Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Austin Weaver
“I haven't had an opportunity to see any of the contract or the language in that grant, so I wouldn't be able to speak to that very well. But I'm just kind of at this point putting out some different alternative options, but we could definitely look into that.”Petersburg Borough: Hospital Board Meeting September 2026 · Sep 28, 2026
Austin Weaver
“I did put in there just an estimated ROM budget based on square footage. Obviously there's a lot that goes into that with site development, but I just kind of used some square footage numbers and I came up with about $10 million for a 20-plex, which is about, you know, it averages out to about $500,000 a unit.”Petersburg Borough: Hospital Board Meeting September 2026 · Sep 28, 2026
Austin Weaver
“for something like this 20-plex idea, the total cost of that particular discipline would be around roughly $200,000, $250,000, I think, for sprinkler.”Petersburg Borough: Hospital Board Meeting September 2026 · Sep 28, 2026
Austin Weaver
“there is an opportunity to take away those garages and turn it into a triplex. There's a little bit more complications when you go try to do a fourplex because it would require a sprinkler system. But according to the State Fire Marshal, if it's a three— if it's a triplex, then there's no sprinkler required.”Petersburg Borough: Hospital Board Meeting September 2026 · Sep 28, 2026
Austin Weaver
“for this report, I did add, um, based on some comments from the last meeting, um, an alternative 20-plex. And you can kind of see that rendering there and kind of a shot of the interior space. And the concept behind this would basically be kind of an open parking lot, um, a 3-story basically single-unit 20-plex with the, with the first floor having some shared common space like a lobby”Petersburg Borough: Hospital Board Meeting September 2026 · Sep 28, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“You still get a card. It costs $25. You don't have to get a card. Nobody asks how old you are when you're in a store. It seems like it's a pretty simple and straightforward thing that would help a whole lot of people.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Stan Gregor
“I'll be voting no on this. I don't think it is, uh, necessary because right now the application that is in process hasn't even been vetted yet. Again, that doesn't pass muster, it would be denied. I mean, meaning there are safeguards in place to protect our entire community right now.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Steve Harber
“by the end of 2027, SEPA is going to have the third turbine in place, and its sole job is to eliminate peak shaving in the communities.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Robert Schwartz
“I've heard enough from the community and there's enough distrust about— how did somebody put it? Well, they're promising us lower electrical rates and there's distrust with that. They don't— they, they won't know until after the fact whether they're actually going to get lower electrical rates because the data center. Um, I'm all for the moratorium. Pause, gather information.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Stan Gregor
“I think a moratorium right now feels very unnecessary given those factoids. If we're not in danger of not having— of Ketchikan Wrangle and Petersburg not having enough power, I'm comfortable moving forward and letting our utility director vet any project”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Steve Harber
“if that's a detriment to other customers, we can shut them down and then they don't get it turned back on until they prove that they're going to be compliant. Um, so there's a lot of stop, a lot of guardrails in place.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Steve Harber
“If our grid cannot support any industry, the permit will not be granted or the power sales— I should actually ask directly, Director Harbour, if a request is made to purchase power and our grid can't handle it. And I know this feels rhetorical, agreement would not be signed. Yes, correct.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Stan Gregor
“the moratorium feels like a solution in search of a problem. We don't have a problem with this right now because again, if a plan doesn't make sense for our community, It's the director's job to look after the community.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Tara Favilla
“A significant amount of discussion is focused on power availability. Rather than speculate, we are taking action. We are immediately funding a comprehensive study of the electrical system at our sole expense.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“I really encourage you to talk about this tax exemption for 70 and up, up, is in a positive way that brings some relief to that group of people too.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“I understand that there was 340 people who signed the petition to have that done. That happened in a very short period of time, like 2 weeks.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Steve Harber
“And if it goes beyond a percentage of what we have available, then the application is denied and it goes— appeal would go to the assembly to say the benefits outweigh the risk or not.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“I actually have in the budget, in the assembly budget, I budgeted around $4,000 for advertising for ballot propositions. I believe the senior initiative, you voted no ultimately, so I didn't feel like we could put something in there.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“to be make it really simple as it is written, it doesn't change anything for the people that are 65 and above who have the state certification”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Robert Schwartz
“I'm for a moratorium. I agree with Scott. We need information. And I don't— I don't have a real itch to have a data center.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Stan Gregor
“Yeah, I had that confused as for the sales tax cap and there's not money budgeted because the assembly didn't vote for it. That makes sense for the senior sales tax.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Steve Harber
“That's 5 megawatts. And right now our peak is hitting 13.8.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Judy Ulmer
“the people that are being hurt right now are those that are on a fixed income, and they're being squeezed, as is pretty clear around Petersburgh. Everything's going up. The property tax is up, the mill rate's up, the mortgage rates are up, sewer dumpage is up 50%, electricity is up, food's up, gas is up. And income on a fixed income isn't up.”Petersburg Borough: 9.21.2026 Assembly Meeting · Sep 25, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“This commission lacks the legal jurisdiction to hold a hearing, vote, or make recommendations on this item today because the borough has committed fatal notice violations under the Petersburg Municipal Code and Alaska law.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Heather Fine-Walsh
