Note: Mt. Edgecumbe’s proposed ’25 budget also includes reductions to the school’s classified staff, reduced hours for residential staff, and the elimination of sports travel and extra-duty contracts except what can be supported by the Student Activities Fund. Read the full budget presentation to the Advisory Board.

Travis Vaughn is a parent to Mt. Edgecumbe’s Class of 2024 co-valedictorian. Another child is a senior this year, also near the top of the class in academics, and a state contender in Wrestling.

Vaughn is the president of Mt. Edgecumbe’s Advisory Board. He says board members weren’t completely surprised when they were presented with the proposed budget for next year. Probably baffled is a better word. 

“The problem is we’ve made school funding so opaque in this country that nobody can understand it,” said Vaughn. “That’s the source of the real problem, and nobody wants to pay… I don’t know what you do with half the teachers. How does that work? 

The Advisory Board doesn’t oversee Mt. Edgecumbe like a local school board. That’s the job of the State Board of Education. Vaughn and his fellow Advisory Board members keep an eye on the things that make a school more than just a brick building with classrooms. Mt. Edgecumbe currently has 32 teachers for its 420 students. Rolling staff back to 15 or 17 positions, plus eliminating the competitive sports programs, is what Vaughn calls “carnage.” I asked him if he believed the school itself was in jeopardy.

Vaughn: What’s the point of a high school with no teachers, no sports, no cultural activities?

KCAW: Will Mt. Edgecumbe close, conceivably?

Vaughn: I don’t think so. I don’t think that that’s a realistic possibility. I don’t think that the political powers that be, they probably understand that that is a disaster that they don’t want to touch because we have alumni in every voting district in the state, and I don’t think they really want to drive us off a cliff.

Listen to the full interview with MEHS Advisory Board president Travis Vaughn.

Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot co-chairs the House Education Committee. “ The problem is that Edgecumbe, when you start cutting into the bone, you impact the program so significantly that you start to wonder if you can even have a school,” she said.

Himschoot has introduced legislation (HB69) to catch-up state education funding with inflation over the next three years. The BSA, or base student allocation – hasn’t significantly increased since 2016. Most school districts, like Sitka’s, have been able to stay afloat by increasing class sizes, and shifting some expenses onto local government. Himschoot says Mt. Edgecumbe is more akin to the 19 rural schools in Alaska’s Regional Education Attendance Areas, or REAA’s, that are not supported by a local tax base.

“And that puts them in an exceedingly difficult position,” she said, “because there is nowhere else to turn. And so that has helped to make the case for why a base student allocation increase is so desperately needed across the state – that’s all those schools have.”

Himschoot’s bill has broad support in the House, but her colleagues have already proposed substitute language (CSHB69) limiting the BSA increase to $1,000, with a $450 reading incentive grant. That language could get the bill passed in the House, but the Senate is a different matter. Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

“Frankly, we have significant deficit issues we’re trying to deal with, and those big BSA numbers are probably not going to materialize,” Stedman said.

Stedman managed to find some extra instructional funding for Mt. Edgecumbe last year. It’s not clear to him how the school’s situation could have become so dire in so short a time, with more or less the same number of students and same revenues as this year.

“We’ll have a conversation with the Department of Education, which we do every year at Edgecumbe, and take a look at it,” said Stedman. “But it doesn’t seem to smell right to me.”

Administration’s response: Mt. Edgecumbe’s budget crisis emerged from the COVID pandemic

KCAW received this email from Mt. Edgecumbe Superintendent Suzzuk Huntington:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mt. Edgecumbe High School increased its staffing while reducing its enrollment to keep a number of rooms empty to mitigate illness for quarantine or isolation. During this time, we added staff to address the increased mental health needs and needs related to learning loss. Now that this federal funding has expired and the pandemic is over, MEHS is moving back to our pre-pandemic staffing ratios with class sizes from as low as six to as high as 30, depending on the course and student interest.

Last school year, the impact of our reduced enrollment came to light when the Fall OASIS data was finalized at 398 students. It caused us to look closely at our management plan. We requested and received support from our state leadership to offset increases in some of our fixed costs and focused the bulk of our efforts building our student enrollment back to pre-pandemic levels. This included sending early-round acceptance letters in April, which has long been our practice. We also re-instituted the process of offering acceptance to students in August, as returning students or accepted students change their minds and decide not to attend MEHS after all. This continued right up to the first day of classes. We were partially successful in our efforts to increase enrollment, but we did not reach the 435-445 target. We started the year with 429 students and had 417 for our official fall count. 

Mt. Edgecumbe teachers first learned about some possible cuts last December, and they were reassured by the Commissioner’s office that Mt. Edgecumbe would stay open. But Matt Hunter, president of the union representing teachers (Teacher’s Education Association – Mt. Edgecumbe, or TEAM), doesn’t think it would be the same school if half of the teaching positions were eliminated.

