Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 262
A Pacific Northwest seafood business owner, whose family has been active in commercial fishing in Alaska since 1981, plans to buy and expand the operations of Fathom Seafoods in Wrangell. Peninsula Seafoods has applied to the borough for transfer of the lease on a small dockside parcel at the Marine Service Center. The port commission has recommended approval of the transfer, sending the issue to the borough assembly. As soon as the assembly signs off on the transfer, which could come at its Jan. 23 meeting, Jeff Grannum, general manager of Pen...
Cruise ship operators that lighter their passengers to shore will pay higher port fees starting this summer in Wrangell. The borough assembly unanimously approved the new rate structure Jan. 9, following a port commission recommendation. The rates had been set at 40% of the cost of tying up to the dock, with the new fee structure raising that to 60%. The increase in lightering fees is intended to encourage more ships to tie up at the dock rather than anchor offshore, Interim Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly. Wrangell should be...
The port commission has recommended to the borough assembly approval of an ordinance that would require owners who moor their vessels at a reserved spot in Wrangell harbors to either provide proof of marine insurance or pay a monthly surcharge on their moorage fee. Officials have been considering since 2022 adding the new requirement to municipal code to help shield the borough from the cost of raising and disposing of boats that sink in the harbors. “The cost of recovering sunken vessels has significantly increased, and the community can no l...
Wrangell could get off to a good start for 2024 if one of the three interested parties makes a reasonable offer to buy the borough-owned former hospital building, which has sat vacant for almost three years. Most any offer would be reasonable, considering that keeping the building dry and insured is costing the borough tens of thousands of dollars a year. And any offer would be improvement over the no offers that have come in since SEARHC vacated the property for its new medical center in 2021. “The value is getting rid of the property,” Int...
Otto Heinz Florschutz III, 65, a nearly 40-year resident of Wrangell, departed mortality on Nov. 20, 2023. A private service will be held for the family, with a public memorial to be announced at a later date. Otto was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 4, 1958. He graduated from Washington High School in North Carolina before attending Beaufort County Community College in North Carolina to become a machinist - work that he continued to enjoy throughout his life. Bitten by wanderlust, Otto...
State officials have released the names of the four people killed and two others still missing from the Nov. 20 landslide that hit just past 11-Mile Zimovia Highway. As of Monday, Nov. 27, searchers had found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughters, Mara, 16, and Kara, 11. Mara was a high school junior and Kara was in fifth grade. Searchers found Mara's body the night of the slide, during the initial search operations by first responders able to reach the...
State officials today released the names of the three people killed and three others still missing from the Monday night landslide at 11-Mile Zimovia Highway. Searchers have found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughter, Mara, 16. Mara was a high school junior. Searchers found her body on Monday night. Crews found Timothy and Beth Heller on Tuesday. As of Friday morning, searchers had not found Derek Heller, 12, Kara Heller, 11, or Otto Florschutz, 65. Derek was in sixth grade; Kara in fifth grade....
The borough was awarded a $421,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday, Nov. 3, which will go toward planning and engineering work for a deepwater port at the former sawmill site at 6-Mile. The grant covers an environmental risk assessment, permitting, assessment of the property’s bulkhead and utility extension requirements and a feasibility study update, according to an Oct. 31 press release from U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. The money won’t go toward actually constructing anything at the site, Har...
The Port Commission recommended a substantial boost in the borough’s cruise ship lightering rates at its Nov 2 meeting and the assembly will likely consider the rate increase on Dec. 12. If approved, the change will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The recommendation is to raise the rate by half, charging lightering ships 60% of the fee for a dock tie-up instead of the current 40%. The community’s port rates are among the lowest in the region, which has helped attract businesses and stimulate economic growth, according to a report by Har...
The borough collected a record amount of sales tax revenues in the fiscal year that ended June 30, passing the $4 million mark. A growing share of the borough’s tax collections is coming from online sales, just over $401,000, according to Finance Director Mason Villarma. That 10% share of total sales tax receipts in the past fiscal year is substantially higher than the roughly 6% share two years ago. “It’s bittersweet,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said of the increase in online shopping. The increased tax revenue is not entirely the result of residen...
Residents who will not be in town on election day Tuesday, Oct. 3, or simply would prefer to vote early can come to City Hall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays through Monday, Oct. 2, to cast an absentee ballot. Election day voting will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Nolan Center. People who cannot vote absentee in person by Oct. 2 can contact the borough clerk’s office at 907-874-2381 to request a ballot by mail or fax. Registered voters will cast ballots for two seats on the borough assembly, one seat on the school board and one p...
Voters will choose two borough assembly members, a school board member and a port commissioner in the Oct. 3 municipal election — but only one of the four seats is contested. There are two candidates for the one school board seat on the ballot. John DeRuyter, a clinical psychologist, is running for a three-year term on the school board. Incumbent Esther Aaltséen Reese, tribal administrator for the Wrangell Cooperative Association, is seeking reelection to the board. She was elected to a one-year term last year. DeRuyter is a self-employed cl...
The deadline to file for a seat on the borough assembly, school board or port commission in the Oct. 3 municipal election is 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31. And for residents not registered to vote in Alaska, the deadline to register to vote is Sunday, Sept. 3. Two seats on the assembly and one each on the school board and port commission will be on the ballot. As of Monday, Aug. 28, incumbent Anne Morrison had filed for reelection to the assembly, as had challenger Michael J. Ottesen; assembly incumbent Ryan Howe had not yet filed or announced his...
