2017 – a year in review

Another year begins this week, and 2018 both holds promise and poses challenges to Wrangell residents. Economic trials will perhaps be of the greatest concern as state coffers seem set to dry up and fishing forecasts continue to disappoint. Limits to funding sources will be of particular bother as the borough continues to address an aging infrastructure, though securing state funding for the Shoemaker Bay Harbor refurbishment and an expected start to the belated Evergreen Road repaving should both be legs up in the coming year.

Looking back on the last year, the town saw the addition of new businesses and a net growth in residents, and was named the region's community of the year. The elementary school admitted one of its largest classes of students in over a decade, the high school volleyball team had a Cinderella finish to its season with a best-ever end at state, and the graduating class attracted nearly $600,000 in grants and scholarships as it headed into adulthood.

Here are a few of the biggest stories the Sentinel covered over the course of last year, a number of which readers can expect to hear more on as they develop in 2018.

January

The Sourdough Lodge on Peninsula Avenue began its transition to use as an assisted living home, with investors in Harbor House filing for conditional use permitting with Planning and Zoning. Concerns from neighbors about proposed operations necessitated a pair of additional specially-called meetings, but the center got its permitting in the end. After a delay it opened its doors in April.

Members of the Alaska State Legislature convened for the new year with a full agenda. Their most pressing task – filling a multibillion-dollar hole in the state budget – went largely unaddressed through a full session and four special sessions, with members of the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate majorities unable to agree on how best to fix the budget, making 2017 the fifth fiscal year in a row to see significant losses. By the end of the year the Constitutional Budget Reserve looked set to be exhausted, after which lawmakers' funding sources for operations would be spent unless they could reconfigure earnings from the $56 billion Permanent Fund to allow transfers.

The cash reserves for Wrangell Medical Center hit the million-dollar mark, causing administrators to breathe a little easier. In late 2014 the municipal hospital's cashflow had hit a critical low point, prompting creation of a $500,000 line of credit by the Borough Assembly and the transfer of billing services to an outside firm. The hospital's surplus would be short-lived, however, and by the year's end it will have drawn on half of its available emergency credit. A city asset, the Borough Assembly has begun looking into alternative management models for the hospital, as well as ways to finance a new facility.

February

The high school basketball program and fans bid farewell to boys' coach Ray Stokes, who retired after 30 years. Stokes' teams over the years accumulated a number of regional titles and one state championship, and many of his former students came together for a special farewell presentation at the school gym. Following his retirement, two of them – Cody Angerman and Graham Gablehouse – were named as successors, filling the roles of head and assistant coach for the 2017/18 season.

At its annual fundraising dinner, the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce named physician Lynn Prysunka as its citizen of the year for 2017. In its award, the organization cited Dr. Prysunka's dedication to her work and commitment to the community. At the dinner Bobs' IGA was named the 2017 Business of the Year for its support of community initiatives, and school seniors Reyn Hutten, Alex Angerman and Kaylauna Churchill together shared the Young Leaders award. Hannah's Place received a special commendation for its work assisting young families.

March

After serving the borough for 40 years as its finance director and city manager, Jeff Jabusch retired at the month's end. Though not unexpected, finding a replacement took some time – in February the Assembly had decided to extend the search after meeting with a first batch of candidates. Economic development director Carol Rushmore filled in as city manager during the interim, until former Valdez economic director Lisa Von Bargen was hired on in July.

Wrangell educator Virginia Oliver took part in a community research program of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, flying to the nation's capital to identify Tlingit artifacts and prioritize them for further study. While visiting various Smithsonian museums, Oliver helped out students back at home by capturing the experience with a virtual reality camera, which they could then explore remotely.

April

The Borough Assembly scrambled with city staff to prepare its water treatment facility for summertime production. The 2016 summer season had seen demand outpace production, to the extent that emergency measures had to be taken. Problems with the plant's sand filtration units and maintenance needs were both identified, and new cleaning methods and temporary staff were taken on ahead of the 2017 season. Combined with community outreach on conscientious water usage, the season's water production went by without incident.

A planned acquisition of Alaska Island Community Services by Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium went ahead this month following a delay over agreement details. The regional healthcare services provider took over operations for the Wrangell-headquartered provider, which itself had expanded to six other communities since its founding in 1989. During the transition, an agreement with the City of Wrangell was reached that would continue the clinic's collaboration with the public hospital. AICS facilities would still retain their name after the acquisition, while SEARHC solidified its place as the largest healthcare network in Southeast Alaska.

The 20th annual Stikine River Birding Festival was held during the month's final weekend, celebrating the area's diverse bird population. Drawing in ornithological specialists for a bevy of workshops and presentations, the festival won an award from the Mindful Birding Project in February for promoting conservation.

May

A unit of the Army National Guard decommissioned the Wrangell armory, which along with five dozen others across the state was divested from due to budgetary reductions to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The 35-year-old facility was situated on a lease lot on Bennett Street owned by the city, and reverted back to its control following the decommissioning.

Wrangell High School graduated 24 seniors in its Class of 2017. Together the students garnered around $600,000 in financial awards for higher education. For their senior projects, the large graduating class left its mark by supporting a diverse range of community concerns, from the construction of new benches for a proposed Mariners Memorial to a new greenhouse for Evergreen Elementary School to donated time to various peewee programs and nonprofit groups.

