Cordova: November 4, 2026, Council Work Session, PH, & Regular Meeting

And he's not been copper wire, which is like, slow out. And copper wire. Yeah. Why go through all that? Uh-oh.

Keep moving along. Why don't I feel like I'm forgetting something?

There's closed captioning. Picking me up in case I wasn't sure if it was working. There it is.

It is not working right. I'm sorry, no one said anything close to Banzai. It's not even Banzai.

Well, it's not working at all. Can you turn it off?

Oh, can I just hide? Yeah, just hide it. Yay, bonsai! So now it's—. But is it showing it on YouTube?

Probably. Great. It's not accurate, so for your sound. Bonsai.

Okay, okay. All right, uh, order the City Council work session of November 4th, 26. Um, do a roll call. Yes. Um, Mayor Smith is absent.

Debra Adams here. Lee Collins here. Aaron Hansen is absent for now. Kasey Kinsman here. Mike Mickelson Here.

Here. Here. That's a 4-1. So here, our second topic is the 2027 budget development general fund. That, I think, let's turn over to you, Sam.

You go with that. Good. Aaron here now.

So I'll let Cheryl do all the questions, answering questions that are actually, you know, in the budget because she's got it on the computer and it's easy to get through it. I wanted to include the same memo from the last work session we did so y'all were good with our assumptions and the way that we're moving forward.

Again, I just want to say our end goal is to get through '27 and set us up for '28 with a realistic workforce, budget, and expenditures. And so that's why we agreed to those things that we agreed to at the last work session.

Also, it was asked that more operation and maintenance deeper in— operational maintenance, I should say. Um, across all city departments, chip sale. And then we reflected a $305,000 savings, um, with the health insurance. And we are comfortable with sales tax. It's showing— we can go into that number for you when we're there.

And then the Second Street math was not an unknown. Until recently, and I want to explain a little bit about how STIP grants work because it is a very important thing. So when we signed up for that STIP grant and we were awarded, we, we went in with a 15% match. We said we would pay 15%, and when you sign up and you sign the grant, you're signing the grant for the duration of the project. And the match will stay at 15% even when the—.

When the total continues to go up. It's not the amount that was an estimate at the beginning. But it is an amazing deal. We learned a lot of hard lessons with the harbor. While this isn't $39 million, it's still a lot of money.

It's a lot of engineering and it's a lot of work. It's things we could never do without more employees. I mean, reimbursement on a $17 million grant is not somewhere where we're at right now in our world. So it's, it's the beauty and the hard part of the Community State Grants is that they do take time. They're federal grants.

They're working with the feds, federal highway funds, which make them do step by step by step. So This is explaining what the actual increases are in there. And then I think just at this point, if there's any specific questions, or if you'd like a little general summary from Cheryl, sure, how you all want to move forward. Ready? Specific questions at this point, or are we good to hear from Cheryl?

Overview where we're at, why and how we got, um, to today. Good luck. Um, I, if you want to start by kind of an explanation, I might be getting up periodically through this meeting. I just have to move a little bit still kind of recovering, and I apologize if that's disruptive, but to have me here, that's what I have to do. It's worth it to have you here.

Yes, thank you for being here. Um, Sam mentioned that the sales tax came in, uh, for third quarter, so our number that's in the packet for year-to-date actuals is including, um, everything that came in for that third quarter. We are down by almost 300,000. Um, I still feel confident with that $600,000 though that we're holding in '26 as being a, a comfortable number between making up for that shortage in sales tax and the increases in expenses for inflation and, um various states that we went over. So I think that's still an okay place for us to be in to say that it's all right for us to transfer the million into 2027's budget.

Um, and I, I think that's like the big takeaway here as we do go through departments. Like, if we just want to kind of go from the top and work our way down, department heads really did go through and do a lot of work to figure out prioritizing the maintenance issues that they saw.

Yeah, lots of work went into this at all levels, and I think it's— I think we're at a good place there. At the bottom, you'll see— or towards the bottom of the expenses, you'll see the $175,000 that we are seeing come out of here to go towards that Second Street match. We had a few things that came up since yesterday that, um, we're, we're going to have to come back at the next meeting, and you'll see a few of our expense numbers changing. Um, and that's one, one area that we could kind of look at. I'll come, come back to Sam with more solutions than just that, but, uh, but you will see some expenses change from what you're seeing tonight.

Um, yeah, are you able to highlight those or not at this point? Um, we had— I don't know, the CDC remediation, I don't really have the background on that. Um, the old plant on LaFever, which is now CDC property where the battery banks are, that used to be the city city's property, and we used to be the utilities in that, and that was our city shop for all of our stuff. And in those days, they, you know, didn't have environmental rules.

And so we've been, as a city and split with CEC, we've been cleaning that up for years.

I didn't even realize how expensive it's been, but like they've had soil removed, they've put bungs in there, they've— we've gone through all these processes. This amount of money is going to be the final survey to get DEC to close, close it off. Um, so that's one. And the other's personnel. Yeah, that's the personnel matter.

And then the, um, Chase Avenue, that— yeah, you're going into more detail at the Next meeting with him, but another now opportunity. Yes, question. Uh, so as far as the remediation, is that now continuing? No, it's, it's a final, um, testing to get DC to sign off. Okay, I thought we did that back like 2019 because I used to have accountables for water when I worked for CC, and then we got the final well testing that said we no longer had to add chemicals for remediation, right?

Yep. Well, I'll ask him. I'll be happy to, because I was still employed there when we, uh, decommissioned the remediation. Okay.

Um, in regards to the stip relating to Whiteshed, are we, are we anticipating further match from that? No, that will just come. Okay, that's what I thought, but I thought that Second Street was where like—. But we, we have a final statement from DOT saying— I mean, that's been in place since 2012. I don't even count that out since I started working in— which would have been 2010.

So yep, so we came to an agreement with the state on that. We're talking— great, that's nice news. Um, questions before we start going into budget? Yeah, go ahead. I know we, uh, not that long ago we, uh, had a review of the permanent fund, where it stands, how the fund is looking.

Can you just in general, where are we at right now with the permanent fund? Where's it sitting? 8 Million. I just looked at it yesterday, but I think it's like—. I think it was in our quarterly report.

Yeah, it was last month. Yeah, 3 days ago. 8 Cents. Sounds about right. 8.3 Or— yeah, yeah, 8 million and change.

And it is performing well. I mean, yeah, great. So Second Street project, um, we're looking at the potential to take the $300K out to to fund the percentage that we need to for that project. I think too, I just want to say that that number could change and it won't be as—. It won't be— right, exactly.

Good. Uh, okay, well, there you go. I was just curious about, yeah, if that was going to be more or less. So you're saying it's going to be more, which just makes sense. And that's of the whole amount that we would, uh, be required to pay, which again, it's As you say, um, bam, out of $17 million grant, we're paying 7%.

As it turns out, that's unbelievable. Yeah, we got a lot of grants, over a million dollar in grants, and then right at a million dollars, and then community support from the CTCC. So this is all good stuff for their utilities. Um, so, and then we also— it's You supported as a community. When it comes to the permanent fund, that's what it's there for, things like this.

So this isn't something that we take advantage of with the permanent fund. Yes. And I think, um, just to be clear, until the bid is in, you know, we, we— it could change. That amount could change. You have anticipation of the bid being in January?

Yes, I think so. So it looks to be too, too much more, right?

Um, and I know we've had various matching contributions. What has actually the city reported? Cordova, if you don't know, can—. Yes.

You know, it's not a dollar. Yeah, it is a dollar.

1.2. Okay, not the city. Okay, I guess that was that.

Thank you. Can you just give me a broad view of what is going to be paid for? I came on board long after this had been a project, but what's— what is going to happen on 2nd Street? I think you have really— I don't need a detail. I just want a broad picture.

I mean, I, I, I'm very general.

It might have changed from the last time you really had your fingers in it. So other than the, um, obvious upgrades of, uh, filling the gaps in the sidewalks and getting a new road surface, the original— one of the main original intents of the, of the, uh, grant was to reduce inflow and infiltration into our sewer system. Um, there are quite a few, uh, properties on that street that have sump pumps that drain into the sewer system versus the stormwater system. And so as part of this project, we're going to be providing, uh, stormwater connections to those properties so that they can move that water out of the, uh, sewers—. Out of the sewer into the stormwater system.

Because basically they're dumping clean water into the sewer that then we're paying to treat at the water treatment plant, a wastewater treatment plant that also contributes to overwhelming the system when we have high water events. So there's that. There is going to be a full stormwater system within the street, the full length of the street from Davis to the Cordova Highway. So that will handle all of the surface water issues that contribute to pothole creation. And then, as I mentioned, new road surfacing and filling the sidewalk gaps.

