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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08262024 City Council MinutesE 1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes August 26, 2024 Volume 42, Page 526 CALL TO ORDER The August 26, 2024, regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Sue McClure. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Alan Nickell led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Sue McClure, presiding, and John Osenga Mike Calhoon Kevin Finch Randy Wells Robert Barnwell Julie Crites comprising a quorum of the Council; and Kat Sorensen, City Manager Jason Bickling, Deputy City Manager Kris Peck, City Clerk Excused — None Absent — None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Bruce Jaffa, outside city limits, provided an update on the PACAB Heat Loop committee. Along with the heat loop project, Jaffa spoke to the importance of energy conservation for buildings. He said that Seward City Hall leaks energy like a sieve. However, the City Hall building was a perfect candidate for being retrofitted for energy conservation. Nate Smith, outside city limits, addressed the Planning & Zoning Commission's proposed ordinance on marijuana stores and on -site consumption. Smith was concerned about teenagers hanging out on the property of the marijuana establishment due to the mobile vendors in the area. Smith didn't think the fence was adequate to shield the minors from the on -site consumption of marijuana. He wanted to let council know that the pubic was providing input to P&Z on the topic. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes August 26, 2024 Volume 42, Page 527 APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Osenga/Calhoon) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the August 12, 2024, City Council Meeting Minutes Introduction of Ordinance 2024-013: Amending Seward City Code 15.10.226 - Land Uses Allowed to Standardize Language and Clarify Where Marijuana Establishments Are Allowed in Each Zoning District SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards Founder's Day Proclamation was read by Mayor McClure, and she announced that she would take the proclamation to the Resurrection Bay Historical Society. City Manager Report City Manager Kat Sorensen provided an update on the Alaska Municipal League (AML) conference that she recently attended in Kodiak. It was a wonderful conference overall. While there in Kodiak, Sorensen spoke to representatives about various Seward issues including the Lowell Creek Diversion Tunnel. She was present at a ceremony where Senator Lisa Murkowski was presented with an award that was crafted from a piece of the MV Tustumena hull. Lastly, Sorensen announced there would be a spay and neuter clinic at the Seward Animal Shelter on Monday, September 9, 2024. City Clerk Report City Clerk Kris Peck announced that the Seward High School exchange group in Obihiro, Japan had successfully returned to Seward after being delayed a week. Typhoon Ampil had cancelled their original flight out of Tokyo. Luckily, the group was able to enjoy Obihiro's gracious hospitality and also visit nearby cities of Kushiro and Sapporo. Other Reports and Announcements Chamber of Commerce Report (report provided as a laydown) Executive Director Sam Allen provided an update on the Seward Silver Salmon Derby and related events. She provided additional information on visitation data and privacy laws. Allen said more details would follow regarding KBBI Meet the Candidates night. She hoped for a work session with council in regard to the partnership between council and the chamber. 1 1 City of Seward, Alaska August 26, 2024 Presentations City Council Meeting Minutes Volume 42, Page 528 Presentation of the City 2023 Financial Audit Report by Altman, Rogers & Co. was given by Grant Todd. McClure suspended the rules to allow 30 minutes for this presentation in lieu of a work session on this topic. There was no objection from council. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2024-043: Authorizing the City Manager to Purchase Remote Sensing Software from Overstory for $50,000 for Vegetation Management in the City's Power Line Right of Way Motion (Osenga/Wells) Approve Resolution 2024-043 Sorensen summarized the resolution and introduced Taylor Crocker from the Electric Department. Electric Operations Supervisor Taylor Crocker said this software would take a satellite scan of all the vegetation over the powerlines and provide a detailed map. The electric department would use this data for efficient vegetation management. The electric department would hit the most critical areas first and work their way towards the rest. Wells confirmed the cost was $50,000 for one year. Crocker said he hoped to purchase the software again in 2025 and 2026 in order to see the vegetation growth data over the 3-year span. Crocker said he reached out to two other drone vendors with LiDAR and the price was around $200,000. Then he found Overstory which used satellite rather than LiDAR and thus the price was significantly cheaper. Barnwell asked if the electric crew was excited about this software. Crocker said the crew was excited and they typically did the clearing work in the winter months. Calhoon asked about the budget line for this item. Sorensen said the budget line was for contracted services. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2024-044: Amending the City Council Rules of Procedures, Rule 16, to Reflect Changes Made to the Annual Evaluations of Appointed City Officials Motion (Wells/Calhoon) Approve Resolution 2024-044 Peck said this resolution pertained to the appointed city officials and there were two major changes. The first change was to adjust the timing of the annual evaluation to occur roughly a year from the City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes August 26, 2024 Volume 42, Page 529 employee's start date. The current format was to hold the evaluations in January, February, or March. If this resolution passed, the City Manager's evaluation would be held in September and the City Clerk's evaluation would be in May. The second major change was to do away with the tabulation team and the anonymous comments. Instead, the council members would bring their evaluation forms with them to the meeting. McClure noted the evaluation form itself had been re -tooled and now there was an N/A column to use if any categories did not apply to the employee. McClure had worked with the clerk on making these revisions and she was happy with the changes. Calhoon wanted to clarify city attorney timing since it was the law firm itself rather than an individual attorney. Motion Passed INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Other Items Upcoming City Council Meetings Monday, September 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. CITIZEN COMMENTS Unanimous Bruce Jaffa, outside city limits, thanked council for appointing Norm Regis and Jesse Groom to PACAB. He looked forward to a joint meeting with council, boards and commissions. He spoke to the proposed 42-room hotel on Third Avenue and supported continued growth in Seward. On another topic, he felt the Seward Electric Department was on firm ground. He had property near the main transmission lines and saw what Chugach Electric did for clearing the vegetation around the lines. Jaffa reported several power outages last winter in Moose Pass due to trees falling on the lines. He supported the resolution for vegetation management software. Rhonda Hubbard, inside city limits, spoke to rising energy costs and the utility rate increase. She asked the council to mitigate and offset any type of increases in the future. Jesse Groom, outside city limits, said he was the president of the local International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and he represented the longshoremen who worked on the docks. He provided information on ILWU employment, revenue, and payroll statistics. Groom expressed concern that ships were being re -directed away from Seward due to the Alaska Railroad's inefficient operations. Groom said the railroad was not interested in transporting cargo out of Seward. He was concerned about the City of Seward's partnership with the Alaska Railroad. He wanted the port to be fully operational. 1 1 1 1 f City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes August 26, 2024 Volume 42, Page 530 COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sorensen thanked everyone for the citizen comments and for contributing to the work session. She thanked Grant Todd and the audit team, and she gave a huge shout -out to the entire Finance Department for all their hard work during the audit season. It was a busy time in the Finance Department because they were working on the budget as well. Sorensen wished everyone a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. Barnwell thanked Sully Jusino and her team at Finance Department for their great work during the audit. On another topic, Barnwell felt Seward was at a point where growth needed to be carefully considered. He hoped to see not just growth, but rather intelligent growth. Barnwell hoped for a strong winter economy, which included the longshoremen at the port. Crites said it was a good meeting and she was thankful for all the informative citizen comments. Wells said in regard to the work session, he was 100% in favor of people doing what they want to do on their property as far as drilling wells and putting in septic systems. He thanked Mr. Groom for speaking on behalf of the longshoremen and encouraged him to share his written letter with council. Finch echoed the previous comments about septic and water wells. Finch noted so many people had tried and failed to live in Seward. He thanked Mr. Groom for his information on the railroad. He wanted to support the year-round locals who were the backbone of this community. Lastly, Finch wished everyone a safe holiday weekend. Calhoon echoed previous comments. He was looking forward to the series of budget work sessions. He noted that government moves slowly sometimes, but progress was being made. Osenga thanked the auditors and the chamber of commerce for their reports. He wished everyone a happy Labor Day Weekend. McClure echoed previous comments and encouraged Mr. Groom to send his ILWU letter to council. On another topic, McClure invited everyone to the Founder's Day festivities at the Seward Community Library on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. She also noted the Americans and the Holocaust Exhibit was a big deal and there would be an ongoing series of talks and events at the library. Lastly, McClure mentioned that school was back in session and cautioned drivers to be mindful of kids biking to school. Sorensen also wanted to add that the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD) Board of Education would also be meeting at Seward on Monday, September 9, 2024. Unfortunately, this was the same night as the next council meeting. Finch also wanted to thank to all the seniors who had reached out to him about his accessible fishing ideas. Finch had recently spoken to the Alaska Railroad about the possibility of utilizing the decommissioned coal loading facility as a fishing pier. City of Seward, Alaska August 26, 2024 City Council Meeting Minutes Volume 42, Page 531 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:24 p.m. Kris Peck City Clerk (City Seal) lAAAl l ird)4 Sue McClure Mayor k 1 1