Assembly Regular Meeting of February 20, 2025

The assembly regular meeting of February 20, 2025, in the Borough Assembly Chambers at 6:30 PM is called to order. My name is Larry Ledoux. I will be filling in for Mayor Scott Arndt, who is currently in Juneau meeting with the legislative legislature. Tonight we have Anthony Furio from the Salvation Army who will be leading us in the invocation.

Dear Lord, dear Father, we come to you and we thank you, uh, this invocation that we come and we can start off by lifting up prayers to you. And we just thank the Kodiak Community, uh, Borough, the Assembly, the mayor, their staff, and just all who make our community great and a successful place to be. And Right now, Lord, we just lift up, uh, one of the things that seem to elude us here, and that's homes, houses, apartments, wherever they may be. We have homeless people, we have, uh, new families, we have single-parent families, we have, uh, our elderly. And Lord, we just ask you to reveal or help us to find a solution so all these people can take and remain in our community.

We thank you, we praise you for all that, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Mr. Ferriero. 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 Supiaq Alutiiq people, And we acknowledge the 10 tribes of the Kodiak Aleutic region. We recognize the Aleutic culture that enriches our community to this day.

Like a roll call vote, please. Mr. Ames. Mr. Griffin. Mr. Johnson. Here.

Mr. Ledoux. Here. Mr. Sharrett. Mr. Smiley. Here.

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

Is there a motion to excuse?

Move to excuse Mayor Arndt and Assemblymember Griffin, who are attending Alaska Municipal League Winter Conference in Juneau, Alaska, and Assemblymember Ames and Sherrod, who are out on personal leave. Is there a second? Second. Roll call vote, please, on the motion. Mr. Johnson.

Yes. Mr. LeDoux. Yes. Mr. Smiley. Yes.

Mr. Whiteside. Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. Now we're going to move to the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda.

You can do it. The only item on the consent agenda are the regular meeting minutes of February 6th, 2025. We have a voice vote on the motion. Do we have a— did we have someone who made the motion? No.

Okay.

Move to approve the agenda and consent agenda. Second. Thank you. Roll call vote, please. This voice.

Oh, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?

At this time, I would like to open citizen comments, and these are for items not scheduled for public hearing and are for general comments. The phone number to call— the phone numbers to call are 907-486-3231 and 1-855-492-9202.

To those who are in the room, sign in and state your name for the record. Turn on the microphone before speaking. Address all remarks to the assembly as a body and not to any member thereof. If calling, please turn off any listening devices to prevent feedback. The mic is open.

Been a while, gotta remember how to do this. My name is Alexis Kwatschke. Good evening. Hey, I'd like to, uh, put a couple thoughts into the record. You know, I, I, uh, um, I watched two young ladies in this town working their asses off to establish businesses, and I see both government bodies working against them.

And I would really encourage you guys to look around our community and see how many people have the courage to start up businesses. Between this body and the Building Department, we've seen people just leave and go away. And you have people that have put their money forward, they're putting their businesses on the line, and We need to offer more. This community has to be more than what it is. It's a food desert.

People that are providing good food and good services need to have access to whatever they're applying for to continue to keep clientele to come in. And it's just imperative that we wake up. The money well is drying up, and people are putting their butts on the line to establish businesses and we need to encourage that and not stifle that. So I encourage you to approve the liquor license or dispensary license tonight for Nunyak. I'm within the little blue circle.

I didn't make a comment, but I'm making a comment tonight. So please help them help us. Thank you, Mr. Kwacha.

Any other speakers tonight?

Anybody on the line?

Mr. Chair, if I may please, we do have those two liquor licenses under public hearing for citizens' comments. It's for general comments, so anyone who wish to comment on the liquor licenses, we have those items under public hearing. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Assembly members. Again, I'm Julianne Curry. You heard from me, I believe, 2 weeks ago.

It looks like it. Green. Now it's green. Okay, thank you. Julianne Curry.

You heard from me 2 weeks ago. You heard from my husband Raymond May last week. We still live on the second half of Woodland Drive. We still live in Service District 1, and we have yet to see a Service District 1 meeting appear on the upcoming calendar. I'm going to come here every single week because I see that you guys have meetings or work sessions every week for the foreseeable future, but I'd rather not.

We would like the Borough Assembly's help in getting a meeting scheduled for Service District 1 so we can address the serious drainage issues on the second half of Woodland Drive. I provided a letter to the Borough Assembly 2 weeks ago when I attended the Borough Assembly meeting. It also had a letter that we wrote to our service district representative, and it had a timeline of the actions that we've taken to address the drainage on our end but have been unable to completely take care of the issue. So please do whatever you can to help us get this meeting scheduled so we can get some resolution to the drainage issues on Woodland Drive. Thank you.

Thank you, Julianne. Mr. Chair, as a point of information, could I request of the clerk to see if that meeting has been scheduled? Because I believe at the last work session we were told it was being scheduled. So has that Service District 1 meeting been put on the books yet?

No. Okay. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Carleen McChesney, and I'm really happy that this man spoke before I did. The beer and wine license in question could have been our old license, Captain's Cake. I'm wondering if that's what it is. It's a point of order.

When you're— we have that, uh, a public hearing tonight on that, and that's when we would like you to speak if that's possible. Yes, thank you. And I appreciate you speaking. You always are very eloquent. Thank you.

Any other speakers tonight on items that are not on public hearing?

