City and Borough of Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting - July 8, 2025
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City and Borough of Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting - July 8, 2025
The City and Borough of Sitka Assembly held a regular meeting on July 8, 2025, at 6:00 PM in Assembly Chambers. The meeting covered quarterly department reports, public comments, consent agenda, unfinished business including a charter amendment to fund athletic and recreational facilities, and new business including Arctic Blue Waters contract extension, port tariff adjustments, and funding for Visit Sitka services. Several votes were taken, and the assembly provided direction on Lincoln Street closures and the process for securing a new Visit Sitka operator.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of June 10 and June 24 assembly meetings.
- Approved liquor license renewal for BPO Elks Lodge #1662.
- Approved supplemental appropriations for FY2026 (E911 Phone Consoles) on first reading.
- Approved supplemental appropriations for FY2026 (Library/Electric/Central Garage Custodial Services) on first reading.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Natalie Wojik, director of Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFE), thanked the assembly for increased annual funding, noting SAFE provided 6,761 nights of shelter to 57 individuals and non-residential services to 118 others over the past year.
- Emma Bruhl, board chair of SAFE, also thanked the assembly and emphasized the importance of continued support for domestic violence services.
- Bart Meyer, Sitka Recreation Foundation, spoke in support of the charter amendment, noting the need for dedicated funding for recreation facilities.
- Lauren Wilde, representing the early childhood coalition, expressed frustration that revenue streams she had proposed for child care were not pursued, while the assembly moved forward with using the Sitka Community Hospital fund for recreation. She urged support for child care.
- Holly Meyer, Sitka Chamber of Commerce, explained that the chamber agreed to continue Visit Sitka services temporarily because letting them go dark would be a disservice to the business community.
Discussion Items
- ORD 25-18 – Charter Amendment for Sitka Community Hospital Fund: The assembly debated an amendment to allow the fund to be used for athletic and recreational facilities. Three amendments were adopted: (1) adding "and recreational" after "athletic" (6-0), (2) adding "and capital expenditures" after "bond debt" (6-0), and (3) clarifying the ballot question language. The main motion as amended passed 4-2 (Carlson and Eisenbeisz opposed). It will return for a second reading on July 22.
- Lincoln Street Closures: The assembly discussed whether to close Lincoln Street for the remainder of the visitor season. The Tourism Commission recommended keeping it open. The assembly agreed to keep the street open, citing improved pedestrian safety and the effectiveness of crossing guards. A work session on the Lincoln Street improvement project is scheduled for the following week.
- ORD 25-17 – Cell Tower Variance Appeal: Approved on second reading (6-0), authorizing the administrator to contract with the State of Alaska Office of Administrative Hearings for the appeal.
- Arctic Blue Waters Contract Extension: The assembly approved Amendment No. 1 to extend the timeline for Arctic Blue Waters to submit a loading plan and commence water exports. The extension pushes the loading plan deadline to September 30, 2026, and the export start to October 31, 2027. Approved 5-1 (Mosher opposed).
- Gary Paxton Industrial Park Port Tariff #6: Approved a 4% increase in dockage, wharf edge, and monthly fees, mirroring harbor rate adjustments. Approved 6-0.
- ORD 25-19 – Visit Sitka Supplemental Funding: Approved on first reading, providing $285,000 for the chamber to continue base Visit Sitka services through January 2026. The funding comes from the Visitor Enhancement Fund, leaving a balance of $411,000. Approved 4-2 (Eisenbeisz and Saline opposed).
- Visit Sitka RFI Direction: The assembly discussed the best path forward to secure a new operator. Staff recommended issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge interest, but the assembly directed staff to proceed with a Qualifications-Based Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or similar, aiming for a new operator by January 2026. The assembly expressed a desire to be less involved in the process and to rely on staff and the Tourism Commission.
Key Outcomes
- ORD 25-18 (Charter Amendment): Passed on first reading (4-2) with amendments; second reading scheduled for July 22.
- Lincoln Street: Direction to keep street open for the remainder of the visitor season, with reevaluation for 2026.
- ORD 25-17 (Cell Tower): Approved 6-0 on second reading.
- Arctic Blue Waters: Amendment approved 5-1.
- Port Tariff #6: Approved 6-0.
- ORD 25-19 (Visit Sitka Funding): Approved 4-2 on first reading; second reading on July 22.
- Visit Sitka RFI: Staff authorized to issue an RFQ or similar, with updates to the assembly via reports and liaison. The goal is to have a new operator by January 2026, but flexibility was given if the timeline slips.
- Staff Reports: The administrator announced progress on reorganization, including the promotion of Josh Brand-Hoover to Assistant Municipal Administrator, and federal earmark requests totaling over $26 million for various projects. The clerk announced that Holly completed her Certified Municipal Clerk certification and that Brian Schoenfelder will start as Assistant Municipal Clerk on July 21.
- Candidate Filing: Opens July 21 for two assembly seats and two school board seats; closes August 8.
Meeting Transcript
Well, welcome everybody. Thank you for joining us tonight. I will call to order the regularly scheduled meeting of Tuesday, July 8th, 2025. 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 Clinkett Ani. Sarah Oll Call, please. Mayor Eisenbais. Present. Mr. Yestad. Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Mr. Mosier. Here. Mr. Celine? Here. And Mr. Pike is absent this evening. Great, thank you. Any correspondence or agenda changes? Ah, seeing none, that'll bring us into special reports. Uh our scheduled special reports this evening are the department department quarterly reports. I will start with public works, please. I thought you were gonna wear your bright orange vest, the whole bright yellow vest the whole time. Give us all something stunning to stare at. Or the beard or the beard. Good evening, Mayor and Assembly. Mark TV, I'm the asset manager and interim public works director. Uh for our department in the last quarter, we are now 98% filled through positions. We have one FTE position that is still vacant, and that is the director job. That is including we have three positions through the reorganization that are moving to the planning department, our building official, building inspector, and a plans reviewer examiner. We do anticipate one of those will be coming open. We've received notice that our plans examiner is going to be leaving, uh, but for the public works department, we'll still be 98% filled. For the budget, we were 94% spent at the end of the fiscal year with another two percent encumbered. So once those final transactions are processed, we anticipate having spent 96% of the budget for the department. For our projects in the last quarter, we've wrapped up our critical secondary water supply, which is an older project with some in-stream work uh coordinated with the electrical department. We've had some key personnel out from the water department, so we haven't completed the final testing and acceptance of that work, but we're anticipating doing the final completion by the end of this month. Uh we will be starting on our biosolids expansion project, and that one will be due this fall. Uh the City Hall HVAC project has wrapped up with about 90% of the work complete. Um we're anticipating the contract will be back at the end of this month to do some final balancing, and then that project will be complete as well. We've signed uh substantial and final completion for the Crescent Harbor Restroom Project. As that one is complete. Uh we have the Thompson Harbor lift station project.
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