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Record of Proceedings

Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting – February 27, 2024: School Funding, Fee Hikes, Appeals Denied

City and Borough Assembly — Tuesday, February 27, 2024
BodySitka, Alaska
SessionCity and Borough Assembly
DateTuesday, February 27, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:00

Uh welcome everybody.

0:01

Um call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, February 27th, 2024.

0:06

Please join me for a flag salute.

0:10

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

0:17

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:28

The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka.

0:34

With gratitude, we proceed on Clinkettani.

0:38

Sarah, roll call, please.

0:40

Mayor Eisenbais present.

0:41

Mr.

0:42

Mosier.

0:43

Here.

0:43

Mr.

0:44

Pike.

0:45

Here.

0:45

Mr.

0:46

Yestad?

0:47

Here.

0:47

Mr.

0:47

Christensen.

0:48

Here.

0:49

Ms.

0:49

Carlson.

0:50

Here.

0:50

And Mr.

0:51

Selene.

0:52

Here.

0:53

Any correspondence or agenda changes this evening?

0:59

See none.

1:00

There are no ceremonial matters this evening.

1:04

That'll bring us to special reports.

1:06

We have a scheduled special report from Tristan School Board.

1:12

Thank you.

1:29

Microphone, please.

1:30

It's like you never used one of those before.

1:40

All right.

1:40

There we go.

1:42

All right.

1:42

Mayor, Mayor Eisenbaus Assembly, thank you for having me.

1:45

Uh Tristan Gayvon, SICA School Board President.

1:48

Um, and tonight I'm here to talk with you about what we always seem to be talking about this time of year, which is the base student allocation.

1:57

And I know we've talked a lot about that between our two bodies just for the public.

2:03

The base student allocation is that per pupil funding amount that we receive from the state to provide a high quality education for all of our students.

2:15

And so I just wanted to share with you as many of you are probably aware.

2:19

Um the the state house passed an amended version of Senate Bill 140 recently.

2:25

It was an omnibus bill with a number of education items in that.

2:30

That had uh $680 BSA increase.

2:34

It had $500 per student who is on an Alaska Reeds reading improvement plan, it had money for pupil transportation and a number of other things.

2:44

That was passed by the House 38 to 2 in what really was a historic vote.

2:49

Um get into education funding funding early in the session and in a bipartisan way was really amazing.

2:59

And but as you know, the governor sent out a tweet uh yesterday um basically saying the bill is status quo, and so because he has line item veto powers and uh it takes a three-quarters majority of our legislature to overturn him.

3:16

Potentially we're looking at a another veto this year.

3:20

So I'm gonna try to be brief here, but let me just connect because I want to share um I would like to share what the impact of the BSA is on the budget.

3:35

So you have an idea as we're moving through our budget, um, given that a bulk of our budget and a good part of the city's budget uh comes from the city and borough of sitca.

3:46

So just to touch again on the BSA.

3:48

The BSA was $5,930 on July 1st, 2016.

3:54

Um that has increased only $30 over the last uh now almost eight years or eight years.

4:01

Um so the current BSA is $500 $960, anchored CPI or the inflation rate in that time about 26%.

4:11

So you see there for our current BSA to keep up with inflation would need to be 7,472 or about $1,500 more.

4:20

Um what we have been asking for is $1413 to account for that inflation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Records█████████████████████████████████████████████59%
Public Engagement████████11%
Procedural███████9%
Public Safety█████6%
Airport Operations████5%
Education And Training██3%
Pending Litigation██3%
Harbor Operations██2%
Electric Utility Management█1%
Summary of Proceedings

City and Borough of Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting – February 27, 2024

The Sitka Assembly held a regular meeting on February 27, 2024, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers. The meeting covered a school funding update, approval of cruise ship fee increases, a successive airport land lease, an interlocal MOU for firefighter grants, two public records appeals (both denied), and an executive session on police operations. All votes were 7-0.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes of the February 8 and February 13, 2024 assembly meetings.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Richard Wein expressed gratitude to Dan Etulain for his service, inquired about the city’s policy for disposal of electric vehicles, and requested an update on Electric Department operations.
  • Austin Cranford criticized the city’s lack of transparency regarding a 12-hour power outage on Peterson Street and noted the city had been without linemen since February 1.
  • Kevin Mosher (Assembly Liaison for Sustainability Commission) encouraged citizens to complete a survey on the Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy by February 29.
  • Tristan Guevin (as a citizen) thanked Municipal Attorney Brian Hanson for his dedicated service as he transitions into retirement.
  • Valorie Nelson (later in the meeting) expressed disappointment in how the Assembly treated the public during the appeals and mentioned the city was without linemen.
  • Richard Wein (second appearance) commented on lessons learned from the public records appeals.