Anybody online? OK, we'll move on to awards and presentations. Tonight we have a proclamation declaring United States Coast Guard We Applaud You Day, and to deliver that resolution from the assembly, we have Dave Johnson, who spent 24 years in the Coast Guard and is a Kodiak, I mean, a Academy graduate, Dave Johnson. Thank you, Dr. Ledoux. From the Office of the Mayor of the Kodiak Island Borough, proclamation declaring United States Coast Guard We Applaud You Day.

Whereas the citizens of Kodiak wish to acknowledge and honor the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, and whereas members of the Coast Guard are our friends, our neighbors, who contribute their time and talents to the well-being of our community, and whereas we are deeply grateful to the men and women of the Coast Guard and their families for their sacrifices and devotion to duty, which preserve the safety of our fishermen and boating public, and whereas the Kodiak community will gather on February 21st, 2025 to honor all members of the Coast Guard and their families, now therefore I, Scott Arndt, Mayor of the Kodiak Island Borough, do hereby proclaim February 21st, 2025 as United States Coast Guard We Applaud You Day in Kodiak and urge citizens to recognize our Coast Guard community for their individual and collective efforts in making Kodiak and all navigable waters of Alaska safer and a better place to work and play. To the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, We applaud you. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Dave. Yep.

Any committee reports by assembly members?

Well, I attended a Kodiak College advisory meeting this last week, and I'm happy to say attendance is up, credits are up, and they have a lot of exciting things going on. At the college. So I'll leave it at that. So thank you. Okay.

Tonight we have a public hearing, actually two of them. State of Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office Beverage Dispensary Liquor License Transfer of Controlling Interest for Bernie's Bar LLC. Is there a motion?

Move to voice non-protest to the State of Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office AMCO Beverage Dispensary Liquor License Transfer of Controlling Interest for Bernie's Bar, LLC, and direct the clerk to notify AMCO of this decision. Is there a second? Second.

Okay, I'm going to declare the open public hearing. The phone numbers to call if you're calling in are 907-486-3231, toll-free 1-855-492-9202. Speakers should sign in— who are here should sign in and state their name for the record. Turn on the microphone before speaking. Address all remarks to the assembly as a body and not any member thereof.

If calling in, turn off any listening devices to prevent feedback. The public hearing is now open. Mr. Chair, may I give a brief staff report? Oh yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the assembly. This application is for a beverage dispensary liquor license transfer of controlling interest for license number 4346, Bernie's Bar, which is located at 320 Center Street, Kodiak. A transfer of controlling interest is where the controlling interest of the entity has changed. In this case, one of the owners has passed and the personal representative who was previously 50% stock— stockholder— shareholder has been designated as the sole owner.

The clerk's office followed the procedures in the code and we have sent out public hearing notices. We have received one back and it's included in the packet. There were no objections received from any departments. Thank you. Any comments?

Public hearing is open.

Any online callers? No callers. Okay. I'll give you a few seconds in case somebody wants to call.

And close the public hearing. Assembly discussion. Is there any Assembly members that want to discuss or speak? [SPEAKING GERMAN] [Speaker:CHAIRMAN BRYANT] Thank you. I've reviewed the documentation here and it doesn't seem that anything is out of order, so I would Lean through the chair, the clerks, if there is any information, or Madam Director, if there is anything that you wanted to point out to us before we make our vote, but I haven't noticed anything that was out of order.

Any other comments?

We have a roll call vote, please. Mr. LeDoux. Yes. Mr. Smiley. Yes.

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

Motion passes, 4 yes, 0 no.

Next on the agenda is Assembly review of the State of Alaska and Marijuana Control Office liquor license transfer of ownership from Soo Xee Yoon DBA Second Floor Restaurant, license number 3293, to Nunak Cafe and Deli, and transfer of location from from its current location of 116 West Rezanov Drive to 113 Lower Mill Bay Road. Move to voice protest to the State of Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office transfer of ownership application from Suk Si Yoon DBA Second Floor Restaurant, license number 3293, to Nuniak Cafe and Deli and the transfer of location from the current location of 116 West Rezanov Drive to 113 Lower Mill Bay Road and direct the clerk to submit the letter of protest letter to the Alaska Beverage Control Board, Board, and to trans— and to the transferor. The reasons for the protests are stated in the letter attached to this packet.

Second. Madam Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Um, this is the liquor license that is— it's a restaurant and eating place license that's being transferred from, um, Miss— Miss Sukyun DBA second floor restaurant to Nuniak Cafe, and it's also a transfer of location from the current location of 116 West Resinoff Drive to 113 Lower Mill Bay Road. The clerk's office has investigated and we followed the code, and we have received comments from the assessing department and the building official. We also followed the code and sent out 230 7 public hearing notices, and those that commented back, the notices were attached to your guidelines, and we will include them in the packet tomorrow. So at the, um, at the last work session, the assembly voiced their concerns, and we have put those down in writing, and the letter is before you tonight for you to consider. You may You may either revise it or reject it altogether or agree with it 100%.

It's, it's for you to discuss tonight. And also, I just wanted to let you know that per Alaska Administrative Code, once you make a decision tonight, if your decision is to protest this license, we're going to notify the transferor and transferee. And per Alaska Administrative Code, we need to give them the opportunity to defend their license at the next meeting of the assembly. So I just wanted to let you know that we're not done tonight. There's—.

You're gonna see this again at the next meeting if you decide to protest. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Assemblymember Scott.

