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The City and Borough Assembly was able to put its concerns to bed regarding a proposed mooring facility and breakwater. At the April 12 meeting assembly members had opted to postpone their decision on a request by prospective recreational outfit Big Bites Fishing to construct a 580-foot breakwater from a 6-mile property adjacent to the Silver Bay Logging Company mill site. At the time, Assembly members were uncertain whether to lend approval to the plan, which is currently being reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers for site approval. There...
Port commissioners continued to wrangle over potential rate increases last week, holding a workshop ahead of its regular meeting on April 7. In particular, they looked at raising rates for boatyard haulout fees, one of the Harbor Department’s five sources of revenue along with moorage, lease lots, utilities and storage. Harbormaster Greg Meissner explained there were limited opportunities for revenue growth with utilities and lease lots, the latter largely being settled last month with the extension of five-year leases by the Borough Assembly....
Monday evening’s meeting of the Port Commission was spent largely on discussing rate increases, with an hour-long workshop focused on moorage fees. The way harbormaster Greg Meissner figured it, stalls at the moment are not paying nearly enough for themselves, which will be a problem further down the line. At the present, dockside moorage fees are at a flat $25 per foot, a cost which has not changed for the better part of a decade. More than half of fees collected go into savings for deferred maintenance, which in turn gets used toward the purc...
In the midst of rate increase talks and utility concerns, Wrangell’s Port Commission approved the renewal of three leases at the Marine Service Center during its Feb. 18 meeting. The lease lots of welder Chuck Jenkins, shipwright Tyler Thompson and contractor Steve Keller were up for their five-year renewal. Commissioners had previously approved Jenkins’ renewal in December at its $0.08 per square foot monthly rate. On Jan. 12 the Assembly decided to return Jenkins’ request for renewal to the commission, reasoning it might want to update lease...
At its regular monthly meeting, the Wrangell Public School Board approved the purchase of a new phone system for its two campuses. Board members approved a $65,000 contract with AP&T to install the new system, which replaces the district's 71 phones with IP-based handsets and will include a one-year service agreement for parts and equipment. "The current system that we have right now, they say they can't support them," explained Matt Gore, technology director for the school district. The new...
In an unexpected move, the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly sent back a request to renew a lot lease to the committee which approved it. After extensive discussion, its members agreed to send a facility lease agreement between the city and and Chuck Jenkins back to the Port Commission. Approved unanimously by commissioners last month, the agreement would extend the lease on Jenkins' lot in the boatyard for another five years at the rate he had been paying. The action was recommended by Assembly member Dave Powell after he learned two more lea...
Members of the Wrangell Port Commission were frustrated to find no progress was being made in extending water to one of the boatyard's major contractors. Speaking at the commission's meeting Jan. 7, Don Sorric informed it the taps at Superior Marine Services were still dry after 13 months of waiting. After previously being cited by Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors in 2014, Sorric came to the Port Commission that November to request that utilities be extended to his lease...
The Wrangell Port Commission will move ahead with plans to reexamine rates, it decided at its regular meeting on Jan. 7. The meeting was prefaced by a rate change workshop, where commissioners pored over sheets comparing local lift, storage, work and moorage fees with other communities. The sheets were put together by harbormaster Greg Meissner, who made the case for an increase. The commission had previously considered a 50-percent raise in work area rates to 75 cents per square foot, but decided last March to wait amid concerns from contracto...
The year 2015 was largely a good one for Wrangell, with the appearance of several new businesses, large infrastructural developments undertaken by businesses, the formal opening of the Tribe's cultural center, and a balanced financial outlook for the city despite tumultuous budget negotiations in Juneau. The state deficit will remain the largest issue moving ahead into 2016, as will continued mining developments in Canada along shared waters. January On Jan. 12 and 14 the first of three sets of...
The plan to build a memorial dedicated to Wrangell's mariners is now shovel-ready – organizers now just need to pull together the funds to buy the shovels. The Port Commission has been spearheading the memorial project, and accepted completed designs from Corvus Design's principal landscape architect Chris Mertl during its Dec. 3 meeting. "I'm really happy with the progress we've made," said commissioner Clay Hammer. "Stuff's about to get real here." A draft design was last presented to the p...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 25, 1915: The first shipment of shrimp to be made from Wrangell was made on the Dolphin last Saturday. The shipment contained about two hundred pounds of fine large shrimp. Wrangellites were given a chance to try them as about a hundred pounds were placed on the market and sold here. The shrimp were caught at the entrance of the Wrangell Narrows by Victor Noberg, Chas. Chase and Arthur Thebo. Mr. R.L. Petty of Ketchikan was a visitor in Wrangell for a few days this past week. In speaking...
A project to renovate the facilities at Wrangell's Shoemaker Harbor seems well-placed to receive state assistance, the Port Commission learned this month. Harbormaster Greg Meissner told commissioners at their Nov. 4 meeting the Tier I capital project being proposed to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT) was ranked second for consideration, after a proposal by Kodiak. The DOT 50/50 matching grant program was first approved by the Alaska Legislature in 2006, and...
