Sorted by date Results 676 - 700 of 1325
Representatives of the City and Borough of Wrangell and the local seafood industry held a workshop on Tuesday, April 7, to discuss how public health can be protected with fishing season drawing near. There were over 30 people who called into the meeting, in total. The meeting was chaired by Assembly Member Julie Decker. "I think, in my opinion, the goal is to move the city in a direction of a set of policies, and procedures, and requirements, for the seafood industry that keep the community...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly convened via teleconference last Monday evening, April 6, to discuss a new proposed emergency ordinance. This new ordinance would institute three local health mandates related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and would hopefully mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to the community. Emergency Ordinance No. 977 would require a 14-day self-quarantine for all intrastate travelers coming to Wrangell, allow for a modified quarantine plan for critical workforce, and...
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, according to several members of Wrangell's local government, has been doing a very good job of communicating with them during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly Member David Powell said that communications between SEARHC, Mayor Steve Prysunka, and Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen have been taking place almost daily. Prysunka and Von Bargen are really on top of things, he said. Assembly Member Drew Larrabee added that, in his opinion,...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met via teleconference last Tuesday evening, March 24. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to Alaska even though not in Wrangell, city officials have taken precautions to mitigate any risk of the virus spreading in Wrangell by cancelling unnecessary meetings, and only holding necessary ones remotely. During last week's meeting, the assembly approved of a preferred alternative to a reservoir bypass project. The city is under contract with Shannon & Wilson Engineer...
On Wed., March 25, Wrangell COVID-19 responders participated in their weekly joint meeting to discuss the latest actions made in preparation for the coronavirus reaching the island. City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) leadership discussed state travel mandate advertisement and enforcement, while Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) administration provided information on the surge plans, should the local healthcare facility see unprecedented levels of admittance due to the coronavirus. Representatives...
The City and Borough of Wrangell held a special meeting via teleconference last Sunday afternoon, March 22, to issue an emergency "shelter in place" order. The assembly recently granted the mayor and borough manager the ability to issue emergency orders in the interest of public health, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen issued Wrangell's first emergency orders last week, limiting restaurants to to-go service only and limiting public gatherings to a maximum of...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon, March 17. In response to the global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which recently reached Alaska, the assembly decided to meet to determine how best to handle the situation, and mitigate chances of the virus spreading locally. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wrangell as of March 17, but the assembly felt it was important to be proactive. As part of an effort to encourage social distancing, the...
Two new cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been identified in Fairbanks, bringing the total known cases in Alaska to three. Conditions and guidance regarding COVID-19 is changing by the hour. Please understand the following facts about COVID-19 and Wrangell: Persons Most at Risk: 1) Persons age 60 and older; 2) Persons with underlying health conditions. Wrangell's Age: Wrangell has one of, if not the, highest population of Senior Citizens, per capita, in Alaska. That means a...
With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, many communities across the nation are doing their best to be prepared. This is also true in Alaska. There are only a few confirmed cases of the virus in Anchorage and Fairbanks as of March 17. All across the state, however, communities are taking precautionary measures to keep the virus from spreading further. In Wrangell, many events and facilities have been postponed for the sake of caution. "As a preventative measure to...
The Wrangell School board held a somewhat unique meeting Monday evening, March 16. Due to concerns about the coronavirus, though there have been no confirmed cases in Southeast Alaska as of this date, the board limited attendance to the meeting to a maximum of 10 people. Others interested in attending could sit in nearby rooms and watch the proceedings via livestream. Other than the limitation on how many people could be in the room, the meeting went on much like any other. During this meeting,...
Members of the Wrangell Borough Assembly and the Wrangell School District met Tuesday evening, March 10, to hold a work session on the district's newest budget. Both the borough and school district are going through their budget season. As the district is part of the borough, the borough regularly makes a contribution to the budget, and said budget comes before the borough for approval before being sent up to the state; both parties regularly collaborate on the project. This upcoming budget for...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Feb. 25, to have a follow-up work session on staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. As covered in a Feb. 13 article of the Sentinel, the assembly has been considering how best to resolve staffing questions at both facilities while also keeping everything as affordable as possible. During their last workshop, the assembly considered a number of options for an empty assistant position at the library. The Nolan Center has...