I read the letter that we had in front of us, and I thought it was wonderful, well-written, very well documented with Alaska statute cited at every opportunity. And I will vote for this move to protest. Before we go any farther, I would like to open the public hearing and listen to input from the public. And then we'll have assembly member comments. I'd like to open the public hearing.

The phone number you can call to participate is 907-486-3231, toll-free number 1-855-492-9202.

Speakers should sign in and state their name for the record, turn on the microphone before speaking, address all remarks to the assembly as a body and not to any member thereof. If calling in, turn off any listening devices to prevent feedback. Carlene.

My name is Carlene McChesney.

I've been watching and reading in the newspaper what's going on. It seems like the Peking Gardens or the Peking— the old Sizzler Burger, that liquor license was sold for $30,000, and I believe we only paid like $100, but that was a long time ago. But now, that's why I was shaking my head a lot, because I didn't want to see the Nunyak restaurant pay $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, I have no idea But from the newspaper, apparently that's not so. But I also know that the restaurant has not been open in at least 10 years, maybe close to 15 years, and that license probably should have been out there being used in the community. Um, but thank you very much.

Thank you, Colleen.

Since I spoke at the wrong time, I'll come back up and put a couple more cents into this. I, I have not read the letter, um, but what I'm going to reiterate again is that we cannot stifle business. So I will read the letter, and if you guys choose to protest this, I will be back educated and ready to rock and roll at the next meeting, because we cannot stifle business in this community. It— it—. You guys need to be lifting us up and not tearing us down.

And, you know, if whatever reason is going on, this is something that can be easily solved. And let's work together instead of tearing ourselves apart, you know, again. Two women are in this room. They're putting their butts on the line and working their butts off making our community better. And if somebody wants to have a glass of wine or a glass of beer, they should be able to do that.

Because if you look around these other coastal communities, they're embracing this. And every time we do business, whether it's, uh, um, the taco shop El Chicanos, you know, you gotta, you gotta run the vent right through the apartments Don't ask for a waiver to run the vent out the back. You know, we're putting all these roadblocks in front of people that are working to make us a better community. And that— I mean, you wonder why people get fed up with bureaucracy. That is why.

Because this community needs all the help we can get. You know, we're, we're being attacked from all levels. Fish prices are in the gutter. Funding's not coming through. Oil's drying up, chaos in Washington, D.C., on and on and on.

And, and where is the money going to come from? Well, if somebody is providing into the coffer versus taking out of the coffer, I think the assembly should pick it up. See you again next week or week after. Thank you.

Any other speakers?

Good evening, and thank you for taking the time here to listen to me. My name is Nate Sabota. I'm a co-owner of Nunyak Cafe. I just wanted to address the letter that you guys are talking about tonight. I disagree veemently with Mr. Smiley about the, the context in the, in the accusatory tone of this letter.

For start, I'm not very happy with that. I typically have tried to stay out of the public eye with all this, even though I am a co-owner. But when I read this letter this morning, it really irked me on quite a few different levels. I'm going to start on page 3, Section B1. Where it goes to talk about the borough and its residents are best served by licenses being held by full-time, year-round, full-service restaurants serving both lunch and dinner on a regular basis.

This is the first time I've heard that. That's not a requirement of the permit. It's not a required— requirement of AMCO. It's not a requirement of the borough. In fact, the code requires that a restaurant is open 280 hours a year, which is about 30 days.

So I don't really know where that came from. So in my opinion, that's not a valid argument. It's kind of a moot point. However, that is our intent. We do plan to be open for dinners, and we do— and we are currently open year-round for lunch.

So I'm not really sure where that comment came from. Moving on to Section B2a, lack of the building permit closeout. We have been doing some construction here and there for quite some time. My wife Melissa did meet with Ted, the borough inspector, yesterday. He came in—.

Did—. I think it was yesterday, maybe 2 days ago— did an inspection, said everything's fine, good to go. We are doing some additional improvements. We applied for a permit again today. Ted— is my understanding that Ted was going to sign off on that other one.

I know he was busy today. We stopped by to talk to him. He was out. So I wanted to address that. Moving on to Section B, where it says the application for transfer does not provide a copy of the lease of the premises.

We were never asked for that by the Bureau. We did submit one to AMCO. I spoke with AMCO today. They said the Bureau have never asked us for that documentation. We would have gladly provided it, as we would have as well.

So that's a little concerning. But the thing that's really concerning to me, it goes on to state the premises is owned by the transferor, and without an arm's-length transaction, securing rights to the premises cannot be— excuse me— securing rights to the premises cannot be assured that the transfer is not a ruse to keep the license under the control of the licensee. My reading of that is this attorney It basically sounds like he is calling us, or more concerning to me, Mrs. Kim, a longtime resident and business owner respected all over our community, a liar. That's my reading of it. That's unprofessional and immoral, and I have a huge problem with that.

Miss Kim is an outstanding person in this community, and she should be respected as such. I have a number of other comments, uh, really just getting started. So—. Could we finish up, please? You're past the—.

Sure. A lot of the other things that they talk about here are regulatory requirements. Haven't submitted things for 3 years. We've only been open a year, right? So this is kind of— I don't know where this came from.

But I did take the time and met with SEMA today, who is very generous, and NOVA, very generous, helped me out. I'm the one that filled out these borough property— personal property on the borough, or for our business—. Business personal property. Anyway, it was my misunderstanding what needed to be included on that. I didn't know we needed to include things like window that we replaced, a door that we got out of the trash that we replaced.

