State Government

Work began over the weekend to identify the source of employee health problems in one section of the Alaska Department of Labor building in Juneau.

State Chief Procurement Officer Vern Jones says the facility’s private owner – Juneau 1, LLC – has hired Anchorage-based Alborn Construction to look for any mold hiding behind the walls in Room 210 – the site of several employee concerns.

“There actually hasn’t been anything specifically found,” says Jones. “But there have been ongoing complaints and issues reported by employees there. So it’s been agreed to between the state and the lessor to open up the walls, take a look and see what’s there, and if there’s anything there that shouldn’t be to repair and remediate as necessary.”

Jones says Juneau-based environmental engineering firm Carson Dorn will test any organic growth found during the work.

He says the landlord has not yet agreed to upgrade the building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or H-VAC system – also believed to be causing employee symptoms.

“There have been discussions with the building owner about repairs to the H-VAC units,” Jones says. “They’re older and the lessor tells us they need to be replaced.”

Air quality testing performed by state-hired consultants late last year and in January showed trace amounts of organic material – such as mold spores – in the building, but nothing that would explain the health problems experienced by many workers. Carbon dioxide tests also came back at levels deemed safe by experts. Jones says the state is awaiting further tests on particulate matter from the H-VAC units.

“Folks there reported some black substance coming out of the H-VAC system that’s more than likely some wear or component in the H-VAC system that’s coming out the venting,” says Jones.

The Labor building has been blamed for workers’ allergy and asthma-like symptoms for at least five years. Previous remediation efforts – which included new siding, new windows and replacement of water damaged carpet – have not resolved the problems. During the 2007 re-siding project, mold was observed on several of the plywood panels that line the building’s exterior walls.

Labor Department Spokeswoman Beth Leschper says about ten employees from the Division of Employment Security will be temporarily moved to the Wild Meadow Job Service building in the Mendenhall Valley during this latest round of work.

“We had some space available in that building. And what we’re trying to do is keep our teams together as much as possible, so this remediation work does not impact our ability to provide services to our clients,” Leschper says.

The work is expected to take six to eight weeks. During construction, Room 210 will be sealed off from the rest of the building to keep any mold spores or other particulates from spreading.

Jones says the state and the building’s owner continue to work with a mediator on terms of a new lease for the facility. He declined to discuss details of those negotiations, citing a confidentiality agreement.

Sport anglers will not get to fish for king salmon in the Taku River. And personal-use fishermen won’t be able to use dipnets or have a longer sockeye season.

The state Board of Fisheries rejected several requests to change Taku River fishing during its meeting in Ketchikan. The salmon-rich waterway, east of Juneau, runs from British Columbia to Taku Inlet.

The sport Chinook fishery was proposed by the Taku Users Group, representing riverbank cabin-owners. Fish and Game Department staff warned it could violate an international agreement governing fisheries from Oregon to Alaska.

Juneau board member Bill Brown spoke in opposition.

“It flies in the face of the history we have about fresh water salmon fishing,” Brown said. “Also, we have a problem with treaty fish. That’s an ugly nightmare we don’t want to open yet again.”

Some of the same objections came up with other proposals from the Taku Users Group.

One would have extended the personal-use fishery from mid-June through August to coincide with a gillnet opening. Another would have increased the household bag limit based on the number of family members.

Yet another would have allowed personal-use dip nets in the river, which Juneau residents access by boat.

Talkeetna board member Tom Kluberton said it would be popular.

“I think we would unleash a tremendous dip net fishery from boats down that way. That would offer much more opportunity to go and try for this harvest,” Kluberton said.

But other concerns, including salmon treaty implications, led the board to vote the proposal down.

It also rejected an Alaska Trollers Association plan to increase access to Taku River kings. Trollers proposed lengthening openings and changing how they are determined. Now, they’re tied to the gillnet fishery, which has a larger harvest.

Kodiak Board member Sue Jeffrey said she understands trollers want an equitable share. But she said the plan would create more conflicts.

“This is an area where we should just back off for now and let the rebuilding continue. So I’m leaning away from supporting this,” Jeffrey said.

Like other Taku River proposals, it failed on a unanimous vote.

