Petersburg’s Borough Assembly has a packed agenda ahead of today’s Borough Assembly meeting. At noon, residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on two ordinances that could change how the Borough is able to sell its land. 

One of those ordinances would bump up the assessed property value requirement for sale or exchange of Borough land. When the Borough sells land assessed at more than $500,000, that sale has to go to a public vote. To account for inflation, the Assembly is looking at increasing that cap to two million dollars. 

The other ordinance up for discussion could expand the list of entities who can buy Borough land at a discount. Petersburg municipal code doesn’t allow the borough to sell its land to private citizens and for-profit businesses below its assessed value. But the ordinance would allow those sales to go forward, if interested parties promise that the land will be used for the good of the public.

Both of those ordinances are in their second readings. If they pass today’s reading, and then a third Assembly vote later this month, they’ll be adopted into Borough Code.

In new business, the Assembly is looking at allowing people to discharge their firearms in the Frederick Point East area. The Borough doesn’t allow people to shoot guns in well-populated residential areas, for safety reasons. But Frederick Point East is much more sparsely populated than other parts of the Borough. It’s also fairly remote: the subdivision is only accessible by a U.S. Forest Service road, which is not maintained during the winter months. So, the Assembly is scheduled to consider whether it’s in the public’s best interest to remove the firearm discharge prohibition in that specific area. 

The Assembly will also consider paying about $5,000 to hire a grant writer to finish a grant application to replace a floating breakwater at Banana Point. The breakwater, located about 25 miles south of Petersburg, protects a boat ramp from the tides. The site gets regular traffic from boaters connecting to Wrangell or heading up the Stikine River. 

The Petersburg Borough Assembly will meet at noon today in the Assembly Chambers. KFSK will broadcast that meeting live and post the recording in our Borough Assembly Archive. Anyone can join the meeting in person, by phone, or on Zoom. There’s more information on KFSK’s community calendar.