“Our students really thrive when they can have classes like art and music and electives,” he said. “And if we don’t have that, it will be hard to attract kids. So… there’s always efficiencies, but oftentimes they come with a cost that maybe isn’t foreseen.”

Hunter says Mt. Edgecumbe has an incredibly strong program and teaching team. He hopes there will be some reassurance from the legislature soon, before his members begin looking for jobs elsewhere.

In the meantime, Travis Vaughn says the Advisory Board supports the work of Mt. Edgecumbe’s superintendent and the Department of Education – and he’s not laying blame on the legislature, or even the governor. Nevertheless he remains frustrated with state education funding. He sees it as a shell game, and he wouldn’t mind if Alaskans were more upset about it.

“People need to organize on their own and start demanding this money, because for our government to tell teachers, cops and firefighters that there’s no money is just a lie,” said Vaughn.

Having once managed large government contracts for the Army, Vaughn is wary of the “word salad” that accompanies the state education budget. “It’s a magician’s trick,” he says, “to distract you while the man in the black hat walks out the back door with all the money.”  

Searchers recovered the body of an overdue hiker from Sitka’s Mt. Verstovia Friday evening (11-4-22).

76-year old Mike Motti was a veteran of Sitka’s Mountain Rescue team, who regularly climbed above treeline to a knoll overlooking Sitka, known locally as Picnic Rock, to celebrate his birthday.

Troopers were notified around 5 p.m. that Motti was overdue from his annual trek up the mountain. A ground team was deployed, as was a helicopter from Air Station Sitka.

Searcher’s found Motti’s body about two hours later, beside the trail just below Picnic Rock, where he had apparently died of natural causes.

Motti was a fixture in emergency medical services in the region. Over his career, he helped organize and lead an emergency medevac department for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, prior to the advent of commercial medevac services. He was a wilderness medical associates instructor who taught many wilderness EMT courses for a variety of first-response agencies. A former colleague for many years on Sitka Search and Rescue, Don Kluting, remembers that Motti had an understated approach to training. On Kluting’s very first day on the team, Motti harnessed him to ropes, and sent him down a 100-foot cliff.

“You know my knees were shaking I’m sure as I went over the edge,” said Kluting, describing his very first hour in training. “I’ve never rapelled before, I’d never been lowered over a rock face before or anything. And here I am being introduced to this gentleman that I’ve never met before. And you know, he’s in charge. And he’s tied this rope off to a tree. And they’re talking about, ‘Yeah, we’re just going to lower you over this edge and down to the bottom.”

Kluting would eventually become captain of Sitka Search and Rescue, and serve alongside Motti for 29 years.

Motti joined the organization in March of 1983, and was still an active volunteer when he died. In fact, current Sitka Search and Rescue captain Matt Hunter says Motti was the team’s “most active member,” working as search dog handler, medic, and most recently, leading the incident management team. 

Don Kluting doesn’t know how many lives Motti can be credited with saving, but he believes the way his life ended will resonate with the people who are dedicated to this line of work.

“How fitting is this, that he gets his last helicopter ride, and it’s a beautiful night, the moon’s out,” said Kluting, “and he died with his back against the tree looking at the most beautiful view ever.”

Memorial services for Mike Motti are pending.

Eight decades after the fact, the federal government plans to spend $2.2 million to clean up a contaminated former army site on Kruzof Island near Sitka. It isn’t going to happen overnight. The Army Corps is still designing the effort. Actual work and removal of the PCB-contaminated soils isn’t expected until 2024.

But to understand how and why Fort Babcock came to be requires a 20th Century history lesson on the rise of Imperial Japan as a Pacific power. And few people in Sitka know as much about the area’s military history as high school teacher Matt Hunter. 

As an amateur historian, he curates a website on Sitka Harbor’s WWII-era military sites. He says when Imperial Japan invaded its neighbors in the 1930s, the United States realized it had few Pacific defenses outside of Hawaii and the Panama Canal zone.

“But Alaska, sort of the third vertex of a strategic triangle, was completely undefended,” he said.

Kruzof Island a critical part of Sitka Sound’s tripartite defensive battery

Fort Babcock was designed to be a keystone in the defense of Sitka Harbor, which during World War II, hosted a significant military presence to counter the threat from Imperial Japan. 

But today its legacy today is little more than abandoned buildings and contaminated soil near the shores of Sitka Sound.

Naval air stations were established on Kodiak Island, Dutch Harbor and Sitka. Defense of those naval bases fell to the U.S. Army which installed a battery of six-inch guns capable of striking an enemy ship from 12 miles away.

But as the tide of the war shifted, the threat from Imperial Japan receded, and by 1944 the military canceled the defense project. 

“And then as soon as they finished, they abandoned them and locked the doors and left,” Hunter said.

