Local Government

Skagway’s Borough Assembly meeting last Thursday was overshadowed by a topic not on the agenda. Mayor Sam Bass announced he had not – and would not – sign correspondence that was approved at the previous Assembly meeting. The correspondence included letters concerning recent federal firings and tariffs with Canada.

Skagway’s mayor said his decision not to sign his name on the dotted line is simply a change in how correspondence is handled. However, some constituents and Assembly members see it as politically divisive, and a dereliction of duty.

A heated exchange between Skagway Mayor Sam Bass and Assembly member Alex Weddell took place during the March 6 meeting.

“My question was, do you support the content of the last three letters that went out?” Weddell said.

“Assembly member Weddell, I’m not going to discuss that with you,” Bass said. “I’ve told you my reasons for making these decisions. You can accept that or not.”

“I do not accept it,” Weddell replied.

“Okay. Well, thank you,” Bass said.

The Skagway Borough Assembly approved three letters at their Feb. 20 meeting. The first letter was to Alaska’s congressional delegation, expressing the town’s reliance on Whitehorse for supplies, and how a proposed 25% tariff could harm the local economy.

The second letter, also to the delegation, highlights the importance of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The federal park is a cultural draw for tourists and one of the town’s few year-round employers. Skagway lost its Park Service historic preservationist amid the nationwide probationary terminations.

The third letter was sent to the premier of Yukon, and reiterates the partnership and friendship between Skagway and its neighboring country.

The Assembly first learned that the mayor would not be signing the approved letters on Feb. 28. Borough Clerk Steve Burnaham sent an email to Assembly members informing them that the mayor had declined to sign the correspondence and that the letters would be signed by the clerk if there were no objections. All three letters were sent with the clerk’s signature.

On March 6, Bass addressed the signature issue for the first time on his official Mayor Sam Bass Facebook page. He said that he was misquoted in a CBC North article regarding the tariffs letter.

Bass stated on his Facebook page that he “did not write nor sign the letter from which these quotes are extracted from.” It also said he would work with Canadian officials to help mitigate tariff effects and he believes that more needs to be done to stop the fentanyl crisis.

Comments to the Facebook page have been disabled.

The mayor told the Assembly at the March 6 regular meeting that correspondence from the mayor and the Assembly should be separate.

“I have taken this action because I feel at the Assembly, the legislative branch of our local government should sign the correspondence it generates,” he said. “And at the mayor’s office, the executive branch should sign correspondence it generates. This method increases the validity and impact of the correspondence and allows the different branches to express themselves with a different perspective and voice.”

Bass said that city code dictates the mayor signs ordinances, contracts and deeds, but he didn’t believe that Assembly correspondence was under his purview.

Former Mayor Tim Bourcy strongly disagreed with Bass’ interpretation and said that state code, particularly Title 29, requires Bass’ signature on Assembly correspondence.

“When this body approved a letter to send, you as the mayor, are required to sign that,” Bourcy said. “The moment you step up on that floor, you represent us. And the fact that you usurped the governing body’s ability and had the clerk send this out, what message does this send?”

Bourcy questioned why Bass didn’t bring up any concerns at the last meeting – when the letters were approved – or use his veto power.

Another former mayor, Andrew Cremata, also criticized Bass’ actions.

“​​This is a reason to censure somebody,” he said. “… You don’t get to unilaterally decide what you like and what you don’t. Hell, I had multiple occasions when I was mayor where I had to vocally support something that I did not like, and I did it. I saved the conversation about I didn’t like it for the bar.”

The issue came up again during the March 6 meeting when the Assembly approved a letter of support for the Skagway Child Care Council, which is attempting to open a summer day camp to ease the child care crisis. Assemblymember Alex Weddell questioned the mayor’s new protocol.

“My question was, who would sign this letter?” she asked. “If this is a letter on behalf of the assembly, typically, these are signed by the mayor. His statement earlier stated that he had some difference of opinion than that. And my question was directly to the mayor, who would be signing this letter?”

Bass agreed to sign that particular correspondence.

