It was a long night for the Wrangell Borough Assembly. Beginning with a work session to discuss the borough’s federal priorities for 2019 at 5:30 p.m. last Tuesday evening, the assembly and more dedicated members of the public did not leave city hall until four hours later, at 9:40 p.m. The big issues covered in the assembly meeting ranged from proposed changes to the code of ordinances to the ongoing power supply issues in Wrangell and other communities.
Proposed changes to the city’s code of ordinances, pertaining to new nuisance codes, were brought before the assembly for consideration during this meeting. The proposed ordinance states that it will be illegal to make “unnecessary” noise above 90 decibels between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends and holidays. The proposed ordinance does allow for some exemptions. Two exemptions that caused a lot of discussion related to power tools and boat maintenance.
Haig Demerjian, Wrangell resident, called into the meeting to voice his support for the ordinance. However, he did state that he felt the exemptions for power tools and boat maintenance were “too subjective” as they were currently written. He asked that the assembly try to better define what kinds of power tools, and what kind of boat maintenance was and was not allowed.
Another member of the public who spoke was Scott Eastaugh. He said that he was Demerjian’s neighbor, and the only reason that the assembly was currently considering a nuisance code at all was because of a personal vendetta Demerjian holds against him. The tools listed in the nuisance code are things people could find in any shop or garage, he said, and felt that the wording of the code would essentially ban people from working on their personal boats in their own garage. He could not afford to buy a separate piece of property for boat maintenance and didn’t have the money for a company to do it for him, so what options were left for him? James Nelson spoke up in the meeting, as well, to voice similar concerns.
These concerns caused a lot of discussion amongst the assembly. Several assembly members said that it was a shame that they faced a reality where the city had to legislate common decency. Mayor Steve Prysunka said that everyone had the right to make noise and work on their own property, but neighbors also had a right to peace and quiet. The one thing the assembly could agree on was that there was no easy answer. Eventually, it was agreed to accept the first reading of the proposed ordinance on the condition that it would be workshopped further before coming before the assembly again.
Wrangell’s ongoing power issues were also discussed in the meeting. Prysunka, also a member of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency board or directors, gave a brief explanation on what was going on. The cities of Wrangell and Petersburg receive their power from Tyee Lake. The city of Ketchikan, to the south, gets their power from Swan Lake but has the option to buy power from Tyee whenever there is enough water to share. SEAPA, it was discovered a few months ago as the lakes began to dry up, that they had oversold power to Ketchikan and there was not enough water to go around. As such, all three communities have recently switched to diesel power to try and conserve what hydropower was left, in case of an emergency. He said that he and Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen would be speaking with SEAPA to receive payment back for the cost of running the diesel generators.
The diesel generators themselves posed another challenge, as well. Wrangell has four generators, each capable of generating two megawatts of power. Only two generators are currently in use. Wrangell is able to meet its full power need with all the generators, but if a single generator should fail it could cause rolling blackouts through the city. A new generator, to replace any broken ones, Prysunka said, could cost Wrangell as much as $3 million.
A solution has presented itself, however. Electrical Utilities Superintendent Rod Rhoades said that the city of Nome has two generators that have been in storage for the past 10 years. They are used, but in good condition, he said. Nome has approached Wrangell and said they are welcome to the generators, if they want them. The cost of getting the generators down to Wrangell, refurbishing them, and installing them would be around $300,000, Rhoades said. The assembly was very excited about the prospect of getting these generators, and voted that the city look into getting them right away.
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