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A $38.6 million federal grant will help lower the cost of energy-saving heat pumps for an estimated 6,100 Alaska households stretching from Ketchikan to Kodiak, including Wrangell. The money will provide rebates of between $4,000 and $8,500 per household for the purchase and installation of a heat pump. The funding is in addition to federal tax credits of up to $2,000 per household. The federal grant for coastal Alaska, announced July 22, will go the Southeast Conference, a community and economic development nonprofit for the region, and...
It’ll be early fall before the borough offers for sale 20 lots at the new Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) residential subdivision upland from Shoemaker Bay, but residents interested in buying and building a home on the property can start lining up financing. In addition to conventional lenders such as banks, credit unions and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., Haa Yakaawu Financial Corp., which works with the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority, offers a couple of different home loan programs, including one with below-market int...
“At least once a week I get a call from someone who is interested” in the upcoming borough subdivision land sale of 20 lots, said Kate Thomas, Wrangell’s economic development director. To help those callers, and everyone else who might be interested in anything about buying land, building and owning a home, or buying an existing home, the borough is putting together an information fair for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Nolan Center. The borough plans to offer to the public 20 residential-zoned lots at the new Alder Top Village (Keish...
No question housing is tight in town, and the Wrangell Cooperative Association is trying to help. WCA already has used federal funds to build two single-family homes, which it sold to tribal members, and now is partnering with the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority on a rental duplex. WCA is interested in providing more housing to help ease the shortage in town, said Esther Aaltséen Reese, tribal administrator, last week. Any further development, however, will depend on funding, decisions by the tribal council and available lots, which...
August Schultz Jr. was born June 23, 1960, in a hospital that's now an apartment building in Wrangell. He grew up in a house up behind that hospital, surrounded by family. Schultz, known to friends as Augie, still lives in the same house, though alone, being the last living member of his immediate family. Though it's been hard, he has found healing through the town's history in the form of a Facebook page. At his therapist's suggestion, Schultz created "Wrangell yesterday - place where old...
The Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority held a workshop at the Nolan Center last week, to cover a variety of topics. The group brought together members of Wrangell's native community, and the wider public, to share information about the census, financial planning, and preventative home maintenance. Esther Ashton, tribal administrator for the Wrangell Cooperative Association, led the discussion on the census. It is very important for the native community to respond to the census this...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association held a "meeting of the association" last Wednesday, May 29. The cooperative association is Wrangell's governing body for tribal citizens. The meeting held a dual purpose: To introduce the public to the new tribal council, and to let the public know about several projects that are in the works. The WCA elected five new members to the tribal council in April. These are Christie Jamieson, Michelle Jenkins, Cori Robinson, Richard Oliver, and Lu Knapp. After introducing the council, and a prayer by Virginia...
The Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority held a two-hour training session at the Nolan Center last Wednesday evening, April 24. The THRHA works across Southeast Alaska to create affordable housing, offers opportunities for home repairs, and even helps people learn about money management. Representatives from the organization came to Wrangell last week to offer training on financial planning and preventative home maintenance. The budgeting portion of the training session was handled by...
Members of the Wrangell Cooperative Association and the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority held a short presentation last Wednesday evening on some upcoming home renovations the organizations plan to complete. The THRHA was in Wrangell in January to talk about renovations to about 20 low-income homes in Wrangell they were completing under the Indian Community Development Block Grant. Recently, however, both the WCA and the THRHA were awarded the Healthy Homes Production Grant. This money...
The Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA) held a meeting in Wrangell last week, on Jan. 23, to give an update on a project they have been working on to reduce the cost of living for low-income tribal citizens. Thanks to an ICDBG grant they received in 2018, or Indian Community Development Block Grant, they are working to renovate 20 homes across Wrangell to make them more energy efficient. According to the presentation, about $34,000 will be spent on each home. Director of Tribal Services Desiree Jackson explained that the goal is...
A community development grant obtained by Wrangell Cooperative Association last fall will be putting $600,000 back into local homes. The funds come from Housing and Urban Development, through its Community Development Block Grant program. The federal program provides resources to communities for addressing a wide range of unique development needs. The goal of the Wrangell project will be to increase energy efficiency for around 20 residences, specifically for Native homeowners. “The Tribe was very excited to receive this grant,” WCA administrat...
Carol Lynn Snoddy (Aa k'wát'i of the Kaach.ádi clan) passed away after a long illness on December 18, 2017. She was born at Wrangell General Hospital on November 17, 1950 and was the 4th of eight children of Marcus and Mae Dailey. She met and married the love of her life, Harold Snoddy, on July 29, 1969. She was the great-granddaughter of the last Chief Shakes, Charles Jones and his wife Susie. One of the many great accomplishments of her life was working with her sister Tis and Todd White on t...
