(Photo by Shelby Herbert/KFSK)
Petersburg’s Borough Assembly has a long agenda ahead of its noon meeting today. They’re scheduled to take public testimony on an application to buy a plot of vacant tidelands owned by the Borough. But that sale can only move forward if certain conditions are met.
Brock Snider, the owner of Island Refrigeration, LLC, has applied to buy an approximately 35,000 square foot lot of Borough tidelands located near Dock St., behind Wikan Enterprises Inc.
Per Borough Code, those tidelands can only be sold in “isolated and necessary instances when [the property is] not needed for public purposes.”
The Borough has determined that the lot isn’t “needed” for public use. But at today’s public hearing, Snider has to make his case that the Borough selling off the tidelands would benefit the public in a way that leasing them would not.
In his application, Snider wrote that he intends to build a marine refrigeration and electrical facility on the property. He said those facilities would serve the local commercial fishing fleet.
The Petersburg Planning Commission has recommended that the Borough move forward with the sale. At today’s meeting, the Borough will decide if and how the land will be sold. If Snider’s application moves forward, the Assembly will either schedule a public auction for the land or authorize Borough Manager Steve go into direct negotiations with Island Refrigeration for the sale.
In other new business, the Borough is scheduled to vote on whether to reassign Trident Seafoods’ lease to Ketchikan-based processor E.C. Phillips & Son Inc.
Last month, Trident Seafoods announced that it would sell its Petersburg processing plant, bunkhouse, galley, and two housing units to E.C. Phillips & Son. Trident Seafoods said in a press release that it expects to close that deal sometime this month. Details about how the sale might affect the upcoming fishing season are still unknown.
Also before the Assembly today is a resolution to support a pair of state bills that aim to guarantee safe and timely access to necessary medications in rural communities. If the Assembly approves the resolution, they’ll send a letter of support for Senate Bill 121 and House Bill 226 to the Alaska Legislature.
In unfinished business, the Assembly is scheduled to complete its final reading of an ordinance to allow people to discharge their firearms in Frederick Point East, a remote subdivision on the northeast coast of Mitkof Island. The Assembly voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance in both of its previous readings.
The Assembly will also complete its final reading of an ordinance to adjust the fiscal year 2024 budget for a long list of changes. Of those ten changes, one has been the subject of much discussion on the Assembly floor: a proposal to add $60,000 to the Borough’s legal budget to cover extra expenses from two ongoing lawsuits.
Petersburg resident Don Koenigs’ suit regards access to Borough records. And Petersburg Chief of Police James Kerr’s suit alleges that the Borough officials defamed him in a statement they released in response to a public records request filed by KFSK in 2022. Last summer, the Borough refiled that case as a civil rights suit in the district federal court.
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will meet at 12 noon today in the Assembly Chambers. KFSK will broadcast that meeting live and post the recording in our Assembly Archive. Anyone can join the meeting in person, by phone, or on Zoom. There’s more information on KFSK’s community calendar.
