KYUK - Bethel

What’s going to happen if the Donlin Gold mine is green-lighted and historical sites become disrupted? That’s another part of the Donlin saga that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is deciding as the federal agency chooses whether or not to recommend permitting the project.

The Corps is drafting a legally binding document for Donlin to follow if the project gets the go-ahead. The document, called a programmatic agreement, describes how Donlin will treat known and yet-to-be-discovered historical sites it encounters during the large mining project’s development. The Corps plans to release a draft of the document in early 2017 and then collect comments from federal, state, tribal, and municipal groups before issuing a final agreement.

The Corps held a meeting in Bethel on Monday to talk about this agreement with groups who weren’t able to attend a similar meeting in Anchorage last month.

Only three of the 14 groups invited attended the Bethel event: AVCP Inc., the City of Georgetown, and Kwethluk Inc. None raised public concerns during the gathering.

Richard Darden is the Donlin Project Manager for the Corps and led the discussion. He says for those who couldn’t attend the meeting, there’s still time to get involved.

“The folks who weren’t able to come today can still participate in the remainder of the process very effectively,” he said, “because we’ll provide comprehensive information when we distribute materials and a draft programmatic agreement. And we can be in touch with those folks on a more individual basis between now and then.”

Since 2004, 70 historical sites have been discovered at the project sites, which include the mining area, pipeline corridor, and transportation points like runways, ports, and roads. The sites range from artifact clusters to cabins to caves.

 

On Tuesday, Bethel City Council approved applying for a grant for the city transit system.

The council also approved refinancing the city’s court complex, shot down a proposal for new city buses, tabled a motion to amend the city’s current vehicle policy, and discussed the search for a new city manager.

Acting on a proposal introduced by acting City Manager Pete Williams during their regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting, the council approved another year of funding for the city’s transit system.

The transit system has been a topic of discussion in past meetings as state funding continues to decline.

Local tribal organization Orutsararmiut Native Council was a co-founder of the transit system, but ceased funding it in recent years.

A separate proposal by Williams asking the council to direct funding for a grant to purchase two new city buses failed.

The council also approved another proposal by Williams for the refinancing of the Nora Guinn Justice Complex.

Hansel Mathlaw, the city finance director, mentioned that he expects the city will have significant savings over time.

The council will interview a new candidate for city manager during a special meeting Dec. 1.

The Kuskokwim River is freezing around Bethel, but you still need to be careful if you are going to use it to travel to and from nearby villages, according to Bethel Search and Rescue.

That means keeping trucks and cars off the river for now.

Bethel Search and Rescue says that the newly frozen ice on Kuskokwim River around Bethel is only around two to four inches thick.

They added that the ice in the marked trails is better, with a thickness of about 7 to 11 inches, and that they have marked trails from Bethel to nearby villages.

Bethel Search and Rescue recommends using only four-wheelers and snowmobiles on the river right now.

If you must travel, then search and rescue urges you use caution and use the marked trails. Make sure to tell someone where and which way you’re going, when you’ll be back, and always bring extra gear.

Alaska State Troopers arrested a man from Nunapitchuk on a warrant connected to multiple sexual assault charges, but they believe that there are other incidents involving the accused that they don’t know about.

On Nov. 7, Troopers received a report of a sexual assault in Nunapitchuk, an online dispatch said.

After investigating, authorities arrested Gregory Tobeluk, 37, of Nunapitchuk on Nov. 16.

Tobeluk was arrested on a $100,000 warrant.

Over the last six months there were allegedly three incidents of sexual assault involving more than one victim.

Alaska State Troopers think there may be more unreported incidents involving Tobeluk and ask anyone with information to contact the Bethel Trooper Post at (907) 543-2294.

The city of Bethel is taking a look at ending its public transportation program because low ridership and high expenses. However, the bus system serves some of Bethel’s most marginalized communities, who depend on it for basic needs.

On a cold and snowy Thursday afternoon, riders on one of Bethel’s city buses stare out the windows while sitting in warm seats and listening to country music on the radio.

At rush hour, the bus is neither full nor empty.

The bus stops at the AC store and picks a few people up that the driver greets by name.

One woman who gets on with her son said she uses the bus often, but she’s reluctant to talk about it. The bus drops her off at Tundra Women’s Coalition, Bethel’s shelter for people dealing with domestic violence.

Megan Zickl, who works there, said that many of these women use the service.

“We get residents coming in from the villages who leave their means of transportation in the village,” Zickl said. “Bethel is obviously a lot larger than most of the villages, so coming to a place and potentially not being able to get around to do the things that you need, or want to do for yourself, can be very restricting.”

Not only does the bus help women get things they need, but it can help them respond to the trauma of domestic violence itself, Zickl said.

“Domestic violence obviously has everything to do with control over another person. So when someone is finally able to get out of that controlling relationship and be in a place where they can now control their situation and their life choices, that’s very empowering,” Zickl said. “The bus system plays into that to the extent that women can choose to go places they need to go without relying on somebody else.”

Acting City Manager Pete Williams said at the last city council meeting that he sees a lot of money spent, but very little made from the bus system.

“You should have some expenditures showing, and you should have some revenue showing, and all I see is expenditures,” Williams said.

Williams doesn’t know right now how much the system is costing the city, and wants to find out before deciding to accept more grants, which the city would have to match, or look at shutting the system down.

When the bus program started, the city was partnered with Orutsararmuit Native Council, which covered part of the cost and made the system nearly free for the municipality.

In recent years that funding has dwindled, despite occasional gifts.

The city is largely on its own, and this is why council is questioning the value of the system.

John Sargent, the city grant writer who worked to get the system running, said making money isn’t everything and the city shouldn’t expect it.

“It doesn’t make revenue; there’s no bus system in Alaska that makes money, Sargent said. “They all run on a cost basis.”

Right now, the city is conducting a termination study to see if ending the transit system will cost the city significant money in employee retirement benefits.

The wheels are already in motion to decide the system’s future.

Emmonak’s damaged sewer system, which left hundreds without service this week, has been jump-started.

On Thursday night, a team from the Yukon Kuskokwim Heath Corporation and the State of Alaska’s Remote Maintenance Worker Program managed to begin restoring the utility service.

Brian Lefferts, director of Environmental Health and Engineering for the health corporation, directed the effort, and said RMW saved the day.

“We often joke that it stands for ‘real miracle worker’,” Lefferts said.

Lefferts said that they got the system running again Thursday night after patching it together with help from local workers in Emmonak. The village can, after a week, drain its many full tubs and toilets.

Though the fix of the pump is only a temporary one until contractors can install new ones, Lefferts said that this means schools and the village’s health clinic will be able to reopen.

The pump will remain under 24-hour watch to make sure it doesn’t overheat and cause another fire.

“Keep in mind we got this old pump with cobbled together parts that we have to keep a 24-hour watch on. It could potentially fail again,” said Lefferts.

The pump is now doing twice the work that the burned pump was doing when it caught fire, but Lefferts says they’re turning the pump off every few hours when it begins to overheat.

For now, Lefferts said “a catastrophe has been avoided.”