Special Reports

  • Tristan Guevin, Sitka School Board President, presented on the Base Student Allocation (BSA) funding situation. He reported the current BSA is $5,960, an increase of only $30 since 2016, while inflation has risen 26%. Without a significant BSA increase, the school district faces a roughly $4 million deficit. He urged advocacy for a $1,413 BSA increase and noted that the governor had signaled a potential veto of the recent education funding bill.

Discussion Items

  • Cruise Ship Tender and Security Fees (RES 24-08): Harbormaster Stan Eliason relayed the Port and Harbors Commission’s recommendation for a 10% increase per year for 2024, 2025, and 2026. Projected combined revenue for the season is $182,000. Richard Wein questioned whether Halibut Point dock operations would be subject to the same fees. The resolution was approved on first and final reading (7-0).
  • Successive Land Lease for Sitka Airport (24-027): Municipal Administrator John Leach explained that the lease now allows concession revenue to remain within the Airport Terminal Fund, a change from earlier drafts. He noted that after execution, staff will renegotiate subleases and that the parking lot remains under state jurisdiction. Richard Wein expressed concerns about concession viability. The lease was approved (7-0).
  • MOU with Juneau for Assistance to Firefighters Grants (24-028): Fire Chief Craig Warren described a FEMA grant program where Juneau would manage the grant; Sitka would provide a 10% match using existing operating funds, with no administrative fee. The MOU was approved contingent on legal review by the Municipal Attorney (7-0).
  • Public Records Appeals (24-023 and 24-024): Austin Cranford appealed two responses from the Municipal Clerk stating that requested records could not be located or did not exist. The Assembly sat as a Board of Appeals. In the first appeal (Dec. 19, 2023 request), Cranford sought any records of corruption, nepotism, etc., but presented no specific evidence. In the second appeal (Dec. 20, 2023 request), he sought communications regarding threats to local media; the city reported that an IT search of over 110,000 emails found no responsive records. Cranford accused the city of hiding records, but the Assembly found no evidence to support the appeals. Both appeals were denied (7-0 each).

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved 7-0.
  • Justin Peeler reappointed to the Port and Harbors Commission; JoAnn Huff appointed to the Tree and Landscape Committee (7-0).
  • Resolution 24-08 (cruise ship fee increases) approved on first and final reading 7-0.
  • Successive land lease for Sitka Airport approved 7-0.
  • MOU with Juneau for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program approved contingent on legal review 7-0.
  • Appeal of December 19, 2023 public records request denied 7-0.
  • Appeal of December 20, 2023 public records request denied 7-0.
  • Motion to enter executive session to receive a verbal report from Police Chief Robert Baty on legal matters concerning Sitka Police Department operations affecting the municipality passed 7-0. Executive session lasted from 8:58 PM to 10:00 PM.
  • Meeting adjourned at 10:01 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Uh welcome everybody. Um call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, February 27th, 2024. Please join me for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The Assembly of the City and Borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka. With gratitude, we proceed on Clinkettani. Sarah, roll call, please. Mayor Eisenbais present. Mr. Mosier. Here. Mr. Pike. Here. Mr. Yestad? Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Ms. Carlson. Here. And Mr. Selene. Here. Any correspondence or agenda changes this evening? See none. There are no ceremonial matters this evening. That'll bring us to special reports. We have a scheduled special report from Tristan School Board. Thank you. Microphone, please. It's like you never used one of those before. All right. There we go. All right. Mayor, Mayor Eisenbaus Assembly, thank you for having me. Uh Tristan Gayvon, SICA School Board President. Um, and tonight I'm here to talk with you about what we always seem to be talking about this time of year, which is the base student allocation. And I know we've talked a lot about that between our two bodies just for the public. The base student allocation is that per pupil funding amount that we receive from the state to provide a high quality education for all of our students. And so I just wanted to share with you as many of you are probably aware. Um the the state house passed an amended version of Senate Bill 140 recently. It was an omnibus bill with a number of education items in that. That had uh $680 BSA increase. It had $500 per student who is on an Alaska Reeds reading improvement plan, it had money for pupil transportation and a number of other things. That was passed by the House 38 to 2 in what really was a historic vote. Um get into education funding funding early in the session and in a bipartisan way was really amazing.

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