Business

When Juneau voters approved an extension of the city’s temporary one-percent sales tax and a $25 million bond proposition earlier this year, it created a dilemma members of the CBJ Assembly are probably happy to have: When to fund the nearly 20 projects identified in both ballot measures?

Engineering Director Rorie Watt presented a preliminary funding schedule for the sales tax and bond projects to the Juneau Assembly Finance Committee this week.

The bond package contained six projects, including renovation of the old terminal at Juneau Airport, a new Learning Center at Eaglecrest Ski Area, and deferred maintenance at Centennial Hall. The plan is to do an initial $2.4 million bond sale in February to get those projects underway, and sell the rest of the bonds at a later date.

Watt says the sales tax funding schedule is a little more complicated.

“You can’t do it all in year one,” he told the Finance Committee.

The tax extension doesn’t take effect until October 2013. It’s expected to bring in about $44.5 million over five years. Ten million of that will be used to pay down debt on the bonds.

Of the remaining $34.5 million, Watt proposed funding three projects in the first year – the Juneau Airport’s snow removal equipment facility, a new Dimond Park Library and Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Walter Soboleff Center.

“All three of them, I think it’s fair to say are most advanced,” Watt said.

The library project is estimated at $14 million, and has secured all funding except sales tax. Watt says it’s ready to go to bid next winter.

Airport Manager Jeannie Johnson says she’s working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get $17 million for the snow removal facility. Ten million is available this year. But Johnson says if the Airport waits a year, when the sales tax dollars become available, she thinks she can get the full amount.

[quote]”The reason that they’re asking me to do this and I’m trying to make it work is that they’ve come up with other projects in the state of Alaska that they want to spend that $10 million on right now,” Johnson said.[/quote]

Of the three projects Watt proposes appropriating money to right away, Sealaska Heritage Institute has the most aggressive building schedule. SHI Chief Operating Officer Lee Kadinger told the Finance Committee the Soboleff Center will hopefully be ready to go to bid in early 2013.

“We have expectations of other gifts to come in in the next probably six to eight months,” Kadinger said. “We’ve been working a lot of these relationships with foundations for some time that are very interested in the project. It’s just more or less a formal public decision.”

Kadinger says the goal is to have the facility built by June 2014 in time for the heritage institute’s biennial Celebration festival.

Two other items from the sales tax initiative would get funding next year, under Watt’s proposed timeline. About a million dollars would go toward both deferred maintenance and the city’s rainy day reserve fund, with additional sales tax revenue set aside for those items in future years.

The rest of the individual projects, including a water filtration system for the Salmon Creek Reservoir and borough wide parks and trail improvements would be funded over the five-year extension.

The Assembly is expected to adopt the funding schedule as part of its Capital Improvement Projects list next year.

Update:

Dr. Jody McLeod Andrews and her husband Regis were scheduled to be on Juneau Afternoon on Friday, Dec. 7, to talk about Juneau Fest 2012. News director KTOO Rosemarie Alexander contacted them prior to the program, to alert them to the story about Juneau Fest, which had aired on Friday’s Morning Edition. They said they looked forward to clarifying information about the event and confirmed they would be at the station for Juneau Afternoon. However, they did not appear for the interview, instead, Pastor Eric Gonyon with Revival Ministries International in Tampa, Florida, called into the station. 

Original Story:

Juneau business operators say they weren’t told the whole story when asked to donate items for an event at Centennial Hall next week.

Juneau Fest 2012 promises free gifts and other prizes worth more than $25,000: electronics to sporting goods and household items, city recreational facility passes, and store gift cards. Firefighters could win a Remington rifle and police officers are eligible for a Glock handgun.

“And thank God for Walmart,” said Juneau Fest organizer Jody McLeod Andrews. “Walmart donated a $1000 grant to enable us to buy more Christmas toys.”

McLeod Andrews said they even have a car to give away.

Businesses have variously been told that it’s holiday celebration, party for kids, benefit for local charities, or an event to honor local police and firefighters. McLeod Andrews said school buses are being used to transport people to Centennial Hall from area schools. What businesses have not been told is that the prizes will be used to draw people to a six-day religious revival.

