In its Tuesday evening meeting this week, the City and Borough Assembly decided to shift focus for block grant funding to remodeling the Public Safety Building.
Sited centrally to town at the start of Zimovia Highway, the aging facility has already neared the top of the city’s capital improvement priorities.
In its project outline, city staff recommended putting the building forward as a candidate for Community Development Block Grant funding, a competitive program sourcing $2.4 million of Housing and Urban Development funding each year into Alaskan communities. Use of the funds is tightly regimented, with a number of criteria having to be met to be eligible for the program.
One criterion is a community’s income level, with at least 51 percent of the population having to fall into the low or moderate income levels. A re-estimation of Wrangell’s fiscal makeup last spring found that level to be at 52.8 percent, making the city eligible for CDBG consideration.
Seven possible projects were presented to members of the Assembly as candidates for CDBG funding. One of these had been suggested by a member of the public, extending utility access to the former Institute property in advance of future residential and commercial development.
Of the problems presented though, city staff considered the Public Safety Building to be one of the highest priorities, as it houses Wrangell’s fire and police departments, Department of Motor Vehicles office, courthouse and local jail, and is critical to emergency and disaster response coordination for the area. Its window fixtures and siding were identified as needing replacement at least 13 years ago, and the recent discovery this summer of an infestation by carpenter ants, coupled with various structural failures and leaks, have elevated the building’s remodeling in priority above most other projects.
Redesign of the aging municipal water treatment facility was eligible for the program as well, and though likely more pressing an issue is currently undergoing a comprehensive analysis. Conclusions to be drawn from the data on that are unlikely to be available before mid-November, by which time an application for CDBG funding should be ready for submission.
City manager Lisa Von Bargen relayed estimates for rehabilitation of the Public Safety Building as being around $549,633. However, due to program criteria any CDBG funds may not be used for improvements to the courthouse or police department, as those services fall beyond the scope of the program. Separating out Volunteer Fire Department facilities as a separate item, total costs would be $294,273, with a minimum match on the part of the city estimated at $137,408.
“We’re still refining that, but that’s where we are,” Von Bargen said of the estimate.
In the 2018 fiscal year budget approved earlier this summer, funding for the building’s rehabilitation had been approved as a top capital expenditure, with funding to come from the city’s general fund. Estimates made prior to the extensive ant and dry rot discoveries were considerably lower, however, at around $335,000. Though CDBG funding would not be able to completely cover revised costs, Von Bargen pointed out its use to cover at least $157,000 would defray costs and relieve some pressure on Wrangell’s savings.
“I think this is a good project,” Assembly member Patti Gilbert remarked after the assessment was given. Fellow members agreed in discussion, voting to approve putting the rehabilitation forward as a candidate for CDBG funding.
In other borough business, Von Bargen reported Juneau-based scrap firm Channel Construction would be returning with its barge in mid-November to offload more scrap from the island. The firm shifted tons of the stuff from Wrangell’s waste transfer yard in June, waiving fees in exchange for the city foregoing compensation for its recyclable scrap. The junkyard had been strained for space prior to the deal, with ferrous waste building up after years of depressed commodities prices made its removal too costly.
Von Bargen took the news as an opportunity to invite residents to bring in what scrap they can before next month’s removal. As an encouragement, she said the waste transfer facility would be waiving its usual fees for disposal of metallic scrap until then.
“This is an opportunity for the community to clean up prior to winter,” Von Bargen added. She referenced a decision by the Assembly at its last meeting on September 26 to prioritize removal of various “nuisances,” the term in code used to describe any number of scrap piles, abandoned vehicles and other eyesores that accumulate in the public view.
There are already laws on the books against such nuisances, but to the present have largely gone unenforced. Von Bargen reported she has met with the chief of police on the matter, and that abandoned vehicles currently on public property will be dealt with soon. For the rest of the island’s property owners, the Assembly proposed allowing a “grace period” through the start of May allowing them ample time to resolve any issues on their own. After that, Von Bargen suggested residents can expect more regular enforcement of municipal code.
On its agenda in the near future, the Borough Assembly will be holding a joint workshop with Wrangell Medical Center administrators and board members on November 6, to discuss the financial feasibility of a new hospital facility.
Von Bargen said she has also been in contact with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which is slated to begin building a monofill site for treated lead-contaminated soil at a rock quarry near Pats Creek next spring. Citing local concerns about the project, the department had postponed the project from its original start time of July. The city soon afterward submitted a letter requesting guidance on potential alternatives to move or dispose of the soil elsewhere.
Two letters have been received, which Von Bargen said will soon be put up on the http://www.wrangell.com website for the public to view. She has already met with staff with Wrangell Cooperative Association, which has also vocalized a disapproving view of the project’s siting.
“What I would like to do is have a workshop with the Assembly prior to the next meeting,” Von Bargen said, which is scheduled for October 24. Gilbert suggested she would like to see better details from DEC on its cost estimates to transport the materials off island. The department has cited high cost as its motivation for consigning the 18,300 cubic yards of soil to a monofill on the island, but has given various estimates on what that would be.
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