OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Sitka Assembly Meeting Summary - December 30, 2025

City and Borough Assembly — Tuesday, December 30, 2025
BodySitka, Alaska
SessionCity and Borough Assembly
DateTuesday, December 30, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:04:58

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

I can call.

0:01

Good evening.

0:02

I'd like to call the to order the August.

0:04

I'm sorry, the January 30th assembly meeting.

0:11

December 30th.

0:12

And I'm trying to get ahead of things here.

0:15

Yeah, happy new year.

0:16

Please stand for a flag.

0:38

The assembly of the city and borough of Sitka would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional first people of Sheetka.

0:45

With gratitude, we proceed on Clinkettani.

0:49

Sarah Roll Call, please.

0:51

Mr.

0:51

Pike.

0:52

Here.

0:53

Ms.

0:53

Carlson.

0:55

Here.

0:56

Miss Riley.

0:57

Here.

0:58

Mr.

0:58

Christensen.

0:59

Here.

1:00

Mr.

1:00

Mosier.

1:01

Here.

1:01

And Mr.

1:01

Selene.

1:02

Mayor Eisenbais is absent this evening.

1:07

Thank you.

1:08

Are there any moving on to correspondence and agenda changes?

1:13

Are there any correspondent or agenda changes this evening?

1:20

Seeing none, we'll move on to special reports.

1:26

We have three scheduled special reports.

1:30

First one tonight will be the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.

1:36

Thank you.

1:42

Good evening, Assembly members.

1:44

Thank you for having me.

1:44

My name is Elena Peterson.

1:46

I am the vice chair for the SICA Tribe of Alaska, and I'm glad to be here to provide some updates tonight.

1:52

So STA had our annual meeting in December on the 2nd.

1:58

And we just want to thank everyone who attended the event.

2:01

It was uh really fun.

2:03

And I also brought copies of our 2025 annual report for you all, which um we distributed this at the meeting.

2:10

The council also swore in our new and re-elected council members Woody Widmark, um, Gary Pulital Lang, Martha Moses, and Rhonda Stiles, and we also thanked outgoing council members Lisa Way and Fred Olson for their years of service.

2:24

Uh another announcement is that we um Lisa Gassman resigned, and so we thank her for her many years of service and all of her accomplishments, and so we're now undergoing a search for a new GM, and uh the interim GM is Rob Allen.

2:40

The uh tribal youth winter solstice celebration was also held on December 5th, and that was at Blackley Middle School.

2:46

So children families uh were able to gather for fun and festive evening with games, crafts photos with Santa and Mrs.

2:54

Claus, and uh we just wanted to give a big goodness cheese to Shiatica for co-hosting that event with us.

3:00

We also had our SNEP culmination um event for our SNEP students who finished a semester of work um with a performance on the 6th of December.

3:11

And then on the 17th, we had our tribal council meeting where we took care of quite a bit of bit of business.

3:17

We appointed our officers and completed our committee selections.

3:21

So uh I was elected as vice chair and Lillian Felposch as treasurer and Martha Moses, who's here tonight as our secretary.

3:30

We also appointed Martha Moses and Lillian Felposh to one year terms on the BHA board of commissioners.

3:36

We appointed um Lisa Way to the community seat for the Biha Board of Commissioners for a three-year term.

3:43

We approved the FY 2026 budget and fiscal timeline.

3:47

Uh and an MOU is the Alaska Heritage Institute to collaborate on a black seaweed research project was approved.

3:53

We approved a collaboration with the Sikasound Science Center on the communication and reciprocal exchange, also known as the CARE program.

4:02

We uh we approved a co-production of a Mount Edge Come Volcano hazard maps and education materials alongside a letter of support, and our offices have been closed um for the holiday and will will remain closed on January 1st and 2nd and then open again for business on the 5th.

4:22

And during uh the government shutdown and in the fall of 25, the essential services like SNAP benefits were disrupted, and so many federal employees went without pay.

4:33

So in response, Sika Tribe organized the HERT program, which stands for helping everyone access resources together, and this accepted monetary donations, gift card donations, and we hosted a fill the bus food drive uh to support affected families in SICCA.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Animal Welfare████████████████████████████████████36%
Public Safety█████████████████17%
Procedural████████████████16%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Capital Improvement Planning██████6%
Tourism██████6%
Community Engagement████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Education And Training██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Sitka Assembly Meeting Summary - December 30, 2025

