Juneau Assembly declares local emergency for glacier outburst flood

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly declared a local emergency for a glacier outburst flood Thursday, passing the measure without objection on a consent agenda at a special meeting that lasted roughly 16 minutes.

The declaration passed alongside two other resolutions. Mayor Beth Weldon summarized the action after the vote: "We had 3 resolutions on our consent agenda, one for declaring a local emergency for the glacier outburst flood, another appropriating $3.5 million for school roof repairs, and another resolution supporting the homeporting of two major United States Coast Guard cutters, including the CGC Storis. And those all just passed."

The consent agenda format meant all three items moved together without separate debate. An assembly member moved the agenda as presented, Weldon called for objections, heard none, and declared it approved.

Juneau sits in a glacial fjord environment where glacial lake outburst floods have occurred in recent years from the Mendenhall Glacier area.

The meeting also included a staff report from the city clerk on two citizen initiative petitions. The clerk reported that the 1% seasonal sales tax initiative petition had been certified and forwarded to the Assembly, starting a 45-day window during which the Assembly may enact similar legislation. Separately, the clerk said the mill rate cap initiative petition had been returned to the office and that staff had begun reviewing signatures, work that started the day before the meeting.