Today the site is heavily overgrown. But among the ruins there’s still evidence of the incredible effort by thousands of men.

“There’s even some notes on some of the work benches, and they’re written by the men who are in the construction battalion,” he said.

A nonagenarian veteran returns in 2010

One member of that battalion came back for a visit more than a decade ago. 

“I’m just like (Gen. Douglas) MacArthur wading ashore,” 93-year-old Bob Vollmer laughingly told KCAW during a visit to Kruzof Island in 2010. “MacArthur said, ‘I shall return!’”

“I didn’t like that guy, though,” he added.

KCAW’s Ed Ronco shadowed Vollmer and filed a story for the Alaska Public Radio Network about the Indiana man who’d spent most of 1943 helping build Fort Babcock.

Vollmer passed away earlier this month at the age of 104. But in an interview with KCAW some 11 years back, he expressed surprise by how much nature had taken over what had been a bustling observation post during the war. 

“I’m real happy to know, like places like this, they are still environmentally sound,” he said as he took in the thick foliage that had reclaimed the former fort site.

But Fort Babcock is not as pristine as it may have appeared to Vollmer in 2010. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is tasked with cleaning up the hundreds of potentially contaminated former military sites in Alaska, discovered serious contamination several years later. 

Beth Astley is the Army Corps’ project manager overseeing cleanup of the site. She says investigators knew about the old oil tanks. But in 2012 and 2013 they dug deeper. 

“That’s when we discovered that there was PCB contamination at the former power plant,” she told CoastAlaska in a recent interview.

In a 259-page decision document filed last August, the Army Corps announced plans to remove about 559 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil and place them in what Astley calls “super sacks.” 

“Which are large sacks that are specially made to hold contaminated soil. And then those bags would then be put on to a barge and then they would be taken to a port and then to the landfill (in the Lower 48),” she said.

PCBs are highly toxic and carcinogenic; they can bioaccumulate in humans.

“They don’t seem to go away very quickly,” Astley said. “They can persist for a really long time.”

Sitka tribal officials assess cleanup plan

Sitka Tribe of Alaska has been pushing for the cleanup of Shoals Point. People hunt, fish and gather traditional foods on Kruzof Island, just a 10-mile skiff ride across the sound from Sitka. 

“The Tribe is pleased that … the Army Corps is going forward with cleaning up the site, because it’s long overdue,” said Helen Dangel, a biologist who works for the Sitka tribe.

She works as a natural resources specialist and says the Army Corps’ priority seems to be the most hazardous waste at the former Fort Babcock site.

“But that doesn’t mean that all of the contaminants will be cleaned up,” Dangel told CoastAlaska. “In the document, there’s a lot of talk about cleanup levels, and if there’s a complete pathway to humans, through air through, through drinking water, through skin contact, or through eating. And so if they determine that there’s not a complete pathway, then some of the contaminants aren’t getting cleaned up.”

The Army Corps says it plans to remediate the area to residential standards. And no additional environmental monitoring would be required. 

Matt Hunter, the math and physics teacher at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, says Shoals Point is a fantastic place to visit. Especially for anyone interested in Alaska’s early 20th century history when Sitka was a hive of military activity on what’s now an uninhabited island.

“It’s not like a park or something that’s had interpretation and doors locked, everything’s wide open,” Hunter said. “And it’s also a very unique place. Being on this volcanic island with all the surf coming in, and the open ocean is absolutely beautiful.”

The Sitka Historical Society will host a number of events in the lead-up to Alaska Day including a tour of their museum tonight, Thursday, October 11 at 6:30 p.m. (Image/HealyKohler Design)

Downloadable audio.

It’s that time of year again! Join the Sitka Historical Society next week to look back and reflect on Sitka’s history before Alaska Day.

Hal Spackman and Jenya Anichenko with the historical society joined Katherine Rose this morning to talk about upcoming events leading up to the Alaska Day Festival next Thursday, October 18.

Enjoy a cold drink on a Brew Cruise, experience World War II aviation history with Matt Hunter and learn about Tlingit regalia and art with artist Sharon McIndoo. For a full list of events, visit SitkaHistory.com

The Tobacco21 ordinance will raise the age to purchase all tobacco products — including e-cigs — to 21. Last year’s assembly debate centered on personal rights; this year, the assembly seemed more concerned about the impact on young smokers (19 and 20 year olds) who might already be hooked. (Flickr photo/Ivan Atanassov)

The age to buy tobacco in Sitka will be going up, if an ordinance passed by the Sitka Assembly this week survives a second reading.

There was broad support for the local initiative — called Tobacco 21 — after the assembly’s concerns were addressed over how to deal with the 19-to-20 year olds who are already hooked on smoking.

Downloadable audio.

Tobacco 21 is a statewide policy in 4 states — Oregon, California, Maine, and New Jersey — and it’s likely to pass the Massachusetts legislature in the near future.