Uh, we'll also be doing similar style pedestrian streetlights that we have on First Street, so it'll be a more welcoming, uh, pedestrian environment, uh, during evening times. And, uh, yeah, so both sides of the streets have sidewalks? Yes, correct.

There's also a lot of— has everything sort of been CEC, CTC, or KK been of that as well for their infrastructure. Yeah, exactly. While the, while the streets, uh, open up, CEC is going to be replacing a bunch of their age power infrastructure. CTC is going to take that opportunity to put in the new fiber connections, um, and then we are also doing a few upgrades. Um, surprisingly, the water and sewer system in that section of town is actually in semi-decent condition, so there's only a few small sections where we'll be doing some replacement of the sewer and water pipes.

Where they are either cracked or slumped or things like that.

In pavement? Yeah, pavement. Yeah, I guess there was a pothole that almost ate my car last week. It's just one. Well, the one I hit that I didn't avoid.

So that's good to know because I just had a— it's going to be fixed, but I didn't know the extent. So thank you.

Do you have questions?

Thanks. Make sure it's still— that gives you an idea of what $17+ million will be again. And remove the last—. Yeah, is the— one other question and follow-up here is, uh, is it going to go all the way down to Copper River Highway? Yes, it'll go from the corner of Davis, you know, where it makes that corner to go up Davis, starts there, ends at the bottom of Copper River Highway.

Questions?

Okay. Anything else? We started to talk revenue. You want to call out?

No, nothing really changed in revenue. Um, you'll see that we did make the change for FISDAX according to the last board meeting that we had.

I don't really have anything to point out, but answer questions, maybe. We will get right to more remote seller revenues. Yep, monthly. Monthly. Yes, remote sales tax comes in monthly, and we received October, so we'll have November and December still.

We'll have the ones we received in November and December. It's actually August— or November and December. It's August and September. Sorry. Question.

Yes. Is it generally higher in November, December because of holiday shopping? Because it's a few months delayed, we don't get those ones until next year. But we do see a little bit of an increase there. But I have to say, Cordova's online shopping abilities are pretty year-round.

As UPS and FedEx will attest. Yeah. And the post-op. And the post-op. It stays kind of consistent, and then we do see that little bump bump.

Yeah. Is it a significant bump or is it just—. Yeah. Just feeling. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah.

Questions? Is there revenue?

Again, you're of the opinion that our sales tax and our forecast for sales taxes, um, that's the third quarter is the last quarter that we receive in this year. No, I'm saying our forecast for '27.

Oh, I, I want to be of the opinion to adjust it down if we need to.

Um, I, I guess hoping that next year is a more, uh, normal— normal, thank you— year. I think that we're still okay on that projection. Based on, you know, I guess the same thought process that we had last year. But if it is a good fishing year and everything's going what we consider normal, we'll get—.

Sorry, Vincent. The cost of goods is so much more, isn't it? And we almost hit it '24. Well, we'd be way overhitted 4, but then almost hit it 1.5, right? The full one.

Yeah. Easy.

Thoughts, opinions? Um, in our, our year-to-date is our year-to-date, but I just want to make sure we're looking at our proposal, a proposed budget. So, um, as far as revenue goes, Anything standing out to you? If not, we're going to keep moving on. Anything in revenue?

Questions, concerns?

That start moving into our expenses.

One thing to know in expenses as we um, discussed with enterprise funds. You'll see some health insurance line items for some departments go up and some go down. The overall trend for the, the savings for health insurance— we did provide the number in the packet, um, $305,000 was the overall savings to the city, and that was, uh, um, looking at what Primera would have cost us for 2027. Compared to what the last electrical trust fund insurance provides for 2,000 homes. So it's $305,000, but to look at each individual section, you will see some little upsides of that.

I think it is very similar as Department of— I know Enterprises are treated separately, but Um, going from one department to another, there's an event vote as well for the health insurance. Yes, based on the makeup of the employees and which plan they took, because with Primera, the, um, it was the cost of it was different for employee only, employee child, employee spouse, or a family plan. With the new insurance, it's all one price, so where somebody was just an employee only, it actually did go up for that plan. But we have a lot of families in Florida just employee only.

Just a— it's, uh, it's good to see the D&B up and running and, uh, you've been able to use it and it shows. So thank you. Yes, D&B, we're kind of a huge difference for not just to bring a little revenue in, but also people have to spend a ton of money going outside of town.

I think it's pretty much—. Well, we—. Oh, I guess there's one more training coming up next year that there will be added services for that as well. Motorcycle? Yep.

And then CDL? We're going to do all the 6-year—. Not, not the driving test for CDL. Oh, we can't just have a permit. Yeah.

See, for fuel, I'm expensive. You guys spoke for this year's— well, you guys actually think you carry that into next year. Yeah, we're looking at um, the usage. So guns, and then figuring out there was an increase, you know, without—. That's what it looks like.

So I appreciate that, that info. I think we also tried to take into account the operating supplies and just other things for your shipping, right? It's not considered— so we're just trying to take that into account too.

At some point when our fuel goes down, so ebbs and flows, hopefully we can keep that in mind and keep— we still keep planning for them somewhere else. We can still budget for a higher fuel cost. So, and that, and then go to some of our deferred maintenance and some of that. So different conversation for a different time once we actually see fuel go down. But I, again, looking at this, grateful to see you guys are taking back into account— really thoughtful approach.

And I think one that it's, it's been a little bit since we've had that level of detail all the way down. So thank you for that consideration.

I do think last year was out of necessity. I mean, Yeah, and I, I agree, we need to get back to where things are maintaining together. Master was—. Can you refresh my memory here? Um, property sale and the actual year-to-date for 2026 was $19,000.

Um, what piece of property was—. Where is that? The—. What line? 130, Page number, and line item.

Page 3, um, doing some total sale of property. So the header on that is a little misleading, um What was that one item, Bill? I do see the $18,700. Um, need just a moment and I can get that.

Sale of property 311-37 Was it, um, we do a surplus sale, we get rid of vehicles or anything? Well, it's not real property, it's personal property, right? It could be either. I will have a better answer for you in just a shake.

Okay, Block 2, Block 7N. I'm sorry, in fact it's not helpful. It was a piece of property though, so probably this would be— I'm sorry. Oh, you forgot? Yeah, thanks for—.

You have a question? Law enforcement overtime at $55,000. Okay, for, uh, page 7, the second call it down.

So what actual previous number should be, and that looks, uh, a little light.

Can I speak to it? Yeah. Um, the overtime on years where we do are not fully staffed, because we do have, um, unfilled positions, the overtime goes up. But you'll see that the Um, the salary and wages line is down from what was budgeted that year. So we budget as if we were fully staffed, and then if those positions still don't get un— or filled, the overtime will go up, but the salary and wages will be less.

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, and same applies to the jail because those positions work either a 70/30 split between jail and law enforcement or an 80/20 based on their position. So to confirm, is there still an open position for the law enforcement? Yes, sir. It sounds—.

Budget is open.

Sorry, yeah, good. Two budget open positions.

So, let's do Yeah, I guess we're jumping into extensions. So yes, just a couple of clarifying questions. I'm looking at FTEs. And, um, one that jumps out at me is under city manager, we're showing two full-time equivalents. What does that represent, the two FTEs under the city manager?

It's me and the HR person. And the HR person, correct. Just to be clear. And then there's an assistant, the clerk, or what do you call—. The deputy clerk is not my assistant.

Solid. He does something completely different but is able to fill in went on. And she did, she did a great job when you're not here. Thank you. Records management that she's been doing has been exponentially increasing in the number of requests we've been getting.

Thank God she's here and handling it, because that is a burden. State of supervision, I'm sure. And then she, the second half on records management that she does, not only, you know, requests that come in from members of the public or entities. But she's also trying to tell all the departments how to manage their records. And we have an electronic system that is now in place to do so much more efficiently.

And then that will make records requests a lot easier to pinpoint down the road. It also keeps us It allows us to do more electronic reviews, to help to do some paper, but not, you know, to do it all on paper. And it keeps us with the state standards. Well, it keeps us safe in the instance that anybody wants to sue us if we cannot find the records that we are supposed to be able to find. That hasn't happened.

But there are no gates out of this. There you go. Medicaid service, modernizing our management of our— yeah, big list of emptying a few sawmills in the hospitals and the hospital basement. That's good. Good goal.

The other one that jumps out at me is the motor vehicle, uh, DMV, the one that PE there. Uh, is that an actual full-time equivalent? Is that a year-round position? It is—. It rounded up, it's, um, 0.61.

He, he is not a 40-hour position, but it is year-round, year-round, but not, uh, 40-hour week. Correct. Right. I didn't see anything listed up there in particular, insurance or health insurance for that. It's attached somewhere else.