A 64-pound Chinook caught by Gary Smart blew other competition out of the water in the 2017 King Salmon Derby. His party of four also caught the second-largest fish during their trip, with Andrew Rowland bagging a 41.9 pound king. Smart's catch was the biggest the Wrangell derby had seen since 1986, and was an outlier from a trend of winners in the 40-pound range that had continued since 2009.

June

The royalty competition sponsored by the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce kicked off ahead of July 4th's celebrations. Using the new pavilion build at the corner of Lynch and Front streets, Charley Seddon and Hailie Davis competed with food and ticket sales, door-to-door solicitation and other promos, raising money both for themselves and the next year's Independence Day celebration. Seddon came away with the crown after selling 46,463 tickets, with both girls together raising over $90,000.

City workers walked out on strike for a week after their International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local and Wrangell negotiators failed to agree to each others' final offers. The two parties had been engaged in a lengthy – at times litigious – series of negotiation after expiry of the previous collective bargaining agreement in 2014. Twenty-four workers went on strike ahead of the July 4 weekend, but went back on the job when it was agreed to return to negotiations. A resolution was soon arrived at on salary increases and health insurance copay that was amenable to both parties.

July

Selection of a rock pit situated near Pats Creek by state authorities for the construction of a monofill riled local concerns. Over 18,000 cubic yards of treated but lead-contaminated soil from the former Byford yard cleanup were due to be interred at the site by contractors. The Department of Environmental Conservation had chosen the spot after learning removal of the excess soil from Wrangell Island would be uneconomical, after the Byford cleanup it had spearheaded the previous year had turned out to be more extensive than first planned. Subsequent meetings with city and Wrangell Cooperative Association officials yielded a stay on the project, though it is expected to resume in 2018.

The city learned its application for match grant funding with the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities was effectively approved by the Alaska Legislature, with $5,000,000 allotted to a capital refurbishment program that would benefit Shoemaker Bay Harbor. The $11m project would replace the harbor's aging float network, and is expected to begin by spring 2018. Though Wrangell's project had been previously accepted by the ADOTP&F, funding had been unavailable in previous years.

August

Despite an optimistic opening, summer seafood production wound down early in Wrangell with the closure of Trident Seafood just before mid-month. Pink salmon returns to the region had been around average for the season, and while outpacing 2016's dismal season was still considered a disappointment. Returns elsewhere were better, and chum salmon returns in Southeast set records for the year. Diminished king salmon numbers have been cause for concern, and special actions regarding their fisheries are expected from the January 2018 Board of Fisheries meeting in Sitka.

A pair of problems at the Public Safety Building highlighted deeper concerns with the facility, after its elevator quit working and a colony of carpenter ants were discovered in the walls of a court office. Already slated to have its leaky roof and weathered siding replaced in a project alongside the community swimming pool, the unpleasant discoveries helped shift priority to the PSB, which houses most of Wrangell's emergency and legal services. Pending air quality evaluation, the Alaska Court System would suspend its court services in mid-November. The situation remains ongoing into the new year.

September

Wrangell was named Community of the Year at the Southeast Conference annual summit. In presenting the award, the regional economic organization cited the community's economic transformation following the downturn in its timber industry in the 1990s.

October

Municipal elections were mostly uneventful, with six positions run for without competition, no ballot measures to consider, and a place on the Hospital Board receiving no candidates. A three-way race for a spot on the School Board came out close, with only a single vote separating the top two candidates after initial polling. Subsequent ballots counted confirmed David Wilson's win by a slightly wider margin.

The local moose hunting season broke records for the Wrangell-Petersburg unit with 117 taken. The monthlong season saw the most moose harvested on Kupreanof Island, and marks an ongoing trend of triple-digit numbers for area hunters.

Stikine Middle School officially adopted the Wolves mascot of Wrangell High School, a move which had been mainly ascribed to financial reasons. The old Cougars name had been in place at the school since the early 1990s, and was adopted after a rural resident on the island had reported the first-ever shooting of a mountain lion in the state. The cougar in question was subsequently stuffed and mounted for display, and still resides in a case near the school's commons.

November

After taking second at Region V in Petersburg, Wrangell High School's volleyball team had a second-place finish at State in Anchorage. Its first appearance to the championships in over a decade, the girls took the tournament into an additional tie-breaker round in the finals against Petersburg. The result was the team's best-ever showing, and a good sendoff for its six outgoing senior classmen.

Management at radio station KSTK approved transfer of the station's assets and licenses to CoastAlaska, a regional organization based in Juneau. An application to transfer its four licenses was filed with the Federal Communications Commission the following month, with a decision expected later in January or February. The move was prompted by financial concerns as the station came up short for a crucial grant requirement.

December

The United States Forest Service entered a decision on its Wrangell Island timber sale, scaling back the project to between 5 million and 7 million board feet. The financial viability of the units being considered in the original proposal and environmental impacts of their harvesting went into the decision. The project had previously proposed under 56 million board feet, which itself was a reduction from an initially-expected sale three or four times that amount.