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The Petersburg and Wrangell Boroughs are a few steps closer to completing the transfer of Operations and Maintenance of the Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility from Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) after a meeting last Thursday. Thursday’s regular session meeting brought representatives from the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) and the Petersburg and Wrangell Boroughs together to elect a new commission chair and secretary, work towards finalizing the SEAPA transition document and discuss the future r...
After much discussion, the Wrangell Borough Assembly voted 4-0 Tuesday evening to approve a formal transition agreement that will allow Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to take over the operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydro Facility from the Thomas Bay Power Authority. "It's been a long time coming," said assembly member Julie Decker as she moved to approve the measure. The current agreement is the product of months of negotiations between representatives of Wrangell, Petersburg and SEAPA. "Concessions were made by everybody a...
PETERSBURG — The Petersburg Borough Assembly authorized Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to sign off on the agreement between the Petersburg Borough, the City and Borough of Wrangell and the Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) that transitions operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydro Lake facility to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). The four bodies have been negotiating the agreement since last year when the Petersburg assembly voted not to fund its share of a portion of the TBPA budget labeled non-net billable—a bill Petersburg and Wra...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) Commission terminated TBPA General Manager Michael Nicholls' contract with three months of severance pay after months of lack of communication from him to the commission. TBPA, the organization responsible for operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant that provides power to Petersburg and Wrangell, is undergoing negotiations to transfer its operations to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). Commission members hadn't been receiving...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) Commission placed General Manager Michael Nicholls and Administrative Clerk Rhonda Christian on paid leave last Friday after a reported lack of communication from the TBPA office. TBPA, the organization responsible for operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant that provides power to Petersburg and Wrangell, is undergoing negotiations to transfer its operations to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). Commission members haven’t received financial information and haven’t approved a budget due...
Hammer and Wrangell Clerk Kim Lane, accompanied by Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey arrived at the TBPA office headquarters about 3 p.m., when a Wrangell Sentinel reporter was interviewing Nicholls. The interview was the first notification of the imposition of administrative leave, Nicholls and Christian said. Nicholls disputed claims by the Thomas Bay Power Commission that there had been a lack of communication between commissioners and staff prior to the June 6 special meeting. "At that...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board of directors voted 5-0 June 26 to terminate the Operations and Maintenance contract for the Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility. Tyee Lake is presently operated by a joint creation of the Petersburg and Wrangell assemblies— the Thomas Bay Power Authority. The future of the Authority has been in question since the Petersburg assembly voted to withhold a portion of its operating costs known as the Non-Net Billable in October 2013. Borough assemblies in Wrangell and Petersburg passed December r...
The borough assembly voted 5-1 to raise electric rates seven percent Tuesday. The rates increases are aimed to off-set declines in the budget reserves of the electric light utility fund. Officials have said that increasing health insurance, labor, and materials costs have reduced the reserves to unacceptable levels. Assembly newcomer Mark Mitchell cast the lone dissenting vote against the increase, motivated in part by fiscal concerns. “I believe that, along with the rest of America, we need to hold a budget and watch our spending as w...
James Stough resigned from both the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) and the borough assembly Friday. TBPC secretary Dave Galla resigned the same day. The resignations came a day after a Petersburg meeting called at the request of a majority of the commissioners. Commissioners voted to contact Stough by phone and letter concerning his absence at both the June 12 Petersburg meeting and a meeting held June 5 in Wrangell. Stough last ran unopposed to Assembly Seat C in 2012, receiving 468 votes....
An ordinance change passed on first reading at the June 10 assembly meeting could raise electric rates by as much as 10 percent by January 2015. If approved as worded – judging only from preliminary discussion at the assembly meeting, that appears unlikely to happen – a five percent increase in electrical rates would take effect July 1. An additional five percent increase could be enacted Jan. 1, contingent on whether or not Wrangell Light & Power receives an annual rebate from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). Officials say the rat...
Thomas Bay Power commissioners voted 5-0 to support the handover of Tyee Lake to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). The special meeting, held June 5, was the commission’s first in at least two months and drew Petersburg commissioners as well as the Petersburg mayor to the borough assembly chambers. Critics of the transfer have said the handover would essentially put borough resources in the hands of an unelected bureaucracy. Supporters generally say the transfer will limit the liability Wrangell faces in connection with Tyee Lake o...
Preliminary budget figures show a looming $64,000 reduction in funding for the Nolan Center. The draft budget, released publicly for the first time May 13, and discussed in a budget workshop before the regular borough assembly meeting, also shows a possible five percent rate hike for electricity consumers in the borough, as well as two other looming concerns. The Nolan Trust board has told the borough that a reduction of $64,000 will be required to allow interest from the $2 million funding to continue at sustainable levels, according to a draf...