SEMA very generously offered to come and meet with me after March 7th when this comes out, and we're going to go through and add some stuff like the windows and the door and stuff. But, you know, I think it's important to remember that we're new at this, right? We've only been open a year. We're trying to figure out these complex regulations not only within— from a business perspective, but obviously through the AMCO board and everything. So I wanted to thank the Bureau staff for really being generous and offering to help.

I'm appalled, to use the words of the AMCO chair, I'm appalled at this. Thank you. Thank you. Any other speakers tonight?

Hi, my name is Leanna Harrington. I'm in a really tough spot this evening. Um, as business owners, this is— it is hard in this town, uh, for all of us, and we are trying to find revenue streams aside from food and food costs. You guys have all been to the grocery store. Employees, we all have the same struggles.

Um, I'm in a little bit of a spot this evening. I've reached out to Office of Administrative Hearings to ask about 2611. There is no agenda set for that, as you guys have that in front of you this evening as well to respond to. Um, however, if 2611 goes back to Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Kim is able to transfer the 32 license, that's total control for Mrs. Kim on those licenses that are purely fraudulent. They have been for years.

I've been pointing that out since April of last year. There is equal amount of fraud tied to both of them as far as income to state, zero to the city for years and years and years. Expired business licenses, lying under oath repeatedly at every state meeting, which is something that they chose to do. And it's unfortunate the other businesses have been dragged into this. There, there's two businesses right here tonight that have been dragged into this.

I don't want to be here speaking out. I don't want to step on Nuniak's toes. I'm sure Nuniak doesn't want to step on my toes. It's hard for all of us, um, I'm been fighting this fight for 9 months, and it wouldn't be right of me to speak or say something on— as far as these licenses go. And I do not think that Mrs. Kim should have any control or say as to where those licenses go, who gets them, or to sit and hold on to them.

And I will stand by that until the end with all the research I've done. Um, and it's hard. It puts us in a rough spot, and that's solely their own doing. It's unfortunate that we're all involved, but that is a road that person did choose to go down by lying, by submitting false documents. Um, and it's hard.

I mean, that's equivalent to If my friend went and stole a car and then decided to give it to me, I know it's stolen, they don't. It's not that they don't have merit or grounds to give me that car. Um, and that's why I have a hard time. I want to see this license being used, but I don't like the fight that I've had to put up with against this business owner for so long. And I'm not talking about Nunez, I'm talking about Peking and Sizzler and all that.

I am I'm tired of it. I'm disheartened by it. I am frustrated with it. The last thing I want to do this evening was come and speak out knowing we're all going to be in the same room tonight. I've spoken out.

Everything I've ever done is on public record. I've tried to be respectful, and I think I have been, but I don't have respect for how that person handled business and the mess it's made. Thank you.

Any other comments tonight?

Good evening, assembly members. My name is Melissa Burns and I am co-owner of Nunyuk, located downtown here in Kodiak. I'm here to express my dissatisfaction with this governing body when it comes to the transfer of RELP number 3293. Though I understand your protest on the renewal of the license, the transfer of this began in October of 2022 when I posted in the local newspaper with the intent of this transfer with no response from the community or the governing bodies. I'd like to take this opportunity to address some of the issues that are dated in this March 6th, 2025 letter from the Bureau to Amco and the content much of it my husband had addressed, so I will jump over those because 3 minutes goes really fast.

The big things that I just want to address too with this, I know the gal had said, you know, $20,000, $30,000, $50,000. Ms. Kim's family has been lifelong friends. My mom loved Chinese food. She loved sushi. That was the only game in town.

Every time we came in from Old Harbor, that's where we went. My mom knew them, first-name basis. You know, I was shocked going to the store and Mrs. Kim seeing that my mom— the day after my mom had passed, she had come up and gave me a big hug and she already knew. It's that kind of family and small-town thing that we have. And when she saw my struggle with AMCO, with the first go-around when I applied for a license and they took my money and said they had one and had me post in the newspaper and do my fingerprints and everything else that goes into it in 2021, to only be told that it was not available.

She then came to me and said, well, we have this license and we can transfer to you. Um, that was done— their license expired in 2024, according to your letter. Um, our application was in prior to that. And so really, I, I believe that a lot of this could be avoided if AMCO had more regular meetings and if they would deal with things in a more timely manner. I understand they're dealing with with marijuana and everything else that they're, you know, they're pretty tapped with the staff that's there.

But on to the property and stuff Nate had spoke about, you know, we didn't know that if we put in a door that we got in the back of a dumpster from KFC, I have to claim that as my property. I mean, it's just simple dumb things like that that we just didn't know as new business owners. That really seems silly to me, but clearly to code. It's not. And again, he'd mentioned about the, the, our lease agreement.

We've had a lease agreement in place with her since 2021, but it has taken until 2024, January of 2024, for us to even open up that building for people to come in and have sit-down. It has taken us that long to get it up to par. And I lease spaces out of every every building in this town that had a commercial kitchen. I leased spaces and I carried my hot boxes. I had 3 hot boxes and my pots and pans.

That's all I had for my business property, and I took it everywhere to build up what I have today. And it's just a frustrating process. It really is, all of it. And, um, clearly you guys have all made up your mind tonight, um, so we'll be at the next meeting.

Thank you. Any other comments tonight?

