built long ships to pillage Europe and discover North America. What may not be well known is the Viking had a parliament style of government. Local and Norwegian cultural historian Sue Paulsen said representatives would meet for two weeks each summer. “People would represent each hamlet,” Paulsen said. “They would send a person, a representative, a legislator if you would. They would vote on any changes that they wanted to have.” Paulsen said representative governmen...
The Petersburg Borough’s total taxable assessed value decreased from estimates early this year forcing the borough to cut back on its contingency expense account by more than $40,000. Property tax revenues decreased by $42,122 from what was budgeted before the appeal process that took place last month where property owners had a chance to dispute borough assessor Mike Renfro’s original assessments. Renfro said he ended up dealing with around 200 appeals. “There were quite a few of them changed,” Renfro said. “The majority of those claims we...
The Planning Commission scheduled a public hearing to review an appeal made by Aaron Miller and Katrina Miller against a zoning violation issued by Community Development Director Leo Luczak. The violation comes after the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 3-2 against rezoning the Miller’s property in the Olsen Subdivision from residential to commercial. The Millers requested the rezoning through the commission last year and want to build a warehouse on their property to store commercial fishing gear. They currently have gear stored there that do...
JUNEAU (AP) — The threat of fires in the nation's largest national forest has subsided. CoastAlaska reports Tongass National Forest Fire Information Officer Seth Ross says a fire warning has been rescinded. Continued dry, warm weather last week prompted the warning. Hunters, hikers, boaters and campers were asked to be extra careful in extinguishing fires because conditions were right for fire activity. Ross says it appears the area is now coming out of that warm, dry period into normal Southeast weather and that prompted the cancellation of t...
WRANGELL — The borough assembly voted 5-0 in favor of a motion authorizing negotiations over the Tyee Lake power facility. The vote was taken on May 7 in open session after a roughly two-hour closed-door executive session with borough attorney Bob Blasco. Assembly members declined comment on the motion or the executive session, saying they were legally constrained from open discussion on the proceedings. The vote comes after a seeming impasse over the future of operations and maintenance at the facility stemming from an April 4 c...
The borough will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony next week to commemorate the grand opening of the North Harbor. Harbormaster Glo Wollen said, for her, it’s the culmination of years of hard work. “To some it’s only been a winter project, to others it’s been a large part of our life,” Wollen said. She said staff has had to leap over a number of hurdles to bring the new float facility to fruition—one of which is a new federal mandate that requires all marine electrical service to have ground fault interruption protection (GFI) on individual... Full story
Three Petersburg WWII veterans are touring war memorials and monuments in Washington D.C. as part of an Honor Flights program. Alaska Airlines donated seats to Art Hammer, Gerald Lind and Tom Lewis for their trip to D.C. as they join vets from across Alaska who are also traveling to the nation's capitol. Stan Hjort helped organize the event and is acting as a guardian during the trip. "We're losing so many of our WWII vets now," Hjort said. "Most of them have already passed away. Not too many... Full story
Sales Tax Ordinance Committee Member Sue Flint is scheduled to speak before the assembly May 19 where she will again recommend a tax on tobacco. At the tail end of last winter, the committee first recommended the tax to the borough assembly. The recommendation came, in part, after Petersburg Medical Center CEO Elizabeth Woodyard requested that such a tax be implemented and that the revenues go towards PMC capital projects. PMC Lab and Imaging Manager Liz Bacom also spoke on behalf of a tobacco tax and reported 153 smoking related diagnoses at... Full story
Petersburg's newest resident, David Booker, moved to town after fulfilling a promise made four years ago to his wife, Sherry. "This is my wife's dream location," David Booker said. "We came up on the ferry four years ago through the Narrows and got off the boat here in Petersburg and we met so many nice people that day. She turned to me and said 'If you ever get a chance to apply for a job in Petersburg promise me you'll do it.'" He did just that when he applied last December to be the Alaska...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency took no action regarding a request made by the Petersburg Borough Assembly to reduce wholesale power rates to member communities in lieu of issuing annual rebates. SEAPA typically gives member communities rebates, a lump sum fund, once a year. The letter, approved by the assembly last month, requested the current 6.13 cents per kilowatt-hour rate be reduced to 6.8 cents. “The agency now has enough history to accurately predict its financial performance, so that a modest lowering of the rate would not a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Continued warm, dry weather has prompted a fire warning for all of Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. Fire Management Officer Seth Ross tells CoastAlaska that he isn't predicting large blazes. But he says hunters, hikers, boaters and campers sure be extra careful because conditions are right for fire activity. People should attend their fires at all times and make sure they are completely out when they are no longer being used. Fires are not common in the Tongass rainforest. But Ross says there's an average of...
Past and present Petersburg Pilot staff took home awards from the Alaska Press Club Conference held last weekend in Anchorage. Former Pilot employee Sarah Bessel won second place for the Best Scenic Photo all-media category for her image “Devil’s Thumb in the sun.” Orin Pierson won third place for Best Sports News Story in the small print category for his story “Champion relay team sets new regional record.” Kyle Clayton won first place for Best Short Feature in the small print category for his story “Local film producers compete in Internat...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted down 2-3 a request for proposals (RFP) that would have allowed consultants to bid on assisting the borough in developing a comprehensive plan. The comprehensive planning process is extensive and covers things such as updating zoning and land use, identifying and selecting state land for economic and community development, evaluating housing availability and affordability, the impact of tourism and other quality of life issues. Developing a harbor master plan will also be included in the comprehensive plan....
A kitchen fire last Friday in an apartment above Lee's Clothing left one man with minor burns and the dwelling uninhabitable. Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) Spokesman David Berg said a man living in the apartment fell asleep after heating a pot of oil on the stove. The oil heated to the point of overflowing and started the fire "The fire went up the wall and caught the cabinets and ceiling on fire," Berg said. "The smoke was coming down pretty good. He woke up fortunately. He tried... Full story
