Government

Photos by Brian Zittlau

Governor Sean Parnell and First Lady Sandy Parnell hosted the Annual Governor’s Picnic yesterday, the last of the summer. Picnics were already held in Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks last month.

The line for hot dogs and salmon was looping around the parking lot for the Sandy Beach shelters before Department Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners even started service at 4:30.

Here are some of the sounds from Thursday’s event at Annual Governor’s Picnic at Sandy Beach in Douglas. They include State Senator Dennis Egan, Governor Parnell and the First Lady, some of the Juneau and Douglas residents waiting in line or attending the event, and Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell who served up the salmon.

In addition to Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Parnell announced that an additional picnic will be held in a community that will rotate each year starting next summer.

Marine Park is one of Juneau’s busiest public spaces. During the summer, cruise ship passengers mingle with state workers on their lunch break, dotting benches throughout the park’s 1.3 acres. Unfortunately, it’s also widely seen as a haven for public drunkenness and other illicit behavior.

But a new plan being crafted by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department envisions Marine Park as a town square or village green. The planning process kicked off yesterday (Wednesday) with a meeting at the park to gather public input. Casey Kelly was there and has this report.

Governor Sean Parnell and First Lady Sandy Parnell will be serving up hotdogs Thursday at the Third Annual Governor’s Picnic in Juneau.

Serving hotdogs are the Parnell’s choice, leaving the fresh salmon to the fishermen who cook it, says Chamber of Commerce Director Cathie Roemmich. It’s an impressive list of commercial fishermen and processing companies that give the salmon and prepare it there:

“Icy Strait Seafood, Taku Smokeries, Alaska Glacier Seafood, United Fishermen of Alaska, United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association and Fishing Vessel Mikiah Bay,” Roemmich says. “And these guys plan ahead. We ask them ahead of time; we’re always afraid they’re not going to be able to do it again and they do. They pull it off every year. It’s a great recipe and I don’t think they’ve ever divulged it.”

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will be giving lessons on making lures. There’s a horseshoe toss, face painting, balloon animals and other activities for kids. Spike the Whale and McGruff the Crime Dog will be on hand for pictures.

Roemmich says the entire governor’s cabinet is expected to be serving food at the picnic, which is coordinated by the Juneau Chamber of Commerce. A number of local and statewide businesses contribute.

Juneau’s is the last of a series of governor’s picnics this summer. The Parnell’s held picnics last month in Anchorage, Fairbanks and the MatSu.

The picnic runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Sandy Beach Shelters.

The CBJ Parks and Recreation Advisory Board says the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial should stay where it is, while a city Assembly member says it’s not the memorial that should move, but the proposed cruise ship docks.

The PRAC was asked by the Docks and Harbors Board to weigh in on a possible location for the memorial, now that the city plans to build two new floating berths near it.

Memorial Board members say the granite wall with names of deceased fishermen should remain in its current location, but not if a dock will be in front of it. They suggest moving it to Marine Park.

Parks and Recreation Director Brent Fisher told the advisory board last night (Tuesday) he does not support the idea. He quoted from the CBJ waterfront plan, which calls Marine Park the front porch, village green, or town square for Juneau. The plan recommends redesigning the park to draw people to its core.

Fisher says the Fishermen’s Memorial was designed for its present location — a working waterfront near a fish processing company and away from downtown.

“Marine Park has been and will continue to be a venue for a wide variety of programs, many of which are not compatible with a memorial,” he says. “Examples of this include festivals, heavy metal concerts, flash mobs and parades.”

Fisher recommends a proposed CBJ park near the Douglas Bridge be designed around the Fishermen’s Memorial, but board member Melissa Museth says Gastineau Channel currents under the bridge are often too strong to safely conduct the annual Blessing of the Fleet.

Even with the proposed floating berth there’s enough room for fishing vessels to pass in front of the memorial at its present location, says CBJ Port Engineer Gary Gillette. Museth believes it could be too congested. She says the board has dismissed all other locations except Marine Park, mainly based on the needs of the ceremony held each May.