Any on the phone? Okay, we'll close the public hearing and have assembly discussion. Assemblymember Johnson. Thank you, Dr. Ledoux. I would like to move to amend our letter of objection by striking sentences on page 3 3 that refer to the seasonality or timely time operations of Nunyak.

I agree with public comment tonight that that has absolutely no bearing on the decision whether or not to support this license. So I would recommend starting with the borough and its residents are best served by and continuing to strike through everything until the last sentence. The long-term failure to operate hampers Kodiak's otherwise vibrant hospitality industry. Is there a second?

Second. There's been a second. Discussion on the amendment? Assemblymember Whiteside. Oh, I thought— I thought by making the amendment—.

Oh, go ahead. Yes, please go ahead. Yeah, I think it's important to strike that language because in our discussion at the work session, it was clear from every member of the assembly that We want Nunyack to get this license. We just want to see a process followed that creates a level playing field in the community. And through no fault of the owners of Nunyack, this license should not be in the possession of the person who holds it.

That's according to state law and AMCO regulations. So I don't want to see language in this that somehow implies the borough objecting to Núñez having the license because that's not the case. The objection is based 100% solely on the unsuitability of the license being held in the first place. Thank you.

Thank you. I would have to, through the Chair, lean on the clerks for guidance. I would prefer to strike all language after the last sentence of B. So I don't know what the proper procedure to do that, I would imagine, do we vote on the initial motion and then propose another motion?

I'm thinking. So right now we do have a motion on the floor to, uh, strike out a few sentences. You can further amend that and just say You would like to propose a secondary amendment to that to strike out all the wording after the B, bullet B. If you would like to do that, you can, and then we vote on that and let's see where we go, where we end up. And if it fails, then we're back to the primary amendment, which is just to strike out those— that wording.

I'm not sure if this is the— may I, with the permission of the chair, regarding— I'm not sure if this is the reason that why you're trying to propose that. Also, I just wanted to let you know that after the inspection yesterday, the building inspector dropped by my office and he said that they have not closed out the building permit. So that is just the status of that, and I wanted to let you know that. I would be happy to clarify after I make the motion. Please do.

Okay. I move to further amend the language in this letter to strike all language after subsection B prior to 1, subsection 1 beginning with the renewal or reinstatement. From there onward, I would like to strike all language. Second.

Thank you. My reasoning is I agree with Mr. Johnson. We are not— I am not protesting or I am not against these businesses pursuing these licenses. My protest is solely based on process in that we clarified several times and we dug very deep to make sure we were following statute and Alaska Administrative Code. And at the time of renewal, if AMCO was doing their job and processing these in a timely manner, that license would not have existed at that time.

So that's the reason I will be protesting the transfer, not any of these reasons listed on this document. And I agree, some of this language upsets me as well, in that it, it suggests that our business owners are in the wrong here. I, I don't feel that way at all. Um, if there's some administrative hurdles they need to overcome, that's one thing, but to suggest they're irresponsible is shocking to read. I'm unhappy with it as well.

So my sole reason for objecting the transfer is not because of any of these items noted after B. It's solely based on the order and process of the original licensee should not have had that license at the time the transfer process began. So that's my thoughts on that one. I think it's still clear that that's our goal with this, as I understand it. That's certainly my goal is not to communicate any sort of distrust in our business owners here.

That's not what I'm after. Thank you. Other comments from the Assembly?

Do we have a vote on the amendment? Okay, so, uh, we're— you're— you're going to be voting on the second amendment, which, which is to strike out all the language after the paragraph bullet B. So we end the letter with the word application. I just want to make sure that everyone's okay with that. Thank you.

Okay, so Mr. Smiley?

Yes.

Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. LeDoux?

Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes, 4 yes, 0 no.

Now we're back on the primary amendment. Doesn't this—. Doesn't it move? Yes. So technically we've stricken out everything already, but we're going back.

So I have a motion that's still on the floor, which is the primary amendment. It's as amended, which technically it all goes away. So I would like have to take a roll call vote as amended. This is the primary amendment.

So technically it is gone, but the motion is still on the floor, which is the primary amendment. All right. Could we have a roll call vote, please? As amended. Mr. Whiteside.

You are just repeating the vote, technically.

Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. Le Du? Yes.

Mr. Smiley? Yes.

Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 4-0. 4 Yes, 0 no. So the letter has been amended and we removed anything after the word applications. So now the main motion is on the floor.

You can make further amendments, or you can take the roll call on that if you wish, or whatever it is that you want to do with it. Any comments from the assembly? Assembly Whiteside. Thank you. This one certainly has resulted in loss of sleep because of— I am equally as frustrated with the process.

I, I, it really bothers me that this all could have been avoided if AMCO processed these in a timely manner. Then I don't think anyone would be sitting here and having to be frustrated. I know these business owners are losing sleep. They're frustrated. They want to provide the service to the community.

We certainly enjoy their restaurants and hope they can expand. Um, it's, it's extremely challenging. My goal is to move this process along in a way that follows Alaska statutes and administrative code based on the facts that we have. It's unfortunate that folks are being punished for doing their due diligence. I'm not— I don't feel anyone's at fault here.

I think everyone has equal reason to be upset, myself included, because Everyone's put in this position based on another governing body's incompetence, which is unacceptable. Both of these licenses should be revoked from the licensee, both. And if they are, which they— I sure hope they are— made available to the community again. And I hope both restaurateurs apply for them and receive them and put them in use as soon as possible. I just want to make it abundantly clear, my reasoning for protesting the transfer is not because I want to stifle progress.