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State says per diem charges were proper

 

Board of Fisheries Chairman Karl Johnstone says he did nothing wrong when he charged the state for hotel and meal costs during a meeting in his hometown.

The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Thursday that Johnstone was reimbursed $1,440 in hotel, per diem and transportation costs for the October meeting. It took place in Anchorage, where he and his wife own a home. They also have property in Arizona, where they spend winters.

Johnstone, interviewed Thursday at Ketchikan’s Board of Fisheries meeting, said he and other members work long hours.

“There’s a lot of reading to do and a lot of lobbying going on. And I thought rather than drive back and forth the 14 or 15 miles in the winter, I would better off if I was there and I could be available,” he said.

Johnstone, a retired judge, said he was given waivers for his meeting expenses. State rules require such waivers.

A later report on the Journal of Commerce website quoted Fish and Game officials, who said Johnstone followed proper procedures.

“I was told that was normal and I was given a waiver to do that. And in my opinion, I followed all the rules that I was supposed to follow. And it sounds like reading the second article, that the state agrees with me on that,” he said.

Johnstone was appointed to the Board of Fisheries about three years ago by then-Governor Sarah Palin.

Palin was criticized for charging the state expenses while staying at her Wasilla home when in office. Her predecessors, as well as her successor, live at the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau.

Link to the Journal of Commerce article here.

Governor Sean Parnell today (Thursday) lashed out at legislators critical of a bill to provide tax credits to companies that do research and development in Alaska.

The governor said he was “extremely disappointed” in some Representatives for questioning his administration’s truthfulness during floor debate on House Bill 118.

“Usually when a legislator has a concern like that, where they feel like they have been given incorrect information and they think it’s intentional, they would call me, they would come see me,” said Parnell. “That’s not happened in this case. And for a member to stand up on the floor and impugn the motivations of others, I think it violates their own legislative rules, but certainly there’s a better way to handle it.”

HB 118 was introduced last year at the governor’s request. The bill provides credits up to $10-million per year to companies for qualified research and development projects. The idea is to stimulate new investment and help diversify Alaska’s oil driven economy.

But when it reached the House floor yesterday (Wednesday), members of the Democratic Minority said the administration hadn’t provided enough information about how the tax credits would be doled out and to whom. There was some concern that oil companies would be able to use the credits on top of existing, similar tax breaks.

Anchorage Representative Les Gara said the administration didn’t have its facts straight.

“At the Labor & Commerce Committee, they said if you took the state credit you didn’t get the federal credit. In the Finance Committee, they said if you take the state credit you do get the federal credit,” said Gara. “In the Labor & Commerce Committee, they said if you take this credit you get to add it to all your other credits. In the Finance Committee, they told us if you take this credit you don’t get to add it to your other credits.”

Anchorage Representative Mike Doogan said he didn’t trust the administration, specifically the Department of Revenue, which he said “lied” to him.

Revenue Commissioner Bryan Butcher said the confusion may have been because the Department of Commerce presented the bill last session, while his department presented it this year.

“So we can’t speak specifically to everything that’s been said in every office, but certainly we have never lied to Representative Doogan,” Butcher said.

The bill passed the House on a 23-12 vote last night (Wednesday). It could come up for a reconsideration vote before it goes to the Senate.

A day after he urged them to do so, supporters of Governor Sean Parnell’s plan to cut oil taxes took to the phone lines and showed up in person tonight (Tuesday) for a public hearing on a competing Senate proposal.

The Senate Majority coalition introduced its own tax reform measure this session, after work stalled on the governor’s bill, which cleared the House last year.

Senate Bill 192 is a work in progress, and leading Senators have discussed various options to lower the overall tax rate paid by producers. But most of those who testified last night, like Michael Jesperson of Anchorage, said the Senate bill doesn’t go far enough.

“I think you ought to scrap it, go back to House Bill 110, and give it a couple years to work, increase the production, take more money from the oil companies over the long term instead of the short term, and provide a future for my children,” Jesperson said. “What we do now doesn’t affect me too much, but it will affect my children and they’re much more important.”

Tonight’s public hearing – the first of two scheduled for SB 192 – came a day after the governor’s office, state Chamber of Commerce and Alaska Oil and Gas Association sent “Action Alert” emails to in-boxes across the state, urging residents to testify, and calling the Senate bill a “tax increase.”

