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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01102022 City Council LAYDOWN- Bruce Jaffa Heat LoopL/ � C✓ f� '� .e...M 1 Bruce Jaffa PO Box 107 Moose Pass, Alaska 99631 907-288-3175 Bruce@JaffaConstruction.com 1st The recent action by the Administration to extend the Grant for the Heat Loop Project is appreciated but must be extended to a realistic time frame and the project pursued with full dispatch. 2nd At a recent PACAB meeting we listened to the Administration ask that we investigate problems of businesses and institutions in Seward with employee recruitment and retention. In an effort to recruit speakers to come to PACAB I made calls to a variety of local leaders and individuals, mostly in charge of their respective organizations. I described a short presentation by them, to PACAB, one or two at a time over the course of two months. The response was positive and enthusiastic. It has since been suggested that a town hall meeting may serve the same function and should be considered. There is a_significant real current need to fill available jobs in Seward. There are Full-time, funded positions in professional, craft and unskilled fields in Seward that are not being filled due a lack of available amenities necessary to attract workers Suffice for this writing assume categories of Jobs as permanent, temporary, and seasonal. Each type of job has specific needs that the community must provide. From my calls, What I heard repeated was "Housing, Housing, Housing" but that is not the only problem. In addition to housing, shopping, culture, recreation, Scenic Beauty, health care, education, transportation, and more, form the draw for workers to come here. Page 1©f 2 There are of course many parts to the housing issue. We all know costs of sales, construction, conversion to Nightly Rentals and zoning have an impact on housing. I heard of problems that may require a rethinking of current planning directions that are within the City's responsibility and some that are beyond. The success of Seward to attract a diversity of employers and industry is admirable and we now see the proof of this in strong sales tax returns from sales in 2020 and 2021. Employment across the waterfront, education, health, tourism is strong and must be supported by new and locally trained workers. We have many of the tools we just need to fill in the missing pieces. In a 2013"Seward Economic Growth Plan" by Seward.Com many of these problems were anticipated but too little has been done with the conclusions The solutions will not be found by scattergun approach but require a broad overview and action. What is Councils will? A town meeting can be set up and the results compiled into an action list. Understanding the timely need for a solution is required and all parties need to be incorporated into an action plan. Respectfully, Bruce Jaffa Page 2 of 2