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Home My WebLink About05122022 City Council Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 12, 2022 Volume 42,Page 33 CALL TO ORDER The May 12,2022 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Mayor Christy Terry. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Alan Nickell led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Christy Terry presiding and Sue McClure John Osenga Liz DeMoss Ristine Casagranda Mike Calhoon comprising a quorum of the Council; and Janette Bower, City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk 111 Excused—Wells Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Sue Lang,outside the city,said that Waste Management had offered to furnish a dumpster at the North Launch Ramp free of charge for the Lowell Point residents to use. Mica Van Buskirk, inside the city, requested the city please include the Lowell Point community in the resolution being considered today. She said Millers Landing needed support to run the water taxi, and the residents needed the road restored as soon as possible. Kat Sorenson,inside the city,extended appreciation on behalf f the Chamber of Commerce to Millers Landing, Metco Alaska, and the city for responding to this emergency. She supported council including the proposed amendment that was provided as a laydown today, and said the Chamber of Commerce would provide support in any way they could. Scott Jellison,inside the city,was the manager at Resurrection Bay Seafoods and said,if it weren't for Millers Landing running the water taxi,the plant would have had to shut down this week. The fishery plant provided fish for many of the local restaurants in town. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 12,2022 Volume 42,Page 34 Christy Jordan,outside the city,worked as a school counselor and had been spending a lot of time this week with students who had been directly impacted by this landslide;there were seven students from Lowell Point who had to take a water taxi to get to school.She was grateful to Millers Landing for providing the service,because without them,those students would have to miss all the year end activities that the school provided. Kelly Ann Cavaretta, inside the city, was the local representative for the Small Business development Center(SBDC),and requested the city take action with their legislators to get attention on this issue. She thanked Millers Landing for providing the water taxi service. Steven Lee, outside the city, was a gold dredger from Nome who had a landing craft in Seward at this moment, and offered to provide his boat at no cost for a while. Tom Miller, outside the city, was co-owner of Millers Landing and had been working 16 hour days since Sunday to provide water taxi rides to residents and tourist. He had provided approximately 1,000 rides so far, and only 39 people had pitched in on the cost. His season for fishing was about to start, and he couldn't continue using his boats for water taxi services much longer. He implored the city and borough to find other water taxi operators. Mica Van Buskirk,inside the city,was president of the Lowell Point Community Council and had been staying in touch with the city manager,the harbormaster,and the borough this week; she wanted to keep the communications open because the Lowell Point community needed help and support. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion(McClure/Casagranda) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Terry removed Resolution 2022-068 from the consent agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: There were no consent agenda items. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-068, Declaring A State Of Emergency In The City Of Seward Due To A Landslide On Lowell Point Road And Requesting Assistance. Motion (McClure/Osenga) Approve Resolution 2022-068 City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 12,2022 Volume 42,Page 35 Motion to Amend (Terry/Casagranda) Amend Resolution 2022-068 by adding a new Whereas that reads,"Whereas,the city finds that an emergency exists due to the landslide with the public due to road closures, financial injury to the local businesses, and the continued threat to persons and property from these conditions; and". Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Bower appreciated council adopting the amendment because she had been discussing the concerns over the financial impact of the landslide with the borough, and thought this was an important distinction to make. She stated the city could not declare an emergency for the Lowell Point community because they were outside city limits,but the borough was planning to declare an emergency on behalf of Lowell Point. She said the city supported the residents of Lowell Point,but could not declare an emergency on their behalf. Bower said any funding the city received related to this emergency would have to be spent on cleaning up the road and restoring access. She said State Senator Peter Micciche had communicated that the governor was standing by and ready to approve the city's declaration. In response to Casagranda, Bower said the borough would be hosting a Lowell Point community meeting tomorrow evening to discuss their plans for declaring an emergency and helping the citizens of Lowell Point. Casagranda thought additional equipment may be needed, perhaps beyond what Metco Alaska could provide. In response,Bower said no additional equipment could be brought in at this time because it was not safe enough; she would engage the state for assistance when it was safe to bring in more equipment. In response to Terry,Bower said Advanced Blasting was coming to Seward and they would be scaling the mountainside to loosen boulders. If the boulders could not be loosened manually,the company would use small explosives to loosen them. Bower pointed out that there was a crack identified on the top left corner of the slide area,and there was concern that another portion of the mountainside would give way. She said the slide was very unstable and continuously shed debris, even while the crews were working on it. Terry wanted the city to support Lowell Point as much as possible. She encouraged businesses inside the city and at Lowell Point to keep track of all economic impacts they experienced related to the landslide. Motion to Amend (Terry/McClure) Amend Resolution 2022-068 in the new Whereas by adding the words, "Seward and Lowell Point" so that it reads, "... City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 12, 2022 Volume 42,Page 36 financial injury to the Seward and Lowell Point local businesses..." Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous CITIZEN COMMENTS Mica Van Buskirk, inside the city, said the city limits went almost all the way to the Stormchasers building. She offered to allow the city to use Stormchasers beach access for a city water taxi. She requested the city ramp up mitigation measures once the emergency was over. She requested guidance and open communication about how best to represent the residents of Lowell Point. Van Buskirk said there were 58 vehicles stuck at Lowell Point, including a state trooper vehicle. Nick Jordan,outside the city, said he lived in Lowell Point and he believed the road being blocked was the city's responsibility and,therefore,it was the city's responsibility to provide a water taxi to the residents while the road was blocked.The city was blocking the residents of Lowell Point and should be responsible for the financial impacts on the residents. Kelly Ann Cavaretta,inside the city,understood the city was addressing the road,and the borough would focus on funding relief for Lowell Point residents and businesses. She would be ready and available to assist local businesses. Kat Sorenson,inside the city,asked if the News section on the city website could be updated with the city's press releases. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Bower said she would get the website updated. Casagranda wished to pursue the city finding a water taxi resource. Calhoon thanked Millers Landing and everyone who was pitching in to help.The city would continue to do what it could to help everyone. Osenga thought the city was working with the borough and the state to find solutions. He thanked Millers Landing for helping so many people get back and forth to Lowell Point. DeMoss thanked Millers Landing.She supported the city trying to assist with transportation. She said a lot of work was being done behind the scenes. She thanked the Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development Center representatives for offering assistance. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 12, 2022 Volume 42, Page 37 McClure said it was a horrible situation,and she understood peoples' frustrations. She was grateful that no one was hurt, and asked everyone to hang in there. Terry thanked all the volunteers and Metco for their work. She encouraged the city, community,and borough to keep open communications.she suggested inviting the borough mayor to view the landslide in person. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:56 p.m. Brenda Ballow, C risty Terry City Clerk Mayor (City Seal)