Camera store operator Art Sutch was approached to donate a camera and related gear, but he never committed. Still, Juneau Fest organizers used his business name in at least one radio interview touting the support of local businesses.

“In this day and age, you gotta watch what you’re doing,” Sutch said.   “I was thankful the neighbors Googled them. Yeah, I don’t know what to say other than just beware.”

Photographer and gallery owner Daniel Buckscott said he donated two canvases worth about $300 each. They were pictures of a polar bear and a sunrise at Auke Lake.

“And right as she was about to leave,”  Buckscott said, “she grabbed my shoulder and hand, and started praying.  The intensity of her praying was a little intense. And then she left.”

Buckscott called the solicitation for donations “very deceptive.”

Other Juneau businesses surveyed by KTOO confirmed that they were either approached under false pretenses or not told the whole story.

Western Auto and Marine Manager John Weedman said Juneau Fest organizers were persistent in soliciting donated goods.

He said their pitch to “lift up everybody’s spirits during the holiday season” seemed “sketchy from the get-go.”

Fred Meyer cards are listed on the Juneau Fest posters as one of the giveaways. But local store director Ken Antcliff said he did not donate the cards.

Store policy includes contributing to local schools, children’s activities, or charities alleviating hunger, but avoiding political or religious causes. In this case, Antcliff said he traced the tax exempt identification number to a local church.

“It’s going to be an epic event,” said Sam Dalin, pastor of Juneau’s River of Glory Church.

Dalin is paying $7,870 to rent Centennial Hall for six days, clearly identified in the facility use agreement as ‘Church Meetings.’

“Just six nights of celebrating the spirit of Christmas and keeping Christ in Christmas, singing Christmas carols, (and) Christmas songs,” Dalin said.

“That’s what I believe spirit Christmas is. That’s what I share with people. And the thing just kind of exploded,” he said.

Dalin has been promoting the event while identifying himself as chaplain for the Juneau Police Department and Capital City Fire and Rescue. Representatives for both agencies said they are not involved.

“I didn’t know it was a problem to anybody and anybody would think that I’m trying to do anything underneath the table or behind closed doors,”  Dalin said. “I have two titles. I am a chaplain and I am a pastor.”

Dalin writes on his church website that he has been friends with Rodney Howard-Browne for more than twenty years. Howard-Browne runs Revival Ministries International, an evangelistic operation based in Tampa, Florida. Juneau Fest 2012 is labeled on the website Revival.com as just another stop on Howard-Browne’s Great Awakening Tour.

Evangelists Christopher and Victoria McKaskle state in a newsletter that Junea (sic) will feature a new strategy by Pastor Rodney:

“We will draw the unsaved in using prizes and giveaways. Then, we will preach the gospel and see the power of God fall on the unsaved,” McKaskle’s write.

(The McKaskles took down the November newsletter from their website on Friday, but it can still be viewed by clicking here.)

The strategy, said Seattle Pacific University theology professor Priscilla Pope-Levison, skews the gospel message.

“So, the people don’t become Christians because they believe the message, but because they want whatever’s promised,” she said.

Pope-Levison said proselytizing, or presenting a message with a promised material reward, is often viewed as suspicious by the general public.

“There’s a power dynamic then that’s introduced. This has really come into play in mission theory where missionaries would go into foreign fields and they would promise something,” she said.  “And the pejorative term that has arisen for this is ‘Rice Christians.’ ”

Pope-Levison is concerned that people coming to the event are not being told what it is. She also describes how the organizers have approached local businesses as “a sketchy and potentially damaging practice.”

“I think it’s wrong. I think it’s really dangerous. So much of society is skeptical of Christianity. And rightly so. Christians are considered hypocritical. I really do believe in the importance of evangelism,” said Pope-Levison, who is also an ordained Methodist minister.

“For me, it’s all about integrity and being as honest as one possibly can. I would never affirm a strategy that was not as transparent as possible,” she said.

Pope-Levison says the South African-born Rodney Howard-Browne has been associated with the “Holy Laughter” movement in which someone is seemingly over taken by the Holy Spirit.