Elsewhere around the nation, including Sitka, advocates for increasing the age to purchase tobacco to 21 are concentrating on local policy. The Sitka Health Needs and Human Services commission drafted language to increase the age in Sitka from 19 to 21 in 2016.

But it wasn’t a slam dunk. Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz, a veteran, last year expressed concern that if 18-year olds were responsible enough to vote and serve in the military, then a 19-year old could make a personal decision about whether to smoke. Member Aaron Bean held a similar view.

Eisenbeisz took a new tack this time, in a question to Sitka Community Hospital’s Doug Osborne.

“What do you or any other groups that you’re associated with intend to do with the 20-year old who’s has either legally been smoking for a year, or illegally smoking for quite some years, who is now cut off from his addiction? I think we all understand addiction to be a disease at this point, with whatever substance they might be using, and now we’re simply cutting them off cold turkey.”

Osborne, who runs health promotions at Sitka Community, empathized with the smoker.

“It’s an interesting thing for me to think about because when I was 19 I was legally buying tobacco and I was hooked. What would I think if I looked down at a sign that said ‘On January 1 it’s over’?”

Giving young tobacco users time to prepare for the ordinance proved to be instrumental to its success. By changing the effective date to October 1, Osborne said that store managers were willing to work with him and his partner organizations to make sure tobacco-quit literature was available where people can buy tobacco now — since quitting was what the health community hoped for.

Alternatively, 19- and 20-year olds could begin to stock up.

With the effective date extended five months, further resistance to the ordinance fell away. Like Eisenbeisz and Bean, member Bob Potrzuski also had his doubts, but said he had come around.

“Last year when we talked about this I was surprised to find myself in the same place that Steven and Aaron were. But the folks at Tobacco 21 pushing the initiative did a great job in responding to my questions and my concerns, and I’m very solidly in favor this now. So I’d like to thank them publicly for taking the time to educate me and to work with me.”

Member Richard Wein — a surgeon — wove together a medical and political argument for the new policy.

“It’s the difference between a right and a privilege. Voting is a right. Smoking is a privilege, and can be legislated. That includes the age for driving, the age for drinking, etc. There’s only good that can come from this, and it’s a very simple thing. As a physician, as somebody who has seen the ravages of these diseases, I cannot think of a single reason not to do 21.”

Wein said that he’d also vote in favor of Tobacco 85 if someone were to change the ordinance.

Member Kevin Knox coaches Sitka’s youth swim club, the Baranof Barracudas, and helps organize the annual Julie Hughes Triathlon, named for a student athlete who died from leukemia. Knox said that seeing kids adopt the use of the ever-increasing amount of tobacco products like e-cigarettes, vapes, and smokeless tobacco “broke his heart.”

He thought the success elsewhere of Tobacco 21 spoke for itself.

“In states that have passed the Tobacco 21, and in local municipalities that have also passed it, they have been very, very clearly able to show marked declines in access to tobacco products. And then kids that are turning 18-21 won’t ever use — they won’t ever pick it up.”

Knox said he’d also support Wein’s suggestion of Tobacco 85, but he thought 21 was “a reasonable start.”

The ordinance passed 6-0 on first reading with Aaron Bean absent. If it passes on second reading on May 22, it will take effect in Sitka on October 1.

Update 5-23-18: The Sitka Assembly adopted the Tobacco 21 ordinance 6-1 on second-and-final reading, with Aaron Bean opposed. The effective date was amended to August 22, 2018.

Assembly passes 2019 budget, literally and figuratively

Although the assembly passed the 2019 budget on first reading, Steven Eisenbeisz objected to rate increases for some services (and voted no). Richard Wein (who voted yes) was concerned about $75,000 for researching an alternative water supply, in the event the Blue Lake Dam is shut down for repairs. “I have a lot of questions,” he said. (Photo courtesy of Lance Ewers).

Wednesday’s (5-9-18) extended assembly meeting was the second in a row that required an extra evening to complete.

This spring’s assembly schedule has been packed with business, most concerned with Sitka’s budget for the coming year.

As a result, Wednesday’s first vote on the 2019 budget was anticlimactic, as far as actual dollars were concerned.

Nevertheless, the sparring was far from over.

Steven Eisenbeisz thanked his fellow assembly members for the effort they had put into shaping a balanced budget for next year…

“However, I’m not going to be able to vote for this budget.”

Eisenbeisz said that he was unable to support the budget since it contained six-percent rate increases for some services in Sitka.

That bothered Kevin Knox, who argued that the assembly had spent considerable time and effort keeping services at a level that meet expectations for Sitka’s residents. He was disappointed that the budget vote was not going to be unanimous.

Other members agreed. Now it was just a matter of who could be more picturesque describing his frustration.