I care about our community. I want to see— excuse me— I want to see people succeed here. It really bothers me that it's being stifled and people are— progress is being suppressed. But this is simply because of my The protest for the transfer will simply be because the fact that when the transfer process began, if EMCO was doing their job properly, that license would not have existed under that ownership. And that is the sole reason I'm going to protest the transfer.

And I hope that the process happens as quickly as possible and they are freed up and these folks can still get them. That's what I want to see happen. I have to follow process. I have to follow statute and code. I can't ignore that.

As painful as it is and it bothers me to do it, but it's— I feel it's the right thing to do. I just want to make sure that was abundantly clear for anyone who is listening, and that's the reason I'll be voting protest.

Any other comments? Thank you. Very briefly, the City of Kodiak submitted for additional REPLs to the AMCO Board, which was denied because the City of Kodiak doesn't have zoning— planning and zoning authority. The borough apparently cannot request more of these licenses because we don't have police authority. We're not the only borough suffering through this oversight in the regulation, and we've asked our delegation in Juneau to pass legislation to close that loophole so that the community can hopefully pursue more.

But we know the speed that Juneau works, and seeing how fast and loose AMCO seems to be willing to be with their own regulations, I would like to again recommend that the borough and city submit a joint application with both mayors signing, saying, between the two of us, we have these powers, so we are now requesting them as a joint application. They want to say no, they'll say no, and they might. But, um, I think it shows that there's no interest in the elected bodies in adding bureaucracy to these licenses. If the state would get their act together, we should have more in our community. And so even if it's just a gesture, I think personally it would be worthwhile.

Thank you. Any other comments?

A comment. I don't need to repeat what Assemblymember Whiteside and Johnson said. I Very much agree. This has been a very difficult process. I think we have in front of us a very specific code that many of us were unaware before this happened.

I don't think any of us are an expert on licensing. However, the process that we're supposed to follow is in code, is in statute, and it puts us in a precarious position similar to what one of the speakers said tonight. It's hard to make a wrong right, even if you want to. However, a couple of things. One, we need to really take a close look at our code in our process to make sure that we're not doing anything that is stifling, stifling competition or businesses in our community.

This is the second time in two meetings that people have raised concern about building codes and how they operate in Kodiak. It may be something we need to look at, but I hope in the future we will take a close look at our own bureaucratic rules related to licensing and to see what we can do to make sure that no other citizen has to go through what some of our applicants have gone through. And so without further ado, can I have a roll call vote, please? Mr. Johnson. Yes.

Mr. LeDoux? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes. Mr. Whiteside?

Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. We will be scheduling this, the hearing, at the next meeting of the assembly, which is going to be on March 6th. So I strongly encourage the transferor and the free to attend that meeting.

Thank you. We'll make that 7.

Thank you, guys. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, Sima.

Will do. Maybe sooner. Thanks, Bobby and Eric. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Happy birthday. Thank you.

So much for the size 2 two-piece I was looking for for this summer. Well, you know, you're about to go on a cruise, and I'm sure you're aware of where you're getting it from. It'll be there.

Usually you ask for—.

And here's the thing, you've been in the fire so far, I have absolutely no excuse now. I mean, literally any excuse that validly anybody could have, oh, you know, I got to get out the road's right there, I don't have time to go into work, it's literally down the hall. I mean, it's like, okay, I got zero, zero excuse.

You're gonna die, child. Yeah, all right. Yeah, I hear you.

So 39, right? I'm still getting after it pretty good. The mountains aren't pushing me away just yet.

Yeah, got to keep moving, right? So we're youthful, it's all how we feel. Exactly. I am so new to the app. Strawberry, pretty good.

How much of this is going to end up all over me?

Thank you. We're going to reopen the meeting at this point in time. We are looking for our administrative official, Seema Garrett, to provide the manager's report for us tonight. Thank you, Assemblymember Ledoux. I did submit a manager's report for everybody.

Are we not where you're supposed to be?

[Speaker:MICHELLE] It is.

I just wanted to point out a couple of things. There is the legislative report 2502, some DNR updates, and probably the STIP amendment second draft that you guys might want to look at. I am not as courageous as Amy to read the whole thing, so you guys can read it and then just pay attention to those. Last amendments. Thank you.

That's it. That's all right with you? Oh, that's just fine. Thank you. I would like the public to know that these manager reports are excellent and they're posted online, so you can get a lot of information from these if you have a chance to look it up on our website.

So if you felt like you were missing anything tonight, you can go online and there it will be. Thank you, Sima. I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, this, this is the time for messages from the borough mayor, and there are no messages at this time.

So we will go on to a consideration of our calendar, and there is no unfinished business. So we're going to do a consideration of our calendar. New business— there are no contracts to consider. We're moving through this agenda so quickly, I can hardly understand it. Tonight we have a few resolutions.

Um, we have Resolution Number FY 2025-15 authorizing the manager to accept the 2025 Volunteer Fire Capacity VFC grant for the Fire Protection Area Number 1 Bayside Volunteer Fire Department. Move to adopt Resolution Number FY 2025-15. Could we have a staff report from acting second Second. Could we have a report from Acting Administrative Official Seema Garrett? Thank you, Assemblymember Ledoux.