He's a cheapie because he's married to—. We can't go into detail about personnel. Oh, I'm not asking you to. I'm just noting that there's nothing—. I was about to.

Yeah, Susan was—. He's covered. He's good. Just looked like there was zero, or maybe there was some funding there that might have been captured. I've got a quick question here about just sort of process, and maybe it was discussed last week, and I apologize for missing that, but So basically, there's 2 questions.

So, you know, looking at the budget so far, there's some, some of the non-enterprise funds that are slightly over what we budgeted or under budget. And this question is in regard to some of the public comment that we've gotten and we're about to get at this meeting for things like the library or Little League or swimming or whatnot. So, What happens when— where is the money coming from for these non-enterprise funds when they go over budget? And then what happens when we have, you know, like, like, let's say, say we're going to do an in-kind match of 75% of what a certain nonprofit is asking for, for like the pool. What happens in the event where we end up with extra money?

Are we able to remind me of the process, or if it's possible to fund things that we had thought we hadn't been able to fund after the budget's already come out.

If we get extra revenue, is that what you're asking? Yeah. Yes, we could do budget amendments to, to fund different projects or revamp the IT. Yeah, and for instance, we did that this year, um, with the pool. Yeah, okay.

Because I'm thinking of this as we're most likely about to get a bunch of public comment about some of the things that were talked about in the last budget section and the last council meeting. So I feel like it might be in our interest to have some ideas of things that we could maybe compromise on in the event that we do come up with more money than we think we're going to. So that's, that's why I brought it up. Thank you.

There is a process. There is a process to do that, amend the budget if the circumstances warrant it, and us as council decide that's what needs to happen. So, and, or in reverse, if staff says we have this extra expense and then it's brought to us as counselor. So that's the amendment of the P process. We—.

Was it just one time this year? I thought we did it twice. I think we did it once. We do have a known budget amendment that's coming forward though to, to, um, to, you know, the extra— the, the ask from the school that happened after our budget was approved. We still need to make that actual amendment and then we'll have some other items that trickle in through the $600,000.

Yep. And then the move of the, of the million into reserve for next year's. So we'll get that all accomplished at once. Not at next meeting, but the one after. Well, the 8th— the next meeting on the 12th.

Yes. So not at that—. That's a work session. Yeah, the second November scheduled council meeting. There should be Absolutely.

And we often do them sometimes at the end of the year like this to kind of capture all the stuff that's happened over the course of the year. Otherwise, we'd be doing a whole bunch of little ones. Council Member Mickelson, that answer your question? Oh, I'm not processing. Yes, thank you.

Yes, Council Member Rainey. Um, I just had a quick question on page 10. Um, the, uh, 55010 equipment and furnishings for the Cordova Center at $17,000—. Is that the kitchen? What, what is that?

Or is that the theater? Or just a mix of things? $17,000 Is the budgeted number for that for '27? For '27.

It was the, um, the kitchen. Yeah, kitchen upgrades, refrigeration, dishwasher. Not anything in the theater lumped in there, but maybe a little bit. But I'm—. I've submitted a grant for— has some to help cover those expenses.

Would it be I hear the theater. Okay, um, on page 8, and it's, um, item number 52186. I know this has been explained to me before, but can you refresh my memory? What is inmate medical expense reimbursement? We've got negative, negative, then jumps up to $17,000.

And then a negative and a negative. Um, it is—. That $17,000 is also supposed to be a negative. I'm sorry. Um, yeah, it's, it's where, um, we have to pay the medical for any of the inmates up front, and then the state is supposed to reimburse us, and that's the reimbursement portion of that.

So it goes along with the line that's right above it. And for a little bit, there was some lag time with the state and not, not maybe a great response to the reimbursement, but now it seems to be improving. So that's the money that we received back from the state. So it's a wash, hopefully. It's supposed to work as a wash, yes.

And maybe some overlap of years in there where you'll see this $17,000 in '25, and then we got the reimbursement in '26. For some of that motion. Okay, thank you. And I will change that to reflect that it is not another expense, it's, it's a reimbursement.

Question for Sam. Be in page 13, line on boiler maintenance, Public Safety Building. Curious, number 1, 20.6, $6,000 for maintenance, and then $16,027 is advertising some of the replacement of that boiler. I believe that was a full replacement.

1, 1, 2, 5, 4, 0. We are doing a budget amendment for 26 for the 65, or whatever the final, um, was on the replacement. I think this is Cordova, Kevin.

Be reflected in 26 on the budget for 17. The 16, yes. I'm guessing it's not maintenance anyway. I was just curious if the $16,000 has something to do with installation cost or—. Yeah, we're, uh, we're holding that there is a potential need, so we'll be coming to you next week with a, uh, contract that will be requesting that you approve, uh, because we are going to be, um, replacing one of the boilers in the Public Safety Building.

And as part of that work, uh, our contractor is going to also be doing an inspection and servicing of the, um, heat exchangers and air handlers that service the police station as well as the jail. Uh, we've had some historic issues of, um, inadequate heating in those sections of the building And so he believes that it likely just needs either a deep cleaning or what he calls a recommissioning, where it's basically kind of a rebuild but not a replacement. And we don't have an exact number for that until he comes in December to do that inspection. And so we just put in a placeholder of $10K because we don't expect it to exceed that, um, even if I— unless he does determine that a replacement is needed, and then we'll have to address that at that point. But At this point, he doesn't believe that's been necessary.

Thanks. Yeah, I had a question.

Yes, how's my brain? For Sam, the—. So on page 14, the snow removal zero, but there's overtime in there. Is that—. Are we just not budgeting for snow removal and we'll pay streets overtime if we get snow?

How is that working? Well, streets work their regular job during their hours and remove snow, and then if they get overtime, they charge it to the snow budget. Okay, that's how it's— that's how we've always done it. And then, okay, yeah, you know, in like big, really big years, we've had temp operators come in And we know those guys work in 12, 14 hours for multiple days in a row. They get no break.

And that's where all the equipment for the snow, you know, the chains, my favorite, the chicken lips, and those things come from. Okay. And so that's what kind of track that in one place. And on property. You see things that are zeros all along.

It's just because there was a time when we used to budget things differently. So I guess you just like to show them. That that was that way. That's—. Yeah, some things go away completely if we know it's not happening again.

There must have been a time when we just budgeted some salary and wages in snow removal. I don't recall, but must have been, or that's what that item is. At some point there was probably some emergency money associated with it given to a certain year, and could justify doing them. It'd be on about over a decade. It's a different way of budgeting.

There, there is definitely different. At the top of every one, the SNW is salary and wages. It's just our new system. I had to shorten that to SNW so that we could add the descriptive part after. I thought I was getting the room clear, but that's— So just to clarify, the $20,000 or the $25,000 in overtime for snow removal, is that what would be charged?

Um, the normal operators would be under, um, streets or streets maintenance included, and then the, the overtime though then comes like they still have to do their normal job. Anything that they do for snow is going to be the overtime, so it would, it would land there. Um, they plow snow during their normal hours. Yeah. And anything past their normal hours goes here in the overtime.

Yeah. And then they have overtime in their normal budget for summer work and that kind of work. So it's just, it's, it's always been separated out to help budget because it's hard to budget snow. I mean, huh? Yeah, as Bill Howard would say, well, we'll know when it happens.

So then, um, when you reconcile this, it'll— that those costs will then show up in—. No, no, they'll never show up there. Okay. Yeah, thank you.

Hope you both are taking this as a testament to how good a job you're doing. Silence is all that matters. It's not insultive, you know, you're really digging and informing. And, uh, again, as council members, this is a good time because we're actually not inundated with questions. If you were not questioned for your own knowledge, we please ask.

And that's—.

Is that where they're, they're going to maintain some— yes, for schedule.

Yeah, so last year we didn't have anything there. Well, we had some, but the, um, National Guard helped us out. Yeah, they were pretty. But yes, M's on it. Awesome.

We can talk to them about, you know, we have to do things basically before, usually spring, beginning of spring. Yes. Yeah. Do we know if We have National Guard come in again the next year. You guys heard anything from any of those?

I didn't know. Ken is saying no. No. Okay, there we go.

This would have been what, their third, third year, third summer, I think.

Well, they're switching over and turning— it's coming in to take over for GMC now that they're going to be done with the road and working out at Shepherd Point. And so maybe Turnagain's got a deal.

To cap on some of what you guys were talking at the beginning, you can expect that for the next special meeting to have some more updates, um, what we anticipate, or at the next regularly scheduled special, at the special, so next week or some additional expenses. Yeah.