Here’s Ben Miyasato:

“It has been quite a process. It almost feels like we need a t-shirt that says ‘I survived the 2019 Budget Cycle’.”

And here’s Mayor Matt Hunter, a science teacher, with some paleontology to describe his fears over deferred maintenance in all of Sitka’s infrastructure:

“We have this — it’s not an elephant — mastodon in the distance galloping our way. If mastodons gallop, I don’t know. But it’s a terrifying thought that we’re going to have to pay for this stuff.”

Bob Potrzuski was cinematic, and rather than considering galloping mastodons, he might have been thinking about the runaway bride.

“I’m a little disappointed in your comments, Steven. Last year, when you voted no kinda at the end, I felt like I was walking down the aisle to get married, and then suddenly I was jilted. Just because of the work that we’ve done together.”

Richard Wein doubled-down on the wedding analogy, but his sympathies were with the bride.

“I have some bad news for Mr. Potrzuski: You’re going to have to return those wedding gifts, my friend. But I’m keeping the ring.”

Wein said he would vote for the budget, but he couldn’t support it until his concerns over the rate increases — and the costs over studying the need for an alternative water supply — were satisfied.

The $29.5 million dollar General Fund budget for 2019 passed 5-1 on first reading, with Steven Eisenbeisz opposed. Capital projects for next year will be passed by resolution, on a case-by-case basis.

Photo KCAW/Robert Woolsey

Though it was short, with no new business and only four items of unfinished business on the agenda, Tuesday’s (12/26/17)  Sitka Assembly meeting was still eventful (12/26/17), with assembly members continuing to debate if they should allocate funds for renovations to St. Michael’s Cathedral. KCAW’s Katherine Rose attended the meeting, and has this report.

Downloadable Audio

After deliberation that spanned several meetings, St. Michael’s Cathedral will not receive $5000 dollars from the city for exterior work. At a short meeting on Tuesday, the Sitka Assembly voted 4-3 against donating the money for renovations to the historic building. The ordinance, originally presented to the assembly on November 7, continued to stir up debate over the separation of church and state. Assembly member Bob Potrzuski, who co-sponsored the ordinance with assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz, voiced his support. 

“It certainly does not promote any religious activity,” Potrzuski said. “There’s not any reason except to continue to have an iconic building that draws visitors by the  thousands to our downtown to our community as a whole.”

St. Michael’s is a replica of the Orthodox cathedral built by the Russians in the 19th Century. It has major structural problems like a leaking roof and a basement prone to flooding. The money would have come from the visitor’s enhancement fund and would only be used to help fund renovations to the exterior of the building. Assembly member Kevin Knox said he felt like it was a worthy cause.

“You can’t pick up a piece of literature that supports our visitor industry and not see that picture, the face of that church,” said Knox.

Mayor Matthew Hunter also voiced his support, and said that the visitor enhancement fund exists to fund such projects and the religious connection is immaterial.

“We need this structure so that people can continue to come to Sitka and live the history that brings so many people here,” Hunter said.

Assembly member Aaron Bean, who spoke against the measure when it was introduced on November 7, said even if the money was specifically allocated for exterior renovations, it still indirectly helps the church further its mission.

“It’s pretty clear that by doing this you will be advancing the church’s goal,” Bean said. “Any money that they wouldn’t have to otherwise pay a contractor to do the work that they’ve been neglecting for years is going to end up furthering their agenda.”

City Attorney Brian Hanson said while Bean’s argument made sense, it was a common one made in past cases that set legal precedent for separation of church and state, and doesn’t hold up in a court of law.

Though Hunter voiced his support, he said he was concerned the city could be sued if they moved ahead. “I did have an interaction with a gentleman on the street who was very passionate about the issue and said ‘I will sue you if you support this,” Hunter said.

Hanson said that though he believes the donation wouldn’t violate the first amendment and the city would be on solid legal ground, they may still be at risk of a lawsuit, which could be costly.

“This is only a 5000 dollar donation. I would suggest if a lawsuit is filed, it’s no longer economically viable to do this, no matter if you win or not,” said Hanson.

Ultimately, the measure failed 4-3, with Ben Miyasato, Bob Potrzuski and Richard Wein voting in favor, and Aaron Bean, Steven Eisenbeisz, Kevin Knox and Mayor Matt Hunter voting against.

In other business, the assembly voted on second reading,  to update the electronic health records system for Sitka Community Hospital. They also approved, on second reading, several requests from Gary Paxton Industrial Park.

The Blue Lake dam under construction in September, 2014. Half of all electric bills in Sitka now pay down the debt to build it. On the upside: Sitka has 40-percent excess capacity, and can afford to attract major industry. (Blue Lake Expansion photo/Desiree Brandis)

The Sitka Assembly has agreed to take a harder look at a proposed ordinance that would allow the Electric Department to offer discounted rates for new, large customers.

