Wrangell Sentinel -

The borough assembly voted 3-2 Tuesday against a motion which would have made Brueger Street one way.

The idea to change the street — which runs from the Elk’s Lodge parking lot to a busy intersection near Bobs’ IGA grocery store and First Bank – first came up at the Jan. 28 assembly meeting when assembly member Pam McCloskey McCloskey expressed concerns about congestion near the well-trafficked intersection. Borough officials provided a cost estimate of $1,700 in signage, plus an additional labor cost, to make the transition.

In discussion at Tuesday night’s meeting, assembly members James Stough seemed most vocally opposed to the change, based on discussions with business owners located along the downtown street. McCloskey cited other business owners she said didn't oppose the change.

Discussion at a public hearing before the assembly meeting focused around parking spaces potentially lost by any change to the street after a member of the police department suggested eliminating all parking along the street as a compromise measure to avoid changing the direction of traffic while improving visibility and alleviating congestion. Assembly member Daniel Blake introduced the idea.

“I spoke to Sgt. Smith of the police department, and he spoke of another option eliminating parking on Brueger Street, with the exception of the handicapped space in front of City Hall,” he said. “I promised him I would present that idea.”

Amber Hommel, a representative from First Bank, inadvertently ended up testifying before the assembly when a Sentinel reporter mistook her presence at the meeting for a desire to speak to the subject and directed her to the speaker sheet.

Pressed for her opinion by Mayor David Jack, she said a change in direction wouldn’t affect her customers, provided parking was retained.

“If you allow parking on both sides of the road, it probably wouldn’t make a big difference to our customers that come into the bank,” she said.

John Taylor said he favored eliminating curbside parking over turning the street one-way.

“I would like to see it remain a two-way street,” he said. “I think that if you eliminate parking from the garbage cans alongside the AICS building all the way up to the Elks back parking lot, that would only eliminate about four parking spots. A small change would be to eliminate the parking. A huge change would be to eliminate a lane of traffic in one direction. A small change, in my opinion, would be easier and less disruptive.”

During the assembly meeting, members generally divided into camps, with Stough and Wilma Stokes appearing to favor the status quo, while McCloskey and Blake favored change.

“I would love to see it remain a two-way street, but the concerns that were brought up during the workshop, about eliminating that much parking when we’ve already got overcrowding lots, especially the one next to First Bank next to AICS,” Blake said. “I just can’t see us eliminating that many parking spots. The only option that I see is to make it a one-way street.”

Congestion wasn’t obvious to her, Stokes said.

“I haven’t really seen where it’s been so congested,” she said. “I’m not seeing myself that it’s so congested.”

That left Jack with the swing vote.

“My personal opinion is that Brueger Street should be one way with parking on both sides, going west from Bobs’ supermarket to the Elks Parking lots,” he said. “There is no clear public consensus that they want it changed so we’ll leave it like it is.”

In other business, the assembly also voted down a motion to form a new energy committee, with Stokes and Stough voting yes to McCloskey, Blake, and Jack voting no. Some assembly members worried the committee could potentially interfere with ongoing negotiations between officials from the Wrangell and Petersburg boroughs and the Southeast Alaska Power Agency over the future of operations at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric power facility, located in Wrangell.

The assembly also passed on first reading an ordinance which could restructure the way borough assembly members are elected in the future. The ordinance would eliminate designations for specific seats, instead instructing voters to select no more than a certain number of candidates. The ordinance will have to be approved on second reading before taking effect. A public hearing on the change is scheduled before the Feb. 25 board meeting.

The assembly declined a motion on partially funding SEAPA board members’ travel expenses. Discussion of the issue focused on the precedent which could be set by funding travel for newly minted SEAPA board member Christie Jamieson from Juneau, where she works as a legislative staffer for State Sen. Bert Stedman (R – Sitka), to meetings held in Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan.

The board also voted 5-0 to approve sale of city surplus property and to allow SEAPA to run a fiber optic line using borough power poles to improve communication.