So right, if you look at the schedule, we're having a special meeting next week on the 12th, Thursday. Thursday. So I think it was Thursday, thanks. And a work session after. I was thinking the special at 6 and then the budget work session after, and I'm just going to call it immediately following the special.

It might only be a 15-minute special meeting. Is only our one item on it. Is that right? Yes. Okay.

And that work session is a second look at general fund with your little bit of changes? Yes. And fee schedule. Oh, and fee schedule. Yes.

We'll present the entire fee schedule. And then special is for the 1-26 budget amendment. It's for the sole source for the boiler. Okay, the $18,000 will be that, will be for the budget, the regular. All right, Council Member Mickelson, anything online as we get into wrapping this up?

Nothing for me.

Thank you. Thanks for being online.

That's true.

I guess the one thing I do want to point out, since nobody's been asking, is we did up CCNC to $150 with us pulling out of insurance. It puts them in a different category.

And they're just unsure right now. They also did not have a good season again when people aren't here— hospital doesn't get used this much. So I just wanted to know that on base planning. Yeah, I'm sorry. It's all of my noise.

Of course!

No, I guess I anticipated this request, so here comes the clerk. So, and that was also just went out, especially council. They, they definitely played nice with us last year.

Yeah, very, very gracious party. So you said 1:15? Okay, it was 1:30 from last year. Yep.

And just go back to the library, um, it's on page 10. Um, how many employees does this reflect? That little number right there. Is, is it the two that we—. Well, let me 2.25.

Sorry. And that's made up for in the museum too. That's kind of how you balance the port—. Because the department actually split between the library and the museum. So half of Cathy Sherman is there and half of Kristin Smith.

And then there's 2 more employees in the art room. So what's the museum— what's supposed to be That as the root is— so it's 3. Yeah, let me— it is 3 as a whole.

So is it actually included in that 3? Ah, okay, it's included in that 3. Everyone, you can cut her down. Close down or left, right? I just pop my phones out.

That's just it. Close. On the next version, I will make sure I have the decimal points formatted correctly. I appreciate you getting it added on there. Yeah.

Thank you.

Better.

And while you're reviewing them, one handy thing that might help is, um, on the webpage we do have our organizational chart that actually lists who's in what position underneath those. Um, I don't know if that would be helpful while you're reviewing.

Check this. That's a bit out of—. Have our book hearing right on that soon, so it would get lost. Still, I know We need to talk the clocks and the budget. Those aren't really— they're different.

I wouldn't say they're—. Those are big point to me.

Are we good to adjourn? Yes. All right, we're going to adjourn the session. Thank you, Carol.

We're going to transition. We need at least by these clocks— we have a minute.

We need a minute. Let's take it now because I promise in the future we can start it and then start that, I guess, starting reset. Yeah, it is 45. Yes, it is. Word if you want.

Well, hang on, if the bandaid is, uh, no, if he doesn't know how to use the paper clip. Oh, that's me, that's me. I found them, they're probably 30 years old, but here I am. It's a machine. Oh, seriously?

What do you think?

Aaron got the one with the little bumpy bump. All right, disable them for you. We have our technical difficulties figured out.

Yeah. All right, and I'm going to call to order City Council public hearing, November 4th, 2026. We get a roll call. Mayor Smith. Absent.

Debra Adams, here. Lee Collins, here. Aaron Hansen, here. Kasey Kinsman, here. Mike Mickelson, here.

Wendy Ranney, here. David Zastrow, here. That is 100% council. All right, so we're here for public hearing. This is Ordinance 1243, an ordinance of the city of Cordova, Alaska, authorizing the city manager to enter into a lease with option to purchase agreement with David Evans for portion of Lots 11 through 14, Block 32, original town site.

Open this up to the public if anyone would like to comment on Ordinance 1243.

No one jumping up. Break to recess for a moment. Okay, recess.

While we recess.

Yes, absolutely.

Where you at? Yes. Come out of our recess from the public hearing for Ordinance 1243. Uh, is there anyone in the public who'd like to comment on this ordinance?

Ordinance of the Council of the City of Cordova, Alaska, authorizing the city manager, Kristin Smith, to enter into a lease with option to purchase agreement With David Evans for a portion of Lots 1, 11 through 14, Block 32, original council hearing. And during the public hearing, yeah, we're going to roll right into the regular scheduled, uh, regular city council meeting on November 4th, going to be 6. We've got— it's called order. Let's join in the Pledge of Allegiance.

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.

Get a roll call. One more roll call. Kristin Smith is absent. Debra Adams? Here.

Lee Collins? Here. Aaron Hansen? Here. Kasey Kinsman?

Here. Mike Mickelson? Here. Wendy Ranney? Here.

David Zastrow? Here. Everyone is still here.

Still a voice vote for— if we need to. Any, any recommendations for the regular agenda? There's no— anything good with that as it stands. Go to approval of the agenda.

Any disclosures of conflicts or conflicts of interest or ex parte communications?

Looks like we do have some communications by petitions from visitors. We got guest speaker City of Cordova Committee 25 Financial Audit, James Newhouse. Be online? Yes. Welcome back.

Thank you.

Um, who's ever in charge of the Zoom, can I, uh, I'm going to send a request to share.

Is it as easy as that?

Yep, it is. I just— I wasn't quite ready for you though, as quick as you were.

Well, I was just happy to do it the right way.

Uh, get there now.

Hopefully you all are seeing the PowerPoint.

Yes. Okay, so this is, you know, of course, the 1231.25 audit. Um, our, our, the auditor's responsibilities are essentially to audit you on a test basis and to make sure that you're essentially, your financials are materially accurate. And we go through a bunch of different steps to make sure that the internal controls are functioning as intended. Account balances are— we test that are materially accurate.

And also we perform tests of transactions and tests of controls to make sure everything's running as intended. We also issue the audit report, a board letter, and management letter if warranted. And also opine on whether you have a single audit and what those outcomes are, and also a, uh, we call it a Yellow Book report or a GAGAS report, um, Governmental Accounting Standards on, uh, basically spending federal money.

Uh, management's and the board's responsibility, or the council's responsibility, is establishing, um, sound accounting practices and making sure that, uh, You, you set the tone for the organization.

So the audit results this year, so there was not a federal or a state single audit.

But we did issue an unmodified opinion on the financial statements, and we also did issue a report on internal control over financial reporting. And on compliance and other matters based on the audit of financial statements performed in accordance with government auditing standards. That was also a modified opinion, and that's the— essentially the last report in the balanced financials.

We did not identify any material weaknesses or any significant deficiencies in internal control.

And I'll jump back to the financials because I want to touch base on the change in net assets and change in fund balance and change in retained earnings. But I just want to go through the reports that we issued real quick. We also issued the letter to governing body.

There's a few areas that are estimates. Depreciation, landfill closure costs, and allowance for doubtful accounts. These are all estimates based upon the organization's perception on useful life, you know, what the, what the potential allowance for doubtful accounts should be based on past experience, and the prospective landfill closure costs. These are all estimates. Doesn't mean they're wrong, doesn't mean they're right.

They're just estimates.

We did not identify or obtain information that indicates fraudulent activity. We did— there were a couple journal entries that came about or were identified in the audit process. One was to adjust advances from other funds and the other was adjust to sales tax accounts. And again, these were not— I wouldn't say these were hugely large changes.

And I spoke with Sam and Cheryl today earlier about this. And for us, it's to make sure that the accounts are accurate. And I wouldn't say they were materially inaccurate. I would say that they just needed to be shored up. And we proposed these adjustments, and Cheryl and Sam agreed with them and made these adjustments along with Gavin's help.

The, uh, stop this. Now, I did— I was sent a copy of your packet, and in on page 17 of your packet, which is Exhibit A2 of the financial statements, And I can share the screen too as well. That's easier.

So you want A2? Yeah, I'll share my screen too if that's all right.

So this is full accrual financial for a statement of activities. And essentially, what is it? Is it Sharon? No, no, it's your turn.

Okay, try that again.

How about now? Do you see a change in net assets where it's highlighted in blue?

No. Okay, I guess I'm having difficulties. Maybe it's not liking that I'm trying to share basically your website. And I, I can just go through it. On page 17 of your, of your booklet, or page, uh, 5 of the financial statements, Exhibit A2.

I just want to call your attention down third line from the bottom, change in net position.

And from your governmental activities, you had a net income of $1.221 million.

And in your business type activity, you had a loss of $1.2 million, which gives you a net income of the total primary government of $21,181.

And now this is These numbers have been adjusted to the full accrual basis of accounting, not the governmental basis accounting, which I'm sure when Sam and Sheryl produce financials for you, they produce fund financials.

Again, back in 2004, they had us convert governmental or add these to governmental financials. And basically, it's just allowing everybody to— theoretically be comparative whether you're a for-profit or government.

