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Patricia Gilbert is the likely winner in Tuesday’s mayoral election against Terry Courson, leading the in-person vote tally 275-219. With slightly more than 100 absentee and early votes still to count, Courson would have to win those votes by more than a 3-to-1 margin to overtake Gilbert’s 56-vote lead. Voters approved by a wide margin, 311-to-170, approved borrowing $3.5 million for repairs to all three school buildings, but a proposed $8.5 million bond issue for repairs to the Public Safety Building appears headed to defeat. That ballot pro...
It’s been 12 years since Wrangell voters were asked to approve the borough taking on debt, and next Tuesday’s municipal election ballot will include two such proposals to repair worn-down public buildings. The Oct. 4 ballot also will include the election of a new mayor, two borough assembly members, two port commissioners and three school board members. In addition, the ballot asks voter permission for the borough to sell or lease the former sawmill property at 6-Mile. The borough bought the property this summer for $2.5 million, and is loo...
Winston Davies is running for an uncontested three-year term on the port commission to give back to his community and support Wrangell's commercial fishing industry. He has no previous experience in public office, but when he heard KSTK's plea for candidates to fill the empty port commission seats, he decided to "step up to the plate." Davies is a teacher during the school year and a commercial fisherman in the summer. He has taught a variety of subjects in his 18 years in education, including...
John Yeager, sport fishing guide and commercial halibut fisherman, plans to keep promoting sustainable growth in Wrangell during his upcoming three-year term on the port commission. "Fortunately, I have been on the port commission to see a lot of our projects started, like the Marine Service Center and a lot of our harbors," he said. "I want to stay on and see Wrangell's continued growth." Yeager has served on the commission for six terms already, totaling 12 years. He believes that the...
After seven years on the borough assembly, Bay Co. manager David Powell is running for another three-year term. Powell's desire to get land out of the borough's hands was what first motivated him to pursue an assembly seat, and he is running again in hopes of seeing his goals completed. If elected, his primary focuses will be selling or leasing the 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased this summer, and the former Wrangell Institute property, which was the site of a federally...
Two of the races on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot are contested: There are two candidates for mayor and three candidates to fill two three-year terms on the borough assembly. The other three races on the ballot — for port commission, a one-year school board term and two three-year school board seats — are all uncontested. Absent a surprising write-in turnout, the candidates on the ballot will win those elections. Patty Gilbert and Terry Courson are competing to succeed Mayor Steve Prysunka, who decided not to seek reelection to a thi...
Last Thursday, the port commission unanimously voted down a motion that would have recommended the borough lease a portion of the 6-Mile mill property to Channel Construction. Commissioners said they need more information before forwarding a recommendation. Juneau-based Channel Construction, which is owned by William “Shorty” Tonsgard Jr., requested to lease a parcel of waterfront property at the former sawmill site for scrap metal recycling. According to its application, the company seeks to establish a “prominent recycling yard” at the loc...
The port commission last week declined to recommend that the borough lease a portion of its newly purchased property at the former 6-Mile sawmill site for use as a scrap metal recycling yard. It was nothing against the recycling business — Channel Construction, out of Juneau — which previously used the property under its previous owner as a staging area for scrap metal collection. Rather, port commissioners said they need more information before making a decision: The length of the lease, the terms and, perhaps most importantly, how it wou...
At the start of the final week to file for borough assembly, school board or port commission, Wrangell was still short of candidates to fill half of the open seats. The deadline to file for the Oct. 4 municipal election is 4 p.m. Wednesday. As of Monday afternoon, candidates had filed paperwork for four of the eight races on the ballot. Patty Gilbert, who serves on the borough assembly and previously served on the school board, has filed to run for mayor. Steve Prysunka, in his sixth year as mayor, has decided not to seek another term....
Patty Gilbert, who serves on the borough assembly and previously served on the school board, has filed her candidacy papers to run for mayor in the Oct. 4 municipal election. Steve Prysunka, in his sixth year as Wrangell mayor, has decided not to seek another term. Gilbert currently serves as vice-mayor on the assembly. Her term ends in October. She served on the school board 2019-2021, and served on the borough assembly 2016-2019. The deadline to file for municipal office is 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at City Hall. In addition to the mayor’s job, two b...
August is a time for fishing, the last of any gardening work and the enjoyment of harvesting the fruits (and vegetables) of that effort. It’s a time for home repairs, while there is still a plausible chance of dry weather to patch the roof, refinish the deck or scrape and repaint the siding. It’s also a time to consider serving in public office. Probably you’re thinking you’d rather pick garden slugs or clean the gutters than serve on the borough assembly, school board or port commission. At least no one criticizes you for those other pursuit...
Candidates have until 4 p.m. Aug. 31 to file their declaration and signature petition at City Hall for a spot on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot. The offices of mayor, two borough assembly seats, three school board seats and two spots on the port commission will be on the ballot. Mayor Steve Prysunka, who has served two terms (four years), said last week he is not seeking reelection. Before winning his first term as mayor in 2018, Prysunka served three years on the borough assembly. The mayor’s job is a two-year term. The terms also expire...
Some commercial fishermen prefer to sell their hauls in Wrangell. Some look for the best price, even if it's a few cents higher. Some decide where to sell based on services offered. No matter what determines where a fisherman will sell, processors try to lure as many their way throughout the year, including buying a bevy of different species. "What Pacific Seafood does here in Wrangell, we have our hands in a little bit of all of it," said Cody Angerman, general manager at the processor's plant...
