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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Sitka City and Borough Assembly Regular Meeting - December 17, 2024

City and Borough Assembly — Tuesday, December 17, 2024

BodySitka, Alaska

SessionCity and Borough Assembly

DateTuesday, December 17, 2024

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:16:41

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

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.

0:17

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

0:23

With gratitude, we proceed on Clinketani.

0:27

Sarah Roll Call, please.

0:29

Mayor Eisenbais.

0:30

Present.

0:31

Mr.

0:31

Pike?

0:32

Here.

0:32

Ms.

0:33

Carlson?

0:33

Here.

0:34

Mr.

0:34

Yestad.

0:35

Here.

0:36

Mr.

0:36

Christensen.

0:37

Here.

0:37

Mr.

0:37

Mosier?

0:38

Here.

0:38

And Mr.

0:39

Saline.

0:40

Here.

0:43

Uh, thank you.

0:44

Uh, under correspondence and agenda changes, uh, do have one item this uh this evening, um, unless there's objection from the assembly would like to move item E to after item I that gives us an opportunity to discuss the commercial land use plan uh before adopting the ordinance for it.

1:03

So is there anybody opposed to that change?

1:07

All right, thank you.

1:08

Any other correspondence or agenda changes this evening?

1:14

Uh seeing none, that'll bring us to special reports.

1:17

Is there anyone here for government to government?

1:22

Municipal boards, commissions, committees, municipal departments, school district, and students and guests for special reports.

1:37

Seeing none, that'll bring us to persons to be heard.

1:39

This is public participation for any uh any item off of tonight's agenda, not to exceed three minutes for any individual.

2:00

Good evening, Austin Cranford.

2:02

I was only planning on speaking once tonight, but it looks like I'll be speaking several times tonight.

2:06

Uh I just wanted to bring attention.

2:08

I noticed that there were several reports at the start of the agenda for tonight's meeting, and in one of the reports was actually the clerk's report, which I found quite interesting because it mentions that there was a scanning project and a laserfitch uh cloud migration project.

2:25

Uh the scanning project was completed in October after boxes were shipped over the summer.

2:31

Uh and the reason it was brought to my attention is because one, there is obviously currently uh ongoing case that the assembly will speak about later tonight.

2:40

Uh ongoing that mentions files that may or may not exist or could not be found, could not be cited.

2:53

But the main reason I'm bringing it forward is on the meetings of January 9th, 2024, January 23rd of 2024, and February 27th of 2024, which are the meetings that I brought forward my uh put we'll say petition for reconsideration.

3:10

Basically, my records requests were denied, and I brought that before the assembly.

3:14

Those were those three meetings.

3:16

And uh a comment from one of the assembly members was do you think we can just go into our system and look up uh this information?

3:23

Well, according to the clerk's report, this information is now digitized, and I was reading uh the laserfitch system uh comment in the report, and I'm like, wait a minute, where have I seen that uh report before?

3:36

Or software reform uh before?

3:38

My apologies.

3:39

So I went and looked it up.

3:41

It is used by the federal government, so I've actually had experience in using it.

3:45

So I went to their website, and the specific uh comment made by the assembly member was do you think we can just go and search for specific words?

3:55

And this is directly from LaserFitch's website.

3:58

Is a powerful way of quickly locating documents in your uh repository based on whatever information you have.

4:03

For example, you can search by full or partial entry names, particular field data, text or annoy uh and annoyed text, and then it continues on how you would go about this process.

4:15

So my question is why was that comment made at the assembly meeting of do you think we can just go and search for keywords when within the development documentation of the program the city itself uses, it says you can do exactly that.

4:30

Um because this brings a whole we'll say rapport of FOIA request and information request that were denied because all the information couldn't be found, or because the statements were too broad.

4:45

Um and yeah, I'd like a response from the assembly on that matter.

4:48

That's all I have for now.

4:49

Thank you.

4:56

Anybody else this evening under persons to be heard?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Parks and Recreation██████████████████████████26%

Tourism███████████████████19%

Procedural████████████████16%

Harbor Operations███████████11%

Public Engagement████████8%

Fisheries Management██████6%

Strategic Planning███3%

Pending Litigation███3%

Affordable Housing███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Sitka City and Borough Assembly Regular Meeting - December 17, 2024

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly met on December 17, 2024, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers. The meeting covered a consent agenda, supplemental appropriations, a strategic plan update, a resolution opposing a fisheries proposal, and extensive discussion on the Commercial Land Use Plan and related ordinance. The meeting adjourned at 10:11 PM.

