Assembly Regular Meeting of April 17, 2025

I'd like to go ahead and call to order the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting of Thursday, April 17th, 2025 at 6:30 PM, and we are in the assembly chambers. First thing we'll have is the invocation. Please rise. This will be, uh, led by Mr. Anthony Furio of the Salvation Army, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you for this opportunity. And, uh, dear Lord, dear Father, we come to you and we thank you. Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter, and we just want to thank you for that. But most of all, Lord, we'd like to thank you for the last 3 months that our community has been going here, and we've not had to endure the things that have happened down below. We've had fires, heavy rains, floods, tornadoes, earthquake, winds, and a lot of these things that are happening, Lord, maybe in 1 or 2 days they get what happens in a year.

So Lord, we thank you here in Kodiak that at the end of the day we're able to go, we have homes to go to, we have communities to, to be in and conduct business. So Lord, we thank you and praise you for watching over our community in Kodiak, Alaska. We thank you and praise you that 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 Supiaqalutiq people. And we acknowledge the 10 tribes of the Kodiak/Autik region. We recognize the Autik culture that enriches our community to this day. Roll call, please. Mr. Ames.

Here. Mr. Griffin. Here. Mr. Johnson. Here.

Mr. LaDue. Mr. Sharrett. Here. Mr. Smiley. Here.

Mr. Whiteside. Here. Mayor Arndt. Here. You have a quorum.

Ryan. Move to excuse Assemblymember Ledoux, who's out on medical leave. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Roll call vote on the motion, please.

Mr. Ames. Yes. Mr. Griffin. No. Mr. Johnson.

Yes. Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes.

Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 5-1. Thank you.

Next item is approval of the agenda and consent agenda. Jarrett? Move to approve the agenda and consent agenda. Second? It has been moved and seconded.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion carries unanimously. For the public's, um, information, the consent part of the agenda is approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of April 3rd, 2025.

Next item we have is citizens' comments. Um, for everyone's information, there's citizens' comments at the beginning of the meeting and then towards the end of the meeting. The periods are extended for general comment as well as for agenda items that are not part of a public hearing. The Borough Assembly is legally limited in its ability to respond to citizens' comments during the meeting. Questions and requests from the public will be referred to the appropriate borough department.

Um, we have one public hearing, uh, item tonight. And that's ordinance number FY2025-15. Comments for this item will be heard when the item is called during the public hearing here. Please wait until then to get to that portion of the meeting. So for all other items on there, please come forward at this time.

And I'll ask you to sign in at the podium. Turn the microphone on, make sure the green light is on before speaking, and please speak directly into the mic. If you are calling in, the local number is 907-486-3231. Toll-free number is 1-855-492-9202. Please turn off any radios.

Because the listening device is to help prevent feedback. Andy. [SPEAKING GERMAN] Hi, my name is Andrew Finke. I'm here to speak on the easement thing that I think is your Agenda Number 3.

It was voted on by the Planning and Zoning last night and passed with a unanimous vote. This is one of the last things that as we have to do before we can start getting permits to repair the riverbank on Russian River on technically borough land that's almost ready to wash away, and then our land goes away. So I am just here to say please pass that one. The planning zoning was unanimous on it, thought it was a good idea, and we cannot get permits to work on this land unless we have act or written permission to do the work on the land. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Andy. Anyone else wishing to come forward and speak, please do at this time.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Hi, my name is Chris Lynch. I am president of the board for Threshold Services. The assembly is voting on a 1-year extension for Threshold this evening, so I thought I would give you a little history about Threshold. We have been recycling since 1984. We have provided the Kodiak Island Borough recycling services for over 28 years.

Threshold has evolved from an all-volunteer grassroots nonprofit working in parking lots to purchasing the building we use for operations today, including our 35-foot by 60-foot Recycle Haven drive-through. We have a total of 14 employees: 5 core employees, 6 vocational employees, and 3 part-time employees. 9 Years ago, the organization chose to eliminate our executive director position to reduce our payroll obligations. New minimum wage requirements will increase our payroll burden. Threshold works with local fish processors and moving companies receiving and processing a greater quantity of cardboard than at any time in our history.

8 Self-serve drop-off centers as well as 8 cardboard dumpsters provided through Alaska Waste Contract with the borough have all made recycling more convenient for the public and diverts cardboard products from the landfill. We provide 140 150 business pickups a month in the community. Last year alone, we have kept over 1 million pounds of material from going into the landfill. Kodiak Island Borough paid 33 cents a pound, or $660 a ton, for that diversion. The commodity market is tanking.

This month's quote for OCC, which is cardboard, was $75 a ton. This time last year, it was $130 a ton. Newspaper and mixed paper are negative $10 a ton. Office pack, $90 a ton. And lately, aluminum cans have been about $1,550 a ton.

It takes over 1 year to fill a van with aluminum.

Vehicle counts through the Haven are between 1,700 and 2,500 vehicles a month, depending on weather. That has been consistent for more than 5 years. Kodiak does not require people to recycle. People do it on their own. We have a contract with Matson for shipping containers to Seattle.

We ship between 23 and 25 containers a year. With that contract, we have liquidated damages. If we don't meet those requirements, we pay a fine. While we try to collaborate with other programs, it is not always possible with contracting demands. Our mission is to provide jobs to people with barriers to employ— employment through our core program, recycling.

This contract currently was the result of a competitive bid process. The increases are specifically called out in that contract. Extending our contract for 1 year is done in good faith to allow for recycling diversion and diversion to continue. Please support this extension. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to come up and speak or call in? Do we have any calls? All right, okay.

Good evening, I'm Rob Lindsey. I believe I know pretty much most of you. Appreciate your time. And here for kind of twofold. One, I want to just avail myself to introduce my good friend Russ George and my mentor.

We've been friends since 2016 when I experienced my first major fisheries disaster, well, one of many. It seems like when we talk to people, there's two tracks we wind up going off on. One, I don't know where people are. I mean, there's fishermen in the community here, there, and other places, and they're going— I say, "This is a fisheries disaster. This is an emergency." They go, "What emergency?" Well, by golly, I mean, the king crab was '83 and it hasn't come back yet.

I mean, that's still an existing emergency. Tanner crab are done. I mean, this year they got a little shot. There's nothing. We've been managing the halibut for, you know, for what, NOAA's had that since '83, '84.

3AA took another cut, 20%.

The species we have are mostly high-volume, low-value species, and the king is just on the verge of going on the endangered species list. We've already got some cutbacks just due to the kings. So if we don't have an emergency, I don't know what you call it. And, you know, for the guys out here that jigging was a shoulder season, well, so many people crowded into there and now there's some gear issues that have to be settled that— but nonetheless, I mean, what used to last, it just gets really good this time of year, it's over, it's done, the quota's gone. On.

So we've got a number of species. Herring, I mean, they're everywhere and they're going to be banner for another good number of years, but there's just no market for them. I mean, it doesn't pay to bring them to town. And we have a couple of issues that seem to be discrepancy involving fish size, and a lot of it does involve fish size. And then the other question is, does iron seeding work?

And what are the risks involved? The one mesoscale project ever done in 2012 brought back one heck of a lot of fish. John Whidden remembers, you know, here, they just couldn't handle them all. Now, that's a different kind of problem, but I bet you that's one we could get used to having. And we don't even know what it used to be in time immemorial because we've only really had boats that got off the beach beach since, you know, the '70s.

We didn't get the big lights. You couldn't fish at night, you know. So we don't know what existed in the normal. We just know the little normal that we've been able to keep our eyes on this. But in my opinion, I've seen enough to know that one thing I've seen that actually turned the tide and produced fish was the Haida Gwaii project in 2012.

And in 2013, By all metrics, the state of Alaska and the Fraser River back that up. I don't know the risk, and as far as I know, none were ever proven. But Russ is here, and we have the one chance. We could still probably get President Trump's attention if we could go so far out on a limb to say, yes, we're experiencing a disaster here, folks. And you know, like it or not, there's a new sheriff in town, and he tends to want to do things by executive order.

And we may have this one opportunity to do that. And, you know, if you want to put somebody's head on the chopping block, put me. You know, I don't care. I'm risking it all. But if we could just say, yeah, we don't know the risk or the reward, but it's worth a shot.

It's the only thing I've seen in my lifetime that did something other than just watch and study stuff go in decline. Thank you. Thank you, Rob.

