Casey Kelly

The Glory Hole, Juneau’s emergency homeless shelter and soup kitchen, is temporarily out of commission following a burst water pipe and flood at the downtown facility Sunday evening.

Executive Director Mariya Lovishchuk says 21 patrons and an overnight staff member were at the shelter when the pipe burst.

“I was not there, but from what I heard, you know, the flood gates opened and everybody got really cold and wet,” Lovishchuk says.

City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Management officials set up a temporary shelter at the Downtown Transportation Center. Patrons and staff were later relocated to the city’s Zach Gordon Youth Center.

Lovishchuk says Juneau International Hostel will provide rooms to Glory Hole clients while a contractor assesses the damage to the shelter. Downtown Juneau’s Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary has temporarily offered its parish hall for meal services.

“Everybody was amazingly helpful,” Lovishchuk says. “The city, the Red Cross, the local churches, the Glory Hole board – just lots of really, really helpful entities.”

Lovishchuk says she won’t know until Tuesday what caused the water pipe to burst or how long the shelter will be closed.

Update | Nov. 30, 2014 – 7:40 p.m.

The National Weather Service called off the winter storm warning for Juneau and northern Southeast Alaska on Sunday at 7 p.m.

As of 3 o’ clock Sunday afternoon, the storm had produced nearly 10 inches of snowfall in Juneau. The snow started to taper off in the early evening.

More scattered snow showers were expected overnight Sunday. Monday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions, and a slight chance of snow in the evening. By Tuesday, the weather service says to expect rain and snow mixed.

Update | Nov. 29, 2014 – 9:15 p.m.

Snow has started to fall in Juneau, and the winter storm warning remains in effect for the capital city and much of Southeast Alaska.

In other parts of the region the warning has been downgraded to a winter weather advisory. That includes Hoonah, Gustavus, Haines and Skagway, where snow is still expected overnight, though not as heavy as previously forecast.

The most up-to-date conditions are available from the National Weather Service.

Original Post | Nov. 29, 2014 – 7:34 a.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Southeast Alaska this weekend. Heavy snow is expected throughout the area, from Ketchikan to Yakutat.

Forecasters predict 8 to 12 inches of snow in Juneau, starting at midnight Sunday and lasting through 4 p.m. Hoonah is expected to get 6 to 10 inches, Angoon 4 to 8 inches and Sitka 1 to 3 inches. Gustavus will see 5 to 9 inches of snow, Haines 3 to 6 inches and Skagway 1 to 2 inches.

The storm is expected to move down the panhandle Sunday morning, with southern Southeast communities seeing snow from 5 a.m. to midnight. Petersburg is forecast to get 8 to 15 inches, Hyder 10 to 18 inches and Ketchikan 4 to 8 inches.

The National Weather Service says the storm “will result in difficult travel conditions.” However, it is expected to taper off early Sunday evening.

This is a developing story, check back for details.

Juneau is getting closer to becoming the third community in Alaska with a Housing First project to provide the chronically homeless with housing. Organizers told the Juneau Assembly on Monday that the project is moving from the concept stage to the design stage.

The Glory Hole Emergency Shelter and Soup Kitchen has taken the lead role in planning a Housing First project in the capital city. Scott Ciambor is chair of the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness and one of the volunteers leading the effort to build the project.

“Right now we are basically transitioning from kind of a theoretical project to an actual development of a project,” Ciambor said.

In recent decades many communities have turned to the Housing First model to address chronic homelessness. The idea is that if you give people a permanent, stable place to live, it’s easier to address why they’re on the streets. Anchorage and Fairbanks have had success with Housing First projects, and the Juneau group has been in the planning stages for about two years.

In addition to the Glory Hole becoming the lead agency, Ciambor said Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority has offered several parcels of land and Juneau-based MRV Architects has produced a series of conceptual drawings.

Ciambor said there are two things the city could provide to make the project a reality.

“Community support, plus community resources,” he said. “You know, what real resources is the community providing to get an affordable housing project done?”