The assembly favored the idea of creating incentives to spur industrial growth, but hoped the plan could be structured to favor small business development as well.

Downloadable audio.

Like many communities in Alaska, Sitka produces and pays for all its own power. But about half of the expense is debt on the Blue Lake hydroelectric expansion, which was finished a couple of years ago.

Department director Bryan Bertacchi put his case before the assembly.

“So the real answer to reduced rates for everybody in the community — I mean everybody: residential, small commercial, large commercial — is new load. We really need to find new load for everybody in town, and we’ve been working really hard on that in the last two years since I’ve been here.”

Although Sitka has been experiencing load growth over the past year, Bertacchi would like to jump start it by creating incentives for a major customer — like the Coast Guard, which is looking for homeports for a pair of new, fast-response cutters. For him, the numbers are straightforward.

“The top ten meters in this town, the top ten customers, pay 30-percent of all the costs for the utility — which keeps everybody’s costs down. The top 100 meters — of the over 5,000 meters — pay 50-percent of all of our costs.”

And the top 16 customer accounts pay in excess of $125,000 a year, which is where Bertacchi would like to set the bar for negotiating a discount with a potential new customer — or new load: If it’s worth at least $125,000 a year, he’d like to make a deal.

Assembly member Richard Wein balked at the idea. He wanted more structure — and some accountability — written into the ordinance. He said he would vote no on first reading.

“What it’s kind of lacking is a business plan and details. The current ordinance is just too vague — at least for me — as presented.”

Bob Potrzuski, on the other hand, thought the ordinance was business friendly. He noted that any deal negotiated under the ordinance would have a three year sunset.

Steven Eisenbeisz, who owns a downtown retail store, wondered if it could be even business-friendlier.

“I think if you’re burning $125,000 in power a year you have quite a significant amount of capital already raised, and/or you are part of a bigger corporation that can afford that. I think it’s the smaller commercial guys who literally have their life savings — their last $50,000 invested in their business — that really need the help here. I would rather see multiple small businesses start in Sitka than one large WalMart-type corporation.”

Bertacchi said it might be possible to lower the threshold to customers who used $75,000 a year, but there was logic behind the original threshold: Customers at the $125,000 level could expect to save around a quarter-million dollars over the three-year term of the discount, which could go directly into wages and other investment.

Member Aaron Bean suggested amending the ordinance to strike the word “large” whenever it preceded the word customer. But Mayor Matt Hunter co-sponsored the ordinance, and he wanted to continue thinking big.

“The more leeway we give, the more useful these ordinances actually are to negotiate and bring businesses to town. I don’t know if you guys have been following Amazon’s search for a second headquarters. There are cities like Detroit or Chicago — I forget which of those two — was offering $5 billion in incentives to come, because it brings thousands of jobs and will pay dividends for decades to come. This is one of the few things we can do to attract new business. Maybe nothing comes, but if we have this out there someone might say, Oh look! We can get a better rate. If we can get them down to this number, then we can go to Sitka and make a go of it! That’s all I want.”

Mayor Hunter’s co-sponsor, Kevin Knox agreed — but both were willing to bend to keep the ordinance alive. On Bob Potrzuski’s motion, the assembly agreed to send the ordinance to committee to give it the structure sought by Wein, and an opportunity for small businesses sought by Bean and Eisenbeisz.

A committee reading is common in state and national government, but it’s a brand new parliamentary practice for the assembly. Mayor Hunter asked for volunteers and appointed Aaron Bean, Richard Wein, and Kevin Knox to serve on the committee, and bring the revised ordinance forward again in the future.

The Turnagain Marine Construction barge Brightwater stands ready to drive piles for the floating dock (pictured just behind the barge) at Sitka’s Gary Paxton Industrial Park. At press time, the project was awaiting a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers — a permit which required additional biological consultation due to the presence of marine mammals (humpback whales, Steller’s sea lions) in Silver Bay. The footing for the drive-down ramp is in the foreground. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

Both parties in a lawsuit over the construction of an industrial dock in Sitka have asked the court to forego a trial, and to reach a judgement based on underlying legal principles.

Former Sitka mayor Marko Dapcevich filed a motion for summary judgement in the case in early September. The City of Sitka filed one of their own about two weeks later.

The outcome won’t affect whether the dock gets built, but it may change the way Sitka does business in the future.

Downloadable audio.

Note: A hearing date is pending in Sitka Superior Court, on the motions for summary judgement in the case of Dapcevich vs. City of Sitka, Matt Hunter, and Mark Gorman.

According to his attorney, Joe Geldhof, former Sitka mayor Marko Dapcevich doesn’t want anything other than the simple acknowledgement that he is right.

“What Mr. Dapcevich is asking the judge to rule on is the meaning of the charter. Does it in fact require competitive bidding?”