Okay, well, thanks, Rob, for the nice introduction. My name is Russ George. And usually when I'm in Alaska, I'm in Kenai, but I'm hoping to relocate myself here to Kodiak. 3 Years ago, I got asked by the Republican Party to write the National Ocean Restoration Act to bring out the methods to restore oceans and fisheries to their historic levels of health and productivity, which is, which is huge in the past. And That got, you know, to have the Republican Party support that and Buddy Carter, congressman from Georgia, who's about the most typical Southern Republican you could ever imagine, asked me to do that.

I was shocked. Well, the Democrats, you know, stonewalled it after it got, you know, in. And so it got nowhere. It got introduced last year, went nowhere. So President Trump got inaugurated on a Monday.

And I got a call from his team on a Thursday afternoon and said, you know, we really want to see this go forward, so can you write an EO, right, and an action plan? And so, like anything, they assigned a working group. They wouldn't let us call it a committee. And I said, the problem with committees is you design a racehorse, you end up with a camel if you use a committee. So it's fortunately come back into my sort of singular hands to make it work.

But I have instructions from the White House. Don't come back alone with a proposal. So I've said, well, look at Alaska. It provides 60% of the fishing industry in the United States is in Alaska. The single most important fishing port in Alaska, fishing city in Alaska is Kodiak.

It also happens to be looking out at the right patch of ocean to do this work that I've done in the past. So I'm looking for the grassroots support, right, to get the council here. The borough hopefully will, you know, issue a resolution and an emergency declaration. So what, what President Trump wants to do is issue an emergency declaration, just like as if there was a hurricane emergency or a any other kind of natural emergency, which nationwide there is in the ocean and fisheries. And so that allows him to act.

You know, he doesn't want to act through legislative committees. You know, he wants to act through these. And nobody's ever opposed a presidential emergency executive order. So that's what we're looking for. So if the bureau here can put out the first executive emergency declaration, You know, I know the borough doesn't have the resources and finances to back that up with action, but it will be the most important, a really important symbolic gesture that the president will take note of.

Right. Same thing. I'm talking to the state here of Alaska. I've met with all the governor and I've given testimony to the Senate committees and—. Go ahead and continue.

And, you know, so I think a lot— the state is going to get on board with this, especially now that we have the president's invitation. And so I'm going to ask them for the same thing, you know, issue a resolution and an emergency declaration, even if you don't have the wherewithal to put the action plan in place, because the president has the wherewithal to put the action plan in place. Right. And so instead of just using a hatchet on NOAA. He wants to reassign some of those NOAA resources to do this, you know, solution-based ocean science as opposed to observer-based ocean science.

So that's my— well, you know what, I hope I can come back to you guys with some of the hard copy draft material that I've got ready to hand to you. And you can look at it. And, you know, if we can— if you can get on the team, be the start of the grassroots support that the Oval Office has asked me to come back with, that will be a great plus. And I think we can bring this ocean back to its absolute maximum historic level of health and productivity and bring tons of— incredible amounts of fish into the nets and onto the plates, bring back the seabirds. All of ocean life will thrive.

So hope you can help. Thank you, Russ. Um, any other citizens' comments at this time? Any phone calls?

Hearing none, we'll move on to presentations. We have an update from Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center Administrator Carl Hertz.

Hello, Mayor Arntt, Assembly members, Manager Williams, and staff. My name is Carl Hertz. I am the outgoing administrator at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. With me tonight are Lori Riddle, interim administrator, and Victor Weaver, our senior manager of facilities. As you know, hospital and long-term care facilities are among some of the most regulated facilities in the United States.

States. Our license to provide care to the people of Kodiak is tied to state and federal life safety requirements, OSHA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and even payers through various rules governing our conditions of participation. Providence Kodiak is a Joint Commission accredited hospital. The Joint Commission is the nation's largest and only accreditor that reaches across the full continuum of care. During their last survey in April of 2023, 43 deficiencies were noted.

These included 6 high-level, 13 moderate, and 24 low-level findings. The most significant findings were mechanical related to fire dampeners and airflow exchanges, which required time-limited waivers to complete. Both wavered projects were completed in 2024. There are no outstanding items, and all previously identified issues are monitored and reported on during our monthly performance improvement meetings. We would like to thank this body and the borough staff for their assistance in completing the time-limited waivers and the project work.

Similarly, the State of Alaska recently conducted their annual survey of the Chiniak Bay Elder House in November of last year. During that survey, 11 deficiencies were noted. Most were corrected prior to the survey exit, and the remainder were addressed within the allotted time frame.

The Hospital Consumer Assessment and Healthcare Provider Systems— system known as HCAHPS is a national standardized survey that measures patient perspectives of hospital care. Providence Kodiak surveys our inpatients, outpatient surgical center, and our emergency department. Unfortunately, Kodiak does not receive enough survey results to be considered statistically significant, and therefore CMS does not publish many of our HCAHPS scores. We do, however, track the data and are pleased to share that Providence Kodiak's quality and satisfaction scores would meet the CMS requirements of a 5-star hospital experience if reported. Something we are all very proud of at Providence Kodiak, and we want the community to know their hospital's quality and satisfaction scores are exceptional.

One of the HCAHPS areas with the most improvement over the past year can be attributed to our new Hospitalist Program. Launched last November, the Hospitalist Program was developed over a 24-month period while working with our system partners, KCHC, and and Kana. Hospitalists are physicians whose only responsibility is to care for the hospitalized patient. All Providence Kodiak hospitalists are trained family practice providers with obstetric and C-section experience, ensuring patients on our med-surgical floor and the mother-baby unit receive best-in-class hospital services right here in Kodiak. And finally, I'd like to talk about our caregivers.

Your friends and neighbors who give 110% of themselves every day to make sure you're cared for, your baby is healthy, or your parent can rest and say goodbye with dignity. Buildings are a necessity, but it is the people within the walls of the hospital and the elder house who provide the services. Providence Kodiak employs 280 of your friends and neighbors. Our floors sparkle, our lab instruments crank out results, our x-rays show broken bones, and our surgeons save lives. Without the nurses and aides, without EVS and medical records, without security and dietary, we would not have a hospital, and Kodiak would look very different.

But as I said, buildings are a necess— are necessary too.

Good evening. My name is Laura Riddle, and I serve as the interim administrator of Providence Kodiak. After moving to Kodiak, I quickly recognized the important and symbiotic relationship between our two organizations. The Kodiak Island Borough has healthcare powers on the island and owns the hospital, and we bring to the relationship the knowledge and resources to provide that exceptional technical and compassionate care. As you know, the buildings we use to provide those services are aging, and many of the building components have reached the end of their serviceable life.

Kodiak's new hospital is not so new anymore, and I look forward to working with Manager Williams and the Healthcare Facilities Advisory Board in the coming months to prioritize our needs, balancing the critical items with available replacement and repair funds. Our shared building needs, needs to be modernized. There is a lot of work to do, and I know that together we will find a way to ensure the essential hospital services remain on the island. Providence has served the community for 28 years, saving countless lives, delivering thousands of babies, and enriching our island economy. We remain committed to all of Kodiak, and I look forward to working with all of you in the coming months.

As you may know, I've accepted the Chief Operating Officer position at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna and will be leaving Providence and Kodiak Island next month. Lori will assume the administrator duties as the interim until the position is officially filled. Before we end, I would like to share a few things about Lori. She has an incredible Midwest work ethic. She has served in small places, big places, academic places, and as a national chief nursing officer.

Lori recently accepted the position of chief operating officer, broadening her focus beyond nursing to include the operations of our entire campus. Dr. Riddle recently completed her doctorate in healthcare administration. Her thesis focused on hospital culture and the disconnect between CEOs and nurses. She is more than qualified to lead this organization. She loves Kodiak, and she and her husband Kevin operate a charter service transporting hunters, ecotourists, and others throughout the archipelago.

I'm very proud of the work she has accomplished and look forward to following her career. You are in great hands. And before we take questions, I'd like to personally thank this assembly, Manager Williams, and the entire staff for your partnership to me these past 4 years. And I'd like to thank the people of Kodiak for their acceptance and kindness. Leaving Kodiak was not an easy decision for Teresa and I to make.

We love being part of this community as much as I love being part of Providence. But for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. And it is simply my time to move on. And with that, Lori, Victor, and myself are happy to answer any questions. Thank you for coming forward.