On average, he said it takes eight funding sources to build an affordable housing project. The municipality has an Affordable Housing Fund, and Ciambor said it could secure additional money from the state’s Community Development Block Grant Program. The Housing First group is also hoping to set up a dedicated fund with the Juneau Community Foundation to raise money for the project.

One potentially significant source of funding is the Special Needs Housing Grant program from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. Glory Hole Executive Director Mariya Lovischuk said the deadline to apply for one of those grants is Feb. 20.

“We will need to figure out a site by that point,” Lovischuk said. “We will need to figure out where most of the capital funding will come from.”

Lovischuk said facility will likely serve about 40 people, and operating costs could total about $950,000 a year.

The Assembly heard the project update as part of its annual retreat on Monday. Among the other topics: How to encourage more housing in general.

The City and Borough of Juneau’s lobbyist for state issues says Alaska’s budget woes may lead to conversations during the upcoming legislative session about tapping the Alaska Permanent Fund.

Kevin Jardell also says it’s likely to mean fewer state-funded capital projects for communities, though he thinks Gov.-elect Bill Walker will be favorable to local governments.

About 90 percent of state revenue comes from oil taxes, and the price of Alaska’s oil is trending down.

“The reality of going into this next year, and the new administration: If oil averages $85, the deficit for the state is about $3 billion,” Jardell told the Juneau Assembly on Monday.

Alaska North Slope crude oil needs to be about $117 a barrel for the state to balance its budget, he said. It was about $77 a barrel at the end of last week.

During the campaign, outgoing Gov. Sean Parnell and Gov.-elect Bill Walker sparred over how much to cut spending to deal with the budget shortfall. In January, Jardell expects lawmakers and the Walker administration to shift the conversation to ways to increase revenue. He says that includes using the state’s $51 billion permanent fund.

“And I think communities are going to have to sit and think about where they stand on the issue, and whether they’re going to weigh in,” Jardell said.

As for cuts, Jardell says the state capital budget will be hit the hardest, with most of the funding going to projects that require a match to secure federal dollars for infrastructure like roads.

“I think the capital budget will be strictly what they call a bare bones capital budget,” he said.

On the bright side, Jardell says the incoming Walker administration is talking a lot about meeting the needs of municipalities.

“They’re really focused on hearing from local governments and ensuring that the state is aligned with the priorities of local governments,” he said. “That’s been one of Gov.-elect Walker’s priorities. It comes from his history, and his being in local government.”

Walker is a former mayor of Valdez. Incoming Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott is a former mayor of Yakutat and Juneau.

Jardell’s comments came at the Assembly’s annual retreat. Assembly member Kate Troll called his predictions “a new reality check.” City Manager Kim Kiefer said the Assembly Finance Committee will revisit the city’s state funding requests on Dec. 17.

Jardell’s contract with the city pays him nearly $4,600 a month, according to state’s 2014 lobbyist directory. He’s entering his second year as Juneau’s state lobbyist.

The Juneau School District and Juneau Education Support Staff have agreed to a tentative two-year contract to replace the union’s existing collective bargaining agreement.

The deal announced Friday is retroactive to July 1, 2014 and runs through June 30, 2016. The current contract was set to expire at the end of June 2015.

The district said in a release that additional details would be announced when the school board votes on the agreement. Both Superintendent Mark Miller and JESS president Cricket Curtain praised the deal in the release.

JESS members will vote on whether to ratify the contract on Nov. 22. The union represents more than 260 employees, including office and instructional support staff, school nurses, RALLY program employees, as well as custodians and maintenance personnel.

A 76-year-old Juneau man was found dead on his boat near Thane Road on Saturday.

Sgt. David Wrightson with the Juneau Police Department says foul play is not suspected in the death. Wrightson says the man was living on the boat, which was on the beach just past the Rock Dump.

Police and Capital City Fire/Rescue were called to the scene around 3 p.m.

Wrightson says the man’s name is not being released at this time pending notification of family.