Next week the Wrangell Assembly is scheduled to parse over its line items and budget figures for the coming fiscal year.
Bound drafts were handed out to members at their Tuesday evening meeting, to digest before a pair of sessions set for May 1 and 2. As it stands now, the biggest change to come from the upcoming budget effective July 1 will be consolidation of maintenance and facilities services under a new capital facilities department. Separated from Public Works, the new department would also manage major projects and grant implementation.
“The assumptions are that there will be no planned staffing reductions,” Wrangell manager Lisa Von Bargen stated.
Compared to last year, in other departments there would be no reductions to hours or services, or to contributions to the school district or public service organizations. Healthcare costs would roughly see a 15-percent increase overall, along with increases to both non-union and unionized employees’ wage tables.
When assembly members sit down to the table on Tuesday, it will be their first opportunity to discuss the upcoming fiscal year on a line by line basis.
In her manager’s report, Von Bargen shared two items of “great news,” one being Wrangell’s designation as an “opportunity zone” under the Trump administration’s recent tax overhaul (see full story). In the other item, she relayed Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium’s confirmation this week that architectural designs and cost estimates have been drawn up for a new hospital facility, in the event the regional health care provider moves forward with a potential acquisition of Wrangell Medical Center.
“The numbers were very favorable,” Von Bargen said. More details would be provided pending further evaluation.
Von Bargen also reported a water main break at Bennett Street was repaired by city workers on Monday. Public Works estimated the break had been shedding 70 gallons per minute. Over the past month, three such fixes have saved the water utility losses of 125 gallons per minute, which add up to 180,000 gallons per day.
“That’s 22 percent of our treated water storage capacity,” Von Bargen contextualized.
Leaks plugged, even greater problems remain at the water treatment plant with the aging facility’s various inefficiencies.
“It appears we are losing approximately 40 percent of our treated water in just the manufacturing of our treated water,” Von Bargen relayed, citing estimations from staff.
This year the assembly approved moving ahead with the design and construction of a new water treatment plant, one better-suited to the sedimented raw water supply. Testing of an alternative type of preliminary filtration system that could work for both the present and future plants continues. A second round of samples were sent out for laboratory testing last week, after the first round proved inconclusive. Von Bargen warned that staff is starting to worry the Forsta filter being tested may not meet the needs of the facility, and in the end may not be more efficient. An alternative solution may be presented at the next meeting.
In other business, assembly members accepted $24,000 in Resource Advisory Committee funds from the United States Forest Service. The grant is designated for the Stikine River Birding Festival for the next three years. The educational festival’s events kick off this evening at the Nolan Center, with a linocut printmaking workshop and a “Birding 101” crash course in avian observation each scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. A full schedule for the extended weekend’s activities is available at http://www.wrangell.com/birdingfestival.
The assembly also approved an amendment to its contract zone agreement with Wrangell Cooperative Association for its headquarters construction project ongoing at Wood Street. The agreement reached previously had a life of 10 years set, but due to the investment the tribe will be putting into the property, it has requested a significantly lengthier term. An initial term of 50 years with options for two 10-year renewals was suggested and approved.
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