Anybody have any questions this time? Ryan. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Carl. Appreciate the presentation.

And my daughter will be sad that your daughter is leaving. Thank you.

We have a lot of modernization costs that need to come to the borough. We have very limited R&R funds that will create a large discrepancy between the money we have versus the money we need.

I've made no quiet qualms about this. I've been a large advocate for trying to sell the facility because I don't think that the— I don't think that this was set up correctly. So I'm just going to cut right to the chase. Sure. How would you guys propose to either renegotiate a lease or fund the improvements that actually need to go?

Before you answer that, I understand we are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. [Speaker:COMMISSIONER MAY] Yes. I think maybe hundreds of millions of dollars is like the whole ball of wax. But we certainly don't have to tackle it all at once. I think a more realistic number is probably $20 million, uh, to, to really, um, stabilize the hospital.

Um, about $8 million of that, and these are like, um, rough order of magnitude guesses, right? But in general, about $8 million of, um, of that amount, um, helps pave the way for one of the more significant, um, projects that we need to complete at the hospital, and that is the modernization of the sterile processing department. And so that project started, um, I believe in 2018 was when it was first, uh, discussed, um, with this body, and it kind of sputtered, started and stopped. We had some COVID issues in, in there, you know, that paused the whole thing. And then we've been talking about it in earnest, um, at the Healthcare Facilities Advisory Board, um, uh, the past year or so.

We were on track to phase in an updated sterile processing department in the current department. Um, and that would tie into an addition, a proposed addition on the south side of the building. I may have my directions wrong. And once we determined that that project is probably unfeasible because of finances, backed away from that, and then we recognized, okay, the plan now for the sterile processing department maybe doesn't make quite as much sense without the new addition. And so, um, we've been working now to revamp those plans, to relocate them in what's currently shelled space in the basement, um, which is, um, used currently for storage that can be relocated.

We believe this will be a more economical approach to fixing the sterile processing department. Many of the, of the, um, most of the equipment, the tables, the actual sterilizers, things like that that have been resourced are sourced, they can flow into the new building or the new space more easily. It would change our operations in Kodiak. We would now become more reliant on the elevators. And so we'd had conversations with Dave at one point about, hey, if we're going to go this other route, then we got to make sure the elevators are working, you know.

And so I know you've taken steps to address that. Um, the, the other cost-saving measure with the sterile processing department, uh, new build in the basement is that we can continue to operate and provide services in the old sterile processing department, move over when the new one's done and, and turn it on. Um, that whole project, the sterile processing department is probably around $3 million to get that whole thing up and going, purchase the sterilizers and so forth. The issue with modernizing the building is our, um, HVAC system, heat load, airflow, um, emergency transfer switches, all of those things that have kind of started to age out. When you—.

We really can't move forward with the sterile processing department without addressing those other things first. Otherwise, um, we are not going to meet the environment of care rules to allow us to operate the sterile processing department or the emergency— or the operating room. So I think, you know, probably $20 million is a more realistic bite of the apple than the hundreds of millions of dollars that you are talking about. I think if you are going to build a replacement hospital, you're certainly in that realm for sure. Now, back to the second part of your question, um, we recognize that the current lease payment, um, has not kept up with the, um, I guess the inflationary, um, nature of repairs and equipment and so forth.

And so, um, one of Lori's, uh, projects, as soon as the Health Care Facilities Advisory Board kind of gets restarted, she and Victor and parts of our other team from Providence, we want to start discussing what those lease payments would look like in 2027, and then what would they look like if they needed to start sooner. And so we recognize that there will have to be an adjustment to the lease. We did our due diligence in trying to determine what the value of the building might be if we wanted to purchase it. And really what it boils down to, I think there probably is still interest. This probably isn't the right time.

Providence as a system is a little uneasy right now. We are facing some considerable financial uncertainty. I think, you know, Medicare is almost a trillion dollars suggested cut and some other things to Medicaid services. We are— our government payer mix or our payer mix at the hospital is roughly, around numbers, about 65% government payers, whether it be Medicare, Medicaid, Indian Health Services, TRICARE, and so forth. So when we start to talk about cutting back, you know, significant amounts of that revenue, that is impactful to our entire organization.

And the 65% is specific to Kodiak, but Providence as a system has 52 hospitals. We are a nonprofit system. A system whose mission is to serve the poor and vulnerable. And so as the third largest hospital system in the country, we actually have the most government payers. So the, the highest amount of Medicare and Medicaid patients go to Providence as a system as compared to other systems.

So I think the timing's off a little bit. Not saying that that we would never—. Or that Providence would never consider purchasing the building. But right now, it looks like we would prefer to just renegotiate the lease. And we recognize that the lease payments will probably need to go up in order to cover that.

Essentially, you know, in simplified terms, we are kind of paying for the repairs ourselves anyway. A significant portion of the lease payments go into that R&R fund, and we are trying to use the R&R fund to pay for stuff. I think historically, we probably didn't follow the lease to the letter of the lease when I get in there and read it. And so— and we are resetting those expectations with the HFAB board and so forth, meeting to discuss and decide, all right, what items should be on the R&R, what items shouldn't be on the R&R. We have substituted some items in the past here, and, and in retrospect, I wish we hadn't, um, because that would have allowed those dollars to be available for, for the sterile processing department.

And, and it's unfortunate, uh, the money, um, needed to be spent, but it did. And I think the retaining wall is a great example. Like, that thing was falling apart. It had to be addressed. But that $3 million was never in the original lease agreement on the R&R.

We took that money out of the R&R to do the— to do that project. And so you can see as we shift the money, now we fast forward a couple of years, um, and now we're like, oops, we, we need to reevaluate that. The big thing is we need a hospital in Kodiak and, um, When I described to the folks at work— this might sound a little tough, but I remember my wife and I, when we had our first apartment, we rented this apartment, and it wasn't the greatest apartment in the world. The front door didn't even lock. And so we put up with it, right?

But eventually, we said, hey, if I'm going to be renting— if I'm going to I want to rent in a nicer place. And, and so we moved apartments. And so regardless of whoever is, is, um, operating your hospital, whether it be Providence or a different partner, they're going to want a higher functioning, more modernized hospital. And so it'll be up to the borough. Um, and now with your partner Providence over the next couple of years, at least, to figure out how we're going to get to that.

Continue, right? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate that, and I like the metaphor of the apartment with the closing door. My metaphor would be is you and I went on a dinner date, it was my turn to buy, and you got a gift card. So here's one of the things that I would really like, ma'am, as you step into some very large shoes, uh One of the things that I'm most concerned about is, as Carl, you stated, the environment of care rules.

That's something that I don't know necessarily that the assembly is savvy to, and I'm not sure how those rules necessarily govern a— essentially, that's PPV, public-private venture, what we really have going on here. It's a little different than renting someone's house because we aren't really accumulating basis or equity in this building, and we really are on the backs of the taxpayers. So what I would really like to see as we push this envelope forward is a balance between the environment of care rules what is required regulatorily as the healthcare or powers are concerned, uh, and, and how those will increase or limit the services to Kodiak. Because as I understand it, and please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm working on limited knowledge, my understanding of the new sterile processing facility was so that we could house specialty surgeons here that we would have an increased capability locally, but then we can't even retain the surgeons here. And I don't— and I don't want to put words in your mouth, so please, if I'm— if I'm misspeaking— so I want to make sure that if we can't hire the people that need the sterilization room, why are we trying to spend the money for it?

Sure, that's a great question. Beyond specialty surgical services, the sterile processing department is used by the obstetrics unit, it's used by the emergency department, and it's used by the general surgeons. So it is the plant that cleans and sterilizes all of our instruments that are used in those procedures. So, um, and those, uh, sterilizers are failing. They are probably at least 5, if not more, years beyond their usable life.

The way they are currently built, the steam generator is housed in a separate portion and the steam is piped up to the sterilizers. And we would like to replace that same kind of— system so that we're not, each machine is not dependent on its own steam generator. It allows us for some redundancy. We, they don't make the same machines is one thing. So we have talked about what does it look like to replace like for like instrumentation and just plug and play and keep going.

So instruments have changed sizes. These are like, the size of refrigerators, these two things. And so they've changed a little bit. If you're going to—. And I understand the rabbit trail that we've gone down— one of the challenges for some of the, the specialty services on the island is orthopedics.

