Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting - August 26, 2025
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Sitka Assembly Regular Meeting - August 26, 2025
On August 26, 2025, the City and Borough of Sitka Assembly held a regular meeting at the Assembly Chambers. Deputy Mayor Timothy Pike presided in the absence of Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz, with members Kevin Mosher arriving later. The meeting covered an assessing department report, public comments, approval of consent agenda items, a board reappointment, a collective bargaining agreement, and updates on electric vehicle shipping, a cell phone tower hearing, city facilities, and the upcoming municipal election.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the April 8, 15, 22, and August 12, 2025 Assembly meetings.
- Approved liquor license applications: renewal for Totem Marina, LLC dba Marina Pizza & Grill (non‑operational) and transfer of ownership/premises/restaurant endorsement from The Galley Restaurant LLC to Umbria Sunset LLC dba The Galley Restaurant.
- Approved marijuana license renewals and applications: vanGreen's LLC (cultivation), AKO Farms LLC (cultivation, concentrate manufacturing, retail store at 1210 Beardslee Way), and AKO 2 (cultivation at 213 Price Street).
- All consent items passed 4‑0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Greg Olson (Lions Club member) spoke about efforts to charter a Lions Club in Sitka. He stated the club needs at least 20 members to officially form and outlined Lions International’s global causes including sight, disaster relief, environment, diabetes, and youth services.
- Andrea Thomas raised concerns about a proposed requirement for economic impact studies on citizen initiatives. She argued that such studies are prohibitively expensive (citing costs of $220/hour and examples of $15,000‑$20,000), burdensome, and would effectively block all citizen initiatives, making Sitka the most restrictive locality in Alaska. Later, during testimony on the collective bargaining agreement, she expressed support for the agreement and noted that collective bargaining itself was a citizen initiative.
Special Report: Assessing Department
- The Assessing Department director reported that all three full‑time positions (director, appraiser Casey Kinslow, appraisal technician Chloe Cagle) are filled. The department is currently working on corrections to the 2025 tax roll (primarily address/ownership updates) and continuing the fifth year of residential reappraisal in the north end (Halibut Point Road area). A market trend model will be applied annually to keep values current. Recent accomplishments include staff training (Casey earned Level II certification; Chloe passed probation and completed Level I education). The fiscal year 2026 budget is 4% spent. Deputy Mayor Pike commended the director (referencing “Larry”) for establishing a regular reappraisal cycle and state compliance.
Discussion Items
2025‑2028 Collective Bargaining Agreement with ASEA
- Brand Hoover (management) presented the agreement negotiated with the Alaska State Employees Association. Non‑economic changes include updated personnel file procedures, evaluation schedules, and layoff provisions. Economic terms: 3% pay matrix increase effective July 1, 2025, 2.5% on July 1, 2026, and 2.5% on July 1, 2027, plus step movement every two years based on positive evaluations. The total fiscal note is $502,248 over the contract term. No supplemental appropriation is needed for FY26. The agreement passed 5‑0.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the consent calendar (items A, B, C) by a 4‑0 vote.
- Reappointed Peter Jurczak to a three‑year term on the Building Department Appeals Board by a 4‑0 vote.
- Approved the 2025‑2028 Collective Bargaining Agreement with ASEA by a 5‑0 vote (with Kevin Mosher present).
- The Administrator will submit comments to the Alaska Marine Highway System regarding electric vehicle shipping regulations by the September 15, 2025 deadline, based on input from the Sustainability Commission meeting on September 8, 2025. The comments will align with existing decarbonization resolutions.
- The hearing on the cell phone tower appeal concluded on August 22, 2025; the hearing officer has until September 12, 2025 to issue a decision.
- The Municipal Clerk announced that ballots for the October 7, 2025 municipal election are finalized and early voting will begin September 22, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
To call to order the uh August 26th assembly meeting. 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 Clinkenani. Sarah, roll call, please. Mr. Pike. Here. Ms. Carlson. Here. Mr. Yestad. Here. Mr. Steline. Here. Mayor Eisenbais and Mr. Christianson are absent this evening, and Mr. Mosier will be here momentarily. Thank you. Are there any correspondence? This brings us to correspondence agenda changes. Are there any correspondence or agenda change changes this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to special reports. Tonight we have a special report from assessing. Thank you. Good evening, Assembly. John. The assessing department currently operates with three full-time employees. All three positions are currently filled. Me as the director, our appraiser's Casey Kinslow, and our appraisal technician is Chloe Cagle. Along with our day-to-day work, we're currently working on corrections to the 2025 tax roll. Corrections usually consist of improper mailing addresses and ownership information. Typically, a correction does not address values unless it's involved a clerical error. We haven't had any of those this year. We are also continuing our reappraisal of the residential properties in Sitka. This will be our fifth year, and we'll be working on the north end, including Halibut Point Road and adjacent streets. Uh sample every year to keep that as current as possible. The reappraisal project has brought values closer to the full and true value required by Alaska State Statute. Between appraisals, market trend will be applied to all properties every year. This will help us to comply with the Alaska statute and minimize the impact of reappraisals on our property owners. Using market data, we can develop and apply trends to all properties in the borough. We will apply trends for the 2026 tax year and every year going forward. The application of a trend model annually will assist in keeping our values current. Recent accomplishments as a team, we recently attended the Alaska Association of Assessing Officers Summer Conference via Zoom. The Triple AO continues to grow under new leadership. We have added a monthly assessors June meeting, Zoom meeting to discuss current assessment issues.
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