The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a long meeting last Tuesday evening, May 28. The meeting covered a wide variety of topics, from the city’s water management strategy to budget matters.
First there was a workshop on the water management strategy. Wrangell and other communities faced a power crisis recently due to low water levels at Tyee and Swan Lake. Wrangell briefly went on a water watch in early March, as the reservoirs dropped to low levels. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that the majority of Southeast Alaska is currently facing drought conditions.
There were various proposed amendments to Wrangell’s water management strategy. The water watch has three stages, one to three, that the city can declare depending on how low water levels become. The water department recommended that a stage one water watch be declared “when the Upper Reservoir stops overflowing across the spillway,” according to the workshop’s agenda packet. The water department also recommended that the public not be allowed to water landscaped areas, clean sidewalks or decks, or wash motor vehicles during this stage of the water watch.
Stage two would be declared “when a Stage I level exists and the average production levels have increased to a sustained 720,000 gallons per day.” In response, it is recommended that the public follow all stage one guidelines, and will also be required to fix or turn off any pipes that are damaged or leaking.
Stage three would be recommended “when it becomes necessary to clean three filters a week, or when maintaining or recovering storage tank levels becomes problematic or impossible.” There are no proposed amendments to what is already in place. All outdoor use of water is prohibited, and any customer found with a leaking or damaged water line will have their service disconnected. The industrial and commercial use of water shall also be reduced by an amount set by the borough assembly, depending on the severity of the water shortage. A town hall meeting to discuss water conservation is being scheduled for June 12.
The assembly also planned to formally approve of the Wrangell School District’s 2020 budget, which the school board adopted early this month. As a part of this final approval, the assembly also had to consider the borough’s contribution to the school. They were considering giving the school district about $1.36 million, in Secure Rural Schools funding and a local contribution from sales taxes. This caused a bit of a debate amongst the assembly. Prysunka said that for several weeks he has been asking the district to provide the assembly monthly “actuals,” to see how much money departments in the district typically spend. He suggested that the assembly lower the proposed local contribution. The school could come to them and ask for money on a case-by-case basis if more funds were needed.
Other members of the assembly voiced their agreement with Prysunka, and their disappointment with the district for not getting the actuals to them on time. Assembly Member David Powell suggested that the item be tabled to see if the information could be gathered before a vote was absolutely necessary. Eventually, the assembly voted to table the item for an emergency meeting, which is scheduled for May 31 at 5:15 p.m.. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster, present at the meeting, apologized for the frustration and said that she would do her best to get the requested information to them.
The assembly also held a public hearing on their 2020 budget. For this new financial year, Wrangell is expecting a total of roughly $20.1 million in expenditures, as opposed to $16.6 million in revenue. This deficit will be covered by the borough’s reserves. According to the agenda packet, Wrangell has $5.9 million in unrestricted reserves, and another $21.4 million reserved that are restricted by charter, ordinance, resolutions, or vote by the public. The public hearing was short, as there were no questions from the public save for a definition between “restricted” and “unrestricted” reserves. The assembly will be voting to adopt the budget at a later date.
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