Unalaska council retroactively approves a three-year-old library internet contract

The Unalaska City Council on Tuesday ratified a five-year internet services contract with GCI that the city has already been operating under since 2023 — approval that city code required before the deal committed future budgets, but that staff never sought at the time.

City Librarian Karen Kresh acknowledged the oversight plainly, writing that "in hindsight, this was a lapse on the part of staff."

The competitively bid agreement covers dedicated fiber internet and a managed firewall through mid-2028, at about $109,000 a year. Most of that is covered by federal and state library-connectivity programs rather than the city; Unalaska's general fund has paid only a few thousand dollars across the life of the contract so far. Staff warned that declining to ratify the deal now could force the city to repay past federal money and jeopardize future funding.