The Sitka Charter plainly does require competitive bidding. But it is a foundational document — Sitka’s constitution, basically — and like all other constitutions it is subject to interpretation.

John MacKinnon is a former Deputy Commissioner of Transportation and 4-term member of the Juneau assembly, who is now the executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska. Competitive bidding — as it existed when Sitka was incorporated in 1971 — is still a thing, especially on small projects or equipment. But he says governments everywhere have begun to look at overall value when they put a major project out to bid, rather than just the lowest number. MacKinnon says nowadays it’s about who can deliver the best project for a given amount of money.

“You get to a point in design where the contractor is asked to give their final estimate, and if it’s within budget, the owner is able to say, Okay, move on to construction and you have to build it for the dollar amount you said. The beauty of that is the price that is determined at that point is the guaranteed maximum price of the project.”

That’s exactly what happened in Sitka. In 2012 Sitka received a grant for $7.5 million for a new dock at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. Some of that money was sliced off for design and preparation, leaving $6.8 million to actually build it within 5 years (note: the city would later ask for, and receive, a one-year extension).

The project was put out to bid in 2016, and all four bidders came in above the amount of available money.

In the view of former mayor Marko Dapcevich, that means one thing, says attorney Geldhof.

“The normal — and very common — response if the bids come in high is you either cancel the entire procurement and start over again. You know, reformat the purpose and need and design, and put it out to bid again.”

That’s where Sitka officials chose another path — a path that is becoming increasingly common in large municipal projects: City Hall went back to all the bidders and asked if they could design a project that would fit within the budget. Three of the four responded, an Turnagain Marine Construction’s $6.2 million proposal was considered to be the “best value.” The contract was approved by the board of the industrial park and the Sitka assembly, and signed by Sitka’s then-administrator Mark Gorman.

John MacKinnon considers this competitive bidding by another name.

“It wasn’t a sealed bid with a number on the bottom line. It was more of, Give us a proposal and a number, and work with us on getting to that finished product. I think it was probably the lowest bid; they just arrived at it in a slightly different manner.”

The project is already underway in Sitka. A 250-foot floating barge is in the water at the industrial park, and should be operational by the end of the year.

What if the court now says it was illegal?

Geldhof says it boils down to a matter of principle.

“I’m not sure that Mr. Dapcevich wants to stop the project, and I’m not sure that the judge as a matter of equity would grant an injunction stopping it. But the law is the law here. And I think the judge will come to a resolution and say, No the charter doesn’t mean what it says and you can do whatever you want, or The charter means what it says and competitive bidding is competitive bidding. It’s not just a procurement schmooze-a-thon just because it’s more expedient when you run out of money.”

If the court agrees in the strict interpretation of the charter and rules in favor of Dapcevich, it may result in nothing more than expensive slap on the wrist for the city, which is racking up legal bills contesting the suit. But when his initial demands for a settlement went unmet, Dapcevich upped the ante: Again, citing specific language in the charter, he named former Sitka administrator Mark Gorman and current Mayor Matt Hunter co-defendants in the suit, holding them individually liable for any difference between what Sitka has paid for the dock, and what it might have paid if the project had been procured legally.

Geldof says that making Gorman and Hunter pay — quite literally — is not the big fish.

“The charter and following the competitive bid standards in the charter are a nice big piece of chinook. Whether Gorman and some of the other people got cute or creative or didn’t follow the law — that’s basically the parsley on the side of the plate here.”

Geldhof admits that the dock project may have been expedient — even if illegal — and governments are under pressure from rising costs to not prolong the procurement process. Sitkans might actually prefer that the city seek “best value” on big jobs, rather than cling to competitive bidding in the strictest sense.

During the municipal election in Juneau this October, voters were asked to amend their charter to allow “best value.” The existing clause in the Juneau charter was virtually identical to Sitka’s regarding competitive bidding. In the 1980s, a citizen activist sued both the City of Juneau and then-mayor Fran Ulmer on virtually the same grounds.

Geldhof this fall editorialized in the Juneau Empire opposing the new language, arguing it would give local bureaucrats too much discretion in approving projects.

Nevertheless, Juneau voters approved the charter amendment by a two-thirds majority.

Until Sitkans do the same, Geldhof — and his client Marko Dapcevich — are resolved that the existing language on competitive bidding should be strictly followed. “The charter is the charter,” Geldhof says.

“It’s eye-opening to hear all these ideas,” said Sitka Mayor Matt Hunter as he opened the second of two town hall meetings on health care. “And see how much we agree on.” (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

About 70 Sitkans gathered Thursday evening for the second of two town hall meetings on health care. Although the format was the same as Wednesday’s (8-30-17) meeting, city staff hoped a slightly different mix of people would generate more direction for Sitka’s assembly.