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 cease-and-desist order...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority needs to censure its president, James Stough, for his action two weeks ago that ordered, via letter, the end of negotiations to allow the Southeast Alaska Power Agency to take over operations at the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric Project. Stough took the action without the approval and in some cases without the knowledge of his fellow commission members. It was an irresponsible move and he had no authority to carry it out without the joint approval of his fellow TBPA commissioners. Again, without the support of fellow...
The future of the Thomas Bay Power Authority and the commission governing it took center stage at Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting. The heart of the matter focused on the role the Thomas Bay Power Commission will play in future negotiations about the future of the Tyee Lake electric plant. James Stough, the sitting president of the Thomas Bay Power Commission issued the cease-and-decist letter April 4 on TBPA letterhead in his authority as TBPC president without notifying other members of the commission of the letter in advance. He claims t...
City officials are urging Wrangell residents to take steps to conserve energy through mid- May. After a diesel-free winter, Tyee Lake went down for maintenance work Monday. While Tyee will be off-line until May 12— meaning the city will run on diesel fuel imported from Washington State in the meantime— according to borough power and light superintendent Clay Hammer. The borough accumulates a diesel surcharge during this period, which is divided evenly among all consumers. This year’s run is early. “This is actually a good two weeks ahead o...
The president of the Thomas Bay Power Commission sent a letter this week to the chairman of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency ordering an end to negotiations for SEAPA to take over operations at the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric Project. The letter claims those negotiations – borough manager Jeff Jabusch characterized them as discussions – are being conducted in violation of section 3.40.50 of Wrangell code and a “substantially identical ordinance of Petersburg,” according to the letter from TBPA president James Stough to SEAPA board chairma...
The borough assembly voted 3-2 Tuesday in favor of amending a resolution serving as the primary motivation for ongoing negotiations between Petersburg and Wrangell. The original resolution, passed Dec. 10, 2013, directed borough manager Jeff Jabusch to enter into negotiations with Petersburg to switch the Tyee Electric project from Southeast Alaska Power Agency ownership and Thomas Bay Power Authority operation to SEAPA ownership and operation. Despite the vote in favor the motion failed because resolutions require four votes in favor in order...
The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve a joint letter inviting the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to submit an offer on Tyee Lake. A widely disseminated informal offer for SEAPA to take over operations at the Wrangell hydroelectric plant has been circulated since early September. The letter, which has already been approved by the Petersburg borough assembly, requests “SEAPA review the attached resolutions and provide a written proposal back to the two communities under what terms SEAPA would accept this transfer.” The request...
The Petersburg Borough assembly unanimously approved a resolution supporting a similar Wrangell resolution recommending the operations and management of the Tyee Hydro Electric project be transferred from Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) to the Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA). Six commissioners representing Wrangell and Petersburg currently conduct management and operations of TBPA. SEAPA owns the hydro plant. The joint resolution, in part, accepts SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson’s Aug. 19 offer to take over operations at TBPA. As part of t...
The borough assembly voted 3-2 Tuesday against a motion which would have made Brueger Street one way. The idea to change the street — which runs from the Elk’s Lodge parking lot to a busy intersection near Bobs’ IGA grocery store and First Bank – first came up at the Jan. 28 assembly meeting when assembly member Pam McCloskey McCloskey expressed concerns about congestion near the well-trafficked intersection. Borough officials provided a cost estimate of $1,700 in signage, plus an additional labor cost, to make the transition. In discuss...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority commission elected Wrangell borough assembly member and TBPA commissioner James Stough to the commission’s presidency Monday. Stough also briefly served as chairman of the borough’s special energy committee. The election marks the transfer of the presidency from John Jensen of Petersburg, who’d held the presidency since he joined the board in 2007. Stough was appointed to the board in December. Stough has since September been publicly critical of the transfer of an operations and maintenance contract at Tyee...
The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve a no-bid design contract with Juneau-based Corvus Design. The contract allots $11,372 from a $35,000 state grant to renovate heritage harbor for that purpose. Port commissioners previously said the contract was designed to be no-bid in order to avoid a prolonged bidding process which might stretch past the June 30 expiration date for the grant. The money “is part of the starting of this thing?” assembly member James Stough asked harbormaster Greg Meissner. “Is that what this is?” The goa...
The Chief Shakes House rededication was easily the biggest event of 2013 in Wrangell. However, the year was filled with events and news stories big and small. On the first edition of 2014, the Sentinel pauses to recollect the stories throughout the year. January An electrical fire damaged the fish tank at the Nolan Center, causing it to be removed. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off of Craig Jan. 4, rattling windows and nerves in town. The quake caused no major damage in town, but...
Despite uncertainty over the continued existence of the Thomas Bay Power Authority, commissioners voted 5-1 Dec. 19 to renew the commission’s travel and liability insurance for another year. The uncertainty stems from the possibility the TBPA in its present form may be placed on idle status as a result of negotiations between the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, and representatives for the Petersburg and Wrangell borough assemblies, set to begin after both assemblies authorized negotiation. Commissioners initially asked whether a six-month r...