Wrangell’s City and Borough Assembly interviewed a pair of top candidates to replace the city manager next month.
Jeff Jabusch announced his plans to retire last September, after serving as manager for nearly four years. He will be finished at City Hall on March 31, after which economic director Carol Rushmore will step in as interim manager until the transition is completed.
Steps to hunt down a replacement for Jabusch were taken shortly after his announcement, and a months-long interview process yielded four candidates by mid-February. Three dropped out before final interviews could take place, and the Assembly decided to pass on the fourth after an in-person fly-in.
Assessing the process, members felt a more expedited search would be better, and Jabusch worked with city clerk Kim Lane to sift through online and referenced candidates for the Assembly to interview. A special meeting was called midday Monday to talk to candidates, and two are tentatively expected to come to Wrangell in-person, as quickly as next week.
Gene Green is currently the project manager for Clackamas County, Oregon, after serving for two years as manager for the city of Damascus, also in Clackamas. He had been reassigned within the county after the city of 10,700 voted to discorporate in May 2016. His prior public experience spans 40 years, including management positions in Kearny, Arizona; Molalla, Oregon; and Unalaska.
Lisa Von Bargen is currently the community and economic development director for Valdez, a position she has held since 2001. Prior to that she served five years with the Valdez Convention and Visitors Bureau as director and tourism manager, and was executive director for the city’s Chamber of Commerce for 21 months. Her resume lists a wide range of project experience pertinent to city management, such as grant writing and land redevelopment.
Lane explained the fly-in interviews will be handled differently this time around. While the candidates will still have in-person interviews with the Borough Assembly in executive session, there will be a public reception afterward that will allow them to meet with residents. Assembly members will then make up their minds on how to proceed from there. A date for that has not been set yet.
At its regularly scheduled meeting last week, Jabusch also updated the Assembly on ongoing efforts to revamp the town’s water treatment plant. Ahead of the busy summer season, the plant’s slow sand filtration units need a good cleaning in order to keep up with demand.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation recent approved modifications to the filtration system submitted by the city in December. The approved modifications will update materials used in an emergency fix during last summer’s shortage to safer materials, while the bulk of the proposed work will have the filters’ sand thoroughly washed for the first time in the plant’s operating life.
A work plan for the roughing filter modifications will begin development, including procuring materials, contracting with appropriate contractors, hiring temporary laborers, securing rental equipment, etc. Due to the planning needs, coupled with the labor intense nature of the proposed sand washing, if sand washing is to be pursued in lieu of sand replacement, the roughing filter work may not occur immediately. DEC approved the request to bypass the roughing filter treatment process altogether when the modification work begins; therefore, when performing the work, water flow will not be affected. Following receipt of DEC’s approval, cost estimates are being developed.
Staff estimates the work will cost between $80,000 and $100,000, $35,000 of which is for material and shipping. The silica sand will be cleaned using a locally-owned sand screw, hauling material out of the filter bays to the screw, running it through with water before returning it.
In a separate fix, new ozone generators are scheduled to arrive in Wrangell around the end of April. The city will also be making an effort to rouse the populace toward conserving water in the summer months, to help offset the heightened needs of the local seafood processors during their peak production.
As a result of additional debt incurred for replacement of those, as well as potential loans to match an upcoming DEC grant to upgrade failing water mains, Jabusch also warned of a likely rate increase on water. This will come to a five-percent rise on July 1, and again on the same day in 2018, or a $4.18 increase in total on top of the residential $40.75 rate.
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