Facilitator Jan Caulfield — as she did the previous evening — asked the group to name 5 specific criteria to guide the assembly as it decides what shape health care in Sitka will have in the future. Then she asked them to name specific health care options.

Here are some highlights from a table led by Sitka police chief Jeff Ankerfelt.

One of the first recommendations was making sure that we have a fully-staffed and competent hospital board. Where all the requisite skills you need to run a facility are represented: accounting, business acumen, medical leadership, things like that. There’s also a kind of cool Go-Big-Or-Go-Home philosophy, and it was essentially identify new markets by doing a care needs assessment. There are a lot of needs out there that are not currently being met. So, maybe some marquee services that could be a regional draw. For example, a birthing center. Mr. Bob Sam last night (at the previous town hall meeting on this topic) made a nice comment about Why do we have babies where we have sick people? They should be taken care of in another location. I thought that was pretty cool. A psychiatric center. We’re sorely lacking in that. And the thought was that would really draw people in because it’s such an unmet market. Assisted living and elder daycare. We have an aging demographic and that’s important to have. Another thing, even though it’s been argued that it’s not economically feasible, but it’s very important in terms of quality of life here in Sitka is a 24/7 surgical team. Particularly as it relates to trauma. It was pointed out that we have a very active community, people falling off of things, people running around in boats, and people get hurt. So we want that kind of competent team here.

Meeting facilitator Jan Caulfield also ran a table that supported hospital cooperation.

It wasn’t a complete consensus, but I felt the table had quite a bit of momentum behind this idea of collaborating and seeing if there could be a structure that could keep the two hospitals, but not everybody doing everything. So some examples that people gave was maybe have just on ER, one obstetrics department. Or, another idea would be have obstetrics at Sitka Community Hospital lean more toward the birth center, midwifery side, but if there was more of a medical delivery involved or surgery, that would be handled at SEARHC. There was a suggestion of having just one place with long-term care. Some discussion about how to centralize or consolidate primary care. So these are just some ideas how you could go through and say not all services necessarily need to be provided at both locations.

Although there were new faces among the 70 people who turned out Thursday evening, many were the same. And many have been visible and outspoken in their views about health care.

A table led by interim city administrator Phil Messina asked about the conspicuously absent.

One that we really tried to dig into, and got a little frustrated: More outreach to the low-income population on their health care issues and their needs. One of the comments was, As I look around the room I don’t see the folks that are maybe not as well off as the rest of us. So what are their issues and what do they need?

Another demographic missing from Thursday’s town hall meeting: The young. Although one assembly member brought a teenage exchange student, the average age of the group was likely 50 or higher.

Mayor Matt Hunter — one of the youngest people present — introduced and concluded the meeting. He was instrumental in slowing down the process and inviting public input, but that doesn’t make assembly’s decision any easier as it weighs the options before it.

“I’ve read all your emails,” he told the group, and then broke into a laugh and added, “I stopped answering them in July — but I still read them!”

Although currently zoned Residential, community affairs director Maegan Bosak says there are a number of federal and state laws which would prevent the development of the cemetery. Nevertheless, Sitka mayor Matt Hunter says rezoning the site to something that is “a better reflection of its historical and cultural importance” is appropriate. (Photo courtesy of Bob Sam)

In response to a request from a Tribal Council member, the City of Sitka is moving ahead with plans to rezone the downtown Russian Orthodox cemetery.

The issue arose at Monday night’s (8-14-17) meeting of the city assembly and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.

Sitka mayor Matt Hunter explained the problem with the current zoning.

“Bob Sam spoke about the Russian Orthodox cemetery up at the end of Observatory Street, and the fact that it’s zoned R-1, or Residential. And that doesn’t mean people will build houses there, but he thought it could be something that would be a better reflection of its historic and cultural importance.”

Hunter said that Sitka’s community affairs director Maegan Bosak attended the meeting. In a follow-up call with KCAW, Bosak said that she has already introduced a zoning map amendment redesignating the site as public — the same designation covering all other cemeteries in town.

The cemetery was not on Monday night’s agenda. Both governments identified several other issues to address, however, prior to going into the meeting. The city gave presentations on the administrator hire, the Comprehensive Plan, a proposed town hall meeting on health care, and utility subsidization.

The Tribe discussed the downtown shuttle program, flagger certification, improving service on the marine highway, and the city’s support of the community bus system known as the Ride.

Tribal chair KathyHope Erickson said that ridership is up, and the service remains very important priority for the community.

“Now that we’re facing reduced funding for two-thirds of the Ride, it’s always been important to show municipal support, not just in ridership, but also in the government. We’re pleased that the city did come through in the end with the requested funding.”

The city’s contribution to the bus service this year was $25,000.

The City of Sitka and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska meet twice yearly in a government-to-government meeting, usually over dinner. This latest meeting was held at the Westmark Sitka.