Earlier Tuesday, members of the Senate’s bipartisan Majority fired back at that claim. Resources Committee Chairman and Fairbanks Democrat Joe Paskvan says the Department of Revenue’s projections for the latest version of the bill show it resulting in a tax decrease of about $250-million per year for oil companies.

“To say that it is a tax increase, I think casts considerable doubt on the Department of Revenue forecasts, and undermines the validity of the Department of Revenue forecasts,” Paskvan said.

Parnell’s email also says the Senate bill “does nothing to stem the decline of oil production.” The Governor says his tax cut proposal, House Bill 110, is the only measure to get promises of new investment from producers.

Paskvan says declining production can’t be blamed on the state’s tax regime.

“Where the Governor says ‘for more than two years, I’ve heard Alaskans talk about declining oil throughput,’ I think it’s important of the public to consider, that as part of Alaska’s history, there’s been a decline in throughput since 1989,” said Paskvan.

Senate President Gary Stevens – a Kodiak Republican – says the goal of SB 192 has always been to cut taxes, and to suggest otherwise is “deceptive.”

“It never was an intention, no one’s intention in the Senate ever to have a tax increase. So I hope we can put that issue to bed,” Stevens said.

A Parnell spokeswoman says the governor was referring to the original Senate bill in his “Action Alert” email, even though the latest version of the legislation had been out since last Friday. Senators argue the original bill kept the status quo, and thus did not represent a tax increase.

The Senate Resources Committee will hear more public comment on SB 192 tonight (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. The committee also has nearly 20 amendments to consider before passing the measure on to the Finance Committee for more scrutiny.

Oil and gas taxes make up about 90 percent of the state’s annual revenue.

The state Board of Fisheries today (Tuesday) decided to continue allowing sport anglers to use electric reels. The panel voted down a proposal prohibiting power-assisted reels, except for disabled sport fishermen.

Power-assisted devices have been controversial since they came on the market.

Supporters say it’s just one more piece of gear in an ever-expanding toolbox. Opponents say it’s too easy, and gives too much access to commercial black cod stocks.

Current rules limit the size and weight of powered gear, but not who can use it. The proposal would have limited use in Southeast Alaska to people with disabilities.

Author Steve Merritt, president of the Alaska Trollers Association, testified power-assisted reels are taking the sport out of sport fishing.

“I mean it also on the principal of fair chase. We have rules for no night scopes, spotlighting deer, all involving electricity. That’s not really considered fair chase,” he said.

Some sport fishermen use electric reels to target black cod, which are also called sablefish. The deep-water dwellers can be hard to catch without power assistance.

Larry Edfelt spoke on behalf of Juneau-based Territorial Sportsmen.

“Outlawing electric reels would close the black cod fishery in Juneau and the northern Chatham area. We fish in 1,500 to 2,000 feet of water there. It takes 10 minutes just to get the bait down,” Edfelt said.

Guided fishermen also use the devices. Richard Yamada of the Alaska Charter Association testified the plan is the wrong way to approach the issue.

“I think this proposal was a go-around to just restrict, to try to control harvest of sablefish. And I think the appropriate way is bag limits,” Yamada said.

Board of Fisheries members voted 6-1 against the proposal. Petersburg’s John Jensen was the only one in support.

Member Sue Jeffrey of Kodiak said it’s a social issue.

“I liken this to a debate in Kodiak about whether we should allow people to hike up a mountain on 4 wheeler versus on foot. The outdoors is for all users and for some people, just getting out in a boat on the water is sporting enough,” Jeffrey said.

Representatives of local Board of Fisheries advisory committees voiced support for the proposal.

Department of Fish and Game staff said the best way to reduce power-reel use would be to ban it all together. They said existing rules could allow disabled people to use the devices.

The proposal was among 145 before the board. Deliberations continue through Sunday.

Listen to the meeting online: Scroll down to Live Media Audio to find the player.

Read proposals and a wrap-up of action: Click on Southeast and Yakutat Finfish – February 24-March 4, 2012, and look for Proposals or Summary of Actions.

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