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Alaska lawmakers are making fast work of several fish bills that have wide support from Alaska’s fishermen. “I was anticipating a somewhat slow start, but they’re organized and they’re diving right into these issues and taking these bills up. And so there’s lots of opportunities to participate,” said Frances Leach, executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska. The bill (HB 35) that would resolve a conflict of interest fix at the state Board of Fisheries has been moving through committee hearings in Juneau and could finally be settled aft...
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...
The Wrangell Port Commission met last Thursday, Dec. 5, for a relatively brief meeting. A workshop was held beforehand to continue ongoing discussions on the cruise industry in Wrangell, and potential changes to vessel classifications in the harbors. As this was a work session, no action will be taken yet on these items. The main piece of business during the meeting was a plan to change future meeting times. Port commission meetings have usually had a start time of 7 p.m. However, as the...
Plans are in motion to subdivide the old mill property around 6.5 mile Zimovia Highway, according to Terri Wenger with Anchor Properties. The property, currently owned by Betty Buhler, has been on the market for quite some time. On the Anchor Properties website the almost 39-acre lot is listed at $2.7 million. Wenger said that the plan is to subdivide the land into 11 lots, ranging in size from one to three acres. "I could be wrong, but I think that it could be possibly the biggest private land...
Shoemaker Bay Harbor has been undergoing renovations since the summer of 2018. First built in 1977, according to Harbor Master Greg Meissner in a previous interview with the Sentinel, it has grown well past its life expectancy. The work has seen the installation of a new gangway and floats. The harbor was also dredged to make it a little deeper. Meissner, in an interview in August 2018, said that the plan was to rebuild Shoemaker to make it more easily accessible to wider, deeper boats. During...
The Wrangell Port Commission met for a brief workshop to begin discussions on two topics that Harbor Master Greg Meissner said would be important for the future. One was on potentially changing the fees that Wrangell collects from cruise ships, and the other was on how he could better handle derelict boats taking up space in the harbors. A spreadsheet was given to board members, comparing the fees that different Southeast Alaskan towns earned from visiting cruise ships. These fees could vary...
The Wrangell Port Commission held their first meeting since April last Wednesday, Oct. 9. Meetings were put on the city calendar monthly, but due to vacant seats on the commission and conflicting schedules of several commissioners over the summer, they were cancelled due to a lack of quorum. With summer at an end and Wrangell's recent election, the commission was finally able to meet again. Commissioner John Yeager, who was excused from the meeting, was re-elected to the commission for a...
With the final votes tallied by the canvass board earlier that morning, the Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Thursday, Oct. 3, to confirm this year's local election. There were several positions open for election on the assembly, school board, and an open seat on the port commission in the election on Oct. 1. The public also voted on a proposition to remove the Wrangell Medical Center Board from the city's charter. In total, there were 365 votes cast on election day, plus an additional 41...
A total of 365 ballots were cast on Wrangell's election day, Oct.1, plus an additional 40 absentee ballots. There were several positions up for election on the borough assembly, school board and port commission. The public also had the opportunity to vote to make a minor amendment to Wrangell's charter, removing the Wrangell Medical Center Board as the hospital is no longer operated by the borough. The following is the preliminary election results (* indicates preliminary winner): Borough...
The City and Borough Assembly: Three Year Tearm Julie Decker is seeking re-election to the Wrangell Borough Assembly for a three-year term. There are several reasons she wants to sit for another term on the assembly. The current borough assembly has been making some good decisions on behalf of the city, she said, and she would like to see that continue. As a member of the assembly, she said that she has tried to stay informed and lead in a way that benefits the city as a whole. She added that...
Declarations for candidacy in Wrangell's upcoming October elections closed at 4 p.m. last Friday, Aug. 30. From city hall to the school board, there are multiple positions open as well as people willing to run for them. The following is a list of open seats and a list of candidates, courtesy of city hall: Wrangell Borough Assembly Two open seats for three-year terms: Incumbent Julie Decker and incumbent Patricia Gilbert. Two open seats for one-year unexpired terms: Incumbent Anne Morrison,...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held an emergency meeting last Thursday night to adopt a "surplus property agreement" with the Nome Joint Utility System. The surplus property in question is a pair of diesel generators currently sitting in storage in Nome. Power has been a topic of concern around Wrangell, and amongst the assembly, thanks in part to the recent hydropower shortages at Tyee and Swan Lake. Wrangell currently has four diesel generators which it can use for power in the event of an...
The Wrangell Port Commission met last Thursday, April 4, to discuss a plan to alter lease rates at the boat yard. According to Commission Member John Martin, lease rates at the boat yard cover a wide range, from eight cents per square foot to 28 cents per square foot. Under a new formula the commission is planning to use, several businesses at the boat yard will see their rates decrease, while others will see an increase. Martin said that they are trying to bring a sense of equilibrium and...