The USDA Forest Service through the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Fire Protection made grant funds available to volunteer fire departments. The criteria to meet eligibility for funding was serve a population of 10,000 or less, be registered with the Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety, be National Incident Management System compliant, be in compliance with past Volunteer Fire Capacity awards, and provide documentation of a minimum availability of 10% matching funds. Grant fund uses include increase fire safety, improve the firefighting capabilities of rural volunteer fire departments and enhance protection in wildland urban interface. Requested items listed on the grant application include portable radios, battery chargers, batteries, and floodlights. These funds will be accepted via resolution, resolution, because they have a specific destination.

Bayside Fire Chief Scott Ellis is available tonight for any additional information or any questions that you might have. Thank you. Assembly discussion. Assemblymember Whiteside. Thank you.

This is clearly a no-brainer, I would imagine, for most of us. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Chief Ellis and the continued service to the community and advancing our volunteer fire department to improve the level of service. Last night there was a small structure fire that they addressed through this morning, as I understand it, and Whether or not that would have made it to that person's residence or not, we will never know because they were on it and they extinguished it in a timely manner. And that person expressed their gratitude via social media. It's— I'm continually impressed with, with Chief Ellis's service and how he has taken our volunteers and advanced their level of training and equipment needs and safety for our community.

And to think that, that this is largely volunteers that are doing so makes me really proud of the community that we live in, and I applaud their efforts.

Just to give an opportunity to Chief Ellis, was there something you were wanting to tell us about this motion, or are you satisfied with the presentation?

Thank you, sir. At this point in time, we'll have a roll call on the motion.

Roll call. Mr. Whiteside. Yes. Mr. Johnson. Yes.

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

Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. Thank you. We now have before us Resolution Number FY2025-16, Adopting a State Legislative Capital Improvement Projects Priority List for the 2025 Legislative Session. Is there a motion? Move to adopt Resolution Number FY2025-16.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Acting Administrative Official Seema Garrett will provide a staff report. Thank you, Assemblymember Ledoux. Each year, the Kodiak Island Borough approves a capital improvement project list that contains project suggestions from across the archipelago— okay, across the borough.

The process starts in the Community Development Department when they send out notifications to start the process and get projects ready to be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Planning and Zoning Commission then forwards the project list to the KIB Assembly to be reviewed, edited if necessary, and then passed by resolution. This list is then sent to our state delegation to designate the priorities for the calendar year. At the February 13, 2025 work session, the Assembly reviewed this resolution and changes were proposed. A revised version of the Resolution is included in the packet which incorporates the amendments proposed from the City of Kodiak concerning the St. Herman Harbor Infrastructure Replacement Project, which is in green text, and the rehabilitation of Kodiak Island Borough Parks in blue text.

Thank you. Thank you. Assembly discussion.

Seeing no discussion, could I have a roll call vote, please? Mr. Johnson. Yes. Mr. LeDieu. Yes.

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

Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. Thank you. That brings us to Resolution Number FY2025-17, Identifying Federal Project and Program Priorities for Federal Fiscal Years 2025 in 2026.

Move to adopt Resolution Number FY 2025-17.

Second. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Acting Administrative Official Seema Garrett will provide a staff report. Thank you, Assemblymember Ledoux.

Much like the last one, these Capital Improvement Project list contains suggestions for our federal delegation. The process starts with KIB collaborating with our federal lobbyist, Sebastian O'Kelley. After we meet with the lobbyist, he prepares a draft CIP list, which is then discussed, edited if necessary, and passed by the Assembly with a resolution. At the February 13th, 2025 work session, the Assembly reviewed this resolution and changes were proposed. A revised revision of the resolution is included in the packet, which incorporates the amendments proposed from the City of Kodiak concerning the St. Herman Harbor infrastructure replacement project in green text and proposed wording from Assemblymember Griffin incorporating FEMA— the importance of FEMA— into the resolution in blue text.

Thank you. Thank you. Discussion?

Seeing no discussion, we'll move to a roll call vote on the motion. Mr. LeDoux? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes.

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

Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. Thank you. Under ordinances for introduction tonight, we have ordinance number FY2025-02A, Amending Ordinance Number FY2025-02, Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, by amending budgets to account for various revenues that are over budget, providing for additional expenditures, and moving funds between projects. Move to advance Ordinance Number FY2025-02A to public hearing at the next regular assembly meeting.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. So once again, Acting Administrative Official Seema Garrett will provide some information for us. Thank you, Assemblymember Ledoux. This ordinance presents the net changes for additional funding requests which occurred during the current fiscal year for items or circumstances not known or expected during the initial creation of the FY 2025 budget or project estimates.

The ordinance includes dollar amounts for funds and projects. Our finance director, Dora Cross, is here to explain the funds and projects that are represented in this ordinance and answer any questions you might have.

Thank you. Good evening. Um, there are 7 items on this budget amendment. Um, there are— there's one that's just moving money to save it for a future project. There's 5 items that are completed and there's 1 item that's wanting additional money for the treatment plant upgrade.

The one moving is $20,000 from the general fund to the newly created fisheries development project. The completed ones are— or I should say completed or changed direction and are creating new projects that will come before you differently. $30,000 From the seawater storage filter project at KFRC, $52,000 from the exterior on the Fisheries Center, $111,000 for the structural analysis project, and $692,000 for the fire alarm. That one is a change in direction. So they had set that money aside to do something with it, and then after getting into the project, decided they needed to change direction and do something different.

So this is just a return of that money so they can reissue it. Completed. And then $22,000 for the Baylor Building UST. That's completed at the moment. So any questions?

Thank you. Any questions?