Four elected positions will be on the municipal ballot on Oct. 3, and as of Monday it was uncertain if all of the incumbents will seek re-election. Two seats on the borough assembly, one on the school board and one on the port commission will be on the ballot. All four are three-year terms. Esther Aaltséen Reese, the only incumbent on the five-member school board whose term expires this year, said last week she is undecided as to whether to run for the position again or not. Anne Morrison, who holds one of the assembly seats that will be on...
Attracting people to run for public office in Wrangell can be as difficult as finding a snow shovel to borrow in a winter storm — they are all busy. Nonetheless, they are essential. Quality candidates for borough assembly, school board and port commission are invaluable for the community. The elected bodies control spending in excess of $20 million a year in taxpayer, state and federal money. The members make decisions that affect the life of more than 2,000 residents and the life span of public buildings. It’s a lot of work and a lot of res...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Tl’átk - Earth Branch is hoping to purchase a parcel of land next to the community garden from the borough to build a greenhouse. The greenhouse would provide fresh produce to the community year-round and create a space for people to learn about gardening and sustainable practices. The planning and zoning commission and Economic Development Director Kate Thomas both recommended approving the land sale. The port commission will discuss the issue at its September meeting before passing it along to the boro...
The Sitka city assembly has given the go-ahead to a plan for building a boat haul-out and shipyard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park by late 2024. The option calls for a 150-ton boat lift, haul-out piers, washdown pad and an EPA-certified wastewater treatment system. The haul-out would be located next to the old Alaska Pulp Corp. utility dock, with an adjacent work yard for about 20 vessels. “I think that this will be a crucial piece of infrastructure that is worth investing in,” Assembly Member Kevin Mosher said at the July 27 meeting. “Ev...
At the upcoming municipal election on Oct. 3, the community will head to the polls to share its vision for Wrangell’s future. But before that can happen, engaged community members need to declare their intention to run for elected office. Starting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, eligible candidates will be able to submit their candidacy for one of four available seats. Two three-year seats on the borough assembly will be on the ballot: Anne Morrison and Ryan Howe’s terms end this fall. These elected volunteer positions help guide the direction that the...
Late last month, the borough discovered an oversight in the construction of Heritage Harbor — its steel pilings and piers do not have corrosion-preventing anodes on them. These pieces of oxidizing metal protect pilings from underwater degradation. Without them, the supports underneath the Heritage floats have begun to corrode. The borough plans to work quickly to install nearly $1 million worth of anodes at the harbor to prevent further wear. Near the end of March, the Port and Harbors Department sent a diver to check the anodes at Heritage H...
To keep pace with inflation and ensure its ability to cover future costs, the borough is considering rate increases across all enterprise funds — electric, water, port and harbors, wastewater and garbage. If the proposals are adopted, rates for the self-supporting funds would increase an average of 10%, effective with the start of the new fiscal year in July. The borough assembly will consider the rates at its March 28 meeting. The 15% wastewater rate increase would be the steepest rate hike; the 5.5% increase for trash pickup services would b...
Thanks to its aging infrastructure and pricey upcoming projects, Port and Harbors is the least financially sustainable of all the borough’s enterprise funds. Last Thursday, the Port Commission met with Finance Director Mason Villarma and Susan Erickson of P-W Insurance to come up with a plan to improve the fund’s finances while minimizing the impacts on cash-strapped Wrangell residents. One major takeaway from the 2021 audit, Villarma explained, was that many of the borough’s self-supporting funds — particularly the Port and Harbors account...
After months of negotiation, the borough is ready to approve a short-term lease with Juneau-based scrap metal recycling company Channel Construction for a portion of the 6-Mile mill site. At its Jan. 24 meeting, the assembly authorized Borough Manager Jeff Good to finalize the lease, which has been in progress since last September. At its Sept 1. meeting, the port commission unanimously voted down a motion to recommend leasing a portion of the property to company owner William “Shorty” Tonsgard Jr. Commissioners wanted more information about th...
After a recent fire put the Ketchikan harbor department at risk of a lawsuit for not requiring boat owners to carry insurance, the Wrangell Port and Harbors Department is considering issuing an insurance requirement for vessels, though the decision-making process is still in the early stages. At the Ketchikan harbor, the owner of a boat damaged in the fire aboard a nearby vessel has threatened legal action against the city for losses. According to Wrangell Port Director Steve Miller, the borough harbor department is weighing its funding needs...
Patty Gilbert was sworn in as mayor last Thursday, and in her first days in office plans to “(continue) the heavy work.” She hopes to revitalize the borough’s economic development committee, support local businesses and promote new ones. “It’ll be a full agenda,” she said. The borough assembly certified the election results last Thursday. The ballot proposition to issue $8.5 million in bonds for Public Safety Building repairs failed 259 to 324 in the Oct. 4 election. Since the building is still in need of costly repairs, the assembly wi...
The borough assembly has granted Manager Jeff Good the authority to negotiate a short-term lease with Channel Construction to use a portion of the 6-Mile mill site for a scrap metal recycling operation. Juneau-based Channel Construction has been running a regional metal recycling operation at the property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million this summer. Owner William “Shorty” Tonsgard Jr. initially applied for a long-term lease that would allow him to continue operating at the site after the borough took over the land. The port com...
