Kodiak Borough: Assembly Regular Meeting of September 3, 2026

Okay.

Okay, I will call the Kodic Island Borough Assembly regular meeting of Thursday, September 3rd to order. We will begin with the invocation from Captain David Shadow of the Salvation Army.

Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for our beautiful community of Kodiak. And God, I pray as we go into the Labor Day weekend that you'll keep people safe. I pray that as students start going back to school that you will be with them to help them learn and grow and become productive members of our society.

God, as our— this assembly talks about the things that they're talking about tonight, I pray that you'll grant them wisdom and discernment and help them to know what— how to proceed. And God, we thank you for who you are and all that you've given us. In Jesus' name, amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We are gathered on the traditional homeland of the Sugpiaq Aleutic people, and we acknowledge the 10 tribes of the Kodiak Aleutic region. We recognize the Aleutic culture that enriches our community to this day. Roll call, please. Mr. Ames. Here.

Mr. Gardner. Here. Miss Roberts. Mr. Smiley. Here.

Mr. Viscotchio. Here. Mr. Whiteside. Here. Mr. Woods.

Here. Mayor Griffin. Here. You have a quorum. All right, up next is the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda, which includes the minutes from the August 20th, 2026 regular meeting.

Mr. Whiteside.

Move to approve the agenda and consent agenda. Second. All right. It has been moved and seconded. Voice vote on the motion.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign. All right. Motion carries.

All right. We are moving into our first opportunity for citizens' comments tonight. There are two designated citizens' comments periods, one at the beginning and one at the end of the meeting. These comment periods are intended for general comments as well as for agenda items that are not part of a public hearing. For those who wish to call in, the local number is 907-486-3231, toll-free 1-855-492-9202, and please turn off your radio or any listening device to prevent feedback.

For those in the room who wish to speak under Citizens' Comments, please come to the podium and sign in, turn on the microphone and make sure the green light is on before speaking. When speaking and speak directly into the mic. And please state your name for the record and address all of your comments to the Assembly as a body and not to any specific member thereof. So we will give a few seconds for calls and anybody in the audience wishing to speak, come on down.

Okay, seeing no comments, um, we will move on to awards and presentations. Um, today we have a proclamation declaring September 13th through 19th, 2026, Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, and I will, uh, read the proclamation. Whereas Alaska Adult Education and Literacy programs have been serving Alaskans since 1942 and and general education development testing that result in a high school equivalency diplomas graduating with approximately 500 student graduates per year. And whereas these programs assist Alaskans in obtaining their high school equivalency diplomas to transition into post-secondary education training or employment opportunities. And whereas these programs assist more than 2,500 Alaskans receive adult education and literacy services annually through Alaska Transforming Lives Through Education strengthening Alaska's workforce and economy.

And whereas Alaska adult education and literacy programs provide adult immigrants and refugees with the opportunity to learn English language and skills for citizenship, employment, and to integrate successfully into communities. And whereas the Kodiak Regional Adult Education Program housed at Kodiak College offers adults on Kodiak Island the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge for education, employment, and citizenship to increase self-image and self-direction and to progress towards future personal career training and/or college goals. Now therefore, I, Jared Griffin, Mayor of the Kodiak Island Borough, do recognize September 13th through 19th, 2026, as Alaska Adult Education and Family Literacy Week and encourage all residents to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by adult education and literacy programs in Kodiak, Alaska, and to support and participate in these programs. And I will deliver this to the college myself, if that is okay.

Yes, that's— all right, committee reports. We'll start to my left and we'll just go down the line. Mr. Gardner. It's been a couple weeks. I don't have anything to report.

Mr. Viscoccio is not on any committees. I have not been assigned to one. Mr. Smiley? No comments. Mr. Ames?

No comment. Mr. Whiteside? Nothing to report, thank you. Mr. Woods? Nothing to report.

Okay. Then we will move right into the Bureau Manager's Report, which is on pink paper today. Yes, thank you for noticing. I printed it on pink, and while that is normally confidential, I didn't want to reprint it. And then I thought about reprinting it, and then I lost the file, which is why you have a paper copy, Mr. Whiteside, because It's in there somewhere.

Anyways, in the manager's department, this week we fielded calls from the Kodiak Daily Mirror and the New York Times about bears at the landfill. New York Times is going to be on the island next week to talk to some of us in person, so that should be interesting, and I believe that the Kodiak Daily Mirror is going to run a story again tomorrow on the subject. We met with our partners at Providence for a pre-planning meeting to address what our timeline would have to look like if we are awarded funds through the Rural Health Care Transformation Program. Um, we were asked some very specific details about taking out, um, about $150,000 out of a $3.9 million project, so we thought that was a really good sign. Um, they update the list every Friday, so I want to say congratulations to KCHC, who had like 5 projects approved last week, so that was great, and we're hoping to join them tomorrow.

We're also continuing the discussion with our lease renewal for Providence tomorrow morning. So that's always interesting, and we'll make sure that the assembly knows how that's going as it moves along. We had our annual landfill inspection on Tuesday. Two members from the Alaska Development and Environmental Conservation toured the facility with landfill staff, the ENF director, myself, and our environmental specialist. And then we had a couple of employees from our environmental consulting firm, NWFF, and The inspection went well.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of talk about bears during that time, but the landfill staff does an incredible job, and I don't want that to get lost in the conversation of bears. And DEC, um, was sure to point out that they know that the landfill staff does a good job. And so it'll be about a month before we get that official report back. ENF, uh, has a maintenance mechanic starting, um, next week. And so the only position they're currently recruiting for is a leachate treatment plant operator 1.

Assessing has also hired a new appraiser tech that starts next Tuesday. And a bit of sad news, Patricia Valerio's last day at the borough was on Wednesday. She will be missed and we wish her luck at her new job. We're actually— unfortunately, Patricia was sick during her last week, so she's coming back post-employment for a going away breakfast tomorrow morning. In finance, no new updates.

We're still working on the Tyler implementation project, and if you need to ask access your property information. There is a link on the website where you can go look at your property tax statements, make payments, view previous payments, and look at all of your other general property information. In IT, we're continuing work on implementing a new Proxmox cluster and are in the process of migrating KIB servers to it. They're also working on the initial phases of getting a Starlink satellite set up at Women's Bay Fire, and they started asking questions because the borough's copier lease contract is up in a few months, and we have a lot of Xerox in this building. The Kodiak Island Road cybersecurity infrastructure project is ongoing, and IT has been assisting the project lead configuring wireless access points.

We have also been working with the zero trust network access for remote employee work. The GIS analyst's last day was on 31st, so we also had another goodbye for Travis, which our IT director's wife brings in egg rolls that are I like— I feel— I don't know because I haven't tried everyone's, but I would say there's some of the best on the island. Very good. So Travis is off to Minnesota, so we'll be hiring for his replacement coming up. In assessing, we're continuing to view properties inside of the city of Kodiak.

You can see we're down to 17 senior citizens and disabled veterans that don't have a PFD and 25 that do and are undetermined. We have good cause hearings scheduled for October 15th, uh, for 3 senior citizen late file denials. We have exemption updates, um, that are needed for Kodiak Maritime Museum, which was sent to legal on August 19th, and then there's 2 more that need to be done for the Kodiak Masonic Temple and Calvary Baptist Bells Flats, although I think that there is an attempt for them to pay their taxes, so we'll have to get an update on where that one stands. We did get a decision on the 2024 appeal case for the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation and delivered payments to them on September 2nd, which stopped the interest. That decision should inform the 2025 reconsideration and the 2026 application.

The assessor reached out to the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation to see if they wanted to still schedule that or they were going to withdraw the request based on the 2024 decision, and they said they wanted more time to think about it. We haven't heard anything from the Alaska Supreme Court yet. In Community Development, there's going to be a work session on September 9th. They have a whole list of things they're going to be working on, including a first look at the CIP list, a second rezone for Cliff Point, two variances, a land— continued land disposal for Beaver Lake properties, and an election of a new chairperson for the commission. You'll see later on that Sarah Fraser has stepped down from the commission.

In engineering facilities, we received one proposal from Alaska Waste, and we have a negotiation meeting with them to discuss contract terms coming up next week on September 10th. For fuel spill assistance, uh, YADC was here. It was a lovely sunny day, so we were able to have the plastic off of the, uh, land farm, and they got to see what it looked like underneath. Our next sampling event will be at the end of November, and it's expected, if the trends continue, that that will be done, and we can use that soil for cover out of the landfill. We are awaiting results and just heard today that we will be getting those results back for the long-term care center, and work has not started in Carlock yet.

In small projects, the Port Lion School painting project is done. Staff is going to conduct an on-site visit when the sheet metal has been installed. The UST has been removed across the street from the chambers here. We're just waiting on closeout documents and a final invoice. Not a lot of other changes in small projects, still waiting for some of that work to be scheduled.

The last one there is the landfill bear fence. Uh, you're gonna hear a lot more about that later. Uh, but we did meet with AFIS representatives to discuss next steps. Uh, grant funding materials have been shipped. We got our first shipment on island and we're just waiting for some extra parts to get here.

Uh, the T-posts have not arrived yet, so that's gonna be great. When they finally get here, we'll be able to get that installed. Upcoming contracts, we've been talking about that contractor roster. We have 18 contracts, uh, 13 of them are fully executed. I signed the last 5 today.

Uh, they will be fully executed as soon as we get them up to the clerks to get them attested. Our facilities snow removal and ice control, um, you'll see that on next week's meeting, um, in packet review for signature on the 17th. Designs, nothing has really moved here. We expect a 65% design for the pool small-scale repair to be to us by September 17th, and we are expecting 100% design for the ARB to look at, at an upcoming meeting for that chiller project where we're trying to push through as soon as possible in case we were to get that funding. And we haven't Health Facilities Advisory Board meeting coming up on September 15th.

And that's all I have for the Manager's Report tonight, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Any questions for the Manager tonight?

Okay. Seeing none, we will move on to messages from the Borough Mayor. A few things. I attended the Alaska Aerospace Annual Meeting last Friday. And got to meet— the governor was there.

And just got to learn about a lot of things I already knew, but a lot of the projects that are going to be heading up out there. I too have been getting media requests from— additional ones from the Mirror. And then also, yeah, looking forward to talking to the New York Times again next week. Last night I went to the Alutiiq Museum Town Hall on Refuge Rock. And it was very interesting, and there's a committee that's been developed to explore how to commemorate that.

And so the Bureau might be playing a role if they're going to need to request land or something for that sometime in the future.

Let's see. Classes have started up at the college. You probably saw the story today. Like 25% year over year. It's, it's pretty busy out there.

And so I am, I'm swamped with students. And that's a, that's a good thing to hear, I guess. I'd like the assembly to, if they can, pay attention or attend the, the school board work session on Tuesday where the school board is going to be unveiling their things. It's called the Kodiak 2036 plan, which might have some implications for the work that we do up here on the dais too. So, and then Happy Labor Day.

Be safe out there. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. And I'm really sad to hear that Patricia will be leaving. So best of luck to Patricia.

All right. So getting down to the business. We've got one resolution tonight, Resolution Number FY2027-04.

Designating Engineering and Facilities Director Cody Allen as a temporary administrative official during the absence or disability of the Borough Manager and designated administrative official. Mr. Whiteside. Move to adopt Resolution No. FY2027-04. Second.

It has been moved and seconded. Manager Williams. Thank you, Mayor Griffin. This resolution establishes a clear administrative succession procedure to address emergencies or urgent Borough matters It officially designates and confirms Cody Allen, the Engineering and Facilities Director, to serve as the temporary administrative official. This designation will only take effect during a simultaneous absence or disability of both the Borough Manager Amy Williams and the primary designated administrative official Seema Garut.

While acting in this capacity, the ENF Director will perform all official managerial duties and receive compensation in strict accordance with the Kodiak Island Borough Code. This resolution will become effective immediately upon its formal adoption by the Assembly. And ironically, I know when this was introduced in packet review, it was Chris that was sitting here. The one resolution that he got to ever read in his term was the one replacing him. In general, I think that the ENF Director is better suited to serve in that temporary position just because they are more involved in the daily activities of what the majority of the borough is doing.

It wasn't an option to make Cody earlier because we needed to wait to get him past his 2-year anniversary as we changed the code to say you had to be here for 2 years before you could serve in that capacity. And he agreed to it, so I think that's an important part of it. He'll get his first experience as administrative official the first week of December when Chris Seaman and I will all be at AML. All right, great. Any Assembly comments or questions?

Mr. Woods. Yeah, it seems like it's pretty straightforward. It will get my support as long as it's something that Cody is actually interested in. I'm seeing nods, so it sounds like it's getting my support.

All right. Roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Ames. Yes. Mr. Gardner.

Yes. Mr. Smiley. Yes. Mr. Viscotcho. Yes.

Mr. Whiteside. Yes. Mr. Woods? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote?

Motion passes unanimously. Okay, we have one ordinance for tonight, Ordinance Number FY 2027-08, amending Title II, Administration and Personnel, Chapter 2.25, Borough Assembly, Section 2.25.060, Declaring and Filling Vacancies of the Coney Island Borough Code of Ordinances regarding the procedures and timelines for declaring and filling assembly vacancies. Mr. Whiteside, move to introduce Ordinance Number FY 2027-08 and advance it to, to a public hearing at the next regular meeting of the Assembly. Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Um, Madam Clerk, thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the Assembly. I am recommending changes to the ordinance to make filling open Assembly seats simpler, clearer, and more organized. The key improvements to this ordinance are the following. First, clear timelines. The process now officially starts the exact day a resignation is accepted by the assembly, removing any guesswork about deadlines.

Second would be easier application process. Community members will be able to download the application and email it to the clerks. This process makes it much much easier to submit an application. Third would be better vetting. Applicants must use an official form to confirm upfront that they are registered voters, that they live in the borough, and that they will complete required financial disclosures once appointed.

And lastly, it would provide seamless transitions. It clearly outlines how long an appointed member serves and states that a newly elected replacement will officially take over the first month, Monday, after the election is certified and after the replacement has taken the oath of office. I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Okay, Mr. Gardner, did you manage to figure out a way to solve the notarization via electronic submission issue? I thought about— thank you for that question.

I thought about making it similar process as when we opened the nominating petition, the nominating petitions, where the public could download an application, get it notarized, and then add the section in the code that would say you can mail it to the clerks. As long as the clerks receive it before the deadline, then you qualify. However, I thought about it more, and I was like, okay, what about those ones that decide at the very last minute? I would not be able to get the original form if they mail it, so that would disqualify. I think it would disenfranchise more applicants rather than have it become more helpful.

So what's our So the solution is that if someone is out of town and they want to apply, download the application, fill it out, get it notarized anywhere, and then send it by email to the clerks. As long as the clerks get it within the time frame that's allowed by code, they qualify. So scan it, send it via email. Okay, thanks. Yep.

Anyone else? Okay, roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Gardner? Yes. Mr. Smiley?

Yes. Mr. Biscotto? Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes.

Mr. Woods? Yes. Mr. Ames? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote?

Motion passes unanimously. All right, and, uh, other— under other items, we have declaring a seat vacant on the Planning and Zoning Commission from, uh, Miss Sarah Fraser. Um, Mr. Whiteside? Move to accept with regret the resignation of Ms. Sarah Frazer from the Planning and Zoning Commission, Borough seat, effective September 3rd, 2026, and to direct the Borough Clerk to advertise the vacancy in accordance with Borough Code Section D, 2.100.070. Second.

All right, it's been moved and seconded. Madam Clerk. We would like to thank Ms. Frazer for her service on on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and we began advertising for this position as required by code, but we are also having a special meeting next week for an appointment. Yeah. We actually have people in the wings waiting to get on the board.