And there are some other specialty surgical services that the instrumentation and the The process has changed over the last 28 years. And so, um, we can process, uh, more instruments with fewer cycles, which adds to the life cycle of the machine, is one thing to consider. And then the other thing to consider is, um, we have a leased agreement with, um, Orthopedic Physicians of Alaska. Uh, they started coming down, uh, right before Christmas And now we're up to 5 surgeons that rotate through Kodiak. Uh, they also have a full-time physician assistant who lives on the island and sees patients, um, in the interim between the times when the surgeons come down.

And those surgeons are performing surgeries in our, um, operating room. And I think the— our goal has always been to provide, um, appropriate, safe care close to home. And so, um, we know that these patients that have been able to have their, uh, orthopedic needs addressed locally, that means they haven't had to fly to Anchorage. And we feel like that's fulfilling part of our, uh, vision. And so, um, if you're gonna buy new sterilizers, we should buy the ones that, that can be sized for our future and, um, that support our current needs.

And so that's what the spec'd ones are for now.

You're welcome.

Any other questions?

Carl and Lori, thank you for coming tonight. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate your time. Next item, is there any committee reports?

Seeing none, move on to public hearing. This is for ordinance number FY 2025-15, amending Title 2, Administration and Personnel, Chapter 30, General Rules, Section 2.30.020, to allow electronic participation of mayor and assembly members to meetings. Jared, move to adopt ordinance number FY 2025-15. Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Staff report, Alina Cruz, Deputy Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the assembly. On December 20, 2024, assembly members Dave Johnson, Ryan Sherrod, and Bo Whiteside submitted an agenda item request form requesting staff assistance to prepare an ordinance allowing remote participation in meetings. During the last regular meeting of the assembly on April 3rd, The assembly reviewed the ordinance and made several modifications that is before you today. I will defer to assembly members for any further questions, but I'm happy to answer any questions for the modifications that were made. Okay.

Anybody like to speak?

Oh, Scott, go ahead. Chair first. Well, I'm just—. This is in regards to questions of the clerk. Okay, then with that, um, go ahead and close the regular meeting, open the public hearing.

For those wishing to speak, 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. State your name for the record and address all remarks to the assembly as a body and not to any member thereof. The local phone number for participation is area code 907-486-3231. Toll-free number is 855-492-9202. And then please turn off your radio, uh, so help prevent feedback.

Anybody wishing to come forward and speak, please do at this time.

Good evening, assembly members, Mayor Arndt, and my name is Sue Jeffrey and I am What else do you need to know? Okay, okay, so you get to hear everything I think. Okay, um, I'm here to speak on, um, the matter before you, Ordinance 2025-15. Okay, um, I usually talk, but I'm going to read this time. Um, the definition of public servant is someone who works for the government either through election or appointment, to serve the public interest.

In this case, all of you have been elected to serve the public interest, and in return, the public elects you and trusts you to solicit public input, to listen to concerns of public members, and to spend taxpayers' money for the betterment of the community after robust discussion and further public input. This relationship between the elected officials and members of the community is vital. It's a two-way street, and like relationships, communication is vital and essential to maintaining a successful partnership. I believe FY2025-15 to allow electric electronic participation of mayor and, um, or assembly members to meetings is detrimental to this relationship between the borough's elected officials and the public.

By its very nature, communication via the screen is a poor substitute for effective exchange between the public and the assembly because it strips the essentials of effective communication. That is, by nature, electronic communication rather erodes communication because it lacks non-verbal communication, the subtle facial expressions, the gestures, the body movements that play a crucial role in communication that can significantly impact the messages, how they're received. And interpreted.

I understand that attending meetings via, you know, distance would make it more convenient for elected officials, especially when personal matters, you know, get in the way. I don't mean get in the way. I don't mean it lightly. I mean, you know, interfere with your service.

I know this because I, as many of you know, I served two terms on the borough assembly and I also served two terms at the Board of Fish, so I know that life eventually will disrupt you. Continuously. Oh my gosh. Continuously. Okay.

But I think so, I think it makes for one-sided communication and erodes the trust between the government and the communication for the people.

It makes— naturally, it makes you less accessible because if you're having to do it remotely, you're not, you know, at the store, at the post office, and all of that.

I think that assembly members, as assembly members, you have your hands in the public's purse, the way it should be, and the public trusts you. To do your best to spend wisely.

This is why the members of the legislature and Congress require its members to be in person. In return, I think— and you deserve the respect and the trust. This is why we have you here. In return, I think the assembly owes the public the respect it deserves by attending meetings in person and having the courage and integrity to look the community in the eye when voting on matters. I think it's essential.

I think it really would just, you know, the slippery slope. And I really hope you seriously considered it. When I was on the assembly eons ago now, it seems, I think we did have this before us and we did vote it down. And I understand times have changed, But I still think public, personal, in, you know, person to person, how I'm looking at you, you will have to look at me when I see you voting. And I hope you take it seriously.

And I know you do take it seriously. I do understand the convenience of doing it, but I just really think that it is— will really erode communication. And I do appreciate your service and your time tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Sue, for coming forward.

Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on ordinance FY 2025-15? Please do so at this time. Do we have any phone calls?

Anyone else wishing to come? Oh, okay.

Good evening, members of the assembly. Mr. Mayor, my name is Dan Aug. I've sat in those seats, although in my time it was card tables with a cloth in front of it, and the room wasn't so nicely decorated.

I served also in the mayor's seat.

What I find interesting in my time on the assembly and other bodies is the public's opportunity to come up and talk. And to sit there and listen to them, of the things that took place in my time, that always sticks out in my mind as something really precious. The ability of our citizens to come and talk to the elected body who they've put in places of importance and power.

I have some thoughts about certain instances. When that happened. In the mid-'70s, I don't have the year exactly, the folks who live on Marmot Drive that came in, and there was an issue about putting power poles down Marmot Drive and serving that particular subdivision. And many of the citizens who lived out there came to the assembly meeting and they talked and they said, we'd really like to have our power buried in the ground instead of on poles. We have high winds, we have lots of trees, lots of things can happen.

It's a safety issue. So you kind of get the sense of all those folks and their urgency and their concerns. And the assembly decided that yes, they would give the permit, but they would put in power poles so that the telephone company and the power company would put their poles, would put their services in underground in boxes, very similar to Bell's flats.

So the assembly acted in response to that, and they voted, and it was unanimous, and they said, "Yeah, the power companies can use the road right-of-way, and they put their wires in underground." So the families and whatnot went home, and they were pretty happy about that. The system worked. They liked what was happening.

But when the meeting was coming to its close, the citizens had left. They went home. It was a long meeting. And Mr. Lincoln, the fellow who was in charge of the telephone company at the time, he sat on the assembly.

Assembly. He moved for reconsideration.

The end result was that those people got power poles and didn't get their service underground.

So it's very important that you sit and listen to the public, and when they're absent, you have a different—. Continue, Dan. —Type of attitude. This ordinance that you have allows assembly members to be absent from what goes on in this room, and what goes on in this room is really special. There are other countries, they don't have this.

Well, that's very valuable, and being in person is something that you really need to cherish. And I've run over my time. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Assembly members. I hope you vote this ordinance down.

Thank you, Dan. Are there any phone calls? No phone calls. Anyone else wishing to come forward and speak under citizens' comments? Hearing and seeing none, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing, reconvene the regular meeting and assembly discussion.

Dave. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I will be voting in support of this. Obviously, I'm the one who introduced it. I think the public comments are not taken without the gravity they're due.

I think my, my perspective, though, is we're not looking at a dichotomy of participating from home versus participating from here. We're looking at a dichotomy of not being able to participate or participating remotely. You know, this, this is specifically addressed to when, when people are not present on the island and otherwise unable to attend. And I agree, physical presence is what we should all strive for, but as has been identified, life happens. And because of that, I do support remote participation.

When folks are off island. We've talked about, you know, the, the, uh, how urgent it is to get younger folks into, into these, um, things, you know, into politics, into local governance. And having the ability to participate remotely when you're on a work trip or a family trip is one of those perquisites that will further increase likelihood of attracting people to the job. So those are my reasons for supporting this. Thank you.

Scott, and then Ryan.