In a YouTube video, Howard-Browne and revival participants erupt in extended laughter or dance after a man tells of being healed.

Howard-Browne had this explanation on WSTK-TV’s “It’s Supernatural” program, also available on YouTube.

“So what you are seeing and the people are seeing is an outpouring of the spirit of God into the hearts of people, causing an overflow of God’s joy, bringing refreshing, bringing restoration, healing broken hearts,” said Howard-Browne in response to a question by program host Sid Roth.

It is not known if Holy Laughter will be part of Juneau Fest 2012. During a recent interview, Sam Dalin seemed reluctant to explain everything happening at the event until he was asked about Howard-Browne’s potential appearance and pressed about misleading solicitations to local businesses for donated items.

“I can apologize if they feel they’ve been misled. If they want to take their items off the table, they’re more than welcome to,” Dalin said.

Juneau photographer and gallery owner Daniel Buckscott said he’s “definitely open to all walks of life and people’s beliefs,”  but he doesn’t want to be tied to an organization that’s not upfront about its activities or standings on issues. He said Juneau Fest organizers’ lack of transparency is frustrating, especially during the holiday giving season.

“I definitely learned to pay a little bit more attention in the future,” Buckscott said, “which is unfortunate because there’s a lot of great organizations in town that I enjoy supporting.  I’m always looking for new ways to help out the community.”

For now, Buckscott said, he’ll be asking for his pictures back.

 

 

Click here to see pictures from the Great Awakening Tour/Juneau Fest events that have been posted by Revival Ministries International.

Click here to view a copy of the Centennial Hall Convention Center Use Agreement that was obtained by a public records request. Pages that include copies of receipts issued by the CBJ and checks drawn on an account used by the River of Glory Church were omitted from our web posting because of privacy concerns.

Click here to see the November 2012 newsletter by evangelists Christopher and Victoria McKaskle that explains the new strategy for the Junea (sic) stop on the Great Awakening Tour (GAT). In the newsletter, the couple from Mango, Florida is also soliciting “love gifts” of $850 for airfare and $300 for special winter gear for each of them.

When cargo ships run into trouble along the Great Circle shipping route, they often end up in Unalaska. There are plenty of support services in town, but there’s only so much dock space. And with Unalaska’s rough weather, simply dropping anchor isn’t secure enough.

That’s why Unalaska has deployed a new emergency mooring buoy in Broad Bay. Mayor Shirley Marquardt says the system is valued at $10.2 million. But it was almost entirely funded with grants and donations of hardware and professional services.

“You know, it took two years to get every one of these pieces together,” Marquardt says. “[We were] trying to do it with as little city money as possible, because the whole idea of this buoy is to protect us from the disabled and distressed vessels that get brought to us. We become their caretaker, and it kind of puts us at risk.”

That was the case with the Golden Seas, a cargo ship that went adrift near Adak in 2010. It was carrying 500,000 pounds of oil and fuel and posed a major spill risk to Unalaska because it was too large to tie up in town. So the 700-foot vessel sat anchored in Broad Bay while its engine was fixed, with a tugboat on hand to monitor it.

Even if it had been able to dock in Unalaska, it might have been a problem. City manager Chris Hladick says the unexpected arrival of a large shipping vessel can disrupt the port’s tight schedule.

“Maybe it’s a critical time of year. They take up dock space, and then you have a huge impact to our economic engine which is the port,” Hladick says.

Hladick says the city wanted a dedicated space for ships to go during emergencies.

“We came up with the idea of a mooring buoy away from the docks that you could put the ship on,” says Hladick. “Then they could order their parts, make their repairs, and then get under way and get out of here.”

Marquardt and Hladick say the biggest donor to the mooring system was Shell Oil. Shell provided three surplus anchors to hold the buoy in place, and had their contractors ship them from Louisiana for free.

Shell’s icebreaker class anchor handler, the Aiviq, stopped in Unalaska on its way out of the Beaufort Sea after the Arctic drilling season ended. The crew spent two days helping the city install the system at no cost. And in the future, the Coast Guard will maintain it for free using their buoy tenders.

