The Wrangell Borough Assembly met for a public hearing and open session on Tuesday, Dec. 13 to discuss a number of issues related to voting, property issues, budgetary appropriations and contracts, and to consider recommendations on what type of roof will grace the new Wrangell Medical Center.
Before the open session portion of the meeting the assembly took up a public hearing and second reading on a proposed ordinance amending the borough code to allow absentee voting by fax.
Later, in open session, the assembly voted unanimously, with members Mike Symons and Wilma Stokes absent, to approve the ordinance.
Borough clerk Christie Jamieson asked for the change during the most recent assembly meeting in order to allow voters to take advantage of an expedited way to cast absentee ballots.
“Presently, two weeks before the regular city election, we always have absentee voting in person or by mail,” Jamieson said. “The reason to bring this to the table is that every year, at least one ballot comes back late that isn’t counted. Out of the 14 we sent this year 13 came back on time. We missed that one vote. If we have absentee voting by fax, no one will lose their chance to vote.”
According to Jamieson, voters would follow the exact same procedure to cast absentee ballots and the only downfall would be losing the secrecy of the ballot box or mail since it would come across a fax that would be available to office staff at city hall.
“That would be the only drawback, as I see it,” Jamieson added. “We’re basing our proposal around what Haines currently does and they have had nothing but success with it.”
Although voting by fax is on the horizon for Wrangell, Jamieson said the next step – voting by email – is not yet in the cards for the borough.
“We’re not going to go to email this year,” Jamieson said. “We want to see how the fax idea works first before we go that direction.”
Open Session
In his report to the assembly, Borough Manager Tim Rooney explained that during their Nov. 21 meeting, the members of the assembly authorized him and Mayor Jeremy Maxand to enter into a tri-party agreement between the borough, WMC and InnoVative Capital on the matter of financial services.
“The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors conducted a special meeting … to approve the same agreement,” Rooney’s report states. “(The agreement) allows no State of Alaska grant funds or funding from the USDA loan recently approved by voters to be utilized for payment of these services.”
Rooney also outlined what his office and the assembly have been doing to entice a possible wood manufacturing facility to Wrangell.
John Glenn, a longtime lumber mill operator and owner of Glenn Solutions, LLC, has expressed interest in building a facility in either Wrangell or Petersburg.
The plan includes a facility for construction-grade lumber and would offer up to 50 new jobs in the community where it would be located.
“Over the last several months (Carol) Rushmore and Mayor Maxand have been involved in discussion with Mr. John Glenn (regarding) the potential development of a wood manufacturing facility in Wrangell,” Rooney’s report states.
Among the ideas being hashed out regarding any new facility involve the former mill site at 6-mile Zimovia Highway. Rooney’s report states that the property is “ideal” and that several options are available regarding obtaining the property.
• Scenario 1: The property could be privately purchased outright – a move that would result in possibly unusable parcels being bought.
• Scenario 2: The borough could purchase the property and either sell or lease the needed parcels to develop the new mill – which would require the removal of sunken barges at the site, lines of funding, and possibly a vote of the citizens of Wrangell.
• Scenario 3: The mill operator could make a negotiated agreement with the borough to buy all the mill parcels with the intent of selling back to the borough all unneeded parcels for future economic development purposes.
Tax incentives like those previously provided to Silver Bay Logging could also be offered to any new owner/operator at the 6-mile site according to Rooney’s report.
“In 1999, the City of Wrangell, by a vote of the people, provided a 5-year, partial tax exemption to SBL in timber processing property acquired or installed after 1998,” the report states.
The one-time exemption was offered under Alaska statutes and was set to not exceed five years in duration.
“The borough has since been advised that this is a one-time exemption per property, but we will however continue to explore if current statutes permit the same or similar incentive. If an exemption like this is possible again, it may have to go to a vote of the people.”
In new business, the borough took up a first reading of a proposed, non-codified ordinance to determine whether foreclosed property should be retained by the borough, or sold to the public.
The proposal arises from a Nov. 28 memo from the borough’s Finance Director, Jeff Jabusch, to Rooney and the assembly. The memo states that the borough had received the court deeds on two foreclosed Etolin Avenue parcels previously owned by the borough.
“Although the properties were paid for, the property taxes were not and therefore went into foreclosure,” Jabusch stated in the memo. “Prior to being sold, the assembly needs to decide if there is a public purpose for these lots and if not, sell the parcels for the assessed value, over-the-counter, for the full price of the lots.”
After passing the first reading, the assembly scheduled the matter to be heard at the Jan. 10, 2012 meeting.
The assembly tabled discussion regarding a recommendation from the Hospital Building Committee about what type of roof – pitched, or with a slight slope – would be used on the new WMC.
Late in the meeting, Mitch McGraw of McGraw Construction spoke up about the borough’s move to re-bid a construction contract intended for his company for work on the Etolin Street and Medical Campus Utilities project.
The assembly decided to send the project back to a bidding process after Rooney met with hospital project team members and city staff – and determined that a savings of $350,000 could be realized if changes were made and a new bid pursued.
McGraw said he was not satisfied with the turn of events.
“This is our livelihood,” McGraw said. “We only found out about this at 5 p.m. today that we weren’t going to be awarded the project, which was amazing.”
According to Rooney, the dollar amount to be saved was too high to not to pursue the re-bidding process.
“A savings of $350,000 is not to be overlooked,” Rooney said.
Assembly member Don McConachie echoed that sentiment.
“We need to do our due diligence for the taxpayer dollars,” McConachie added.
A budget amendment to authorize the borough to spend up to $50,000 to replace fender pilings at the City and Mill Docks also passed. The assembly also approved the 2011 fiscal year audited financial statements of Wrangell Public Schools during the meeting.
Assembly member Pam McCloskey was also appointed to the School Strategic Planning Committee during the meeting, while Bill Privett volunteered to fill an open position on the Cemetery Board.
The next regular meeting of the Borough Assembly is set for Jan. 10, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the assembly chamber of Wrangell City Hall.
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