Assembly reimburses vendor "after-the-fact"

The Wrangell Borough Assembly approved a controversial $100,000 reimbursement during its August 27 meeting after services had been rendered. The reimbursement goes to Alaska Island Community Services to offset expenses incurred after it relocated its clinic to a new building site.

Wrangell’s previous borough manager Timothy Rooney negotiated with AICS in 2009 to relocate its clinic, for the sake of convenience, next to where the Wrangell Medical Center would build its new facility—the Alpine site.

In an e-mail sent to the assembly in 2011, Rooney stated “…it became evident that AICS had a cost increase in moving to the Alpine location and they were clear that they would not locate on other property as long as the proposal was not cost neutral.”

According to AICS, the cost to relocate cost $250,000.

Interim Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch said the lot needed to be significantly developed in order to build on it.

“They had to cut down all the timber, put drainage in there, some of it was kind of muskegy,” Jabusch said. “They had to take that down to bedrock before they could build a building on it.”

In the e-mail, Rooney stated he was confident the Denali Commission could make up the cost difference by way of grant funding. The borough received the funding but was still short $100,000. The then city manager negotiated the deal but the assembly never voted on spending those dollars—a substantial amount of money that was never budgeted.

“The buildings built and they’re in it,” Jabusch said. “It’s kind of an after the fact thing. It’s very possible that he (Rooney) just forgot to bring it forward until AICS came down and said ‘We’d like to get our money now’.”

But Rhonda Christian, Wrangell resident who spoke during public comment, objected to the city spending the money.

“I think this assembly should reconsider this commitment because I don’t think there was a commitment,” Christian said. “It could have been verbal but it was never brought before the assembly.”

She also inquired as to receipts specific to moving costs.

The assembly approved the reimbursement 4-1 with Ernest Christian voting against the motion.