“I move to recommend that the Assembly adopt an ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and processing of land use applications and building permits for data centers within Service Area 1, so that review standards specific to this use can be developed. The moratorium would run for 1 year from its effective date, apply only within Service Area 1, and expire automatically unless the Assembly repeals or extends it.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“So when Miss Cabrera said at the beginning of the meeting this is not a public hearing, that is a categorically false statement.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“First, the 15-day rule was violated. Mandatory public notices for a zoning alteration of this scale must be fully executed and accessible at least 15 days prior to the hearing. That timeline was missed.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“You are opening the borough up to immediate litigation, temporary restraining orders, and substantial civil rights and regulatory takings claims under the Penn Central framework.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Heather Fine-Walsh
“I think if you're patient and you work with the borough instead of threatening lawsuits, respectfully, um, I think we can work, move forward together for something that works for all of us.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Heather Fine-Walsh
“we only have room on the grid for one data center. So if data center is approved before any regulations are in place, that's game over.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Tara Favilla
“given how quickly things are moving, the opportunity will be gone in the year that you're talking about, which is why this is so important. And you may have somebody else move in that does what you are afraid of.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“Third, the 600-foot rule was ignored. The code strictly mandates that written notice must be mailed via first-class mail to all property owners within 600 feet of an impacted exterior boundary... Muzzell, Alaska did not receive timely formal mailed notice. In fact, we've received no notice to date.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Andrew Mazzella
“the ban that's targeted at this, that's why we have to— we have no choice to take a hostile position on it because, um, you're going to cost— first of all, you're going to cost the town more money than you can even imagine in the lost revenue”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Tom Kowalski
“I'm, I'm in support for just moving forward with, um, the recommendation to the assembly to ban dancers.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Tara Favilla
“our counsel has formally advised the borough that required public notice procedures were not followed before this moratorium was advanced.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Heather Fine-Walsh
“the purpose of this moratorium— not a ban, a moratorium for one year— is that the borough can put in some common sense guardrails for what is a really really impactful industry that is new. It's impactful in terms of power usage... water... and noise pollution.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 9.8.2026 · Sep 11, 2026
Katie Bryson
“I think Phil covered it very well, but I'm happy to answer any questions about our RHCP projects.”Petersburg Borough: PMC Hospital Board Meeting August 28, 2026 · Aug 28, 2026
Phil Hofstetter
“You know, we do a really good job with our workforce locally and we recruit, but if you actually look at how many people outside of Petersburg come and live, it's low, it's a lot lower, and it's really hard to recruit route, and when people get here, housing is always an issue. So I just wanted to put it out there as something to consider, and I did have a legal review completed that we are allowed to, you know, obtain property or housing and follow this line as it supports our workforce initiative going forward.”Petersburg Borough: Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board Meeting July 2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Phil Hofstetter
“And I also, I did put a little indicator in there as a discussion for the board just based off of Cindy's report. And that we put it on the agenda as old business to maybe just, you know, formally acknowledge that housing is an important workforce constraint and we should really evaluate some potential solutions and maybe just, you know, put on the record at least at some point that we should be looking either in town for potential housing, you know, with no financial commitment obviously for today, but with, well, you know, looking at specific projects, either that is, that could either be looking at grants for housing and that we have partnerships with the borough to develop housing of our own using the upper lot, or that, or looking at housing that's in town, existing housing to obtain and purchase as part of PMC.”Petersburg Borough: Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board Meeting July 2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Becky Knight
“Planning Commission, we the Planning Commission have received nothing.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Liz Cabrera
“you could just add a provision saying data centers are prohibited in all districts from this date to this date.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Liz Cabrera
“We've never done moratorium per se that I remember.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Mary Evans
“I'm asking the Planning Commission to pause this process and allow time for meaningful due diligence and community discussion before Petersburg establishes a precedent that may be very difficult to reverse.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Becky Knight
“my first request is number one, that you authorize a moratorium on all such centers until at least our community can develop policies on them.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Liz Cabrera
“This suggests it's prohibiting, not banning, and one year from the effective date.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Liz Cabrera
“It's kind of like why, why we are bringing up the data center ordinance is so there is some guidelines for what is allowed and what is not allowed as far as data centers. That's the whole reason to discuss it now, because if there's nothing in place, then if somebody wants to put one on industrial property, there's nothing to stop them.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Mary Evans
“I'm of the opinion that we need appropriate limits and safeguards in place before, not after, this project is greenlit and a precedent is established.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026
Mary Evans
“The borough's FAQ about the data center states that the 2025 Marine Industrial Overlay does not apply to this parcel because it's privately owned. But the Marine Industrial Overlay ordinance itself does not appear to state that the overlay applies only to borough-owned property.”Petersburg Borough: Planning Commission Meeting 8.11.2026 · Aug 11, 2026