Carol Lynn Snoddy, 67, (Aa k'wát'i of the Kaach.ádi clan) passed away after a long illness on Dec. 18, 2017. She was born at Wrangell General Hospital on Nov. 17, 1950 and was the fourth of eight children of Marcus and Mae Dailey. Carol met and married the love of her life, Harold Snoddy, on July 29, 1969. She was the great-granddaughter of the last Chief Shakes, Charles Jones and his wife Susie. One of the many great accomplishments of her life was working with her sister Tis and Todd White o...
A survey to gauge the housing needs of Wrangell’s Native population launched last week. Wrangell Cooperative Association is conducting a housing needs assessment, following up on a community needs survey completed last year and the results of a special stakeholders meeting held in December. As housing issues ranged high among the identified community needs, this recent survey gathers demographic data and residential information from participants. “We’re trying to get every tribal household in Wrangell to take the survey,” explained WCA tribal...
Meeting January 20, the Economic Development Committee began thinking about the next steps for its ongoing review of entitlement lands use. The City and Borough of Wrangell last April received management authority from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for 9,006 acres of properties in accordance with the state Municipal Entitlement Act. The act portions out a percentage of state lands for administration by newly incorporated municipalities, as Wrangell had done in 2008. Lands the Borough selected and the DNR approved include parcels...
A special stakeholders meeting coordinated by Wrangell Cooperative Association and Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority determined jobs and affordable housing for seniors should be top local priorities. This conclusion was reached using the help of participants of last week's meetings and results collected through WCA's 2015 Community Needs Survey. Survey results found a lack of economic opportunities was the most important local issue. While the 60-plus respondents felt Wrangell's friendly...
Wrangell Cooperative Association is looking for project ideas from community members ahead of a special stakeholders meeting planned for Dec. 2 and 3. WCA has developed the 2015 Community Needs Survey to assist in the endeavor, allowing Tribal members and other residents the opportunity to identify needs, projects or programs that would be of local benefit. The process is being spearheaded by Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which has arranged for planners to be brought down for the meeting and has made funds available to prepare a...
A good-sized crowd of over 100 people attended the dedication ceremony for the Wrangell Cooperative Association's new cultural center on Saturday. After a welcoming performance by the Shxat Kwaan Dancers, the building was consecrated by Rev. Wilson Valentine of St. Philip's Episcopal Church and cleansed with a traditional placement of cedar boughs by community members. "This is over a decade in the making," said Aaron Angerman, WCA tribal administrator. He expressed the Tribe's thanks for those...
Members of and visitors to the community are invited to join the Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA) at the dedication ceremony for its new cultural center on July 25 at 5 p.m. Also known as the carving facility, the building will host a variety of cultural activities, including classes, and provide a workspace for artists and crafters and a gift shop for them to sell their creations. “More than just carving’s going to go on,” explained Aaron Angerman, WCA tribal administrator. The facility is envisioned as a center for Native arts, with mul...
Kicking things off with a new borough manager in Jeff Jabusch, 2014 for Wrangell was not only a period of changes, but also one of building and continued development. Pavement was poured at the Marine Service Center, a number of roads were resurfaced or due to eventually see improvement, and the city was able to showcase itself to other regional communities by hosting several prolific functions. January Wrangell Cooperative Association collected 210 registrations for Tlingit-Haida members at...
School may have just begun for Wrangell students, but they can’t rightly start without notebooks, pencils and other supplies. For those still needing materials, the Wrangell Cooperative Association will be holding its annual backpack giveaway on Wednesday. Last year 85 new backpacks were distributed to area students, each laden with brand new school materials. But due to cutbacks, this year’s program was only going to be able to acquire around 20. Knowing some donors, the program’s organizer, Carol Snoddy, decided to see if she could acqui...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Haida carvers Joe and TJ Young arrived in Juneau last Monday to begin work on the first of two totem poles for Juneau’s Gajaa Hit building on Willoughby Avenue. The two poles will replace originals currently on site at Gajaa Hit erected in 1977 to honor the Raven and Eagle clans of the Aak’w Kwáan Tlingit. For the next several months, the Young brothers will work on the Raven pole at the Sealaska building downtown, offering an opportunity for locals to observe two of the state’s most highly regarded young carvers at wor...
After standing proudly for nearly a century, the historic SNO Building in downtown is getting a facelift. The building, which features apartments, as well as GCI and other tenants, is being renovated as part of the Downtown Revitalization Plan which will rehabilitate and remodel eight units in the building. The Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority now owns the historic structure that was built in 1932 in downtown and originally owned by the Stikine Native Organization. Construction began in...