Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sales Tax Questions on Next Assembly Agenda

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly’s agenda at Tuesday’s regular meeting will include a number of sales tax questions and a discussion of a contest for design of a new city seal.
    The meeting starts at 6 p.m. preceded by a work session at 5 on the future of the Marine Service Center. Both the meeting and work session are at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
    Interim City Administrator Hugh Bevan is asking the Assembly to consider several questions on the cold storage facility. These include whether to sell the facility, gravel parking lot and sea wall, and whether city-owned tidelands be included in the sale.
    “If the decision is to sell the facility, an RFP will be brought to the Assembly agenda in the future for formal action,” said the memo in the Assembly packet.
    The facility was built in 1991 with federal and state grant money. A memo from Bevan says the steel sheet pile retaining wall was built in 1976, and has “significant deferred maintenance needs.” The two main tenants are North Pacific Seafoods, which rents month to month, and Seafood Producers Cooperative, which has a lease expiring in June.

    The discussion about the future of the center has drawn large audiences to meetings in the past. Among participants in those meetings have been fishermen who want to make sure the facility continues to be available to the public if it is sold to one of the big processors.
    The city’s policy is to keep 10 percent of the freezer space in the facility available for rent to the public. At present there are 22 active user account holders in the public use section, city officials said.
    An Assembly Action plan drafted last year was to determine the highest and best use of the cold storage.
    Bevan added that perhaps the Assembly would allow public input at this work session to gain insight into the potential for selling the facility.
    Another agenda item relates to a proposed contest to design a new city seal, which will include an extensive public process and a final decision by the Assembly.
    “The current official seal of the City and borough of Sitka does not reflect the rich history, society, culture, geography, flora, fauna, economy or other important characteristics of the area and people within the boundaries of CBS,” said a memo from city staff.
    City staff said today they proposed a process modeled on Ketchikan’s, which replaced its seal in 2012.
    The city finance office on another item will ask for clarification on four areas of the sales tax code, related to gift cards, food containers and condiments, and the application of the sales tax cap related to long-term service and construction contracts.
    There is also a number of other routine items related to appointments, liquor license, and budget appropriations.