I am in general opposed to this and have voted against it in previous editions of the assembly. When we heard it the last time, I think it was 4 or 5 years ago. However, there are several parts to this particular ordinance that I think need change, one of which is that it's stated that you could have 4 absences in person and contact by electronic means. I think that's way too many. I think 2 is, uh, maybe okay if you're going to do it that way.

There was great support for this on— in amongst assembly when we did it before in work session, so— or in the previous regular meeting where it was first introduced. But I think we should amend the 4 to 2.

So do we— do you wish to make a motion? I want to make a motion to reduce the number of occasions from 4 to 2. Okay, it's been moved. Is there a second?

Anybody wish to just second for discussion? Seeing none, motion dies for lack of a second. Ryan? I've got a second. Okay, okay.

Second one is it allows the mayor to do this by electronics. The mayor runs the meeting here. It's pretty hard to run a meeting electronically. Electronically. Yeah, so I don't think we should allow the electronic participation of the mayor if, if, uh, for that, uh, job.

I think that when the mayor's absent, the deputy presiding officer should run the meeting. Thank you. I agree. Make that motion. It's been moved.

Is there a second for discussion? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Continue, Scott. That's all.

Okay. Because I agree, and I said that in the work session, it makes no sense for the mayor to even attempt to run a meeting remotely on there. So I don't have any problem with that. Discussion? Jarrod.

I believe the concern is already addressed on line 80 in Section C. If the Mayor participates in the meeting, then it's the DPO who is physically present, they conduct the meeting. And if both the Mayor and the DPO are unable, then the most senior Assembly member functions as the chair, as is our practice. So, there—. [Speaker:COMMISSIONER DIXON] There is no—. [Speaker:MR. BATTLES] There is no, yes, situation in which someone would be running a meeting electronically.

Well, the mayor doesn't vote, so why is it involved? Still participate in the conversation.

You wish to withdraw the motion? Sure. With the permission of the second. Motion's withdrawn. Um, further discussion?

Bo? Thank you. And, uh, in principle, I agree with public testimony that was made that we are— we were elected by the community. We shouldn't be forward or public-facing. I don't— I agree with a previous comment as well from the assembly that this isn't seeking— we're not seeking with this ordinance to replace public involvement.

This is meant to provide the ability for the circumstances noted in the ordinance for members of the assembly who can't physically be present in this— on this dais for reasons for illness or injury, the passing of a family member, obligations related to their employment, responsibilities pertaining to the borough— borough business, excuse me— and out-of-town commitments that prevent from attendance in person. So this isn't meant to replace our public-facing need. This is for those of us who, with these circumstances listed, we can't be here because we're ill or we have a passing of a family member or we're out of town for work. We want to continue to engage. So the important thing to think about is the assembly can miss up to half of the meetings by default.

So by this, we are hoping to prevent just the easy way out is just not showing up. We can miss up to half of those and do nothing. So I view this as we can have up to 4, which isn't a lot, when we could move miss up to half and then do nothing. We can take up to 4 of these for very specific reasons and still engage. That's how I'm viewing this.

It gives us the opportunity to increase our engagement when there are certain circumstances that prevent us from being here physically. If anything, to, to an earlier point, I would seek to reduce the number of absences allowable per year total. That would be my approach if If the concern is public engagement, that would be better achieved through that type of action. But here, it's— I view this and the very specific language and criteria to qualify for missing up to 4 meetings and participating electronically as if someone is sick, I don't want to— I am not going to bring my flu in here and discuss that, discuss topics with the in public or with my fellow Assembly members or the manager sitting 10 feet away from me. I am going to do it electronically but still engage in the process.

Same goes with all the others. I am not going to go through those again. But so I do appreciate the discussion. I would be opposed to anything beyond what we are proposing. But I do want to remind the public and the Assembly that we can miss up to half of the meetings and do absolutely nothing, and this would at least give us the opportunity to continue to engage instead of just having an absence.

So I will be supporting this. Ryan, you have the floor. My mistake, apologize. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So as a scientist, I like data, so I want to present some data. Um, in between 2023 and 2024, I missed 11 meetings. During those 11 meetings, all 11 were during one of the 19 chemotherapy treatments that I was receiving in Rochester, Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic. That's a 3,700-mile journey. Uh, I was not allowed to participate in those meetings because I was not physically here.

Uh, however, upon my return, all of the Kodiak normal communication methods still existed. The Post Office, Safeway, Walmart, and, um, communication methods have simply changed. Um, we communicate on a variety of sources now, and I can tell you that now more than ever, people are communicating with me electronically for my role role here as an assembly member. So I will be supporting this. I'm also a co-sponsor of this in an effort to try and stay more involved and get my vote into where it does matter with what the constituents are looking for.

And I do also— I agree with Bo. I appreciate the community sentiment very much. My family's been here for 120 years, so I know how Kodiak works. So I will just leave it with this, that I hope that we pass this. I'm not in favor of changing quantities, just on a personal preference.

Thank you. Further discussion? Jared. At first, I was a little suspicious of this. Anytime I see changes to meeting requirements, especially electronic participation, the little tiny hairs that are still there kind of crinkle a little bit.

But I think through the robust discussion that we've had about this, it's become clear that this really is a way to increase increase participation. We can have a meeting, we have with just, you know, 4 assembly members here while the rest are absent. What this does is say they can actually participate in a meeting that's already going to be— that's already going to happen with or without them. So it's better that they are here than they're not. There's also a requirement, if I believe that If you do participate electronically, you must be heard and seen correctly.

You must have video conferencing, a video camera available to you.

And I think that is important for especially nonverbal gesturing and reaction. When you watch these meetings on YouTube, you can't really see our faces, but if you actually participate electronically, your big old face is going to be right there under scrutiny compared to our little tiny ones. So, and I'm not proposing that we all like install little cameras right here that just go, yeah, yeah, mm-hmm. But so that's what ultimately kind of convinced me me that we should support something like this because I think it will allow people who cannot otherwise attend the meetings, allows them to actually participate and be engaged in the meeting.

Thank you. I'll add a few things. I do not support this either, like the other Scott. My experience over the many years I've been involved is that We are a legislative body, and when we're dealing with this, we should be here voting, not electronically on there. We allow the attendance for work sessions, we don't allow it for the meetings.

But, you know, I understand, I understand some of it, but state legislature doesn't allow it. You can vote on an amendment to a bill, but you cannot vote on the bill. I found that out today talking to Gary Stevens, our senator and president of the state senate. So, any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call vote, please.

Mr. Griffin? Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. Sharrett?

Yes. Mr. Smiley? No. Mr. Whiteside? Yes.

Mr. Ames? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 5-1. Thank you.

Next item is the borough manager's report. Manager Amy Williams. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Assembly. Last night, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the easement to move forward to the Assembly tonight. You heard about that in public comment. If the resolution is passed tonight, staff is going to be able to move forward with the easement for them to do the river stabilization on borough land. Attached to the packet tonight is a spreadsheet that was requested by Assemblymember Whiteside that has the the service area information and mill rate history on it.

As we continue our budget talks next week, we will be talking about the Engineering and Facilities Department, the department budget, the Building and Grounds Special Revenue Fund, and the hospital, KFRC, and Research Court Apartments Enterprise Funds. In Emergency Management, there is an opportunity for assembly members and staff to attend emergency management training training in July. The flyers are attached to the packet tonight. If you would like more information or need help signing up for those, please let me know. I am 20 of 25 hours into my online training for expanding incidents.

The course is going to wrap up tomorrow. During class today, I found out that my instructor may not any longer be employed by FEMA, and they don't think this class is going to run again for a while. So glad we're in there, and hopefully that training will still happen. It's coming through Texas A&M, and they have their funding, I think, secured for the fiscal year. But as we are— and luckily the federal government doesn't switch until October, so hopefully they'll make it up here in July.

Uh, ComFish took place this week. It was a really great experience. I was able to meet with Senator Murkowski. Special thanks to Assemblymember Johnson for letting me on the harbor tour. Um, and then I ended up, uh, having dinner with Representative Begich that night.

So, um, it was really great to be able to have face time with both of those people. Uh, Senator Stevens was able to make it in today to give a legislative update right after lunch. Representative Stutes was on Zoom, but then she made it in on the afternoon flight and was able to do some laps and spend time with attendees and vendors. So it was really great to see our legislators here on the island. For current recruitments, we are looking for a maintenance mechanic, an appraiser tech, temporary laborers, and accounting technician that will be our accounts payable technician.

