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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01272025 City Council MinutesCity of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 7 CALL TO ORDER The January 27, 2025, regular meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 7:01 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 Randy Wells Kevin Finch Robert Barnwell Julie Crites Casie Warner comprising a quorum of the Council; and Jason Bickling, Acting City Manager Kris Peck, City Clerk Jodi Kurtz, Deputy City Clerk Excused — None Absent — None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Ristine Casagranda, inside city limits, spoke about the Joint Work Session with Planning & Zoning (P&Z). She felt the work session was too focused on marijuana and urged council to explore other issues such as the housing crisis. She hoped council could change city code regarding wells and sewer requirements. Casagranda said Forest Acres had four lots that could be developed this summer if the code was changed. Christiana Smith, outside city limits, spoke in support of opening a P&Z seat for someone outside city limits. City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 8 APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Osenga/Wells) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda McClure requested Resolution 2025-017 be removed from the consent agenda. McClure added Resolution 2025-009 to the consent agenda. There was no objection from the council. Motion as Amended Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the January 13, 2025, City Council Meeting Minutes Resolution 2025-009: Authorizing the City Manager to Purchase a 2026 International Dump Truck and Accessories for the Public Works Department for an Amount Not to Exceed $190,000 Resolution 2025-012: Recommending Kenai Peninsula Borough Approval of the Preliminary Plat of the Property Located at 237 & 235 Fourth Ave, Creating the Kawabe Park Replat Resolution 2025-013: Supporting Full Funding for the State of Alaska Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Program in the FY26 State Capital Budget Resolution 2025-014: In Support of Raising the Maximum Available Alaska Department of Transportation Harbor Facility Grant to $7,500,000 for Eligible Projects on an Annual Basis Resolution 2025-015: Adopting an Alternative Allocation Method for the FY25 Shared Fisheries Business Tax Program, and Certifying this Allocation Method Fairly Represents the Distribution of Significant Effects of Fisheries Business Activity in the Cook Inlet Fisheries Management Area and Authorizing the City Manager to Apply for Funds from the Shared Fisheries Business Tax Program No grounds for protest to the renewal of the liquor license for Gateway Hotel No grounds for protest to the renewal of the liquor license for Oaken Keg SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND REPORTS City Manager Report Acting City Manager Jason Bickling congratulated Deputy Fire Chief Kate McCoy for her recent leadership award. Bickling also addressed P&Z vacancies, the Forest Acres Afognak subdivision, and the Comprehensive Plan surveys. Barnwell asked for an update on the emergency backup generators. Bicking responded that three 1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 9 of the six generators were in need of repair. He spoke in support of the 1940s generator technology being important in the modern day. McClure asked about what would become of the Comprehensive Plan surveys. Community Development Director Daniel Meuninck described his in-house approach to the surveys and his recommendations for future town hall meetings. City Clerk Report City Clerk Kris Peck said the clerk report featured a graph and statistics for all the public records requests that were processed in the year 2024. Wells asked for an explanation of the process for requesting public records for the benefit of the audience. Police Chief Alan Nickell explained some of the reasons why individuals might request police reports. Most of the police reports were used for insurance purposes after a vehicle accident. PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2025-007: Recommending Kenai Peninsula Borough Approval of the Preliminary Plat of the Property Located at 3207 Sorrel Road, Creating the Spring Creek Park Replat Motion (Osenga/Barnwell) Approve Resolution 2025-007 City Planner Courtney Bringhurst summarized the replat and said the Spring Creek area be separated out so it could be rezoned to park. She explained a staff recommendation from the Public Works Director regarding an easement for public access. There were some issues with the easement as recommended by P&Z. Ultimately, she said the rezone would provide ample security to the Spring Creek Park. There was a very low risk of reverting back from park zoning to industrial zoning. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared and the public hearing was closed. Council discussed Resolution 2025-007 and felt it needed several revisions on the Whereas section in order to make sense. Motion (McClure/Osenga) Motion to Postpone Passed Postpone Resolution 2025-007 until February 10, 2025 Unanimous City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 10 Resolution 2025-008: Recommending Kenai Peninsula Borough Approval of the Preliminary Plat of the Properties Located At 3207, 3311, & 3314 Sorrel Road, Creating the Fourth of July Beach Park Replat Motion (Osenga/Barnwell) Approve Resolution 2025-008 Bringhurst summarized the Fourth of July replat from the agenda statement. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. No one appeared and the public hearing was closed. McClure noted Fourth of July Beach was one of her favorite places. Barnwell addressed some parking concerns at the beach. Motion Passed Unanimous NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2025-010: Rejecting All Proposals for the Northeast Harbor Upgrades Project Motion (Osenga/Wells) Approve Resolution 2025-010 Harbormaster Tony Sieminski said the city went through the whole process for the Request for Proposals, but the dollar amount was simply way too high even after the harbor upgrades project had been scaled down. After further discussions, city administration wanted to reject all proposals and go in a different direction with the capital project budgets. Peck clarified that city code allowed council to reject any and all proposals. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2025-011: Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Task Order 2734.34 with R&M Engineering for the Harbormaster Building and Uplands Scoping and Conceptual Design in an Amount Not to Exceed $95,530 and Appropriating Funds Motion (Wells/Warner) Approve Resolution 2025-011 Bickling explained the reasons for a new Harbormaster building on the Uplands. This conceptual design was one of the required steps to obtain state and federal funding. Motion Passed Unanimous 1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 11 Resolution 2025-016: Accepting $45,732,040 in Grant Funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Ports Grant Program for the Implementation of Shore Power at the Seward Cruise Ship Terminal, and Appropriating the Funds According to the Budget Laid Out in the Grant Narrative Motion (Osenga/Barnwell) Approve Resolution 2025-016 McClure said she removed this resolution from the consent agenda only because she wanted to give city administration a chance to explain what a big deal it was for Seward to get this $45 million in grant funds. Bickling said being awarded this grant was very exciting news for Seward. He explained the battery energy storage system and how it would benefit Seward. The system was like a sponge that absorbed energy and would retain enough power to run the city for a few hours. This shore power system would also prevent cruise ships from burning diesel while in port. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Discuss updates to the council agenda format as it appears in city code [Sponsored by the City Clerk] Peck discussed possible changes to the agenda and received feedback from council. The discussion would be reflected in an upcoming ordinance. Receive Council feedback on allowing one member of the Planning & Zoning Commission to live outside Seward City Limits if they live in the greater Seward area and own and operate a business on their property inside city limits [Sponsored by the Community Development] Meuninck recalled previous shortages on P&Z that resulted in meetings being cancelled due to lack of quorum. There would be three vacancies coming up in February and he was looking at alternatives to recruit more commissioners if needed. He wanted to be clear that he was just testing the waters and was not pushing for one way or the other. Council discussed the requirements regarding ownership of property and business for a resident outside city limits. Council directed city administration to wait until the next cycle of P&Z vacancies and bring it back to Council if P&Z was struggling to fill seats. Council also directed administration to bring it to P&Z as a discussion item. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Boards and Commissions Minutes PACAB minutes from December 4, 2024 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 12 Other Items Upcoming City Council Meetings Work Session Monday, February 10, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. Topic: Design and engineering for the Seward Fire Station Monday, February 10, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. Regular Meeting The Washington Report CITIZEN COMMENTS Rhonda Hubbard, inside city limits, spoke in favor of expanding the P&Z eligibility requirements to allow a commissioner to live outside city limits. These people were part of the community and deserved representation. Rissie Casagranda, inside city limits, appreciated the discussion on allowing a P&Z commissioner outside city limits and advised caution in this direction. She was skeptical of an outside commissioner who could have a voice on her R1 zoned lot. Casagranda thanked Community Development for being an amazing city department. On another topic, she spoke to the extremely bright apartment lights near her residence. These lights were literally the same type as what a prison would use. She hoped there could be blinders installed on these prison lights. There was nothing in city code to prevent that type of light pollution in her R 1 zone. [Wells left the dais at 8:13 p.m. and returned at 8:17 p.m.] Christiania Smith, outside city limits, spoke about possible budget concerns at the school district including bus transportation and the swimming pool. She addressed the importance of swimming and hoped Parks and Recreation Department could operate the pool facility in Seward. Stephanie Millane, outside city limits, spoke in favor of a P&Z commissioner from outside city limits provided they owned a business in town. On another topic, Millane announced that she was new president of the Seward Chamber of Commerce. Doug Schoessler, inside city limits, spoke to the P&Z residency requirement discussion. One requirement that needed to be defined was a set boundary for outside city limits such as Mile 7. He noted the Port and Commerce Advisory Board (PACAB) had 6 of 7 members who lived outside city limits. However, PACAB was an advisory board whereas P&Z had more authority. Schoessler noted the importance of these committees. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Bickling thanked council for another good meeting and their help with navigating issues. 1 1 1 1 City of Seward, Alaska City Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 2025 Volume 43, Page 13 Crites said she enjoyed the work session and noted it was a good meeting. Warner thanked City Administration and Community Development for putting together the agendas and work session material. She thanked the City Clerk's Office for putting the council packets together. On another topic, she noted the current Harbormaster Office cannot actually see the harbor. Lastly, she spoke to Chugachmiut bringing resources to the community that were geared towards children ages 0-5. Finch thanked everyone who participated in the work session and thanked the public for their opinions. He noted the impending cold snap was coming and urged caution in the winter weather. Barnwell spoke about the importance of funding and education. He complimented Community Development on being a quality department. Other cities had spent thousands of dollars on the Comprehensive Plan and he was impressed that Community Development was able to do it all in- house. Wells had no comment. Osenga thanked P&Z for the information and ideas during the work session. He thanked Community Development for all their hard work. Lastly, Osenga echoed the previous comment about taking caution in the upcoming cold weather. McClure noted there was a lot of good input from people tonight. She said council had to listen to a lot of different perspectives and make hard decisions. However, one easy decision was to accept the $45 million shore power grant. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Kris Peck Sue McClure City Clerk Mayor (City Seal) 4W� pF �SE�+y•.,��, —+— SEAL :• _.— • O ' %; "I„/OFP`: ., sss