The City and Borough Assembly authorized a pair of grants to be applied for in its name while narrowly nixing a third.
Meeting Tuesday, the first item the body considered was participation in the Community Development Block Grant program offered by the Department of Agriculture. An application put forward to the program for $304,297 in funding would fund just over half of rehabilitation work to the building envelope of the Public Safety Building. A recently revised cost estimate for the project put together by Jensen Yorba Lott totals $589,728.
Per the limitations on how CDBG funds can be used, if approved the grant portion would go strictly toward the fire station’s portion of the remodeling. The city would provide the remaining $292,113 needed for the law enforcement portions of the building.
Responding to a question from the Assembly, Public Works Department director Amber Al-Haddad explained that exterior rot and an infestation by carpenter ants has already displaced one staff member with the courthouse from her office space. City workers have already stripped the walls of its gypsum sheeting, and now that the scope of the project has been ascertained will make repairs ahead of the larger project so she can be returned to her workspace.
“We will go back in and make those repairs to that interior office space,” said Al-Haddad. Options for moving forward on rehabilitating the building without grant funds were also put forward, with different available funding sources identified from other allotted maintenance funds. These were primarily set aside in the current budget for repairs to the swimming pool roof and temperature upgrades.
Assembly members also approved a resolution in support of an updated coordinated transportation plan for seniors. Catholic Social Services, which manages Wrangell’s Senior Center, last month held a meeting with community partners to discuss its various transportation needs. High among these is a replacement van with wheelchair accessibility, for which the organization will be applying for a grant through the Alaska Department of Transportation.
The van in question would cost $90,000, which under the grant terms would require an $18,000 match. Describing the arrangement, Wrangell’s city manager Lisa Von Bargen said she was still waiting for details from CSS on where it would get the funds from. The city already provides the center with $11,000 each year to support disability meal and transportation services, but Von Bargen reported that those funds could not be considered an in-kind match under the terms of the grant.
The application is due on December 1, and as the Assembly only has one meeting scheduled for the month Von Bargen explained the resolution of support would go toward helping with the organization’s application.
The third grant item considered on Tuesday was from Wrangell Medical Center, seeking permission to apply for a Teacher, Health Professional and Public Safety Housing (THHP) grant through Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The goal would be to finance construction of a four-plex apartment designated primarily for traveling medical staff. Hospital chief executive Robert Rang explained to Assembly members that the move could help the hospital save on housing costs for transients, which he estimated at $35,000 per year.
However, Assembly member Dave Powell singled out the potential costs of its construction as one cause for concern. In the item packet it was explained WMC would apply for the maximum grant award of $550,000, which could come in the form of a grant or as a combination of grant and loan funds. However, a cost estimate for the apartment structure would not be available until November 20. Given those details, Rang suggested the hospital would not have to accept the grant if offered, and would anyway have to bring any amount back to the Assembly for a decision before it could be accepted.
Calling back to Monday’s meeting (see hospital story on Page 1) where the financial independence of the hospital itself was in question, Powell felt it would be best to wait before jumping into a new construction project.
“I feel we should put this on hold,” he said. “It’s kind of up in the air here. I think a lot of stuff with the hospital should be on hold until we know where we’re going.”
Assembly member Stephen Prysunka also wondered whether the apartment units would be rented out when transient staff did not require housing. Rang said that had been the intention, opening up the housing to permanent staff at the hospital, but also to newly arrived educators and law enforcement officers. Prysunka worried that arrangement would in effect pit the city against private enterprise, competing for renters.
With those two considerations at the fore, members narrowly voted the item down in a 3-4 decision.
Lastly, Von Bargen sought the Assembly’s feelings on what to do with material dredged from Shoemaker Bay Harbor once renovation work begins next year. She and finance director Lee Burgess are already in communication with the Alaska Bond Bank regarding the financing of the project, which was greenlit this summer for $5 million in DOT matching funds. The full project is expected to cost around $11.4 million, though Von Bargen pointed out that disposal of the old floats and dredged material had not been taken into account in the plans.
Given recent concerns among the public about a proposed monofill for treated but lead-contaminated soils from the reclaimed Byford junk site, she suggested that the city pay to have dredged material tested for contaminants, though storage at a suitable upland site would not require such by either the Army Corps of Engineers or Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I think it’s not a bad idea if we figure out what it is,” said Prysunka.
Assembly member Patty Gilbert said she would like to see a dollar figure at the next meeting, which has been rescheduled for December 5. Von Bargen will also present a list of potential sites for the dredged material.
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