Bass was elected mayor in 2023. He was appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the Alaska Royalty Oil & Gas Development Advisory Board in 2022.

Regarding his decision to sign or not sign letters, Bass says it was not his intention to cause “consternation.”

“I do apologize for not letting this body be aware of my intentions before not signing,” he said.

The procedure will be examined by the borough’s attorney.

Many homes in the Mendenhall Valley near the riverfront are seeing a decline in their assessed values following last August’s glacial outburst flood, according to new data shared by the city this week. 

City Finance Director Angie Flick said homes in the area are selling for less than they did just a few years ago. 

“The glacial lake outburst flooding has created a situation where we have some homes that are perhaps valued less than they might otherwise be because they’re in that area of the Valley that’s threatened by annual flooding,” she said.

This week the City and Borough of Juneau began mailing out its annual property tax assessment values to homes and businesses. 

Flick said most Juneau homeowners shouldn’t see too much of a change from last year. The average residential property assessments rose by less than 1%. And on average the assessed value of a single-family home dropped by about half a percent. 

She said overall, this year’s data indicates that the housing market in Juneau might finally be stabilizing. 

“Juneau’s market a few years ago, really prices skyrocketed. What we’re seeing now is a leveling of prices,” she said. “Even though it’s higher than it may have been five or 10 years ago, we’re not seeing that dramatic increase.”

Last year, residential assessments rose by less than 2%. The year before that, values increased by about 16%, though some residents reported a more than 40% rise. 

This year, commercial property assessments remained mostly the same except for warehouse property values, which saw an 18% spike.

High housing costs persist in Juneau despite the market cooling down. For the past two years, Juneau has had the highest average sale price for a single-family home in the state, according to a study by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. 

Though property tax assessments are in the mail, residents won’t be billed until this summer. The city calculates property taxes by multiplying a property’s assessed value by the local mill rate. The Assembly will decide on a mill rate in the coming months.

Flood barriers meant to protect Mendenhall Valley homes from glacial outburst floods are on their way to Juneau. This week, city contractors started doing site assessments at homes where the barriers will be installed.

Contractors walked through Dan Wayne’s backyard on Tuesday morning to plot the location of the temporary levee. It will be made of steel cages filled with sandbags, called HESCO barriers. Each one is 3 feet wide, 3 feet long and 4 feet tall.

Wayne’s small backyard, which extends 20 feet out from his house, is expected to shrink by half. He also won’t be able to see or access an adjacent lot he purchased next to the river.

“It has a pond on it with wildlife and birds and so forth,” he said. “We have a dinghy that we row out there.” 

Instead, all he’ll see is a wall. 

Although water has crept right up to his property line, Wayne says his home has never flooded in the 28 years he’s lived there. He has mixed feelings about the barriers.

“I want my neighbors to be flood-free,” he said. “I’m happy to be part of it, but I feel like it should have been handled better.”

He’s among the 466 landowners who will pay about $6,300 over the next 10 years to foot the bill for 40% of the installation cost. Juneau taxpayers will cover the other 60%. 

Wayne says he wishes the city would better compensate landowners who will be hosting the hulking barriers for an unknown length of time — potentially years — while city planners consider longer-term solutions. 

“We, of course, would like these barriers to be up for as short of a time as possible, but we just don’t know how long that will be,” said City Manager Katie Koester at an assembly meeting on Monday. 

She highlighted that landowners will be able to make specific requests to limit the impact of construction on their lives, like having contractors work when babies aren’t sleeping and moving fences for dogs. 

Dan Allard, an Emergency Management Specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says the agency is paying roughly $4 million for the materials. 

“So what is coming is 37,800 linear feet of HESCO barrier, 112,000 regular size sandbags, 400 super sacks — which are very large sandbags,” Allard said. 

Although the Army Corps won’t be responsible for installation, since the city is managing that, Allard says it won’t be pretty when the heavy machinery rolls in. 

“I know it’s going to be a muddy mess in everybody’s yard,” he said.