A recently launched inter-island ferry service was laid up in Wrangell last weekend after its landing craft experienced engine trouble, and is not expected to resume its schedule until the end of the month. “We noticed low oil pressure in the port gearbox,” explained Rainforest Islands Ferry manager Kent Miller. On closer inspection, he said the oil sealing rings and port-side transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. Additional work is also being done to the lander’s starboard engin...
Security was one topic on the minds of Wrangell's Port Commission members when they met on Oct. 1. A compressed air foam system was among the larger items pilfered from the boatyard this year. Harbormaster Greg Meissner explained the 30-gallon device is one of three his department keeps for fire-fighting, with others located at Heritage Harbor and the Reliance Harbor office. Acquired five years ago, each was worth around $5,600, but the real cost is not having it on hand when it's needed. "It's...
After Tuesday's polls closed, unofficial results for Wrangell's regular municipal elections were in. Three-hundred twenty-six votes were cast at the Nolan Center, slightly more than the 312 cast last year. Several seats were in contest this year, and on the ballot were two ballot propositions to draw voters. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney both appear to have won reelection to three-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Challenger Christie Jamieson ran a write-in campaign, but the number of write-in votes tallied for the...
Polls will open for Wrangell’s regular municipal elections this Tuesday. Candidates have filed for all available seats, with several positions in contest. Among those open to the polls this year are two three-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney have both filed to run again, and Christie Jamieson last week announced her intention to run as a write-in candidate. Jamieson had previously served as Wrangell’s City Clerk from 1997 to 2012. Rooney has been on the Assembly since her election to an une...
At their Tuesday night meeting, members of the Wrangell Borough Assembly learned the former Byford salvage yard will be cleaned up after all. Earlier in the summer the 2.5-mile site tested positive for considerable contamination from lead and other hazardous metals. Oversight for the investigation has been jointly provided by the Alaska Department of Conservation (DEC) and the Environmental Protection Agency. Cleanup funding was previously to have come from EPA’s Superfund, but was earlier this month delayed after agency resources were d...
Clay Hammer, running uncontested for re-election to the Port Commission, three-year seat Occupation: Electrical superintendent for the City and Borough of Wrangell Why would you like to sit on the commission again? "I enjoy sitting on the Port Commission as it gives me a chance to give back to a community that has given me so much. I have four children, all born here, and I hope that as they 'leave the nest' that they and all our children will have as good a chance at making it here as we all...
The due date for property tax collection from 2016 on may be moved again, after the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly reevaluated a decision made earlier this year. At member David Powell's request, at its Tuesday meeting the Assembly agreed to revise the due date to Oct. 15. Previously, the Assembly passed an ordinance creating a single collection date of Sept. 15, rather than requiring payments in two installments. A temporary measure was adopted last month to ease residents into the transition, with collection dates this year set for Sept....
Applications for candidacy in the Oct. 6 regular borough-wide election closed on Monday. Candidates have filed for all available seats, with those on the Wrangell School Board in contest. Among those open to the polls this year are two 3-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney have both filed to run again and are uncontested. Incumbents John Martin and Clay Hammer have also filed to retain two 3-year seats on the Port Commission. On the Wrangell Medical Center Board, Woody Wilson has filed to...
At its regular monthly meeting Aug. 13, Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission continued its evaluation of entitlement properties held near Thoms Place. The territory is part of 9,006 acres transferred to Wrangell in April by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. In addition to Thoms Place, these include parcels at St. Johns Harbor, Mill Creek, Olive Cove, Crittenden Creek, Earl West, and Sunny Bay, as well as other areas on Wrangell Island. Different options exist for how best to z...
Wrangell’s Port Commission decided it didn’t “have a dog in the fight” over a tidelands purchase proposal submitted to it for review. Meeting Thursday, it had to consider an application by BW Enterprises to purchase 6,240 square feet of city tidelands adjacent to its property near the state ferry terminal. With tidelands purchase proposals, both the Port and Planning and Zoning commissions have the opportunity to make assessments and forward their recommendations to the Assembly, which has ultimate say in such matters. Speaking at the meeting...
The City and Borough of Wrangell is taking applications for this year’s borough-wide regular election, set for Oct. 6. Up for contest this year are two 3-year seats on the Assembly, currently held by Daniel Blake and Julie Decker. The two three-year Port Commission seats of John Martin and Clay Hammer will expire in October, as will the four-year terms of Dorothy Hunt-Sweat and Woody Wilson on the Wrangell Medical Center Board. Tammy Groshong’s three-year seat on the School Board expires in October, and there will be two other vacant sea...
At its regular Assembly meeting Tuesday, Wrangell's City and Borough Assembly approved a spending plan for improvements at Shoemaker Bay Harbor. Designed by PND Engineers, funding for the $10.7 million project would require $5 million to come from an Alaska Department of Transportation matching grant. The deadline to file an application is on August 1, prompting a special meeting of the Port Commission on May 26 to get things moving. Under the plan the commission put forward, part of the funds for a match would come from the Harbor Department,...
As of Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature meeting in a special session in Anchorage had still not passed a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. On Sunday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a compromise budget passed by the House the previous day, which included some small concessions to the minority such as reversing cuts to the ferry system and per-student funding. A conference committee between the two chambers was being organized to negotiate an amended budget as legislators posture around various funding priorities....