The mooring buoy compliments Unalaska’s emergency towing kit, which was developed about five years ago with the Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment team.

John Brown, a coordinator from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, says the towing system can be used to bring broken-down vessels to the new buoy. He says the risk assessment group will test it out when they gather in Unalaska for their annual towing drill next fall.

Bartlett Regional Hospital must repay the state and federal governments close to a million dollars for six years of Medicare and Medicaid billing errors. The hospital also may have to pay penalties for the errors, which violated federal law.

In a memo to the Bartlett Board of Directors Monday, Hospital Attorney Richard Monkman said Bartlett’s Patient Financial Services Director reported in April that some Emergency Department charges were being submitted to Medicare and Medicaid under incorrect provider names. That’s because a number of Emergency Room providers were not properly enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. So, in order to bill for those services, hospital staff submitted billings under the name of an enrolled physician.

In addition, some non-physician services were billed to the programs at the physician billing rate without proof that a doctor had seen the patient.

Monkman said the incorrect billing practices have stopped, and an investigation and audit were performed at the direction of the hospital board. The reviews did not find any intent to defraud or misappropriation of funds. All services were provided by licensed, credentialed health care providers.

The amounts to be repaid total $648,227 in Medicare and $308,216 in Medicaid billings. That’s about 0.02 percent of the hospital’s Medicare and Medicaid billings from 2006 through 2012.

Monkman says the standard federal penalty in such cases is 1.5 times the amount of the billing error.

Hospital Spokesman Jim Strader says Bartlett already has the funds on hand, and it will not result in price hikes or funding requests to the Juneau Assembly.

The hospital board is expected to discuss the matter at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

Bartlett Regional Hospital is a City and Borough of Juneau enterprise fund. Its board of directors is appointed by the CBJ Assembly.

Link:

Richard Monkman memo – BRH billing errors

The Juneau Assembly has decided if it will allow the city’s Docks and Harbors Department to build two controversial floating cruise ship berths on the downtown waterfront. But its decision won’t be known by the public for a few more weeks.

The Assembly met in executive session for more than hour Monday to discuss how to rule on an appeal of a Planning Commission permit issued for the project in June.

After emerging from the closed-door session, Assembly members declined to reveal their direction to the city Law Department, which will draft a written decision to be approved at a future meeting.

Earlier Monday, the Assembly held a public hearing to take testimony from a group of local residents opposed to the new docks, as well as staff from the city’s Community Development and Docks and Harbors Departments.

Linnea and Arthur Osborne appealed the Planning Commission permit in July, about a month after it was issued. The board of directors of the Juneau Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial and local resident Dixie Hood joined as interveners.

The Osbornes, who own and operate the fishing vessel Mongoose, argued the Commission failed to adequately consider the impact of the new cruise ship docks on Juneau’s commercial fishing fleet. Specifically, Linnea Osborne said the city did not study whether the floating berths would limit access to the nearby Taku Smokeries dock.

“If we can’t get to the dock, we’ll have to go elsewhere,” Osborne said. “And it’s not just a matter of running into Auke Bay. If we lose our downtown processor, everyone loses.”

Taku Smokeries did not join the Osbornes’ appeal.

Fishermen’s Memorial Board President Bruce Weyhrauch argued the floating docks would ruin the view of Gastineau Channel from the monument and compromise the annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony.

“It’s going to block the historic purpose for locating the fishermen’s memorial there,” Weyhrauch said.

The Planning Commission was represented at the hearing by Deputy Community Development Director Greg Chaney. He declined to address Weyhrauch’s comments, because the location of the memorial was not part of the appeal.

However, Chaney noted the project has been the subject of significant scrutiny over the years, including several public meetings dating back before the Planning Commission’s involvement. When the Osbornes first raised their concerns in January, Chaney said the Commission delayed action on the permit in order to give the city’s Docks and Harbors Department time to address concerns about fishing vessel traffic.

“This project is better for the process,” Chaney said. “The Osbornes did come, they testified, they’re part of our commercial fishing fleet. The project was modified to address their concerns. Now, it didn’t address them maybe to the degree they would like, but I think it was an excellent example of the process at work.”

