TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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City COVID Grants Near Final Approval

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

The city is nearly done processing COVID grant applications for nonprofit and for-profit businesses, and is hoping to have checks in the mail by end of the month, officials said.

Some 661 applications have been processed for grants totaling $3 million.

“There’s still some verification we need to do but we’re getting there,” Finance Director Melissa Haley said. “We’re still hoping to get the vast majority of payments out by the end of the month.”

The Assembly set aside $5 million for the business sector, including nonprofits. A majority of Assembly members have indicated they are in favor of making a second round of distributions with the $2 million left over.

Rob Allen, the CARES Act grant technician, said he is still following up with 70 or 80 businesses that had not yet responded to follow-up questions. But he has finished processing the applications the city received by the deadline.

Allen, the former Sitka Community Hospital CEO, was hired by the city to review the applications for eligibility and completeness. Allen will forward the applications to the finance department. Appeals go to City Administrator John Leach; the second line of appeal is the Assembly.

Allen provided some details about the applications by industry and business.

Most – 616 – were from for-profit businesses, and the remaining 45 applications were from nonprofits.

The largest sector represented is commercial fishing, with 247 applications submitted by processors, deckhands and skippers.

There were 42 applications from residential rental operators (short-  and long-term), 30 from retail businesses, 28 from charter fishermen (plus another 7 by lodge and guide operators); 26 building contractors; 20 artists or artisans; and 15 restaurants.

A total of 20 applications came in from tourism-related operations such as B&Bs and tour businesses, but Allen said he is still fine-tuning some of the categories.

Allen said the program is still on track with the preliminary payout estimate of $3 million. The Assembly followed most of the recommendations of the CARES Act working group for distribution categories and amounts. The city received a total of $14 million in CARES Act funds from the federal government.

Allen also provided a breakdown of distribution amounts ($2,500, $5,000, $7,500, $10,000), which were based on the applicant’s gross revenues.

$2,500 - 353 applications. This represents 53 percent of the total number of applications, and 29 percent – or $885,000 - of the dollars available.

$5,000 - 134 applications. This represents 20 percent of applications received, and 22 percent - or $675,000 - of the dollars available.

$7,500 - 72 applications. This represents 11 percent of the applications received, and 18 percent - or $547,000 - of the dollars available.

$10,000 - 97 applications. This represents 16 percent of the applications received, and 31 percent - or $970,000 - of the amount available.

Allen said he fielded a number of questions throughout the process. He said the FAQs answered a lot of the questions that applicants had.

“One of the positive points was, there was a handful I was able to tell they were eligible for a higher level,” Allen said.

Allen said around 30 businesses are asking for amounts higher than they qualified for in the application by submitting an appeal that says:

“The gross revenue for my organization does not appropriately capture the scope of the services my business or nonprofit provides to the community and I would like the Assembly to consider, in public session, awarding at one of the levels reserved for organizations with higher revenue.”

City Administrator John Leach said the purpose of the first round of grant distribution to businesses and nonprofits is ”to get money out to businesses as quickly as possible, while soliciting some sort of economic study to see where the greatest need exists.”

CARES Act funds must be spent by the end of the year, so acting quickly is essential, he said.

“The next round needs to be a more targeted approach, based on some sort of assertion of need, and they’re going to have to show the level of impact COVID has had on their business or nonprofit,” Leach said.

The Working Group has been discussing recommendations for the Assembly to consider for the next phase of distributions for businesses and nonprofits. Working Group member Kevin Knox, who is on the Assembly, said among the factors the group has considered are numbers of employees and losses of revenue. 

“Both measuring harm and economic multipliers in the community,” Knox said. “What we’re trying to do is balance harm and need, to target the relief in the best way possible.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.

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