None of the members of the Senate Community and Regional Affairs committee (CRA) lives near the sea, but at a hearing last week they were not impressed by Governor Dunleavy’s plan to pull millions of dollars in fish taxes from remote coastal towns. Bills submitted to the legislature by the governor would remove the ability of towns to keep their share of local fisheries business and landing taxes. For decades, the taxes have been split 50/50 with the state. Dunleavy wants to take all of the funds for state coffers, meaning a combined loss of $...
The Wrangell Port Commission held its monthly meeting on Feb. 7 to hold a public workshop on the Mariners' Memorial. Members of the community have been working towards a memorial for Wrangell sailors lost at sea for almost two decades, according to the Mariners' Memorial group website. Some progress has been made towards the memorial, with the ground being broken at the proposed site last December. The workshop was called together to discuss the details of the memorial. One of the details that was discussed heavily was who, exactly, should be...
With polls closing at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, preliminary results for Wrangell’s city election have come in. The election saw seats open for the positions of mayor, the borough assembly, school board, port commission, and hospital board. Also on the ballot was Proposition 1, which would allow for the lease of the Wrangell Medical Center and construction of a new hospital. There were 649 ballots cast on election day, with an additional 117 absentee ballots. The preliminary results of the election are as follows: There were two candidates for m...
The city and borough of Wrangell will be holding an election on Oct 2. There are several positions needing to be filled, and there are many people seeking to fill them with 13 people running for office. The Wrangell Sentinel has created a roundup of candidates to help better inform local voters. Mayor There are two candidates seeking the position of mayor. Carl Carlisle has been in Wrangell for about three years, he said, but has lived all around Alaska before then. Coming from a military background, he said that his main concerns for Wrangell...
U.S. Representative Don Young stopped in Wrangell the weekend of June 28 for some meet-and-greets with the locals. Stopping at the Stikine Inn, Young went from table to table to chat with people, answering questions and getting to know the people he represents. These questions ranged from topics like the environment, to derelict boats, to the timber industry. One question came from Joane Sargent, who was concerned about what would happen to many Alaskan’s healthcare, with the ongoing debate in Washington on the topic. Young said that it was an...
Wrangell is still preparing to deal with nuisance abatement, though it will be approaching with an amiable cautiousness. City manager Lisa Von Bargen updated the City and Borough Assembly last week on progress so far made in reducing the various collections of junk and scrap to be seen around town. City code proscribes such gatherings, both on public and private property. The Port Commission has long had in its sights the removal of abandoned vehicles from its harbor facility parking lots, and since last fall the city assembly has taken a...
The steering committee for an upcoming mariners’ memorial will be holding its first spring fundraiser this weekend. Taking advantage of the warmer weather, an outdoor fish fry event has been scheduled for 5 p.m. this Sunday at Heritage Harbor. The meal will also feature a silent auction for a number of submitted items. A monument dedicated to Wrangell’s seafaring traditions and its community members lost at sea has been a goal for a decade and a half. After financing designs for a memorial at Heritage Harbor, by early 2017 the Port Commission e...
The organizing committee for a planned mariners’ memorial will be holding a winter fundraiser this weekend. A monument dedicated to Wrangell’s lost mariners has been in the making for over a decade. The Port Commission took off with it in 2009, and helped shepherd the concept through the drafting stages, which were completed in 2015. An independent steering committee was subsequently organized, and after receiving tax-exempt status last fall has begun raising money from individuals and businesses to construct the memorial. Committee member Bre...
January 17, 1918: Wrangell chapter, American Red Cross Wrangell, Alaska. Dear Ladies: I received your package yesterday and wish to extend to you my heartiest thanks for same. I was rather surprised at first but I’m real happy now to think that, even though homeless, there is someone in the great world to remember me, I expect to leave for France in a day or two and whereever I may be I shall at all times deeply remember the Ladies of the Wrangell Chapter of the American Red Cross. Military life at this time of the year is rather tough as it i...
One of Southeast’s primary ferries will be out of service longer than expected as it undergoes annual maintenance, affecting the winter schedule. The Alaska Marine Highway System announced last week the M/V Malaspina will be out of commission several months longer than expected. The vessel went in for its annual overhaul and certification on October 1, with the intention of returning it to service on December 22. During the overhaul engineers determined an extensive replacement of the craft’s steel was needed, and that both its propeller hubs r...
Results from last week's elections were certified and accepted by the City and Borough Assembly in a special meeting Monday. Turnout in the largely uncontentious October 3 municipal elections had been low, with only 16 percent of the borough's 1,721 registered voters polling in. Of these, 242 cast votes on election day, with 29 others turning in absentee ballots ahead of time. Two other ballots had been rejected, due to the voters not previously being registered in the Wrangell polling area. Of...
The last ballots were cast and polls closed Tuesday evening on the 2017 municipal elections. Turnout was low in a relatively low-key election, with no ballot measures to consider and candidates running for six of the eight available seats uncontested. No letters of interest were put forward to be considered as a write-in candidate, and one unexpired term on the Wrangell Medical Center Board garnered no interest. The only race in contest was for an unexpired two-year term on the Public School...