The Petersburg Borough Assembly will meet on April 3rd at noon. The Assembly is scheduled to complete a final reading on an ordinance that would allow borough employees to serve on boards and commissions that do not oversee their own employment.
The ordinance passed its first and second readings on a 6-to-1 vote. Assembly Member Donna Marsh was the sole holdout. If the ordinance passes today’s reading, Petersburg voters will be able to choose whether or not to adopt the ordinance on October 3rd.
The Assembly is also scheduled to complete its second of three readings of an ordinance to adjust the 2023 Budget. The legislation includes twelve budget adjustments. Among them is a proposal to transfer fifty percent of the Borough’s General Fund surplus from last year to the Property Development Fund. The purpose of the fund is to support the purchase, development, and improvement of property owned by the Borough.
The ordinance also includes funding for marine infrastructure projects. It would increase funding for the South Harbor Dredging project budget above its present budget of $635,000. It would also transfer $189,000 to a new Middle Harbor Dredging project to remove landslide debris from the Hammer Slough slide, which is damaging the Middle Harbor.
The Assembly will hear an update from Petersburg School District Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter on the state of the Petersburg School District’s finances. The school board is bracing for a near-million dollar deficit in the upcoming fiscal-year budget. The board is building a budget for next year, and to keep up regular programming, they’ll need up to a million dollars to cover the shortfall from the last fiscal year. The funding the school district receives from the Borough has remained flat for over 20 years.
In new business, the Assembly will appoint members to a local Ferry Focus Group. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is organizing this focus group to look into how the Alaska Marine Highway System can best serve the community while they work toward more reliable service.
After the regular meeting, the Assembly will hold an executive session to discuss the status and strategy for collective bargaining with the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association — the union representing Petersburg’s public workers. The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on June 30th.
Petersburg’s Borough Assembly is scheduled to meet on April 3rd at noon in assembly chambers. KFSK will broadcast that live and post the recording. Anyone from the community can join the meeting in person, by phone, or on Zoom. There’s more information on KFSK’s community calendar.