Page 8 of the financials, which is Exhibit B-3.

Down third line from the bottom, net change in fund balance.

The far right column is a positive net income of $476,562.

And the biggest benefit to this for your majors and non-major funds was the investment income out of the permanent fund. Of $894,000.

Then if you'd want to flip over to page 12, Exhibit C2, third line from the bottom, change in net position, uh, essentially the only The only enterprise fund that had a net income was the refuse, and that was a net income of $5,332.

And of all those, uh, 5 columns, there's a net loss of the $1.2 million in your proprietary funds for your enterprise funds.

Are there any questions over any of the net incomes or the change in fund balances or net assets that I've talked about?

Nice hearing you here.

Any other questions for Mr. Newhouse?

Well, as always, thank you.

Lastly, if I could just express my appreciation for Sam and Sheryl and their staff and for getting this audit and being as forthright and as helpful as they can. And boy, I appreciate the heck out of it just because I would never want to undergo an audit because it's such a huge pain for them. And especially somebody looking over their shoulder, you know, making sure that, that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. And, um, you know, they do a heck of a job.

And I'm correct in that we were able to wrap up even a little bit earlier than anticipated this year. Is that correct, Jim? Yes, sir.

When we got that news, That is just again another testament to the work Sam and Cheryl have done. So thank you both for that. And, uh, thank you, Jim, for your, your time and explaining some of those and pointing out those items. You're very welcome. And, uh, if there's something else that, that the council has a question on, uh, please feel free, free to either email me or give me a call later on.

And, you know, if, if something pops in your mind, you you know, after the meeting or on your way home, you're like, oh shoot, I should ask this. Yeah, just shoot me an email or give me a call tomorrow. Okay, well, I appreciate that. Thank you. You're very welcome.

Have a good evening. Thank you. Thanks, Jim. Bye-bye.

All right, if nothing else regarding that, we'll go on to audience comments regarding agenda items. I'll have this 3 minutes per speaker.

Dave Glace, 609 Deer Street. That's so— in correspondence, uh, under 10A, there's a reference to the funding for the pool, so I'm going to comment on that. Yeah. Um, so some history of why you need a pool. So in the early 1900s, a lot of people were drowning, or the adults, kids didn't matter.

They were— they didn't know how to swim. Boats would roll over, put you on a whole boat with that. So, yeah, I don't know, like 1950, Red Cross started teaching people how to swim. So it was about 11 or 12 people per 100,000 would drown every year. We've whittled that down to 1.3 per 100,000.

So that's about a 90% decrease. So it's a, it's a valuable skill to have to swim. And it's really nice that Cordova has a pool. A little history about me. I was an ice storm swimmer in Happytown.

Long game time there. So, uh, but I enjoyed it. Um, something that we always had was our coaches were trained lifeguards, and so they would be at the pool in the morning, and so, uh, pool staff wouldn't have to be there, and that saves the city some money. And so I don't know why that changed. Even when I was coaching, that was the way it was.

I had to be a lifeguard Coach Laura Cash had to be a lifeguard so that we could be the lifeguards from 6:30 to 8:00 while we were in practice. And so that seems to have changed, and now it's, um, full staff there early in the morning. That would be a way to save a little bit of money, um, would be to switch back to the way it's been for the last over 40 years, um, and it was successful.

So I coached for about 10 years. Yeah, I didn't know what I was getting into, but the kids, you know, they get excited about the smallest things, learning how to flutter kick, learning how to, you know, do a flip turn. And they're all happy. This is at 6:30 in the morning. Yeah.

And so it's infectious. The parents are happy. I was happy. It makes your day better. And I think that focus should be on that.

We have a facility that helps that occur. You know, we have a swimming pool, makes all that stuff possible for these kids. And the focus should be more on how we can help them maintain their swimming, um, instead of trying to wring a little more money out of them. I'm not a fan of that. I was, you know, it's always been to get a Midariki pass.

And then they also have a fee they pay to USA Swimming, uh, which is between about $40 and $90 depending on how old you are. The older kids pay a little more. Um, so they have that, those, that fee to pay and to try to have to pay $10,000 or so is what I think it's going to be a year for them to be in the pool. That is— there's no way they can do that. And the swim pool is going to cost you $500,000 a year right now, whether there's kids in there or not.

You got to keep that water warm. I saw your budget, $160 grand for fuel. Whoa. Um, you know, chemicals, 50, 60 grand for chemicals. So I know that you got a tough decision to make, but I would focus on what you can do for the kids more than the other way around.

So that's going to be— I appreciate that. Thanks, thanks, Mr.

Yes, if you have a comment, come on up to the mic.

Audience participation. Yes, Marianne Bishop, chair of the Cordova Library Board. I'm commenting on, um, under correspondence, the letter from Kate Williams, who's a member of the library board. I just wanted to elaborate some on her letter. She mentions that we have a modest increase that we're asking for.

The library board has spent a lot of time going through the budget. We went through this in great detail. And right now we're in a bare bones budget for personnel. We just have 2 employees there and then some of Ashley's salary is paid from it too. But the 2 increases that I want to bring to your attention tonight that we're asking for is an increase originally what is showing in the budget right now is $9,000 for books and periodicals.

And we're asking instead now for $13,222. This would be to replace aging and damaged materials, to strengthen early literacy.

Folks write down on the list books that they're interested in, so it would allow us to buy some of the popular books that people want. So we're asking for that increase. The other thing that we're asking for is an increase in staff travel and training and professional development. Last year there was $157 budgeted for travel. That's—.

You really can't do much, can you? Buy a ticket to Anchorage with that. So this year we're asking for $2,800. And then for professional development, last year we had $250. We're asking that to increase to 750.

And this is really necessary for the staff to stay current with library practices, to be able to build professional connections, strengthen the library programming, and improve our collection management. So I would ask that you please approve our budget requests, and including those increases for for the books and periodicals and for staff travel and training and professional development. Thank you.

Audience comments regarding agenda items at this point.

Would like to comment on an agenda item?

For comments and participation, let's see, let's see that we have any chairpersons and representatives. Oh, perfect. Didn't see any on the paper. I see you there though. Thanks.

Thank you for, um, letting me speak just a little bit to share a few updates. Um, probably the biggest news, if you haven't heard, uh, we will be hosting the regional volleyball tournament. That is November 19th through the 21st. Um, that came about because of great advocacy for the fairies. Um, as we all know, there's just a lot of work on Seth, Seth Bayless, our activity director side, but, uh, the fairy has been around month of this.

It's going to come here first, grab a bunch of music kids as well as anyone from the community, haul them to Whittier, load up all the volleyball players, get them here, and then reverse it all when it's all over. So pretty excited to have that happening. Um, and on the side note, there are some families from those schools that are coming that are looking for places to stay. So if you know people that have accommodations, they should get it posted on Facebook and they might get some business out of this. Um, beyond that, we do have two state-bound swimmers, um, just competed in regions last weekend and did really well, so we're excited about that as well.

Let's see, um, we're in the second quarter. If you don't know, both schools are really focused on trying to keep our attendance levels really high, so we know that when kids miss, it really does interfere with their ability to succeed So, but they're also stressing to don't send kids to school sick. So there's a balance there, right? Like, we don't need 100% attendance and everybody's sick all the time. So, and they're making some good gains, 1 or 2% seems like each month that we're reporting out.

So appreciate the community really trying to get those kids to school as well as participation in parent-teacher conferences about a week and a half ago, I guess. So many parents were there. I think in the elementary was pushing close to 100% and middle school, high school. Great turnout. I've been in other places and it's pretty quiet on those days and not the case here.

So, feels good to be a part of that. Academic achievement, we don't talk about that too much, or I haven't with you guys, but I love that. You'll get to know that, but I do want to emphasize in the elementary, the goal that they have for reading. Since if you pay attention to the reading, the READS Act that was out about 4 years ago, that really put a lot of emphasis on reading achievement. Currently in our elementary, we're down to almost zero students that are on what's considered a independent reading plan.

In other words, almost all of our students are near or at grade level for reading, which is the ultimate goal, right? So all the work they do in tutoring and interventions as well as just general classroom instruction is, is paying off. That achievement level's going up. Um, and then beyond academics too, I hear so often about when our kids are out traveling or when there's other activities taking place in the school, of just how well they behave themselves, how they demonstrate the characteristics I'm coming to understand we expect out of the students. So it's not just academic achievement, but it's really developing them as great human beings.

I'm almost done here. October enrollment, I do want to mention that. So the last time I presented, I said our enrollment was 358. We just finished our October count and we ended at 364. It's That's the preliminary number I've gotten.