In finance, the staff is back to regularly scheduled meetings with the Tyler implementation team. The main focus is still the assessing department, and the project is currently at 22%, up 1% from like the last 4 months. Our go-live date has actually moved until September of 2025. We wanted to get it well past the August 15th payment date for property taxes. We are still working hard on our electronic timesheet implementation project.

The hardware that arrived here was not compatible with the current cards we use for our system, so we had to send those back. And we are saving money with the new model, so, uh, just a couple of thousand dollars, but it's nice to have those on our way. Um, we are expected to have those late April. Depending on staff's availability for training, we should be on that new system at the beginning of May. We said farewell to our AP technician John Anselmo yesterday.

I wish him a safe travel as he relocates to the 48. I told him that there's a job for him if he comes back. We're going to review his job and update the job description before we post that again. That's one of the great things about having a break in employment is that we get to make sure our job descriptions match our needs. In Community Development, the Planning and Zoning Commission met last night for a regular meeting.

They approved the land disposal for the easement that I spoke about at the beginning of the report. The commission also reviewed a subdivision and two rezones in the City of Old Harbor. For the Plan 2045 Comprehensive Update, we are going to be having a land use and housing workshop that happens next week on April 22nd. It is is going to happen at the Kodiak High School cafeteria from 6 to 9. It's a workshop that includes multiple exercises where attendees can provide input on both land uses and housing uses inside of the borough.

If you're unable to attend this, there's a link available in the manager's report that you can click on, on Friday, uh, that'll lead you to those exercises so that you can participate in assessing. They go through alphabetical order to make sure that all of our senior citizen and disabled veteran exemptions are eligible for their PFD. I asked about someone that began with S and they weren't there yet, so they're somewhere in the alphabet above S. A total of 13 appeals were filed. 8 Of the 13 have withdrawn, so right now we have 5 moving forward to the Board of Equalization that will take place on May 5th.

The Alutiiq Foundation exemption appeal is scheduled for July 17th. You should have your books of information 10 days before that, so you should have them by July 7th. And we have appraiser tech position advertised for assessing. In engineering facilities, the contractor departed the island again on April 15th. The PCB abatement is complete in both of the buildings.

The containers were delayed, which prompted them to leave again. The containers should be here by April 24th, so the contractor anticipates returning to the project on April 23rd to begin the loadout. They're expecting to conduct asbestos abatement near the end of April, and they're on schedule to be done with the work by mid-June. At KFRC, the Industrial Pump Alaska folks were here on island to review our pumps. They have provided us an estimate for an installation of our pumps.

We are planning on replacing all 4. They're— we're ordering 5. We're probably be replacing 4. The one that is still working out of the 4 is not in the best of shape, but still hanging in there. Um, there— I just signed that purchase order this week.

Um, there is a 29-week lead time on those pumps. Cruise ships are, uh, going to begin this month. Uh, we have changed our touch tank hours, uh, through May 5th through 9th from 10 to 2 to be open each of those days to accommodate cruise ship passengers teachers, and we're trying to reach out and let people who are homeschooling to know that they have an opportunity, um, all that week to attend as well. Out at the landfill, we are helping with the Chamber of Commerce with their commercial cleanup event on May 1st and 2nd and the community cleanup event on May 3rd. We have our RFP out for the regional solid waste management plan.

We did, uh, received 5 submissions, and those are being assessed right now. We should see that come up for approval at the May 1st regular meeting. Staff is continuing to investigate the compliance by consent associated with stormwater violations. There was an invitation to bid for monitoring wells posted. Bids are due on that by May 14th at 2:30 PM.

At Carluck, we haven't had any word back from the Department of Environmental Conservation about what our requirements will be for further sampling or monitoring groundwater, so we're kind kind of at a hold until we hear back from them. And our site visit for the community pool is still on for May 19th through 21st. Other random projects that have been happening around the building: we've installed bike racks, um, at the entrance down by the manager's office and the front office here. Quotes are being obtained for a front entry modification of the entrance. I wanted a wall.

Cody has convinced me that I don't really need a wall, I just need a gate of some short, so we're looking at all the options, and his options are much cheaper. And we also are looking at quotes for getting the asbestos out of our mechanical room on the first floor of the building. In information and technology, we started installing BitLocker on all of our laptops to keep us nice and safe. They are meeting with a contracted engineer to update to Windows 9.1. We are— GIS is working with Community Development to get maps printed, and they are also adding missing leases to the Lands Viewer website when they are found.

And I already talked to you about the time clocks. Those time clocks should be being shipped to us right now. The only other things in your packet tonight are the spreadsheet that Assemblymember Whiteside requested and then the information on emergency management training in July. And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Steve, KFRC and the pump replacement— is this purely pumps, or are they replacing the controllers for the pump too, to make sure they're totally compatible and in good condition? That is an excellent question, Mr. Ames, that I do not have the answer to. We have spoke so much about those pumps that I don't know about the controllers, but I can absolutely I will absolutely find out about that and let you know. I do know from experience there are some tired VFDs down there. Thank you.

I think that Corey said that they were doing the controls. Bo? Okay. Jarrod, did you have your hand? Yes.

Can you— I might— maybe I missed this. Can you tell me more about these stormwater violations?

When it rains a lot— and Jenna's in the audience, so she can come up and correct me if I'm wrong— when it rains a lot, we get a lot of extra water going through the leachate treatment plant. And so when ADC is here, they want less outside water going in through our system. No, not at all. See, that's why, that's why she's here. So the COBCs, we had two.

One was for our leachate treatment system, which still with the overflow and the permit violations. Then we had the stormwater violations as well, and that was because we were seeing ammonia in our stormwater sampling. Our stormwater cell, or lagoon down there, is not lined. And looking at the location, um, hence the wells, we're hoping we get some bids so we can kind of see if there's migration down in that area, what could be possibly causing the high ammonia level in the stormwater lagoon. And we have performed some dye testing in our leachate manholes to kind of see if we are— if that collection system is, um, somehow compromised and going into the stormwater lagoon.

And good news was we didn't see any color in the stormwater lagoon. It was only in the leachate lagoon. So we've tried to do more, um, less invasive testing or kind of experiments to kind of see what could possibly be causing it.

And this is the second time that's gone out because we didn't get any bids the first time. So we're letting it be out on the market a little bit longer this time to see if we can attract some attention to it. Any further questions of the manager?

We're going to take a 5-minute break, back in 5.

Not 7. You got to keep— keep you on your toes.

Oh, could we come back together, please?

We'll go ahead and reconvene regular meeting here. Next item is messages from the borough mayor. I'd just like to report that I had the opportunity to attend the memorial service for Daniel Nelson Jr.

On April 12th. It was performed at the Alaska Army National Guard here in town. It was very well attended and very well done by Major Ryan Sherrett and Command Sergeant Major Jay Baldwin. That's all I have. On there.

Next item is new business contracts. We have contract number FY 2021-1 extension 5 and optional extension 6 with threshold services for recycling. Jared.

Move to authorize the borough manager to execute contract number FY 2021-01 extension 5 with optional extension Extension 6 with Threshold Services, Inc. For recycling. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Staff report, Amy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The current contract with Threshold Services is set to expire on June 30th, 2025, with all available extension options under the existing agreement having been exhausted. To ensure continuity of service, staff is proposing a 1-year extension of the contract through June 30th, 2026, with an additional 1-year extension option through June 30th, 2027, subject to Assembly approval at that time. This extension would align the timelines of the recycling and solid waste contracts, facilitating improved coordination between service providers and enhancing long-term strategic planning for waste management services.

Staff initially presented the proposed extension to the Assembly during the February 27th work session, seeking guidance on how to proceed. The Assembly directed staff to engage with the Solid Waste Advisory Board for input before making a final decision. In response, staff consulted with the SWAB chair and distributed relevant contract documents, including the current contract, all previous extension agreements, and the proposed extension to the SWAB Board. Staff requested that SWAB provide any comments or feedback by March 28th in advance of their regular meeting on April 2nd. During the April 2nd SWAB meeting, staff formally presented the proposed extension The board engaged in discussion, during which the mayor expressed concerns about the complexity of the issue and the need for additional information.

Following deliberation, SWAB voted not to provide a formal recommendation, but instead refer the matter back to the assembly for further consideration, which brings us to the meeting tonight. Jenna is here tonight in case you have questions. She attended the SWAB meeting and has options for the assembly to pick from.

