Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met last Wednesday, May 6, to hold a brainstorming session on how to best meet the needs of the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several groups trying to help the community and share information, Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said, such as the Convention and Visitor Bureau, the Reopen Wrangell Task Force, and the Emergency Operations Command. In Rushmore's mind, she said, the biggest problem facing Wrangell is the lack of financial capacity for people to pay bills.
"Do we need to do a survey, or some other means for actually determining what the real issue is, or do you go with the fact that it's going to be financial assistance that most people need?" Rushmore said. "The idea, for you all, is to look broadly at the community, not just at businesses."
Committee Member Julie Decker suggested that they look into the feasibility of sales tax relief or refunds for utility bills. Those are things the city already has systems in place to handle, she said, and would be relatively easy to implement. Decker also brought up the ideas of rent assistance or local grants, but in her opinion people would be better served with timeliness and efficiency. As the city already has systems in place for some potential aid programs, they should consider those options first.
Committee Member Bob Dalrymple also had some suggestions. Wrangell really needs to focus on getting increased COVID-19 testing, he said.
"Anything that we would either try to advocate for or maybe even pay for would be testing for the town," he said. "I think that's key for visitors coming in, for people that might or might not know. Without testing we're back to the lockdown and paralysis that we get to."
Dalrymple said he hopes that the city also has some sort of medical evacuation agreement to transport positive COVID-19 patients off the island for care elsewhere. This is something that the city and the Wrangell Medical Center have been discussing, Decker said. More immediately, Dalrymple proposed that community needs could be met by making sure the food available in Wrangell is healthy, and with a program offering financial assistance or discounts for getting work done in the boat yard, or with docking fees.
The brainstorming session went on for some time. The economic development committee decided to try and meet on a weekly basis to keep brainstorming and start putting together recommendations for the borough assembly.
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