We budgeted for $372,000, so we're still a little under, but that's a heck of a lot better. Every kid was, as I mentioned, about $20,000 in revenue. So we're, we're, we're excited to see those numbers. Um, I'll be working with our business manager to do a budget revision. I'll be willing to share our findings after that analysis and adjustments to let you know where we're sitting financially as you're working on your budgets.

Too, um, just to help you get as much information as possible. And then as a side note, just more of the personal side, I was able to go to the Strangalot play. In a community this size, put on a performance like that and see so many people out having fun, it felt really good. Um, I do regret to say that I'm traveling this weekend and won't be able to participate in all the events with sorority that are happening as well, but, uh, feels really good to be a part of this. Thank you.

Any questions?

Thank you for the updates and welcome. Thank you. Thank you.

See any other chairpersons, boards?

We have the consent calendar before us. I will take the roll on that. Be great. Um, on the consent calendar: Lee Collins? Yes.

Kasey Kinsman? Yes. Debra Adams? Yes. David Zastrow?

Yes. Mike Mickelson? Yes. Aaron Hansen? Yes.

Wendy Ranney? Yes. The consent count.

So this one, understandably, consideration minutes, there's none. So let's go on, reports from officers. For me, we'll know that, uh, Kristin Smith will be out, and so hopefully she's made some arrangements with, uh, John Smotheraney as well. So something she has for St. Julian. I'll be attending the sobriety celebration this weekend and presenting the proclamation for the city for that.

So I think what I have on my document— we're just plugging away budget items. And I again will say, and I know because before Kristin left we had a conversation, and she's also— we're both just very impressed with where we're at in comparison to years past. And It's not that we're in any better financial situation, maybe we're getting there, but we're one, we're talking about it, we're talking about it more frequently throughout the year. So that helps. And, uh, and I really feel like there's a lot of thought and intention going into this and it probably helps Sam, you've had several under your belt now, a different curveball, not sure, but there's some things you know to look out for.

So it is appreciated, and it makes our meetings a little smoother. I think having a good planner is— absolutely, we would be nowhere without Cheryl. I can't take any credit for finding this. She's teaching me. Go on, you're gonna hear it.

It's recorded. Good. It is recorded. Yeah, thanks, Sam and Cheryl. What is presented is, and again, very, very clear.

It's very well organized, put together, able to speak to items. Um, and really, I think the other piece that's important is identify risk. This is what we have coming up in this instance. I feel like even this year there, there were some things, but there, there have been much more in years past. So very grateful for that.

And Yes, I will echo that. Grateful for having a finance director share our positions.

Um, with that, we'll go on to city manager's report. And thank you, Britton. I wonder why. Good numbers. They fall out of my ears at this point.

But, um, I did want to go back on to making a point that was mentioned at the last work session meeting, whichever one it was, um, for looking at it down in the Public Safety Building. I did reach out to Russ. I, um, got some information on it, and right now we just don't have a time frame to do, to do that. And to retrofit is a little more complicated. Uh, the Caliber mechanic, uh Feels like it's great for a new building or a time when you have some time to really figure out how to make it all work.

So we will have two boilers there still. We'll get the new one and then the old one that's dying will be our backup in case of emergencies.

But we will keep the heat pump on the list. I'd like to reach out and have a little bit more conversation with I don't remember the person saying from the heat pump, but to just kind of understand like what they're looking for exactly, what kind of buildings, because they do have some criteria for what they're willing to test drive with you.

And then it's great to have Kim here. We've been meeting fairly regularly, regularly, I guess, for about 2 and a half months now. Her board has directed her to look into the DEED CIP grant, which is basically the state's grant for capital projects. So the high school— it's very complicated. There's a lot to it, and we've been trying to kind of get our head wrapped around it and how it all works.

So we are working or The school has hired CIRC, and the first thing, the number one thing you need to do to get moving forward is an in-depth condition assessment. And from that condition assessment, you learn whether you should tear it down or remodel it. And that's a big, a big thing. Tear it down adds a whole new thing. Remodeling, you still gotta figure out how to deal with kids and all that stuff.

We're working on getting that RFP out with SERC's help, who does a lot of these kinds of things, to get an idea of what that's going to look like. And also with SERC, we can talk about what we want to focus on. We very want to very much know what the foundation and the structure and the roof is like, we don't want to— we want to go as deep as we can, I guess. Yeah. Um, we also have a sewer line that runs underneath that that has issues that really should be addressed if possible.

So, so we're working on that. Um, I've learned a lot about the school budget and how the school works. You know, I, I don't— I never had kids in school, so I have to pay attention. Um, I do think school is very important. Um, so it's been really good, and I think, um, it's great to have her here talking with us.

And so I'm going to go talk to their board, uh, after our budget and just let them know how our budget landed. And Sheryl and him and Annie and I are going to get together and talk about how the budgeting works with the city in the mixed years and those kinds of things. To get that kind of— so we're all on the same page. I understand you. Because the resolution, I entered the resolution, she's like, okay, let's talk about this.

So we'll be doing that too soon.

That's kind of been pretty much it besides questions. Besides questions. Great. Any questions?

Questions around the table or online? So they'll go in all the— they went through that break, like high school. I only— I was only looking at the public safety. Public safety, yeah. I was just seeing if that was something that could happen quickly and would work.

And it's okay. Yeah, it takes a long time to get boilered up, the whole concept of, yeah, figuring it all out. So But yeah, we'll keep it on the list.

Susan, what do you have for us? I just have put this same, uh, advertisement in for the clerk's report about the boards and commission seats that are coming available. And then Dave was going to Albus for a minute today, and I forgot all about— in March of this year, we had changed Trails Committee to be seats with terms. So Colette is going to fix this on Dr. Liberi and Facebook for the next round of ads. But there are also 2 seats coming available on Trails Committee, so I want the public to hear that in case there's any interest in that.

Same kind of thing, just fill out an application and submit it if you're interested in being on the Trails Committee. Can I add on to that? Yes. We have a Trails regular committee meeting, Friday night, 5:15. Somebody's interested, show up.

Yeah, so anybody from the public is always welcome at a Trails Committee meeting anyway, but if you're interested in being on it, that would be a great opportunity to see what they do. Yeah. All right, thanks. That's all I have to report. I think there's any questions?

Now on to— we have the reports here from Public Works Department and from the Harbor. Any questions for any departments?

Thanks for the reports there. Good information for anyone to see. Anyone who's interested can see what, uh, not only here, but we get quarterly reports also from other departments, so has access and availability to see what great things we're doing as a city and the impact we're having there.

All right, so going on to correspondence.

Council Member Adams, did you have a question on one? I just maybe want to come to an explanation from CDC. Um, their graphic was over my head, and they want to speak to E911 if you had a question, not necessarily to their comment, but E911, give us some that is, but I'd be pretty— perfect. Perfect, guys. Yeah, all three of them.

Sure, we'll go back soon.

You probably rather talk about baseball, honestly. Yeah, he's here for your support. Just get it back.

All right, so we have E911. We have— not saying that obviously we provided any of these charts, but just tell us why we have you. What's changed with E911? I know we reintroduced it. What are we gaining from it?

Well, we approve the resolution. City Council approved the resolution to do the surcharge and also to enter the sole source contract with Central Square. Um, and I've read over Jeremiah's letter, um, and I understand some of his concerns, and, uh, some of them are accurate. Um, there is a part about the billing, uh, not being able to bill outside carriers. Um, and that is not what I've heard from the carriers.

I was told by AT&T that there are 899 billable lines, and, uh, we in fact looked at the billings, uh, from a couple of people in the department that have those phone numbers. And it— in the state statute, it goes by billing address and, uh, the, uh, primary use location. So if that primary use location is changed to Cordova when we institute the surcharge and start collecting it, it will come to us. So that's, that's how that works.

What's new?

I have signed up for a system called Rapid SOS Unite, and that is a free product.

And basically I've uploaded our jurisdiction for 911 with the program, and we're waiting for Google Maps with the free Unite program. It takes a little while. They only use Google Maps. When we get Central Square implemented and installed, Rapid SOS is a part of that, and they integrate, and then we can import our own map like OpenStreetMap or Google Maps or whatever we want in there. There won't be a waiting period for it to go.

So Whether or not it takes 4 to 6 months or a year for the local exchanges to onboard with TRADO, which is one of those boxes on the flowchart there, which is basically a clearinghouse for 911 call information, we will still get the caller location information and number identification from that Rapid SOS. Over-the-top program, um, and it will populate into that call handling solution from Central Square. So that's basically where we're at, um, and AT&T told me there is absolutely zero cost to the city of Cordova, um, and from what I've read, it is up to the agency to install and purchase the software, um, and do the things that we need to do at our public safety answering point, i.e. The police department communication center. And then the upgrades to the local carriers and exchanges are up to the local carriers and exchanges to bear the brunt of those costs.