The Port and Harbors Department wants to strengthen municipal code to lessen the burden of paying for derelict and impounded vessels. It drains the department’s coffers when clunkers take on water or sink, leading port staff to foot the cleanup efforts and the department to foot the bill. The port commission is asking the borough assembly to amend municipal code to hold boat owners liable for disposing of derelict boats. The commission has also begun discussing whether to require boat owners to have insurance if their vessel is moored in a W...
Former Alaska governor, former vice presidential candidate and former reality TV personality Sarah Palin added her well-publicized name to the list of four dozen candidates seeking to fill Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House, hoping to take over for Rep. Don Young, who died last month. “Public service is a calling,” Palin said in a statement on social media. Palin, a Republican, quit as governor of Alaska in 2009 after she and presidential running mate Arizona Sen. John McCain lost the 2008 election to Democrat Barack Obama and Joe Biden...
March 30, 1922 The best news in Wrangell in a long time came this week in the form of a letter from the Federal Power Commission, indicating a willingness to grant an exclusive permit to the town of Wrangell for the purpose of water power development on Mill Creek. The town council has been working very hard on this proposition for several months. Through their efforts B.F. Heintzelman, special representative of the Federal Power Commission, recently came to Wrangell to go into the matter with the council personally. Several special meetings of...
The borough set a record last year for sales tax collections, exceeding budget estimates for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021. And so far this year, sales tax receipts are continuing on another record pace. Multiple factors are leading to the increase in sales tax collections, officials said. The borough collected $3.26 million from its 7% sales tax on goods and services last year, about $300,000 more than in the pre-pandemic fiscal year 2019 and $600,000 above the 2017 number. Sales tax revenues have exceeded budget estimates each of...
Feb. 23, 1922 The Firemen’s Annual Benefit Ball on the evening of Washington’s Birthday was well attended and a huge success socially. Apparatus from the fire hall was used most effectively in the decorative scheme. Carl Carlson acted as floor manager. The net proceeds amounted to $49.15. This increases the accident fund to $435. The Parent-Teacher Association served lunch upstairs during the dance. The proceeds from the lunch, which amounted to about $25, will be used by the PTA to help defray the school’s expenses of participating in the i...
Residents have until Saturday afternoon to get rid of scrap metal, free of charge, including vehicles. Juneau-based Channel Construction will have its barge at the former sawmill site at 6.3-Mile Zimovia Highway and is accepting any type of scrap metal, as long as any oil, gasoline or other fuels and fluids have been drained, the borough announced last week. The company collects scrap metal throughout Southeast, hauling it south for proper disposal or recycling. In late 2018, Channel Construction picked up an estimated 50 tons of scrap on one...
The port commission has voted to increase most of Wrangell’s port and harbors rates, generally about 2% per year for the next five years, sending the new fee schedule to the borough assembly for consideration. The new rates would take effect this July and apply to most port and harbors services, including long- and short-term storage and haul-out rates at the Marine Service Center, transient and reserved moorage in the harbors, electricity hookups, use of the gridiron and hoists. The borough had generally been raising port and harbor rates a...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association wants to move the Chief Shakes Island footbridge to allow better access for buses coming to the popular site and possibly setting aside an area for selling Native crafts. The plan would be to move the bridge access point to create more room at the harbor parking lot, along with rebuilding the decade-old wooden walkway to the island. “They envision the new access to not only clean up the former harbor parking lot but create an in/out access for buses and a place to potentially sell Native goods,” Carol Rus...
SEARHC's announcement last week that it was shuttering the 21-year-old Alaska Crossings program in Wrangell, a wilderness therapy program for at-risk children that the health care provider took over in 2017, disappointed much of the community. The news release cited rising costs. Spokesperson Maegan Bosak, senior director of lands and property management at SEARHC offices in Sitka, said Friday she didn't have an operating cost for Crossings but would ask the finance department for the...
Based on the current rate structure, Wrangell’s Marine Service Center could operate at a loss over the next five, 15 and 30 years. That’s according to a newly finished Marine Service Center business plan the port and harbors department will present to the port commission. Port Director Steve Miller will present the plan to the port commission at its Thursday night meeting. Any rate hikes — which would maintain future revenues in line with potential expenses — would require port commission and borough assembly approval. There are no operati...
The out-of-commission barge ramp where Wrangell usually unloads its freight needs to be replaced. Until that happens, repairs will suffice. A 2011 condition assessment of the barge ramp estimated it had another 10 to 15 years of useful life remaining before reaching a point where it would have degraded enough that it may no longer be considered safe to use, Port Director Steve Miller wrote in his report to the port commission’s Dec. 16 meeting. Miller estimates replacing the ramp could cost $2 million. A timeline will be dependent on f...
The results of a $7,300 study the borough commissioned in October to take a closer look at the cost of shipping goods by barge to Wrangell shows the average annual increase in marine freight costs from Seattle to Southeast Alaska from 2006 to 2021 was 4.5%, based on published rate tariffs. The global cost of marine freight has increased at an average rate of 5.7% annually, excluding 2021, while the Consumer Price Index has increased at 2.3% annually. The 12 Wrangell businesses Rain Coast Data surveyed for the report, representing some of Wrange...