Property assessments are ongoing and the barriers are due to arrive in the next few weeks. But the installation date is still unknown. 

A plan to move Juneau’s city employees into the building that houses the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation downtown is inching toward reality. 

At a committee meeting on Monday, Juneau Assembly members gave city administration the OK to begin negotiating the purchase of two floors of the Michael J. Burns building. If approved, they would become the new location for City Hall. 

The only Assembly member to vote against the plan was Ella Adkison. She doesn’t like the idea of taking office space once used by the state. She worries it might add to capital creep if there’s less room in Juneau for state workers. 

“I think it’s our fiscally responsible option. I think it’s best for our city employees. That’s not why I have such a problem with this proposal,” she said. “I have an issue with owning this building, with this mechanism, with this partner.”

Last year, the building owners said the floors would be vacant this year because a state agency didn’t plan to renew its lease for the space. 

Less than half of city employees fit in the current City Hall building near Marine Park and the building needs roughly $14 million in maintenance work. The city rents additional building space to accommodate all its staff. For years, city leaders have maintained that the current situation is not sustainable and consolidating all city functions would help both city staff and the public. 

In previous years, the city controversially wanted to build a brand new City Hall. It asked voters to approve millions in bond debt in 2022 and 2023 to help pay for the bulk of it. Voters said no both times.

But this time the city doesn’t need voter approval for the purchase because it doesn’t need to take on bond debt to pay for it. The Assembly put aside about $14.5 million for a City Hall project during recent budget cycles.

Now, the city plans to form what’s called a condo association at the Michael J. Burns Building, which would allow it to jointly own the building instead of renting. That’s something Assembly member Wade Bryson said is crucial.

“The only way to do something for the long term and be in business forever is to own it,” he said. “It’s just in the city’s best interest. It’s in our taxpayers’ best interest.”

City Manager Katie Koester said the city will begin with an offer of about $9.3 million for the floors, which is their appraised value. But she warned that the cost will likely change during negotiations because the owners are asking for about $12 million. 

She said the city will likely need another $5 million to renovate and improve the floors if the purchase is approved. 

Once Koester and the building owners settle on a price, she will go back to the Assembly to request final approval of the purchase.

Ketchikan is joining other Southeast Alaska communities like Sitka, Juneau, and Skagway in collecting sales tax on goods and services purchased on board cruise ships while they’re docked in the First City. Ketchikan’s city and borough governments recently passed laws to repeal their preexisting exemption on sales tax for cruise ships.

At their meeting on Monday, the Ketchikan borough assembly discussed if cruise ships should pay sales tax. Up to this point, the dozens of cruise ships that dock in Ketchikan every year carrying millions of passengers are exempt from paying local sales tax in their onboard shops and restaurants and Borough Attorney Glenn Brown said it’s been a “burr under the saddle” for local businesses.

“It’s been a longstanding inequity for local brick-and-mortar businesses that sell similar items to what is sold aboard the vessel, where you have essentially one one operating tax-free and one not,” Brown said.

Brown explained that this borough ordinance would repeal that exemption, subjecting the cruisers to the same sales tax as everyone else in the Ketchikan area. Brown’s report estimated the additional sales tax revenue to the borough would be between $200,000 and $300,000.

“This is drafted so when they are in the territorial waters of the borough, its taxable sales aboard the vessel,” said Brown.

Assembly member Glen Thompson brought up the question of compliance. How do you enforce that a cruise ship is actually following the rules? Brown said, basically, you audit them.

But even then, Brown said there are other ways a cruise ship could skirt paying the tax.

“There is some anecdotal evidence from Juneau that some of the cruise lines in response to the removal of the exemption closed their stores, closed their restaurants aboard the vessel. So it’s really hard to tell what the market will do in response to the removal of this. There may be some sales that no longer occur,” he said.

Assembly member Jaimie Palmer owns a small business in town. She said that if cruisers can’t spend money at the on-board store and have to buy local, that’s even better.