Any discussion by the Assembly? Questions? Ryan. I don't have a question. I am looking for— I guess this is a question.

Can you expand why the SWAB did not want to make a formal recommendation? Is it because the Mayor was present and giving an objective— I am getting a head nod, yes.

All right. Thank you.

Any further discussion? Scott? Well, I'm in favor of this and the optional extension through '26-'27. My reason for opting for that is that we will have a change in the Governor's Office in '26. And we'll have a change in the federal elections in '26 as well.

I think there are all kinds of changes that are occurring in terms of how we deal with climate change and a bunch of other issues at the federal level, and I think they might be sorted out by that time rather than left in limbo at this time. I'd rather negotiate after rather than before. Or during. Yeah. And the motion is for Extension 5 and optional Extension 6.

Bo? Thank you. I'll be supporting this for reasons I mentioned during the work session, but I'll just reiterate briefly. You know, we are in a community that's reliant on our natural resources, exclusively reliant on our natural resources. And those who would say that, well, you know, The Coast Guard presence is a large portion of our economy.

However, the Coast Guard exists due to harvesters who are reliant on natural resources. So really it comes full circle back to us being responsible stewards of our water and land resources. So I'll be supporting this. I understand it comes at a higher cost at the initial face value for— versus burying our garbage completely versus recycling. However, that doesn't account for the space that we're saving in our landfill and the cost that it's going to cost to expand our landfill should we stop recycling.

So I appreciate those who are employed. The current facility is fantastic. It's easily accessible. The employees are extremely friendly and courteous. I'm glad we can provide employment to those who may have barriers to traditional traditional employment.

These are all just fantastic things and all reasons I will be supporting this.

Ryan, follow-up? Yeah, thank you. I also support this, but I have to tell you, the Assembly, that the lack of formal recommendation from SWAB really bothers me.

I guess I'm confused on why we would have a SWAB committee without having these recommendations moving forward. And quite honestly, if it's just because the mayor's president— presence, then we should ask the mayor not to attend because we need to get valuable input from those that are empowered and in these positions. So I support recycling, obviously. I am an environmental guy. So I obviously support this, and I wish the process were different.

I wish the results and how we got here were different. Thanks. Roll call vote on the motion, please.

Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. Sherrod? Yes. Mr. Smiley?

Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. Ames? Yes.

Mr. Griffin? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 6-0. Next item is Resolution Number FY 2023-20B, amending Resolution Number 2023-20 to extend the sunset date of the Health Facilities Advisory Board to June 30th, 2027.

Jared, move to adopt Resolution Number FY2023-20B. Is there a second? Second. Staff report. Amy.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Health Facilities Advisory Board was formed for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating, developing, and issuing criteria requirements using the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of Providence healthcare facilities in Kodiak. We started HFAB on February 2nd, 2023. It was, uh, meant to remain active for 1 year unless extended by assembly resolution.

On December 21st, 2023, we extended it to June 30th, 2025, and now we are asking to extend it until June 30th, 2027. I think it's been a very important vehicle thus far. I just spoke with the administrator, and he agrees that that is the perfect place to restart our lease negotiations. Thank you. Any questions or discussion?

Roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes.

Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. Ames? Yes. Mr. Griffin?

Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 6-0.

Okay, next is Resolution Number FY 2025-21, Establishing a North Star School Facilities Work Group. Jared, move to adopt Resolution Number FY 2025-21. Is there a second? It's been moved and seconded. Staff report, Lena.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the assembly. At the March 12, 2025 joint work session with the school board, the assembly discussed establishing the North Star School Facility Work Group to address specific issues related to the future use of North Star. This work group is ad hoc in nature, is ad hoc in nature, and will remain active until December 31, 2025.

Any questions or discussion?

Roll call vote on the motion, please.

Mr. Smiley? Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. Ames?

Yes. Mr. Griffin? Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes.

Mr. LeDoux— er, sorry, Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 6-0. Thank you.

Next is resolution number FY2025-22, authorizing the disposal by easement of borough land for less than fair market value. Jared. Move to adopt Resolution No. FY2025-22. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Staff report, Amy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Kodiak Island Borough owns land identified as USS 2539 Lot 1 remainder, Women's Bay, in Bells Flats, through which the Russian River flows.

Several private property owners whose land is adjacent to the borough's land have witnessed the erosion of nearby land due to the river changing course. And have experienced flooding of their land during heavy rain events. The property owners at 522 Lita Street, Russian Creek, Lot A-5, one of the properties adjacent to KAB's land, have requested support for their efforts to mitigate the imminent erosion of their property by the Russian River. To protect borough interests while also assisting the property owners, an easement allowing the private property owners to assess KAB land to stabilize the current riverbank have been— has been recommended. Staff has consulted with the borough attorney to draft an easement agreement that will require signature and commitment by the property owners should this resolution be approved.

The disposal of borough land by easement was brought to the Planning and Zoning Commission at their work session on April 9th and was approved at their regular meeting on April 16th in accordance with KIBC 18.20.030 and is now in front of the assembly. Disposal of land to a private party would typically have a fair market value cost associated with it. However, due to the nature of the situation, it is requested that the disposal be granted at less than the fair market value with no costs to the affected property owners. If this resolution is approved, an easement will be granted, signed, and recorded, after which the property owners will retain responsibility for all work conducted on the reference borough land in their erosion control efforts. Last week, one of the questions that was asked was whether or not the property owners would have to follow permits.

They absolutely will. They can't even begin getting those permits until the easement is given. So once the easement is recorded, then they will be able to start work on their permits. Any further questions? Dave.

Thank you. And I apologize for not being here last week. So if this has been figured out already, I apologize for wasting everyone's time. I recall when the first time this came up after getting seated here on the Assembly that we were shown historic imagery of how this has changed over time. Say 20 years from now, this is incredibly successful.

What are the limitations of this easement?

So when the borough gives away land, it's actually considered disposal. So there is no deadline on it. Um, during a regular event, like if you walked out there today, this is just part of the riverbed. Um, so 20 years from now, I'm hoping that DOT has replaced the bridges out there, and in the replacement of those bridges, each of those bridges are going to be 18 inches higher, which will change the way the water hits the bridges, the roads around them, and in the DOT's plans, they have, um, two berms, one on the Russian River side, one on the Sergeant Creek side, that actually is a big C-shape, like thousands of feet, where DOT is going to attempt to change the flow of those rivers. So I'm hoping in 20 years from now they have all their land and all the borough land in front of them.

So it would still technically be theirs unless we were to take action, or if we wanted to put a deadline, like, to review in 10 years, or we have all of those options. Thank you. Dave? Yeah, so I think— I mean, I want to support this and I don't want to slow it down, but my only question, that's the only concern I have, is if this river rerouting mitigation is wildly successful, are we giving away 2 acres of riverfront property? No.

That's— I saw the 75/50. Fee, and that was my only question, is as this stabilizes in the future, are we giving them land that they can develop beyond? Like, no, um, it's— so it's, it's from where that property goes out, just 75 feet out. And right now that land is mostly gone. The 75 feet was a very generous amount just to get them out far enough, but most of that is already already been eaten away.

Yeah, the work is going to be done right adjacent to their property line, which is where the water is now. But as for the ability to do the placement of that, they need that.

Any further questions? Ryan. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I am in full support of this so that we can say that we haven't disposed of any property in a while. So let's do this.

Amy. Thank you. We also talked to Community Development about informing all of the property owners downriver on the Russian River that we have been through this process and if it's something that they're interested in doing as well, that they would have that option. So we want to— we will be a well-oiled machine after this time. So if other families are interested in having an easement on their property or near their property, yes.

That we would be happy to work with them to make sure that those families are safer. Steve.

As I've seen it, it really couldn't be developed anyway because there's no access to it. So to me, I'm in favor of it. I'm— the river has obviously created a huge problem, and I've been here since full-time since '91, and the amount of flooding and problems happen there has amazed me how it's changed in the last 5 years. So action needs to be taken. So I will be in favor of this.

Any further questions or discussion? Roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. Ames?

Yes. Mr. Griffin? Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes.

Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote?

Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. Next is Resolution Number 2025-23, supporting increased multi-year funding for the U.S. Coast Guard for all operational programs, infrastructure, and maintenance. Jerry?