“We need to find a place where it is safe for our commercial fishermen to come in and participate with the Blessing of the Fleet like they have been doing all these years,” Museth says.

Linda Mancuso works on the waterfront as a CBJ Harbor Technician. One of her jobs is to pick up trash between Marine Park and the end of the seawalk, past the memorial. She says the two sites couldn’t be more different.

“When I walk through the memorial, people don’t throw trash there for some reason,” Mancuso told the PRAC. “There’s flowers down there right now, there’s always flowers there. There was a letter last week from a mom to her son. There’s a baby picture right now of somebody who lost their life. There’s all kinds of mementoes in there, people leave that stuff alone.”

She contrasts that with Marine Park:

“Marine Park doesn’t really belong to us anymore. It’s a drunk magnet,” Mancuso says. “I want you folks to be aware that if you move it (the memorial) down there what you’re going to have is drunks, you’re going to have people urinating, you’re going to have defecation, you’re going to have all kinds of stuff. I’m going to be picking up more empty 40s and Northern Light Canadian Blended Whiskey empty bottles than ever before.”

The Juneau Assembly will ultimately decide whether the Fishermen’s Memorial stays where it is near Taku Smokeries, or moves to another location.

Two Assembly members attended last night’s meeting. Peter Freer told the PRAC that wherever the memorial is located, the Assembly believes it must have both visibility and accessibility during the Blessing of the Fleet.

The plan for the city’s floating berth system, dubbed 16-B, states the memorial must be accommodated, though that is not defined. Assembly member Ruth Danner would shift everything up the channel toward Gold Creek.

“Can we move all of 16-B up, as far as possible, to make room for the Blessing of the Fleet to still happen there?” Danner asked.

The Docks and Harbors Board will hold another public hearing on locations for the memorial next week then make a recommendation to the Assembly.

Port Engineer Gillette says construction would begin on the first floating dock in 2013, and the second in 2014. He says the entire system would be in place at least a year before the memorial could be moved.

The state’s Local Boundary Commission takes public comment Wednesday on the City of Gustavus’ petition to annex another 16-square miles.

Brent Williams, section staff supervisor for the LBC, says they’ve already recommended that annexation be approved. Commissioners could announce a decision as soon as Thursday.

“The LBC does not always follow the staff recommendation,” says Williams. “They will have received this material and read it, and listened to the testimony and public comments. Then, they will make their own mind.”

If LBC approves the annexation petition, then it goes to the Legislature for possible consideration next session.

The new expanded boundaries would include the Falls Creek drainage to the east, tidelands in the south, and submerged lands in Icy Passage up to the mean high tide line of Pleasant Island. The community wants to exert more control over those newly- or soon-to-be developed areas.

Comments will be taken during the public meeting that starts at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Gustavus City Hall.

Gustavus was originally incorporated as a second class city seven years ago with 39-square miles of land, tideland, and submerged land.

2010 City of Gustavus Annexation

Juneau’s weather may resemble October this week, but that doesn’t mean you can’t imagine a nice sunny stroll on the downtown waterfront.

City officials want to hear from the public about future development at Marine Park. CBJ Parks and Landscape Superintendent George Schaaf says there’s no specific plan right now, but several ideas were outlined in the 2004 Long Range Waterfront Plan.

“How it describes Marine Park is as a village green or a town square, basically a cultural gateway to Juneau,” says Schaaf. “So, we’re looking at pretty much everything. What types of landscape do we want? What kind of hardscape? What types of programs do we see the area being used for in the future, and what construction or what kind of planning do we need to do to best accommodate that?”

The city’s Parks and Recreation and Engineering Departments will host a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at Marine Park to get public input.

Schaaf says some improvements, including an extension of the downtown seawalk to the park, could take place in the next few years. Others will be longer term projects. All ideas are welcome.

“We really want to try to get a feel for what’s important to the community, what they value about the place, and what they think we could do better,” Schaaf says.

Wednesday’s meeting will be held under the covered area at Marine Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Schaaf says it’s separate from, but dovetails with tonight’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting to consider a possible move of the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial to Marine Park. That meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers.