Houston: Special City Council Meeting 10.19.2026

This month.

Nice short meeting last week though. Who?

All right, I call to order the special city council meeting of the City of Houston for October 19th, 2026, at 6:04.

Councilmember Johansen is, uh, I believe on a call. She's running late.

She will be here soon.

Councilmember Lewis? Here.

Councilmember Courtney? Here.

Council Member Mitchell. Here. Council Member Khan. Here. Deputy Mayor Brasel.

Here.

Mayor Cole.

Here. Here. Here. We have a quorum.

Father, thank you again for another opportunity to serve this awesome city. God, I just pray that you'd bring peace and unity in our decisions tonight. Help us to make the best decisions we can. And God, thank you for Houston. In Jesus' name, amen.

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

I think it's frozen. I will make a motion to approve the agenda.

Second. I do have an amendment. I don't know if I need to write it up or not. No, you just say, um, I need to— I'd like to switch 7A and 7B, the sort order on those two, so the election of the mayor comes first.

It's just been precedent as long as I've been here. I'm not sure why, how that switched We have a motion, but we don't have a second. I'll second.

Motion's been made and seconded to move item 7A To 7B, and 7B to 7A.

Councilmember Kahn? Aye.

Councilmember Mitchell? Aye.

Councilmember Lewis. Aye. Councilmember Courtney.

Aye.

Mayor Cole. Aye.

Deputy Mayor Brasel. Aye.

Motion carries unanimously.

Main motion is amended.

Councilmember Lewis.

Approval of my—. Approval of the agenda. Aye.

Councilmember Mitchell. Aye. Councilmember Khan.

Councilmember Courtney. Aye.

Mayor Cole. Aye.

Deputy Mayor Brasel. Aye. Motion carries unanimously.

That brings us to public comments. Anybody like to say anything?

Seeing none, we'll move on to, uh, Deputy Mayor and Mayor comments.

Um, Mayor Cole is dialed in remotely but is out of town, and he left me a statement that he would like me to read into the record, so I will take care of that now.

As the current mayor of Houston, Alaska, Carter Cole, fourth term as mayor, The following list covers actions under Mayor Cole since he took the chair on March 12th, 2026 through today, October 13th, 2026.

Um, restored leadership continuity, went to work and cleaned up waiting paperwork, restarted programs, and posted the vacant treasurer post after Samantha Jones' resignation. Filled the treasurer vacancy, worked with the treasurer to get caught up on late payments and other outstanding items. Emergency repair work on water systems. Information was sent to the council as required by code on the emergency repair work at the city— at City Hall. Completed the transfer of animal care to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Starting June 30th, 2026, the Matsu Borough assumed control of Houston's animal control program. Advanced fiscal year 2027 budget and capital plan. Finished the electrical work for the thaw cable for the water line and employee block heater plugs. Funded Station 93 feasibility work. It was completed on October 4th, 2026.

Information was provided to the USDA. Next administration will need to follow up and finish the paperwork for the grants. Move the King Arthur— move the King Arthur Drive No Name Hill design forward. 35% Design will be for public comment at the planning and zoning meeting on October 29th. Accepted the Little Susitna Park and Campground Master Plan.

The campground opened for the season in May. The next administration will need to finish those grant applications. Supported wildfire access. Filed paperwork with the Bureau of Land Management. Next administration will need to follow up.

Secured outside funding. Filled the closing report— filed the closing report October 13th, 2026, and the— on the NACSE Trail and Recreation Grant.

Advanced a matching grant for the point— for the Joint Public Workstation 93 facility. Staff working on getting all the requirements completed. The next administration will need to finish this effort. Negotiated the operating engine— operating engineers agreement. The CBA was executed and has provided the city with a steady labor pool for the Public Works Department.

Updated personnel rules. The new administration will need to get this implemented. The new handbooks are printed, and on January 2021, they go into use. The employees need to sign the new books. Hosted the city's 60th anniversary and logo contest.

The new logo is replacing the old one. It's a beautiful piece of work that embodies Houston and created by a Houston resident. Highly successful competition. Thanks to Council Member Callie Courtney for helping in this event. Responded to the proposed state land conveyances north of Houston.

All paperwork was forwarded to the agencies by the clerk. Advanced data center moratorium being sent to code publishing now was passed recently. Advanced cardiac readiness funding— Chief Hartley began doing the follow-up on this grant.

Supported the Winter Warrior program. Wood is being delivered, and the wood processor was picked up by James Hastings. Set legislative priorities. The next administration needs to start work right away. It is ready to present our items in December and again in February at the Valley Legislature— Legislators meeting.

Advertise the Public Works Director position. The next administration will need to find a qualified candidate.

Uh, conditional use permit for Elastiplastic Recovery. This is an economic development that will create jobs and revenue for the city. I wish the best to Mr. Simpson and appreciate his willingness to produce anything the council requested.

Organization of the department. The department's directors have been steadily working at improving all the departments. That needs to be continued in the next administration. Update to Chapter 4 after renewal— after annual review. Moving funds to the municipal investment account for a better interest rate.

Directors now sign for all purchases under $2,500. $1,000, And this will help with the audit sampling and be more efficient. Winter snow removal map and routes. This is the first year the Department of Public Works is properly manned and has the equipment needed to plow snow. There's a John Deere grader that's fully ready and operational, setting up and setting in reserve at City Hall.

Houston is well prepared for the El Niño predicted this weather year. We spent $60,000 repairing equipment that was damaged last year and ready for snow plowing and sanding. The next administration needs to control equipment damage and require drug testing if accidents happen. Alaska 22228 PW0824 Cat C King Arthur. The next administration needs to immediately familiarize themselves with this program funding rules and review all MATSOBRR requests.

Houston must also hold at least 2 public hearings for this work. The 35% public review is scheduled for 29th of October at the planning and zoning meeting. The next one should be at the 65% plan completion. Deputy Mayor Brasel and I would like to thank you and the citizens and council members for the support you extended this year. It was a challenging year for me personally.

I was helping my son build his house, which is now has walls framed, while he was flying material into the Middle East to support the USA missions. That made it difficult for everything we wanted to do. We also had a mysterious medical issue in early 2026, but I feel great. I'm looking I look forward to continuing to serve the citizens of Houston and on the Houston City Council. Houston has an exciting future, and I hope I can help.

God bless everyone. Carter Cole.

All right, that brings us to new business.

Item 7A, election of the mayor. Do we have nominations?

I'll nominate Carter Cole.

That's a motion. Yes, I motion to nominate Carter Cole. And we need a second for that, right? Okay, I'll second.

Are there any other nominations?

Hearing none.

Any discussion?

Okay, motion's been made and seconded to nominate Carter Cole as the mayor. Carter, do you accept? The nomination.

I gladly accept the nomination from Council.

Council Member Kahn. Aye.

Council Member Lewis.

Aye. Councilmember Mitchell. Aye. And just to catch Lisa up, we just nominated Carter Cole for mayor, and that's what we're voting on.

Councilmember Courtney.

Aye. Lisa, would you like to vote? Yes.

Councilmember Johansen? Nay.

Carter Cole?

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Brasel? Aye.

Motion carries, 6 yeas, 1 nay.

Carter, you want to repeat after me, or would you like me to swear you in when you get back?

Uh, when I get back. This is a hard day. It does, it's pretty hard.

Okay, we'll do it when you get back.

All right, do we have any nominations for Deputy Mayor?

I would like to nominate Jeff Brasel.

A second.

Dan, that was you.

Is there any discussion?

I'd just like to add that Jeff's been a great help for the city since he served.

Go around now. And I certainly have used him on, uh, this last year a lot, and he's sitting in the players' right now. So I'd just like to thank him personally and, um, look forward to working with him again.

Yeah, your audio is just terrible, Carter. I kind of did He, he, he was—. That's why I'm not doing the other part. Yeah, he was thanking Jeff for all his help and stuff.

It was good accolades. It was good. Just—. Yeah, let's roll. No, I, I will say that, uh, Council Member Brasel, Deputy Mayor Brasel, and I do not always agree things.

I think the majority of time we're usually far apart on things, but I find you to be very reasonable and you, you will talk to people about why you feel one way and you let other people explain why they feel another way and, and you take it all in and I appreciate that. So I will say that you are, you are easy to work with in your current position as Deputy Mayor. So awesome, thank you. You're welcome.

Okay, roll call vote. Councilmember Mitchell?

Aye.

Councilmember Lewis? Aye. Councilmember Courtney? Aye.

Councilmember Johansen? Aye.

Councilmember Kahn. Aye.

Mayor Kohl.

Aye. Councilmember Brasel. Aye. Congratulations. Motion carries unanimously.

You are not off the hook.

I, Jeff Brasel, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Alaska, the laws of this city, and that I will honestly, faithfully, and impartially discharge my duties as Deputy Mayor to the best of my ability.

This corner sucks.

Um, so yeah, just wouldn't—. Um, I'll make a motion to, to postpone the approval of the minutes of the October 12th meeting to time certain of the next regular city council meeting. They're just not in the packet. They're just not in the packet. They didn't get printed.

Sorry. A second. They're done.

I just threw them on there because they were done and they didn't get in there. I apologize.

Uh, second. I'll second.

Oh, sorry, sorry.

Motion's been made and seconded to move the October 12th minutes to time certain of the next regular meeting, City Council meeting.

Councilmember Johansen. Aye. Councilmember Lewis. Aye.

Councilmember Courtney. Aye. Councilmember Mitchell. Aye.

Councilmember Khan. Aye.

Deputy Mayor Brasel. Aye.

Commissioner Cole. Aye.

Motion passes unanimously.

All right, that brings us to audience comments again. Anyone in the audience have a comment? Seeing none, that gets That takes us to clerk comments.

Congratulations, Mayor Cole and Deputy Mayor Brasel. I apologize for the minutes not being in there and the numbering is off. So I will, when I write the minutes up, I'll make sure that that's corrected. It's just off by a number.

Sorry. And I want to remind everybody that early voting is happening. We're open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. And you can come here and vote for the local borough election and the state election. And that is going on through November 2nd.

And Election Day will be here at November 3rd, um, opening at 7 AM and will go till 8 PM. So come out and vote.

All good? Yep. Charlie, I believe the Deputy Clerk has a report on the ADCCED grant.

Hello everyone. I'm here to talk about the Community Development Block Grant that we are currently working on for Fire Station 93. As you know, the city has been trying to get this fire station built. We've just been waiting for an extra chunk of money, but that takes time and it takes effort and what we've gotten here is we're going to apply for the Community Development Block Grant. It's due on December 3rd— December 4th, actually.

We're asking for $850,000, which is the maximum that you can ask for. This portion is only going to pay for the fire protection share of this design and construction. As you know, we already have the $1.95 million set aside from the, let's see, the Rural Community Facilities grant that we got. Not grant, gosh. Yes, it was the, it's the money that we have set aside from Murkowski's office for that project.

But doing this and applying, we're gonna actually have to go out door to door in some areas and ask people some questions. This Community Block Grant requires that 51% low and moderate income area for this. Houston is currently at 49.60%. So there are specific areas that we're gonna go to and we're still working out the logistics, how we're actually gonna get this accomplished.

In the exact areas, but we have to go out, ask them questions about income. It's a pretty— it's gonna be a pretty simple, straightforward questionnaire that we go door to door and ask for. The reason this is very important is a lot of people in this area pay a lot of money for their insurance. I am one of them. I actually live in the area this would benefit, which is kind of price.

It will help reduce insurance costs. You'll have a quicker response time for fire apparatuses to reach homes in different areas in the city. So there's multiple different benefits to this. I'm just— I'm, I'm part of this. I'm still trying to separate from Public Works.

I know I'm the Deputy Clerk, but I still kind of dabble into this stuff because I do enjoy getting money for the city regardless of what department it's for. Um, so if you guys have the ideas, always shoot them my way. Um, but yeah, that, that's what this is for. Um, Carter probably has more to talk about it. Um, but he gave me kind of the guidelines to come and, uh, give you guys the heads up on what we're applying for.

Who would be going door to door? You know, it's probably going to be me and Tricia. We're trying to also think about maybe partnering with the fire station and going with somebody that's familiar. Because we want to— when you go door to door, it can be difficult and it can be scary. But if you have somebody who is a fire chief or somebody who has a fire vehicle or a city vehicle, it makes things a little bit better.

So we're still working on that. Still working progress. We're still trying to figure out the, uh, the situation on that. But yes, we are— we have an idea. I think it should be somebody neutral who's not going to give them a sales pitch.

Oh yes, to Station 3, just we need this basic info for our survey and that's it. Yeah, this is why I think we need it. That's just my personal opinion. No, we— and I appreciate that because yes, I agree, because, uh, I know if somebody comes to my door asking how much money I'm making, I'm going to close the door on them. So you gotta be really quick with your, with your sales pitch or whatever you're trying to offer.

You've gotta be quick and you've gotta be efficient about it. So yeah, you guys have any questions? What was the statistic, the 49.6? So let's see, the Community Block Grant requires 51% of low and moderate income area benefit. HUD's published figures for Houston is 49.60, just under that threshold.

So that would be HUD's published figures.

So the goal is to gather enough info to push us over the 51%. Yes. And specifically we're looking at portions around Crater Lake, south below Anthony, Cherry Lake Drive, Karen, there's multiple streets down south of Pritter Lake that we're looking at going door-to-door, and it might actually be most of the city. We might expand it.

So yeah, we're definitely— we got our plate is full right now, but we want this money. It would be an awesome thing for the city to have, and it would help the city grow. That would be a great be a great thing for the city.

Any, uh, questions?

Thank you. Thanks. Thanks, Greg.

All right, that takes us to council comments.

Council Member Mitchell, uh, congratulations. Uh, Deputy Mayor Brasel and Mayor Cole, um, yeah, thank you guys for the work that you put in. Thank you for the time that you spend serving the city, researching things. You guys spend a lot of time behind closed doors getting things done, and that's not always seen or appreciated, but it is appreciated by those who know about it. And we're really grateful for people like you guys that step up and, and do that.

So Thank you for that. Thank you for the council. Thank you for an awesome, peaceful meeting. Thank you to the public who showed up today. Thank you, Charlie and, uh, Tani, for all the work that you guys do through the election, and also just the work that you guys are doing taking on other departments, taking on all of the work that is not being done because of our lack of staff.

So thank you guys for your hard work as as well. That's it.

Um, congratulations to you guys again for this. I wasn't here last meeting, but keeping your seats and continue doing a good job, um, doing everything you guys been doing. Um, I'd like to thank the— I know, and the letter from Carter, um, he said all the things that have been accomplished, and I'd like to, um, recognition to the staff. They weren't in there, and it's like, if it wasn't for the staff and the everybody else doing things, it take— it takes a village some days to, um, build it or keep it together. So thank you guys.

Councilman Johansen.

Um, I would like to say congratulations. Um, like I said, we don't always see eye to eye, but I have always found you to be very reasonable when I'm trying to discuss something with you, and that, that is something I greatly appreciate because I love to argue and I love it when people are, are okay with me. Um, I will say that I do take some exception to this list. Um, it's not one person that's getting things accomplished, it's a council as a whole. Things can't, can't get passed without a majority of the council, um, pushing things through.

And I know on the data center thing I was the one doing research. I worked with Deputy Mayor Brasel on that. There was nobody else involved in that, so I take exception to other people's work being claimed under something else. And I do appreciate every single council member here and what they bring to the table and your opinions and what's important to you. And that's what makes this city great, is 7 different people sitting up here with different views coming together to do what they think is best for the— this town.

And, and it's a team effort. It's just not one person. It's the clerk, the deputy clerk, everybody involved. Um, as I believe it was Council Member Kahn said, it takes a village to get things accomplished, and I appreciate that. Um, and just a quick sidebar, uh, the Houston Trunk or Treat is this Sunday.

Um, I have to leave town unexpectedly, so I won't be there, but we are still having it. Um, the fire department will be there 3 to 5 on Sunday. Come on down with your, with your dogs, your, your kids, whoever you want, and get some candy and have a good time.

Councilman Lewis, congratulations. Thank you.

Mayor Cole, congratulations. Thank you, sir.