The Sitka City and Borough Assembly convened on December 30, 2025, with a quorum of six members (Pike, Carlson, Riley, Christensen, Mosier, Celine) present, while Mayor Eisenbais was absent. The meeting featured special reports from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the municipal administrator, a detailed update from the Police Department regarding staffing crises, and routine consent calendar approvals. A significant portion of the agenda was dedicated to a discussion on bear trash management strategies, involving input from residents and tribal leaders on the limitations of current waste solutions and the need for future planning.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The Assembly unanimously (6-0) approved the minutes from the December 16th and 18th assembly meetings.
  • Commission Reappointments: The Assembly unanimously (6-0) reappointed Joe Dorenzo to a three-year term on the Trees and Landscape Committee and Von Hazel to a three-year term on the Terrorism Commission.
  • Supplemental Appropriations:
    • Ordinance 2025-29 was approved unanimously (6-0) for supplemental appropriations for the FY 2026 Airport Terminal Project.
    • Ordinance 2025-30 was approved unanimously (6-0) for supplemental appropriations for FY 2026 "Visit Sitka" funding. During deliberation, Assembly Member Riley noted the fund is restricted by a 1990s vote to bed tax specifically for visitor enhancement, though the Assembly retains the power to change allowable uses. Assembly Member Christensen expressed concern but ultimately voted yes, acknowledging the fund's constraints.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Leah Mason (Br & Co.): Expressed strong concern regarding recent bear incidents in Indian River, including bears opening vehicles and pulling off garage doors. Mason argued that simply changing bin types creates unsorted waste (containing tires and crab pots) that ends up in a landfill. She positioned herself in support of a diversion strategy: establishing a processing business for organics and implementing education to change how residents handle food waste, rather than just swapping bin hardware.
  • Alena Peterson and Martha Moses (Sitka Tribe of Alaska): Expressed gratitude for the city's recent pilot program. Martha Moses stated that the core issue is a bear population problem, not just a garbage problem. She advocated for collaboration with the Department of Fish and Game to begin a five-year bear census on Baranof Island, specifically requesting that collared bears in Indian River be identified to locate dens and address specific problem individuals that are developing habits in specific areas.

Discussion Items

  • Bear Trash Management Strategies:
    • Assembly Members Celine and Eisenbais (absent, represented by Celine's notes) led a discussion triggered by Alaska State Troopers advocating for a return to older, steel, medium-sized dumpsters (approx. 2 yards) for high-traffic Bear zones like Indian River to prevent bears from accessing trash.
    • Assembly Member Celine stated frustration with the lack of progress from the Waste Management contractor and the Bear Task Force, noting the Troopers were "bullied" during previous discussions.
    • The Department of Public Works clarified the complexity of the issue: changing bin types requires negotiating a new contract (currently locked for ~7 years), code changes for rate structures, and potential renegotiation of the entire contract with Pacific Waste, which could open other cost areas to increase.
    • Assembly Member Selene and others proposed organizing an immediate public meeting with stakeholders (Troopers, Tribal leaders, Waste Management) to define a solution before contracting changes are needed.
    • Assembly Member Christensen cautioned that reopening a contract could have unintended financial consequences.
    • Assembly Member Moser suggested reviewing the 2023 Bear Task Force report, which recommended specific bear-proof residential cans that might not require a contract renegotiation, though Celine noted the Troopers rejected that option in favor of steel bins.
    • The group agreed to move forward by organizing a public town hall to gather data before pursuing legislative action or contract changes.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda: Passed unanimously (6-0). All three items (Minutes, Reappointments, Ordinances 25-29 and 25-30) were approved without dissent.
  • Executive Session Motion: Passed unanimously (6-0) to go into executive session for confidential matters (personnel/attorney discussions) with the expectation of reconvening.
  • Adjournment: The Assembly adjourned after returning from executive session.
  • Next Steps: Assembly Members will coordinate a public meeting with stakeholders to finalize a waste management strategy for bear-prone areas, specifically incurring further investigation into the 2023 Task Force report and contract renegotiation risks.

Meeting Transcript

I can call. Good evening. I'd like to call the to order the August. I'm sorry, the January 30th assembly meeting. December 30th. And I'm trying to get ahead of things here. Yeah, happy new year. Please stand for a flag. 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. Mr. Pike. Here. Ms. Carlson. Here. Miss Riley. Here. Mr. Christensen. Here. Mr. Mosier. Here. And Mr. Selene. Mayor Eisenbais is absent this evening. Thank you. Are there any moving on to correspondence and agenda changes? Are there any correspondent or agenda changes this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to special reports. We have three scheduled special reports. First one tonight will be the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Thank you. Good evening, Assembly members. Thank you for having me. My name is Elena Peterson. I am the vice chair for the SICA Tribe of Alaska, and I'm glad to be here to provide some updates tonight. So STA had our annual meeting in December on the 2nd. And we just want to thank everyone who attended the event. It was uh really fun. And I also brought copies of our 2025 annual report for you all, which um we distributed this at the meeting. The council also swore in our new and re-elected council members Woody Widmark, um, Gary Pulital Lang, Martha Moses, and Rhonda Stiles, and we also thanked outgoing council members Lisa Way and Fred Olson for their years of service. Uh another announcement is that we um Lisa Gassman resigned, and so we thank her for her many years of service and all of her accomplishments, and so we're now undergoing a search for a new GM, and uh the interim GM is Rob Allen. The uh tribal youth winter solstice celebration was also held on December 5th, and that was at Blackley Middle School. So children families uh were able to gather for fun and festive evening with games, crafts photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and uh we just wanted to give a big goodness cheese to Shiatica for co-hosting that event with us. We also had our SNEP culmination um event for our SNEP students who finished a semester of work um with a performance on the 6th of December. And then on the 17th, we had our tribal council meeting where we took care of quite a bit of bit of business.

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