The Wrangell School Board held a work session Monday night to discuss next year's budget. The district is currently undergoing its budget season, looking at the financial year for 2021. The current draft of the FY 2021 budget has the school district operating at a loss. Total revenues are estimated at a little less than $5.7 million, while expenses are around $6.5 million. The largest costs for the district include $2.7 million for "instruction,'' about $831,000 for "operations and maintenance...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Tuesday evening, Feb. 11, for a work session on the borough's future goals. The discussion was meant to ensure that all city employees understood what Wrangell's priorities are, and what they are all working towards. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the borough had a wide variety of goals to consider. Some of the goals laid out in the agenda packet included development of the old Institute and Byford junkyard properties, and cleaning up abandoned...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Monday, Feb. 10, to workshop some staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. The assembly originally planned to hold a special assembly meeting right after the workshop, but instead decided to just have the workshop and revisit the topic at a later meeting. An assistant position is currently open, one of three permanent positions the city maintains at the library: Library Director, Assistant II, and Assistant I. The Assistant I...
During their last meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, the Wrangell Borough Assembly got to take a look at their financial situation from the past six months. The current budget, for FY 2020, was adopted last June. As of Dec. 31, 2019, total revenue for Wrangell's general fund has been about $3.5 million, and about $2.7 million in expenditures. The general fund is currently sitting at a profit of $869,251. However, for the entire financial year the general fund is expected to bring in a little less...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a work session before their regular meeting, on Jan. 28, to review the preliminary results of a compensation study by JB Reward Systems. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen explained that the study compared the salaries of public employees in Wrangell to those of similar municipalities, to see how they stacked up and whether or not Wrangell is a competitive location for potential hires. "Basically, our three fundamental goals would be to have a structure that was...
The evening of Saturday, Jan. 18, a pipe in the public safety building's sprinkler system broke and caused some flooding. Amber Al-Haddad, capital facilities director, explained that the building, which houses Wrangell's court, police department, fire department, and other entities, has two sprinkler systems: A wet system and a dry system. Somehow, she said that water got into the dry sprinkler system and froze during the cold weather Wrangell experienced this past month. This broke one of the...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last week, Jan. 14, to discuss the potential establishment of critical habitat areas for humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is proposing these habitat areas be set up all along the Pacific coastline, from Alaska to southern California. NOAA officials held a meeting in Petersburg on Jan. 6 to discuss this proposal. According to a report by the Sentinel's sister-paper, the Petersburg Pilot, these habitat areas...
The borough assembly and other city officials met Saturday morning, Jan. 11, to workshop future priorities for the city and to look at the upcoming budget process. A long list of state and federal legislative priorities was laid out for attendees to review and talk about. For state priorities for Wrangell, the first and foremost was the reinstatement of several state positions to the city. Over the past decade, according to the priority list, Wrangell has seen several state jobs taken away that...
Below is the second half of The Wrangell Sentinel's review of 2019, covering the months of July to December: July July 4 - Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey was recognized for his service to the community at last week's borough assembly meeting. With his retirement at the end of June, McCloskey has closed out 38 years of police work. July 11 - The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous...
Following is the Wrangell Sentinel's news review for January through June of 2019. Next week the review will include events from July through December. January Jan. 13 - The Fairbanks Arts Association opened their 24th annual statewide poetry contest for submissions this December. Each year, the association picks a new judge for the contest. This year will be judged by Wrangell resident Vivian Faith Prescott. Prescott is the author of numerous works, including The Hide of My Tongue and The Dead...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning commission held their monthly meeting last Thursday, Dec. 12. It was the first meeting for Commissioner Jillian Privett, who was just appointed by the borough assembly on Dec. 10. There were only three items on the agenda for the commission's meeting. The first item was a conditional use application by the Miller family, for a vacation rental. The Millers are purchasing a lot near the intersection of Reid Street and St. Michael's Street, according to the agenda...
The City and Borough of Wrangell released a statement last Friday, Dec. 6, in response to several complaints about residents' electric bills suddenly increasing. A Facebook post by Edward Rilatos on the Wrangell Community Board, asking if anyone else had received a big increase on their electric bill, received over 200 responses. Many of them were responses that their bills had, indeed, gone up. "33% increase over last month with the same usage [sic]," reads a comment by Kimberly Szczatko....
The Borough assembly had a busy night during their meeting on Dec. 10. The meeting opened with a report from State Representative Dan Ortiz. Ortiz said he is going around to the communities he represents, ahead of the next legislative session, to give an update on things in Juneau and to listen to the priorities of his constituents. The next legislative session will be opening on Jan. 21, 2020. Ortiz said that the financial situation for Alaska is largely unchanged from the previous legislative...