Docks and Harbors redesigned the project so the floating cruise ship docks would be further away from the Taku Smokeries dock. Port Director Carl Uchytil said the project as currently designed would provide 211 feet of clearance between the Taku dock and the southernmost cruise ship berth. Uchytil said that’s more than 2.5 times the clearance needed to meet the “reasonable access” standard for vessels less than 80 feet in length.

“We are also working with the Alaska Marine Exchange to develop technology, which will provide real time wind and current information at the facility to aid in safe navigation in this vicinity,” Uchytil said.

Assembly member Jesse Kiehl brought up the distance between the two docks in asking the Osbornes to clarify their objections.

“It seems to be a wider maneuvering room than just about any harbor we’ve got in Juneau,” Kiehl said. “Help me understand the safety concern.”

Linnea Osborne responded that navigating a boat into a harbor is a lot different than in an open channel.

“This is where I guess it’s so important that Docks and Harbors should have had an open, public meeting on these items and on these assessments to gain a better idea of this current and the navigation challenges that these guys deal with,” Osborne said.

In his comments Uchytil said mariners should always use caution and that nobody would be forced to use the dock when the weather wouldn’t allow it.

After the Assembly met to discuss the matter in executive session, Mayor Merrill Sanford and Assemblyman Johan Dybdahl, who presided over the appeal hearing, said they hoped a written decision would be ready in a couple weeks.

Two more appeals resolved

The Juneau Assembly resolved two other appeals of Planning Commission decisions on Monday.

Members voted to accept the findings of a hearing officer in a case pitting residents of the Montana Creek neighborhood against Coogan Construction. The Commission issued a conditional use permit allowing the company to operate a rock crusher in a nearby gravel pit.

Attorney Michael Lessmeier found substantial evidence supporting the Planning Commission’s decision. The Assembly discussed his ruling during its closed-door executive session. When members emerged, the vote was 8-1 to accept Lessmeier’s findings. Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl opposed the motion, saying he disagreed with Lessmeier’s interpretation of the law. Lessmeier ruled in the case after the Assembly recused itself, because former Assembly member Ruth Danner was among those who filed the appeal.

The other case was resolved before the Assembly meeting, when resident Janet Thrower agreed to dismiss her appeal of a decision allowing a second driveway at the Professional Plaza office complex near the airport. In return, the buildings’ owners agreed to install more signage.

The Assembly voted to refund Thrower’s $250 appeal fee to show good faith to those who choose to resolve appeals amicably.

Two appeals of Planning Commission decisions could be resolved when the Juneau Assembly meets on Monday.

“Substantial evidence” supports the commission’s approval of a conditional use permit allowing Coogan Construction to operate a rock crusher at a Montana Creek Road gravel pit, according to attorney Michael Lessmeier, who reviewed the facts of the case.

Lessmeier was acting as a hearing officer after the Assembly recused itself from ruling on the appeal. That’s because former Assembly member Ruth Danner was a vocal critic of the Planning Commission’s decision. Danner joined her neighbors, Peggy and Richard Mattson, who appealed the decision because they said the rock crusher would threaten health, safety and quality of life in the Montana Creek neighborhood.

But in his decision Lessmeier said, “The [Planning Commission] carefully considered, revised and added to the conditions proposed by the [CBJ Community Development Department] in order to address the concerns of local residents.”

Restrictions include the location of the crusher, days and times of operation, sound levels, screening and berming, as well as reclamation and sloping.

The case now goes back to the Assembly, which can either accept or reject Lessmeier’s findings. If the Assembly accepts, the Mattson’s could choose to challenge the matter in court.

An agreement has been reached to dismiss the other appeal before the Assembly on Monday.

The owners of the Professional Plaza office complex at Glacier Highway and Berners Avenue near the airport will be allowed to build a second driveway. But they’ll have to install additional signage.

Area resident Janet Thrower appealed the Planning Commission’s decision based on traffic concerns. The dismissal agreement is between Thrower, and George Elgee and Fred Baxter on behalf of Professional Plaza. Assembly member Randy Wanamaker acted as hearing officer in the case.