And that comes from the FCC regulations and also from Intrado, who is that clearinghouse warehouse that a lot of, a lot of people use. So is it my understanding then that they will pass those costs on to the customer? That is—. I can't speak to that. That's the, the carrier's kind of the natural consequence.

Well, it's also a rule that once we request that information, that they're, uh, need to be compliant and be ready to provide that information for us to receive.

So I'm not sure how, how they they're going to go about— how they're going to go about doing that. I mean, that's, that's a possibility. There also might be grants available to get that work done. So that's something that I, I feel like the carriers might be a little bit better to do. And AT&T and GCI never mentioned that— AT&T specifically told me today that there is no cost to the city of Cordova for their services.

To do that onboarding with Intrado and to do the trucking, which is the way the calls are, are routed. So, um, I'm not sure what the Orlando Chief's policy is on that or how they plan on handling that. And this is a beginning stage, and I think it's important to realize that, uh, when we do get the Central Square, uh, things put in, we will still be getting valuable information that we are not getting now out that will be an extreme benefit to the community. And this is the beginning. We need to do that in order to continue to plan and to help them implement the things.

So it doesn't all have to happen tomorrow. And I don't think we should be afraid of the cost because it's only going to get more expensive if we continue to do it. I mean, this has been a long time coming. So I'm interested in working with the local exchanges and figuring out And working with AT&T and the people outside, too, to spread that burden. Like Jeremiah said, it will be local shoppers who bear the brunt.

But AT&T has 899 billable lines. And so we are able to collect that surcharge. It just depends on the billing address and the primary use location being correct. So, yes.

I kind of just have a, a broad comment. Um, so we understand the CEO, that has a cooperative to take into account here. Um, you know, he's, he's providing information here, and he's got, you know, a, uh, um, a lot of community, community members that he's taking into account here and how this you know, will affect them, whether it be adversely or not. You know, we talked about the Lifeline people, the youth, things like that, and how, you know, base cost with a $2 surcharge and how that would affect them. That's represented here on page 117.

But Because the police department and the city of Cordova haven't been at this point yet, there still are some unknowns. Um, Supervisor Wildrick and myself, um, we're, we're making the most educated decisions that we can based on the information at hand. And when we reach out to these these carriers on our periphery up here at Cordova, whether it be GCI or AT&T. And they're telling me, these are wireless carriers that do this work in much larger municipalities. And they're telling us that we have 899 lines right here in Cordova and that this is something we can do.

This is something that we do all the time. This is at no cost to the city of Cordova, this is something we're required to do, you're good. I mean, we have to put a lot of faith into that remark, right? These are the subject matter experts, these are the carriers that do this in other municipalities and have done so for a very long time. Um, I think what we need at this point is, because we've, we've gotten to this point We've got a contract.

We voted to reinstate the surcharge. Um, we just got to keep communicating. We just need to continue to speak with CEO Beckett. We need to understand, um, where he's coming from and his understanding. Um, because let's face it, I mean, he knows— he knows his industry inside and out, but there's clearly a— there's a disconnect somewhere along the road here.

So we have our wireless carriers outside of Cordova telling us one thing, um, Mr. Beckett is telling us one thing, and we need to— yeah, we essentially need to compile understandings, information, and come to a common understanding. But like Supervisor Wilkerson said, Um, in order to move forward, we have to have these base items in place, such as the software, the hardware, so that we can move forward, so that we can begin to accept this data from these carriers. And that's kind of where we sit now. Um, Supervisor Wilkirk has been sending out letters to all the carriers, um, that that provide service here, whether they're brick and mortar or not. We're getting replies.

He's compiling information as that comes in. And, you know, every day we learn a little bit more about the process. So I'm going to turn this back over to you. So to speak to that, I got a form from GCI today, and it's a technical readiness for wireless phase 2 form. That the vendor fills out to make sure that all the technical aspects of what we're trying to do are recorded here.

Um, I forwarded that to the vendor. They're going to get that signed and filled out as soon as possible. And then, uh, just to touch base with the conversation I had with AT&T, they got our letters, and that is the request that we needed to make. Uh, they are working on our deployment now. Their timeline is between 4 to 6 months to get everything set up on their end to install the, the CAMA trunks, which are the copper, copper lines, and also their, which is IP, so over the internet basically as well, and there will be redundancy between those two systems.

They also use Intrado for that clearinghouse as another way to get that information. And that they said that there's nothing further that Cordova needs to do and that they will update me monthly on the progress towards our deployment. So that's the word from AT&T, and I will continue to work with Copper Valley. I did send out an email to them today with a couple of questions, and I haven't heard back from Copper Valley yet, but we have AT&T and GCI communicating well, and I'm sure Copper Valley will too. They told me they would have the technical representative with us— well, get— got to us within 10 days.

So I should hear something soon from them, and I look forward to working with Steel Magnet as well.

Thank you for outlining this whole process for us. Did that answer some of your questions? Some. Some. Okay, well, thanks.

Do you have further questions at this point? No, I don't even know what to ask.

Well, Rapid SOS is a program that will enable us to get that wireless information from all phones across all carriers, and it will populate in and integrate with the Central Square program. And like I said, that's a free program. I'm currently waiting for Google Maps to approve our jurisdiction on their end because there's security things that they need to verify. But as soon as that happens, Even now, we should get the very basic level of any amount of information, which is the number identification, location information from callers. So we're making progress on getting more information.

Yeah, so to answer maybe your lack of questions, not sure the right ones to ask. Um, keep in mind, we are not the subject matter experts. However, uh, what we've stated to you here tonight, um, is informed by subject matter experts. So again, we've never been to this point before. We finally have a system that we're going to— that we're close to procuring, which is a further step than the police department's ever taken before.

Reinstatement of the surcharge, and we are just taking information as it comes, and we'll continue to, uh, give, uh, Manager Greenwood updates as to the progress, and we're just going to continue moving forward. All right, I appreciate the work. Thank you. Any other questions? No, members, I think as we move forward with this, might be Good.

On at least quarterly basis, or as we hit milestones, that minimum probably quarterly basis, whatever. It could replace the monthly.

Yeah, there's happy to do. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Again, not just for— but just public at large information.

But no, no, thanks. Yeah, appreciate you both coming.

So with correspondence, any other comments on correspondence?

Moves us into ordinances and resolutions. Our Ordinance 1243, just to call out in the packet, it does say first reading. It should be the second reading, and I did confirm that, so that'll be noted and corrected. Uh, but this is an ordinance of the council of the City of Cordova, Alaska, authorizing the city manager to enter into a lease A lease with option to purchase agreement with David Evans for a portion of Lots 11 through 14, Block 32, original town site. Again, second reading.

I say so moved. Right, hold back. Right there. I'll second.

Um, comments on this one as for the second reading? Um, yeah, we've looked at this quite a bit now for quite a few different meetings as well as planning. And, um, so yeah, I mean, look, it's providing housing for the community. Look at this, it's a good, good thing. I think we just need to move forward on it.

Debra Adams, same. And, um, just looking at the possibility of more housing in Cordova at some point is exciting, so definitely will definitely go on the evening, but the first is to be able to purchase the property.

Additional to add during second reading?

And online, Council Member Mickelson, anything to add? I haven't looked behind me in a minute, so yes, you're still there. No, nothing to add. Uh, I feel like we've gone over it, we've addressed the need for additional housing, um, we've got it on the record, so Yeah, I think we're— think we're ready for this.

The voice spoke. You want to wrap up? Okay, that's what I thought. Roll call on second read. I did put second read on the agenda.

You did. The agenda does. Yes, I—. And that's—. But anybody who knows knows that we had a public hearing, so how'd you say, you know?

Well, that's the beginning what made me catch. I'm like, why are we doing a public hearing? Pounds. I understand, but it was, it was me and I figured it out, so more than two could. Okay, so I'll take the roll on Ordinance 1243.

Wendy Ranney? Yes. Mike Mickelson? Yes. Aaron Hansen?

Yes. Kasey Kinsman? Yes. Lee Collins? Yes.

Debra Adams? Yes. David Zastrow? Yes.

Seeing no unfinished business, it moves us to new and miscellaneous business of pending agenda. We've outlined upcoming work, work sessions and special meeting and work session. That's what we have on the 12th. Um, then we have our very work— work session and regularly scheduled meeting on the 18th. So do we have— we have a work session?

Yes. Okay, we're getting calendar in about last one, hopefully, because then approval should be on December 2nd.

Seconds. So we start wrapping this budget season up. We want to see an pending agenda for the new year. You want to take off, we can do that.

Do we want to see— I mean, I know absent flows into the beginning of the next year and we look at the CIP again. That, that would be good. I mean, second December meeting, you want to look at it?