And also by virtue of resigning from Planning and Zoning, that will also leave a seat open on the Lands Committee, and so Planning and Zoning will appoint somebody new. To the Lands Committee when they get a chance. Any other discussion or questions from the Assembly?

Okay. Roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Smiley. Yes. Mr. Viscotchio.

Yes. Mr. Whiteside. Yes. Mr. Woods. Yes.

Mr. Ames. Yes. Mr. Gardner. Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote?

Motion passes unanimously. All right. We have come to the end of this portion, so we will get to our second opportunity for citizens' comments. Again, for those who wish to call in, the local number is 907-486-3231, toll-free 1-855-492-9202. Please turn off your radio or any listening device to prevent feedback.

And for those in the room who wish to speak under Citizen Comments, please come to the podium and sign in, turn on the microphone, make sure the green light is on before speaking, and speak directly into the mic. And please state your name for the record, address all remarks to the Assembly as a body and not to any member thereof. So we're running pretty efficiently, so we'll give a little extra time for calls to come in.

In the meantime, just want to say thanks to Cody for stepping up and giving a— wishing Sarah good luck too.

Okay, not, uh, not seeing or hearing any calls or comments. We're going to move on to Assemblymember comments, and we'll start here to my left with Mr. Gardner. Enjoy the sunshine. Go get a bike. Mr. Vizcocho.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to encourage everyone in Kodiak to go out to the field tomorrow at 6 o'clock to go support our Kodiak High School football team that's playing against Valdez at 6 o'clock. And everyone needs to wear— I guess they call it blackout now, it's the term— so just gotta wear black shirt, black pants, black everything. Also, the cross-country also have a race going on tomorrow, so I highly encourage everyone to please support these kids that are representing Kodiak, our Kodiak community. So thank you.

Thank you. Uh, Mr. Smiley, no comment. Mr. Ames, no comment. Mr. Whiteside, just want to wish a happy birthday to Mayor Griffin and Mr. Viscoccio. Have a happy birthday.

Mr. Woods, just wanted to say thank you, Cody, for stepping in again and express my deep regret to see Patricia go. She's phenomenal, and I truly hope that whatever her next adventure is, it is conducive to her happiness and spending more time with that young'un of hers because that kid is hilarious. That's true. Thank you. All borough offices and facilities will be closed to the public on Monday, September 7th, 2026, in observance of Labor Day.

The next assembly work session is scheduled for Thursday, September 10th at 6:30 PM, followed by a special meeting. The next assembly regular meeting will be held on Thursday, September 17th at 6:30 PM. In the Borough Assembly Chambers. With that done, we are going to move into Executive Session to discuss the Kodiak Landfill bear management. Mr. Whiteside.

Move to convene into Executive Session to discuss confidential attorney-client privileged communications regarding bear management at the Kodiak Landfill as well as related matters that could adversely affect the finances of the Borough pursuant to Kodiak Island Borough Code 2.30.01. 03-0, F1B and F1F. Second. All right. It has been moved and seconded.

Manager Williams, staff report before we discuss? I don't think I have anything to say outside of executive session. Thank you. Okay. Any discussion about moving into executive session?

All right. Roll call vote on the motion.

Mr. Escorcho. Yes. Mr. Whiteside. Yes. Mr. Woods.

Yes. Mr. Ames. Yes. Mr. Gardner. Yes.

Mr. Smiley. Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes unanimously. Um, and next to, um, invite people into the executive session, Mr. Whiteside.

Move to invite the mayor, assembly manager, clerk, and engineering facilities director into executive session. Second. Moved and seconded. Voice vote on the motion, please.

Voice vote? Oh, voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. There am I trying to save time.

Any opposed say n'sein. All right. Motion carries. So the regular meeting is now recessed and we will convene into the Executive Session. We will take a 5-minute break.

We will call that a cake break. Cake break. 5-Minute cake break.

Please make sure that your microphones are off.