“I just want to let everyone know we’ve already been called idiots online for considering this,” she said. “There was an article today I saw that said we were really dumb to do this, and it’s going to make all the ships bypass us, which clearly its not because the other communities north have been doing it for a while. And I fully support this, and think it’s about time. And if there’s other exemptions like this out there that I hope that we find them and remove them also.”

Assembly member Sharli Arntzen said that the onboard tax levels the playing field for local businesses serving tourists.

The ordinance passed the borough assembly 6-1.

The vote came just four days after the Ketchikan City Council approved their ordinance to repeal the same exemption. City Manager Delilah Walsh said in a letter that the intergovernmental initiative was borne out of council members Riley Gass and Mark Flora saying that Ketchikan needs to maximize visitor revenue to help the city’s struggling finances.

The ordinance passed through the city council with very little debate.

In less than two months the Juneau Assembly is expected to vote on a proposal that would allow the construction of a fifth cruise ship dock downtown to move forward.

Huna Totem Corporation has been trying to build a fifth cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau for years. But, to accomplish a feat of that magnitude, it has needed to jump through a lot of procedural hoops.

But now, the Alaska Native village corporation is at a point where it faces what is essentially its last major hurdle: tidelands, or the submerged land in the channel where the dock will be. Huna Totem needs to lease the city-owned tidelands in order to build the dock.  

And it’s up to the Juneau Assembly to approve or deny the lease — without one, the dock project as it stands can’t happen. 

At a committee of the whole meeting Monday night, Assembly members approved the introduction of an ordinance that will ultimately decide whether or not to approve leasing the tidelands. Members are expected to vote on it on April 7. 

Cruise ship tourism and its growth are contentious for residents and business owners in town. There’s a push and pull between the economic benefits of tourism’s growth and the impacts that growth has on the well-being of people who live here.

Residents testified about the proposed tidelands lease at an Assembly Lands, Housing and Economic Development meeting earlier Monday evening. 

Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson, the president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, asked the Assembly to approve the lease. He said the tribe would benefit from the project. 

“This is a significant investment in Juneau’s economy. It’ll create jobs during construction and operation,” he said. “It will generate revenue for local businesses, and this project represents a major step towards greater economic self-sufficiency for Juneau.”

He said the dock would help disperse visitors downtown. He also applauded the corporation’s plan to highlight Alaska Native culture with the project. 

The dock’s proposed location is along Egan Drive near Juneau’s U.S. Coast Guard station and across the street from KTOO’s building. It would be accompanied by a waterfront development called Áak’w Landing, which would include things like underground parking, retail space and a culture and science center. 

Another advocate for the project was Craig Dahl, the interim executive director for the Juneau Chamber of Commerce. He sees a lot of benefits.

“The reduction of bus traffic downtown, the expansion of the seawalk, the additional parking that’s going to be available to Juneau residents, more job opportunities throughout the season, and certainly the future connectivity to shore power to further reduce emissions — these are all significant attributes of this project,” he said.

Some testifiers didn’t feel the same way. Kathy Coghill, a North Douglas resident, said she’s concerned about the environmental effect of the project among other issues. 

“There are some really exciting opportunities for this piece of land that I believe the lease right now is premature,” she said. “I’m most excited about the cultural center, but I feel that local people’s concerns are not being weighed adequately in comparison to the commercial.”

Karla Hart, a longtime activist against the growth of tourism, also shared her opposition to the project. In 2023 she filed an appeal of the planning commission’s approval of a conditional use permit for the dock, citing health and safety issues among other concerns. 

“The health harms, the pollution from the cruise ships is phenomenal, and the city has never directly taken that on to protect the community or even to educate the community on the harms,” she said on Monday. 

Last month, the city held two public meetings to allow residents to ask questions and offer comments on the plan. There will still be another chance for people to give testimony on the topic at the April meeting before the Assembly votes.

Assembly members already shared some concerns, like whether the dock will get in the way of plans for a Coast Guard icebreaker set to be homeported in Juneau. These topics and more will likely be discussed at the Assembly’s next committee of the whole meeting next month.