Consent Calendar

Item A: Approved the minutes of the November 12 and 26, 2024 Assembly meetings.
Item B: Approved the Acting Administrator list for 2025 (Amy Ainslie, Josh Branthoover, Sara Peterson, Ron Vinson).
Item C: Approved a liquor license renewal for Sitka Lodge No. 1350 Loyal Order of Moose, Inc. All items passed unanimously (7-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

On Clerk's Office Report: Austin Cranford questioned previous denials of records requests, noting that the city's new digitization system (Laserfiche) allows keyword searches, contrary to earlier statements.
On Resolution 24-17 (Opposing Proposal 156): Justin Peeler (commercial fisherman, NSRA board president), Chris Ystad (fisherman, later recused from vote), and Scott Wagner (NSRA general manager) spoke in support. They emphasized that hatchery fish provide 46% of salmon value, that Proposal 156 is an arbitrary 25% reduction, and that it would devastate Southeast Alaska's economy and fisheries.
On Commercial Land Use Plan (Item I):
- Bethany Lowrance (High Output Tours) opposed the plan, citing insufficient survey data (174 respondents), fee increases, capacity cuts, and a rushed process.
- Linda Olsen (55-year resident, tourism) argued the plan creates barriers to accessing public lands and runs counter to inclusive federal land management.
- Sarah Hadad-Dembs (Bumble Expeditions) raised concerns about rushed process, unreasonable fees ($5–$10 per client vs. $0.05 Forest Service annual increase), lack of enforcement plan, and negative impact on already-booked tours.
- Ryan Harris (former Island Fever/Sitka Bike and Hike) highlighted guides' roles as educators and safety professionals, warning that capacity limits could lead to unguided visitors causing safety issues.
- Keith Dundas (High Output Tours employee) opposed the plan, calling it based on a small sample, with skewed season length (April–October, not May–September) and no mandated use of fee revenue.
- Anne Marie LaPalme spoke in support, praising the thorough data collection and public input process.
On Persons to Be Heard: Austin Cranford commented on the Baranof Taxi & Tours, LLC v. Robert M. Baty litigation, noting a court ruling that the police chief lacked authority to create new interpretations of municipal code. Bethany Lowrance requested alignment with Forest Service per-season limits rather than weekly limits.

Discussion Items

Item D: ORD 24-29 – Supplemental Appropriations for Marine Vessel Haul Out and Shipyard Project (FY2025)

Engineer Michael Harman answered questions about the scope, including a heated washdown pad. Assembly member Carlson voted no, citing the $163,525 from the general fund for a 'nice to have' item. Other members debated the necessity of heating, with some citing support from Huna's administrator. Vote: 6-1 (Carlson opposed). Passed.

Item F: ORD 24-31 – Supplemental Appropriations for Data Center Uninterruptible Power Supply (FY2025)

Approved unanimously (7-0).

Item G: RES 24-18 – Second Annual Update to Sitka Strategic Plan 2022-2027

Presented by Melissa Wilman (Public and Government Relations Director). Highlights included updates to goals, completion of actions (e.g., housing summit, asset manager hire), and improved staff vacancy rates. Assembly members praised the plan's utility for grants. Passed unanimously (7-0).

Item H: RES 24-17 – Opposing Proposal 156 at Alaska Board of Fisheries (January 28 – February 9, 2025)

Co-sponsors Kevin Mosher and Thor Christianson introduced the resolution, noting that similar proposals have been submitted 10 times since 2005. Public testimony in support. Assembly member Chris Ystad recused himself due to board membership in two hatchery organizations. Vote: 6-0 (Ystad recused). Passed.