Seeing no questions, we'll move to a roll call vote. Mr. Smiley? Yes. Mr. Whiteside? Yes.

Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. LeDoux? Yes. Would anyone like to change their vote?

Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no. Moving right along to other items. Authorization for the borough manager to sign and submit the request for hearing form to appeal the decision of the Alcoholic Beverage Control, ABC Board, denying the Kodiak Island Borough's protest of the continued operation of restaurant or eating places license, REPL number 2611. Move to authorize the borough manager to sign and submit the request for hearing form to appeal the decision of the ABC Board denying the Kodiak Island Borough's protest of the continued operation of restaurant or eating place license number 2611.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Um, as borough clerk, would you please provide discussion? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The ABC Board considered the Kodiak Island Borough's protest of the continued operation of REPL number 2611 at its February 4th, 2025 meeting for reasons stated in the attached letter. The borough has an opportunity to appeal the ABC Board's decision by authorizing the borough manager to sign and submit the request for Hearing form. The failure to request a hearing constitutes a waiver of the borrower's right to hearing. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions?

Seeing no questions, thank you, DOVA, for your report. Can we have a roll call, please, on the motion? Mr. Whiteside? Yes. Mr. Johnson?

Yes. Mr. LeDoux? Yes. Mr. Smiley? Yes.

Would anyone like to change their vote? Motion passes 4 yes, 0 no. Next, we have the confirmation of mayoral appointments of city and borough representatives from the Planning and Zoning Commission to the Borough Lands Committee: Ms. Tracy Craig and Ms. Sarah Fraser. Move to confirm the mayoral appointments of Commissioner Tracy Craig as the Planning and Zoning Commission City representative, and Commissioner Sara Frazer as the Planning and Zoning Borough representative to the Borough Lands Committee. Second.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. These are the yearly appointments of Planning and Zoning Commission representatives to the Borough Lands Committee. As you are well aware, the Borough Lands Committee started meeting again, and it would be good to fill those seats on the board. Irene and I attended, and Sima also attended the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night, and they recommended both Ms. Fraser and, and Ms. Craig to these seats.

I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you, Nova. Assembly discussion?

Hearing no discussion, could we have a roll call on the motion, please? Mr. Johnson? Yes. Mr. LeDoux? Yes.

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

Motion passes with 4 yes, 0 no.

I would like to open citizen comments. For those watching or listening at home, the phone numbers to call are 907-486-3231 and 1-855-492-9202. If you're in the room speaking, please sign in and state your name for the record. Turn on the microphone before speaking. Address all remarks to the assembly as a body and not to any member thereof.

If calling, please turn off any listening devices to prevent feedback. We're now open for public citizen comments.

I always felt we should have Jeopardy music at this point while we wait. It's better than silence.

Just give a few more seconds for people who may be calling.

Alrighty, we'll move on to Assemblymember comments. Assemblymember Johnson, what would you like to say tonight? No comment, thank you. Assemblymember Whiteside, um, just wanted to thank folks for coming out tonight and, and continuing to email us. And we receive all of these emails, I certainly read them Um, public testimony, whether it's at Safeway or in this room or through email or through phone calls or texting, is extremely important to me as a member of the assembly.

I'm not up here for myself. I'm up here to do the best I can to represent the community, and I can't do that without input. So I'm really grateful for that, and I'm really sorry folks are having to experience prolonged torment for these liquor licenses. Again, I will just say that I don't feel that any of this is for any fault of those who are looking to pursue ownership of the licenses. I think it squarely lands on poor process and handling on the other end of things at AMCO.

But hang in there. We support everyone in the community, including new business owners.

Assemblymember Smiley.

I find this, the actions of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Board, frustrating as can be.

There's been a push in the country to denigrate bureaucracy, and this feeds into it. I mean, you see the worst parts of bureaucracy with the actions that AMCO has perpetrated. On the other hand, if you think about it over time, the only way we get things done is through a bureaucracy, and a well-managed bureaucracy is really helpful to everybody and gives voice to the little guy and allows people to present different opinions opinions of how things are supposed to function. So while I'm upset at the actions of AMCO, I still have faith in the concept of bureaucracy in spite of the fact that it's under a great deal of fire right now in the United States. Thank you.

Thank you. I would— one thing I've learned about bureaucracy, though, is it always seems to grow. It never seems to reduce itself in size, whether that's good or bad. But I also think it's really good sometimes when this kind of thing happens. It forces us to take a look at our own rules and see what we can do to clear up misconceptions so that our public doesn't run into roadblocks to things that are good for them and good for our community.

I will say, though, that We're in this position not because of the applicants, and I don't believe because of any action from the borough, but because of decisions taken or not taken by the Alcohol Board. And it's really sad that an important body like that would treat the applicants the way they do, by either inaction or by not understanding the issues. So As we move on, I hope that we'll take a close look at our own bureaucracy again to make sure that we're doing okay. All right. Thank you.

I'm waiting for that great move. Move to adjourn. Second? Announcements. Oh, I have an announcement.

The next assembly work session is scheduled on Thursday, February 27th at 6:30 PM. The next assembly regular meeting is scheduled on Thursday, March 6th at 6:30 PM in the Borough Assembly Chambers. Let me look at the next page. The assembly will hold a joint work session with the school district board of education on Wednesday, March 12th, at 6:30 PM in the school district conference room. Is there a motion to adjourn?

Move to adjourn. Second. Voice vote on motion. Aye.

We are now adjourned.