The borough assembly met Tuesday night, Nov. 12, for their only scheduled meeting this month.
The meeting opened with a work session on Wrangell's local contractor policy. The policy was established in 2015, according to the meeting's information packet, and the borough wanted to start the process of seeing what needed to be clarified, updated, and changed.
After the work session, the assembly got into their regular meeting to cover a wide range of topics. Three that stood out were a memorandum of understanding with the Forest Service, the acceptance of money to go towards building a new water treatment plant, and an ongoing discussion about purchasing a new dump truck.
A memorandum of understanding was brought before the borough for approval regarding the MV Chugach. The Chugach is one of the last wooden Forest Service ranger boats around. It was constructed in 1925 and served in the region for 90 years. According to the information packet, the boat was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The Chugach currently resides in Wrangell's boat yard, next to the Nolan Center. In 2016, the museum proposed to display the boat as an important part of the region's marine heritage. Since then, borough staff and the Forest Service have discussed ways to preserve and display the boat.
The memorandum of understanding lays out the basics of the following plan: The Forest Service will loan the Chugach to the museum, and will design and fund site preparation and placement of the boat in a special cradle, for future display. They will also pay for a tent structure to cover the vessel. The borough, meanwhile, will seek grant money for the construction of a viewing platform and ADA compliant ramp to let the public view the boat. The borough would also agree to exempt the Forest Service from boatyard storage fees. There was some discussion over what the tent structure would look like and what the timeline is for the project, but the memorandum was approved by the assembly.
The assembly also accepted money from several sources that will go towards the eventual construction of a new water treatment plant. One source was a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as a grant from them, in the amounts of approximately $3.8 million and $3.1 million respectively. The loan and grant were actually approved in 2017, according to the information packet, but the delay in approving their acceptance came from having to seek out additional money to completely fund the project. This came in September of this year, thanks to an almost $3 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. All three of these sources of funding were approved, amended into the budget, and had their expenditure authorized. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said, after the meeting, that she hopes to see engineering begin for a new water treatment plant by mid-spring.
The last agenda item for the meeting also caused much discussion. Back in an assembly meeting on Oct. 24, Public Works Director Roland Howell sought up to $80,000 to purchase a new dump truck. The borough's current dump truck is about 36-years-old, and recently broke down. Howell returned to the assembly with a proposal to purchase a used dump truck from Transport Equipment Inc. in the amount of $49,900. The price and quality of the dump truck caused concern among some assembly members, though. The dump truck in question has 197,000 miles on it, plus an additional roughly 200 miles after a partial engine rebuild and other repair work. The discussion revolved around concerns of the quality of the dump truck, and whether or not the current dump truck could be repaired, and what options were available for dump truck rentals until the borough once again had an operational dump truck of their own. This went on for some time, until Assembly Member Patty Gilbert proposed an amendment. She suggested that the borough approve the purchase of the dump truck, but only after hearing back from the original dump truck's manufacturer about options for modifications or repairs. If this is possible, they will simply fix the current dump truck. If not, they will buy the other one. This amendment, and the motion, was approved by the assembly.
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