Item I: 24-188 – Adopt the 2024 Commercial Land Use Plan

Amy Ainslie (Planning Director) and Kevin Knox (Parks and Rec Coordinator) presented the plan, developed from a 174-respondent survey, historic permit data, and alignment with U.S. Forest Service allocations. Proposed fees: $400 application fee, $5 per client (most areas), $10 per client for Goddard and Baranof Warm Springs. Group sizes and weekly limits were set at 2.5 times historic use. Exceptions included existing Forest Service permits and hardship for 2024 permit holders.
Public testimony was divided. Assembly debated numerous amendments: aligning Thimbleberry with Forest Service limits (group size 14 vs. 8), excluding Goddard from commercial use, delaying fees to 2026, and postponing implementation.
Motions:
1. Postpone to first meeting in January 2025 – failed (2-5).
2. Delay implementation to 2026 – failed (1-6).
3. Postpone to second meeting in January 2025 – passed (7-0).
Staff will revise the plan based on assembly comments, present it to the Parks and Recreation Committee (January 14, 2025), and return to the assembly on January 28, 2025. A clerk note subsequently indicated that staff later decided to submit a revised ordinance (2025-02) with an effective date of November 1, 2025, for implementation beginning in 2026.

Item E: ORD 24-30 – Amending Title 14, Chapter 14.10 (Commercial Recreational Use of Municipal Lands)

Noted as intertwined with Item I. The assembly moved to postpone second reading to the second meeting in January 2025 (January 28, 2025) – passed unanimously (7-0). A clerk note later stated that staff decided to submit a revised ordinance (2025-02) to take effect November 1, 2025, for 2026 implementation.

Key Outcomes

Consent agenda approved.
ORD 24-29 (Marine Vessel Haul Out) passed (6-1).
ORD 24-31 (Data Center UPS) passed (7-0).
RES 24-18 (Strategic Plan Update) passed (7-0).
RES 24-17 (Opposing Proposal 156) passed (6-0, Ystad recused).
Commercial Land Use Plan (Item I) postponed to the second meeting in January 2025 (January 28, 2025) for further revision and public input. Staff will incorporate assembly feedback and present to the Parks and Recreation Committee before resubmission. Subsequent staff action indicated that the plan and related ordinance will be revised for implementation in 2026.
ORD 24-30 postponed to the second meeting in January 2025; staff later submitted a revised ordinance effective November 2025 for 2026 implementation.
Executive session held to discuss legal matters (Wampler v. McGrath/CBS and Dick v. CBS). No public action taken.
Meeting adjourned at 10:11 PM.

Meeting Transcript

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 Clinketani. Sarah Roll Call, please. Mayor Eisenbais. Present. Mr. Pike? Here. Ms. Carlson? Here. Mr. Yestad. Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Mr. Mosier? Here. And Mr. Saline. Here. Uh, thank you. Uh, under correspondence and agenda changes, uh, do have one item this uh this evening, um, unless there's objection from the assembly would like to move item E to after item I that gives us an opportunity to discuss the commercial land use plan uh before adopting the ordinance for it. So is there anybody opposed to that change? All right, thank you. Any other correspondence or agenda changes this evening? Uh seeing none, that'll bring us to special reports. Is there anyone here for government to government? Municipal boards, commissions, committees, municipal departments, school district, and students and guests for special reports. Seeing none, that'll bring us to persons to be heard. This is public participation for any uh any item off of tonight's agenda, not to exceed three minutes for any individual. Good evening, Austin Cranford. I was only planning on speaking once tonight, but it looks like I'll be speaking several times tonight. Uh I just wanted to bring attention. I noticed that there were several reports at the start of the agenda for tonight's meeting, and in one of the reports was actually the clerk's report, which I found quite interesting because it mentions that there was a scanning project and a laserfitch uh cloud migration project. Uh the scanning project was completed in October after boxes were shipped over the summer. Uh and the reason it was brought to my attention is because one, there is obviously currently uh ongoing case that the assembly will speak about later tonight. Uh ongoing that mentions files that may or may not exist or could not be found, could not be cited. But the main reason I'm bringing it forward is on the meetings of January 9th, 2024, January 23rd of 2024, and February 27th of 2024, which are the meetings that I brought forward my uh put we'll say petition for reconsideration. Basically, my records requests were denied, and I brought that before the assembly. Those were those three meetings. And uh a comment from one of the assembly members was do you think we can just go into our system and look up uh this information? Well, according to the clerk's report, this information is now digitized, and I was reading uh the laserfitch system uh comment in the report, and I'm like, wait a minute, where have I seen that uh report before? Or software reform uh before? My apologies. So I went and looked it up. It is used by the federal government, so I've actually had experience in using it.

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