It's usually good pre, uh, you know, legislative session. What's that? I think that's what he said, the CIP list. Yeah, it's looking at the CIP. I just want it on our radar when we're look at whether it's at the end of this year, very beginning of next year.

I know we try to do it before Juneau is in session. Juneau is going to be a whole different animal this year, so yeah, that's going to fast forward in there. I would say even the first meeting in January would be appropriate. I could throw it in on December and then make— I thought your job is to listen and see. No, no, no, no, no, no, just the list.

Make sure it's good to go.

Um, anything else on this list? Look bad. So we'll be on those appointments and then December 2nd meeting, because then the new people will be in place in time for those boards to meet in December. So I have zero application. No, no, no, I think I might have one.

So keep talking to your constituents, please.

Not the person next to you.

She doesn't.

Well, with that, I'm going to go into audience participation, or listening, comment on anything that you would like to address. Does not have to be an agenda item. There should be enough to address coming up. There you go. And I got to apologize, I'm one of the assistants gone after— we are working on public speaking merit badge, and I got to sing down to 3 minutes exactly.

So we'll see. Um, it's never the same, you with the mayor. I know, I know, I know, but I did it in front of them. All right, okay. All right, good evening, uh, City Council.

My name is Sherman Powell. I live I live at 516 Third Street in town, and I'm here to talk about my concern about fee increases that impact Cordova Little League. I'm a year-round resident who pays sales tax, a homeowner who pays property tax, and a gill netter who pays fish tax. I want all these taxes to go toward keeping Cordova a wonderful place to raise a family. More to the point tonight, I'm a proud father of two Little League players.

I've also volunteered as a coach, dugout parent, an umpire, and an umpire for the Cordova Little League. I've chopped the foul line, run the scoreboard, worked the snack shack, picked up trash, and swept dugouts. Many community members have done much, much more than I have for Little League. Little League is arguably the most accessible sport for young children here. The fees are low, the practices and games are high.

The Little League season is a busy schedule that typically runs 6 days a week in May and June. Between batting practice, fielding practice, pitching practice, drills, scrimmages, and games, our kids and volunteers go hard to make Little League happen. I watched the YouTube recording of the budget work session from October 29th, and I believe the city council is headed toward a decision that will harm a beautiful thing in Cordova. The city's assertion that the maintenance and services provided for the Little League equals $6,644 is shocking to me. The fees were not broken down in the council's packet, so I went back to the budget workshop on April 9th this year.

At that meeting, the city estimated labor costs are over $4,122 for the season. The city estimated water and dumpster fees to be $1,234 for the season. These numbers have likely gone up with the increase, but the new number has not been broken down and presented to the council. The labor utility costs presented in April were very high, and now the overall cost increased by over 18%. The skill level of the task list is arguably low.

The labor list includes dog poop pickup, weed whacking, general cleanup, and bathroom cleaning. I don't have any ideas to raise revenue because I don't believe children's sports should be seen as a revenue source for the city. I would suggest the city council instead look into methods to reduce expenses. I would suggest use of parent volunteers use of give-back hour volunteers, use of Boys and Girls Scout volunteers, and finally, the use of temporary on-call labor in place of full-time staff. Volunteer hours could reduce the financial burden being placed directly on when organization needs to solely provide a healthy activity for our children.

The city council's idea to include a large number on the budget and then add a discount is concerning to me. I don't want our busy families to need to keep an eye on important— on an important discount every budget season. The city council needs to justify the large amount of labor costs and also the water fees for a public bathroom. I also fear that discount will be low-hanging fruit to go after the next time difficult financial decisions need to be made. I know we have money problems and hard decisions to make as a community.

I believe our best route forward is work together. The Parks and Rec Commission needs to be looped in so they can help inform council about community priorities. The Little League Board needs to be involved and genuinely heard. Thanks for your time and service on the Cordova City Council. You're all doing us a great service.

I know that you all have your hearts in the right place, and I know you have tough decisions to make. 256. Thank you. Other audience participation?

Thank you.

With that, we will go around for council comments. Uh, I'll start on the line with Council Member Mickelson. Start us up.

Are you still on? Say ahh.

All right, well, thanks for sticking with us. Um, let's go around. We'll start with Council Member Hansen. We'll just go around.

I'd like to thank staff for all the, all the work that you guys put in. Um, I mean, we've said it over and over again, the presentation, the information, it's It's great, it's very much appreciated. Um, I'd also like to thank the community, uh, showed up and made comment and the correspondence.

And yeah, there's tough decisions, it's just what it is. Um, and I feel that, uh, we're doing the best I can to, uh, come to a decision at the table. And I appreciate all the people sitting here at the table with me and, uh, working out problems, uh, right, wrong, or Yeah, uh, Sheryl's not here anymore, but I want to express my appreciation for all the hard work that she does with you, Sam, as well. Um, congratulations on the audit. Um, I'm just in the process of doing a state testing audit, and it doesn't even compare.

It pales next to what you have to do, and it's tedious. So I, I have some sense of how much work it is. Um, I would like to also thank, um, Chief Hayden and, um, Supervisor— I'm leaving the name right here— um, for your explanation. And I, I think I will be pursuing more questions because I, I really do want to understand how this process works. And then lastly, to speak to Kate Williams's letter about— and Mary Ann Bishop's comments on the library.

I am on the library board as well, and the library is an integral part of this community. And whatever nominal increase we can offer to the library in their budget, I would strongly or just to consider that they're not asking for a lot and they, they do a lot with practically nothing. And when you walk in this building after school, it's filled with children and they, they put a lot of pressure on the library staff while they're here. And that's good that they're here, but it's a lot of work. So I really would want to speak in support of increasing that budget however much we can, even if it's just a small amount.

So thank you.

Councilman Collins.

Yeah, I echo everything council members just spoke to. Yes, thank staff. There are reports and, um, you know, very thorough, uh budget that we're looking at. And yeah, not going to be easy decisions ahead, but, uh, appreciate all the information meetings as well as, yeah, um, the envelope is extremely helpful. So I appreciate that.

So, thank you, Council Member Zastrow. Thank you. Yes, I have to say I go everything my fellow council members have said. And I also appreciate the work that is being done on the 911 process. And as was stated, it's going to be new, there's going to be hiccups.

It's, you know, something brand new that we're bringing on board to the city, so that's— it's not going to go probably super smoothly, but it's definitely necessary. So I'm excited to see progress moving forward on that. And I guess I'll just finish with— I also really appreciate the public community and comment on everything they give us especially this time of year when we're looking at budget. And I'm hopeful that as we go through the next several work sessions, that anybody that's interested on what we're doing, what the costs are, what they want to see funded, what they feel maybe is overfunded, come in and talk to us. You know, jabbering online isn't the place to do it.

If you really want to see things move forward and get implemented, it's coming in here and talking to council members, talking to staff, and being part of Yeah, the other part of that is being involved is— so thank you, thank you, thank you, anyone who is involved in person. Council Member Ranney. Um, yeah, thank you to Brian, um, and Cam. I think you hit the nail on the head. Um, communication is gonna be the key moving forward.

Just, you know, making sure that all the carriers are in the loop and we communicate with CWC and CTC and everybody's on the same page with information and where they're getting information. I think that's huge. I'm really excited about this project moving forward. I just wanna make sure that we're not being an added burden on top of already a burdensome financial thing. So, you know, it, it has to happen.

Um, I just want to make sure we're taking care of, uh, folks that we need to take care of in the process. Um, it—. I—. And if I'm wrong, correct me, but it's my understanding that the numbers we got tonight in the Parks and Rec budget did not include the increase for the nonprofits of 25% that we discussed at the last meeting. So if that's not in there, I don't understand why that charge needs to be put in place, because tonight we looked at a budget that seemed to work out.

So I will reiterate, I think that the Little League and the Iceworm swim teams should not be charged. The Iceworm swimmers get a pool pass. That's what we've done in the past. And we move forward taking care of the few things that there are for youth to do in this community and not charge those two entities at all. So looking at the numbers tonight that we saw, I don't think that reflected the addition of the 25%, and those numbers looked fine.

With that being said, I don't see why the charge needs to happen.

And that's all I have to say. Thank you, everybody at the table and staff.

Thank you. And I'll just finish what, what Sven said. Thank you for Sam and Cheryl for all the energy into this budget cycle, making it clear and run smoothly. That's appreciated. And thank you for public input and just being here.

Appreciate it. It's nice not to just kind of talk to ourselves, to have, to have a conversation. I feel like even though we're talking at different times, it still feels like a conversation. Thanks for your involvement. Thanks for your engagement.

Um, with that, I think we can entertain the motion to adjourn. I so move.

Um,.