Move to adopt Resolution Number FY 2025-23. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Staff report, Lena. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the assembly.

On February 27, 2025, the City of Kodiak mayor sent a letter to Senator Murkowski, Senator Sullivan, and Congressman Begich on behalf of the city expressing concerns about the aging U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter fleet. The letter emphasized the critical role these helicopters play in the Coast in Kodiak and other coastal communities across Alaska, particularly in maintaining a fully functional emergency response capability supported by trained and proficient air crews. Followed by— following the letter, the city was advised to adopt a formal resolution to further communicate and reinforce the importance of sustained multi-year federal funding for the US Coast Guard's operational programs, infrastructure improvements, and ongoing maintenance needs. Mayor Arndt attended the City of Kodiak work session and felt it was important for the borough to support this effort. He discussed the proposed resolution with the assembly during the April 10, 2025 work session during packet review and suggested the assembly consider the resolution for adoption at this meeting.

And I will defer to the mayor if you have any questions. Yeah, basically Lena got the information. From the city on there and you have it in your packet. So, Assembly discussion, questions. Ryan.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I know this may come across as not sincere, but I do mean this with sincerity.

Why are we telling the Coast Guard that their helicopter fleet is aging. I'm sure they already know that.

Steve, um, it's my understanding that the city's asking for a letter recommendation to continue funding helicopters in Alaska. And because they're going to need replacing. Now, I'm—. Is that correct, Mayor? Some of the— they've discontinued operation of the one style and, uh, are awaiting some others, so replacements on to get their helicopter.

I think it's up to 9 is what they're trying to do, so instead of down to 5.

Oh, sorry, I didn't see your hand. I know how critical the Coast Guard is to our community and how important it is they get to 9 aircraft here eventually. I'm not going to vote in support of this motion, however, mostly because the GAO warned the Coast Guard back in 2015 that their plan was impossible, and the Coast Coast Guard's policy was something along the lines of, well, we, we don't agree, so we're going forward with it anyway. And this is pretty much exactly what the GAO warned about, which was that at the time the Coast Guard had a $1.9, I believe, billion acquisition budget. They were celebrating it, the largest acquisition budget in the history of the service.

And the GAO said, well, that's fine and well, but you actually need $2.4 billion a year for the 20 years just to recapitalize what you have. That was the point at which they should have started a more honest and transparent conversation about prioritization of assets. Instead, organizationally, the service really wanted their offshore patrol cutters, so they didn't. They ignored it until— they ignored everything else until the offshore patrol cutters got approved. And now they're saying, hey, we don't have money for all these assets, and just like the GA warned them.

So a long explanation for why I won't be voting for it, but I want to be clear that yes, I do fully support getting the right number of aircraft parts and supplies here. I just think that organizationally they need to own their lack of planning on their acquisition budget a little better. Any further discussion? Jared. [Speaker:MARK] I really appreciate that history and context.

That puts us, yeah, into much more context for me. It's my understanding that this is a letter written to our Congressional delegation to, yes, acknowledge GAO's reporting, but to, as I read it, encourage the Congressional Budget Office to continue with their proposals to to increase multi-year funding for the Coast Guard, especially for deferred maintenance. So I don't— for us and our body, I don't see any, like, harm that that resolution would do.

If it helps just a little, then it helps. Just a little. I don't, I don't see why we, I don't see why we shouldn't. Um, uh, so yeah, so I'll be supporting this. Bo, thank you.

I appreciate that context as well. And, and just remind the assembly that the, the full language of this resolution, and it not only referring to, um, these, these specific HH-60 helicopters, it's for, it's also for, I'll read it quickly. Um, full multi-year funding for the US Coast Guard to address the backlog of infrastructure maintenance, full funding for the acquisition of additional HH-60 helicopters and spare parts, full funding and enhanced vessel acquisition programs for the offshore patrol cutters, and full funding for the Arctic Security Cutter and Polar Security Cutter programs. So this is far more extensive than, than the helicopters, although I do appreciate that there, there is some information that is, is important to know, but I think just in principle, I will always support resolutions that are going to request additional funding, especially when we're talking about deferred maintenance for those aircraft that can rescue our harvesters and recreational boaters. Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Roll call vote on the motion, please. Mr. Ames? Yes. Mr. Griffin? Yes.

Mr. Johnson? No. Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Mr. Smiley?

Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 5-1.

Thank you. Let's see, next is, um, confirmation of mayoral appointment of Maggie Hubbard to the Solid Waste Advisory Board ex officio Kodiak High School Student Council representative. Jared. Move to confirm the mayoral appointment of Maggie Hubert to the Solid Waste Advisory Board ex officio Kodiak High School Student Council representative seat. That's a— that's a— for a 1-year term beginning April 30th, 2025.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Whoops, you gotta get up there, Bo.

A little slow on the draw. Sorry, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to thank Miss Hubert for her leadership. I think it's fantastic that we're going to have someone representing the younger cohorts of our community, and I really appreciate her offering her time.

Ryan. Yeah, I'll echo the same sentiment and just give her fair warning about the mayor attending the solid waste Advisory Board. Thank you. I'll be there.

With that, roll call vote, please. Mr. Griffin? Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes.

Mr. Sharrett? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes. Mr. Whiteside?

Yes. Mr. Ames? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 6-0.

All righty, next item is citizens' comments.

Anyone in the room wishing to come forward at this time, please do and sign in, and we'll go from there. If you are calling in, it is 907-486-3231, and toll-free number 855-492-9202.

We have none present. Anyone wishing to call in, please do so immediately.

Give them a second.

Seeing none, we'll move on to assembly member comments. And Ryan?

No comment.

Scott? No comment. Steve? No comment. Dave?

Sorry. I want to thank Ms. Hubert for volunteering to join the Solid Waste Advisory Board. I want to congratulate our mayor on his selection as the Cook and Regional Advisory Council Volunteer of the Year. I was surprised too. Congratulations are due to Ellen and her team at the Chamber for an Outstanding Comfish.

I thought that went off really well. It's been really well attended, and I think it's an exciting thing to happen in our community in April. I wanted to welcome the Tusti back and finally congratulate our 12U girls, Kodiak girls, who won their division at the Ponytail Hockey Tournament last week. Cool. Jared.

Yeah, I was going to say thanks also to the Chamber and their partners for what I thought was a great confish too. This fish thing that keeps coming up with the declaring an emergency, I felt the Ocean Restoration Act is It's, it's still in the House and it's still in committee. It hasn't been killed by the Democrats. Um, and in fact, it was— it's been sitting in committee with Republican leadership for the past year or so. So it's, it's still alive, and our own Representative Begich is on that committee.

So I don't understand why they don't just do a discharge petition to push it to the floor if Republicans think it's that important. But it's still there and it's still alive, and I don't think it's going to require our body to support an executive order or anything like that.

I did a very quick research on the Ocean Restoration Act during our little break.

Let's see.

This week also there were, uh, uh, 4 students at my university that were, um, uh, that had their visas revoked and kicked out of the country. And, um, that's a place where I work, and that just really, really sucks. Thank you. Boom.

Thank you. So kind of piggybacking on some public testimony we heard, this is something that's kind of always nagged at me a little bit, and I didn't realize it until I ran for office, but I will be looking at Kodak Island Borough Code 2.25.060 BC, allowing memberships or members of the assembly to miss half of the meetings in any year, I think, is excessive. So I think given the recent flexibility added to remote— allow us to participate remotely for special circumstances, I'm going to be submitting a yellow sheet for looking to amend that code. In addition to that, I was— I guess similar to testimony earlier, the floral department at Safeway is where this recommendation came or was brought to my attention on Saturday morning, another land request, land disposal request, this time for Manashka. So in 2 weeks, I've spoken to 4 people asking what we're waiting for.

I still don't have an answer for them. 2 Of them want us to dispose land in the flats. I've had one in town and then now one in Manashka, and I don't have an answer for any of those people as to why we haven't done that yet. I've been sitting up here for a year and a half and none of that has been put in front of us, so I'm just curious what the holdup is. And I really wish I had an answer for those people, but currently I do not.

Thank you. Next assembly work session is scheduled on Thursday, April 24th at 6:30 PM. The next assembly regular meeting is scheduled on Thursday, May 1st, 6:30 PM in the Borough Assembly Chambers. Entertain a motion to adjourn. Move to adjourn.

It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. We are adjourned at 8:25.