Petersburg’s borough assembly had much to consider when they met on April 7. Assembly members unanimously agreed to all but one item of business on the meeting agenda, which included budget adjustments, additions to a subdivision expansion, a new zoning overlay and more.
The noon meeting kicked off with a hello and a goodbye when longtime Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson swore-in Deputy Clerk Becky Regula as her successor. Clerk Regula is officially taking the reins for the role as Thompson retires later this month after two decades of working for the Petersburg Borough.
“I would like to sincerely thank manager Giesbrecht, my coworkers at the borough, all assembly members past and present, and all Petersburg residents for allowing me the opportunity to be your borough clerk,” Thompson said from the podium. “It’s been a true adventure.”
Assembly urges legislature for school support
As a high-priority bipartisan bill moves through the state legislature, Petersburg’s borough assembly is paying attention.
Education is, “THE largest budget item for the Petersburg Borough.” That’s language from a resolution the assembly voted for during their noon meeting on April 7. It urges lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy to increase Alaska’s basic per-student funding —known as the Base Student Allocation (BSA)— and provide school districts with predictable funding levels.
Assembly member Scott Newman made the motion to approve the resolution with assembly member James Valentine seconding. Without discussion, the borough assembly passed the resolution with a 6–0 vote; assembly member Rob Schwartz was absent and excused from the meeting.
Assembly considers marine industrial overlay
Assembly members considered a potential new zoning overlay during their first meeting of the month. Adopting the long-anticipated zoning law would create a dedicated marine industrial overlay (MIO) zone.
Property zoning laws regulate how an area is used. According to the borough, zone overlays are “special zoning subdistricts” that are placed over an area’s existing zoning in order to change how that portion of the space is used.
Establishing the MIO zoning on the borough’s tidelands would help make sure marine property is used for marine purposes by enforcing certain restrictions. The assembly voted unanimously in support of it on April 7, which was the first time they’ll consider the MIO zone ordinance before it can officially become law.
An opportunity for public testimony about it will happen at the next evening assembly meeting on April 21.
Assembly approves money moves per policy
On April 7, Petersburg’s assembly members agreed to transfer over $290 thousand dollars from the borough’s general fund into the property development fund.
The move was made to meet a policy that lets the borough put leftover money from the past fiscal year into that specific fund, “for the purpose of financing major capital maintenance and repairs,” according to the approved budget adjustment. “After this transfer, the general fund balance will continue to be over the four-to-six month target range.”
At the assembly meeting, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the borough adds money to the property development fund for “a lot of” building maintenance needs. “But this year in particular, we may have a use for it laid out with the sewer project at Parks and Rec,” he noted, “although we haven’t finalized that yet.”
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously agreed to the transfer with a 6–0 vote.
Assembly votes down second request for police k-9 unit
Borough assembly members reconsidered getting a K-9 unit for Petersburg’s police department. They had voted against the initiative back in February, due to budget concerns.
Its return to the agenda in April followed an outpouring of support from locals who said they were willing to donate money to sponsor the unit. However, the borough’s budget remained one of the key concerns for assembly members who decided against the initiative to get a dual-purpose police dog for Petersburg.
After discussing the matter for nearly half an hour, the assembly voted it down 5–1, with only vice mayor Donna Marsh voting in support.
Assembly agrees to additional expansion of subdivision
Petersburg’s borough assembly decided to enlarge the Airport Subdivision expansion project near the Hammer and Wikan Grocery store.
According to the addendum, Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority received more funding and wants to add more lots to the Airport Addition Subdivision — by double. This change expands an agreement the borough entered with the authority earlier this year to extend the existing subdivision.
The assembly’s approval agrees to improvements on an additional 11 lots, for a total of 22 lots, with 13 lots to be owned by the authority and the rest retained by the borough. It’s a similar plan to how the existing subdivision was created a couple of decades ago. The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the update unanimously with a 6–0 vote.