My take on the list of accomplishments, first of all, I'm very grateful that you put that together. It's very comprehensive, and that's the type of thorough follow-through that I've experienced both from Jeff as well as Carter. On many projects and so forth. I know that Deputy Mayor Raisel goes above and beyond in research, and there was an issue where we were researching software, and it was quite comprehensive how he went through and performed that evaluation. I'm sure with some assistive technologies, but it came out that there was a, good data out of that.

And I think that's, that's how we should drive our decisions. Data, data-driven decisions is important, and it does take legwork. Uh, data-driven decision in terms of assessing the performance of the City of Houston over the— since March.

Um, my take on this is I, I don't believe that, that Carter is taking the credit for all of it. And I could understand how it might be that way. I don't interpret it that way. I think that there's definitely a lot of recognition to go around, and it absolutely does take our teamwork of battling these issues through and reasoning them through. But there's also a ton of administrative items that have to be done, and the adherence to the law and the code in the spirit of it, I think that that's exemplary.

I don't know how many times I've heard Carter say that, you know, you got to stick with the code. This is by the law. Now, sure, there should—. There can and there will be certain interpretations of that on occasion, but that's what we're here for, and that's why there's 7 of us. So again, thank you very much for your hard work.

Really appreciate both of you and serving the accountable for serving the city. And I think we need to continue pushing forward and reasoning through the, you know, in a non-adversarial way so we can tackle the issues and not the people that are saying them. And, you know, last but not least, obviously the staff is amazing in the work that they do. You day in and day out. Really appreciate you.

Awesome. Courtney?

I also would just like to congratulate you guys again for being back in your seats and back in the office.

Um, hopefully we have a good, smooth year, and I know there's going to be some negativity about the decisions that were made tonight. But before you make a comment on that, I would just like you to think back to a few weeks ago when we just had an election and there was only one new name on the ballots. Um, and I just think that, you know, we have a good crew up here. We all seem to get along. We all seem to respect each other.

And I think that's what's most important for the city. And the fact that there may be some people that don't agree with us and the decision we made tonight, but like I said, again, there was only one new name on the ballot And if you have a problem with the people that are sitting up here, maybe you need to need add your name to the ballot. Um, other than that, uh, I will be at the trunk or treat this Sunday. Uh, Posh Paws will have treats for the kids and also treats and bandanas for your puppies. So if you have a dog dress them up and bring them out.

Let them enjoy Halloween too. That's it. Thank you. Mayor Cole.

I know you guys can't hear me well, but I do want to thank everyone, and I would especially— if you have any idea what those letters were, just listen to Dan. He had the perfect, uh, response. That I would have gave myself had I been there. So just thanks, Jeff. Thank you all.

You guys have been great to deal with for the year, and I hope we can have you next year.

All right, I guess that just leaves me. Thanks everybody for your confidence in keeping me in as the Deputy Mayor. I'll spend another year doing my best and you know, trying to, trying to make what the city needs to have happen happen. Um, thank you, Charlie, for the work on the block grant. I don't envy you in door knocking around here, so have fun with that.

Um, I'd also like to say I went to an event this afternoon in Wasilla that, um, I don't think I've ever seen that many politicians in one place in the valley. Uh, it was the, the Welcome Center on the way into Palmer. It was Governor Dunleavy, Senator Sullivan, Nick Begich, uh, Edna DeVries, Mike Brown. I'm sure I'm forgetting a whole bunch. I mean, it was the— it was quite the stack.

Um, and the point was that they had brought in Sean Duffy, who is the U.S. Department, uh, the, uh, U.S. Secretary of Transportation. And when I walked in and I saw all of the mucky-mucks from the AKRR, I suddenly knew what they were there to talk about. And the U.S. Department— Secretary of Transportation announced a $250 million grant to finish the rail spur out to Point Mac today.

So that will probably be on the news by the end of the night tonight, but you got it here first.

Um, other than that, thank you to the staff this week. Um, It's quite a step from Deputy Mayor to Mayor, and I'm filling in for Carter being gone, and the amount of traffic that generates is a little surprising to me every time that happens. But thanks to the Finance Department and the Clerk's Office for helping me through all of the nuances of the things and helping me understand what I need to get done. So thank you all for that.

And with that, We will adjourn at 6:42.