Local Government

Petersburg’s plan to form a borough meets state standards, according to a preliminary report by staff for the Alaska Local Boundary Commission.

The report recommends the commission approve the borough petition mostly as presented, but leaving Tracy Arm and the Whiting River out of the most northeast portion of the proposed borough, adjacent to Juneau. Petersburg Mayor Al Dwyer says that was expected, because Juneau could document more activity there.

“That was one of the concessions we were willing to make anyway,” Dwyer says.

The LBC staff recommendation would leave most of Petersburg’s proposed borough territory intact. The City and Borough of Juneau has a pending competing petition to annex nearly half that territory, including Holkum, Windham and Hobart bays as well as Port Houghton and Cape Fanshaw. Both communities claim current and historic ties to the largely undeveloped lands and waterways.

Juneau Mayor Bruce Bothello says Juneau will stay involved in the issue as the process continues.

“It appears that the staff has not given any weight to the information that we provided about Juneau’s historic use to areas to and including Hobart Bay, and that’s an issue of concern to us,” Botelho says.

The Petersburg Borough would encompass an area roughly a hundred times the size of its current city limits. It would include the small, neighboring city of Kupreanof, which has opposed the plan along with many other outlying residents.

The public has until March 28th to comment on the boundary commission’s preliminary report. The commission itself is slated hold a hearing in late May before it decides whether to allow the Petersburg’s petition to move ahead.

CBJ Assembly Meeting
February 13, 2012
Agenda

Anchorage activist Kokayi Nosakhere took his hunger protest to the corner of 10th and Egan Saturday afternoon. Sitting in a chair with a sign with about a half-a-dozen supporters
facing those driving down off the bridge, Nosakhere could not tolerate the chilly winds for more than a few hours.

Nosakhere is trying to prompt movement of Senate Bill 3, the school meals legislation, which has been languishing in the House Finance Committee for the last year.

Nosakhere says he put in what he says was his fourth request to meet with Committee co-Chairman Bill Stoltze. Stoltze evidently told a reporter that he plans on hearing the measure before the end of the session. He says there’s been progress tying to meet with Committee Vice-chair Anna Fairclough. Noskehere says her staff tell him that she’s all booked up for the rest of the month and can’t meet with him.

Nosakhere started his hunger strike February 6th, making this (Monday, February 27th) the 21st day.

He says he’s down about 35 pounds from his original weight of 260. He says any activity like sitting in the cold during Saturday’s street corner protest or meeting with lawmakers saps what little energy he has. He says he’s been told that he is now at high risk of a heart attack.

Avalanches from Mt. Juneau pose an “unacceptable” risk to Capital City residents and property, according to a report being presented to the Juneau Assembly tonight (Monday).

Consultants from the Switzerland-based WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research were hired by CBJ Emergency Programs Manager Tom Mattice to examine the Behrends Avenue and White Subdivision paths and recommended mitigation strategies.

The report says the most effective way to reduce avalanche risk from the Behrends path is to have the city buy at least 28 homes in the neighborhood below, and prohibit future development there – a recommendation the Assembly has heard before. The report says the buyout should be done in phases, targeting the most at-risk homes first.

In the meantime, it recommends mandatory evacuations and closure of Glacier Highway and Egan Drive when avalanche danger is most severe.

The consultants concluded that Juneau Douglas High School would not sustain any damage, even from the largest possible avalanches.

Also tonight (Monday), the Assembly will receive the first draft of an AJ Mine related water study.

The Assembly directed the CBJ Engineering Department to do the study last year after a citizens committee looked at what it would take to re-open the old mine near downtown. The AJ ore body, which is partially owned by the city, sits beneath and adjacent to Juneau’s main source of drinking water – Gold Creek in Last Chance Basin. If the city moves forward with efforts to re-open the mine, the AJ committee recommended efforts to reduce the risk to the water system.

The study discusses five scenarios, ranging from no action – meaning no mining and no change to the water system – to efforts to make the city’s secondary water source, Salmon Creek, into a year round supply. One option is to abandon the Gold Creek supply and build a new system. But the study says this is the most expensive scenario and the city would have difficulty identifying an acceptable alternative source of drinking water.

Moving forward with an initial decision on re-opening the AJ Mine is one of the Assembly’s priorities this year.

CBJ Engineering Director Rorie Watt will be available tonight to answer Assembly questions. The next step will be to gather public comment, due March 28th. Comments can be submitted to the Engineering Department, and Watt will hold a public meeting to discuss the study next Wednesday, March 7th.

The Assembly will receive both reports tonight (Monday) at a Committee of the Whole work session scheduled to start at 6:30 in City Hall Assembly Chambers.

Links:

Behrends Avenue and White Subdivision Avalanche Mitigation Report

AJ Mine Related Water Study

Capital City Fire and Rescue christened two brand new fire engines last night with a “wetting down” ceremony at Glacier Fire Station by the airport.

The tradition dates back to the days of horse drawn pumpers, when the engines and the animals were taken care of separately. Between runs, firefighters would wash down the carriages outside the station before pushing them back inside.

In the ceremony, the “wetting down” signifies the engine is officially ready for service.

(Photos by Casey Kelly/KTOO)

About 100 Juneau residents – many of them firefighters and their families – attended the ceremony.

Juneau Fire Chief Rich Etheridge explained that CCFR is starting a new tradition of its own. The two new engines christened Thursday were outfitted with a bell on the front that will one day be passed on to their replacements.

The new engines replace older trucks at the Glacier and Downtown stations. Each one cost $600,000.

Capital City Fire and Rescue will christen two brand-new fire engines Thursday evening.

The Pierce fire engines can pump 1500 gallons per minute, and have controls and hose fittings that are lower and easier to reach. Each truck cost about $600,000.

Chief Rich Etheridge says they’ll hold a traditional “Wetting Down” ceremony that dates back to when firefighters used horse-drawn pumpers. The horses and engines would be washed down separately outside the station before they were put back in place to await the next fire call. Etheridge says it’s the first time for such a ceremony in Juneau.

The two new engines will replace older vehicles at the Glacier and Downtown stations.

The “Wetting Down” ceremony and blessing of the fleet starts at 6 o’clock Thursday evening at the Glacier Station.