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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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Assembly Chooses Design for City Seal
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
SEARHC President and CEO Charles Clement reported to the Assembly Tuesday night on progress toward a planned $300,000 expansion of the consortium’s facilities on Japonski Island, and on other topics related to the consolidation of all Sitka healthcare services under SEARHC management.
Also at the meeting the Assembly named Craig Warren as the new fire chief, heard an update on the city’s CARES Act spending, made appointments to boards and commissions, and made budget adjustments to improve public restrooms.
But the Assembly spent much of its time at the meeting on the selection of a new design for the official city seal to replace the one that’s been used since unification of the City of Sitka and the Greater Sitka Borough in 1971.
No vote was taken, but there was general agreement among Assembly members to select entry No. 5, depicting a bear totem, Mt. Edgecumbe (the mountain), a salmon troller, a navigation buoy, O’Connell Bridge and a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter.
Wording on the seal is “City and Borough of Sitka,” and “Sheet’ka.”
All seven members of the Assembly were present for the meeting.
The five finalist design entries for a new city seal are pictured. Most Assembly members favored the design at center on the bottom row. (Images provided to the Sentinel)
City Seal Design
After advertising for submission of designs for a new city seal the city received responses from 13 artists. The designs were reviewed by the Health Needs and Human Services, Historic Preservation, Library, Parks and Recreation, Planning, Police and Fire, Tree and Landscape, and Local Emergency Planning commissions.
City staff also asked Sitka Tribe of Alaska for comments on the designs, and received feedback from the STA Tribal Council and the tribal cultural resource and governance committees.
An online poll received 341 responses, with “No. 5” the popular choice. There was also an open house in late July for viewing and voting on the choices, followed by a guided discussion the following day.
The Assembly narrowed the submissions to five finalists on August 25, and submitted ideas for changes to the artists. Artists were allowed to revise their designs before the final consideration on Tuesday.
There were positive comments on all of the entries, before the Assembly picked No. 5. The artist offered the choice of two color schemes, and the Assembly picked the one with muted gray and blue tones, over the one with a brighter color scheme.
The identity of the artists has been kept confidential, with only City Clerk Sara Peterson knowing their identities and communicating with them throughout the process, said Planning Director Amy Ainslie.
The next step, Peterson said today, is for the Assembly to adopt a resolution at its next meeting, to formalize the change of the city seal.
Ainslie said today she has heard positive comments about all of the entries from across the community.
“Overall it’s been an interesting and fun process to work on,” Ainslie said, noting the enthusiastic participation from city commissions. “I’m glad that the Assembly seemed to come to a good consensus.”
SEARHC Report
The Assembly heard a six-month report from SEARHC President and CEO Charles Clement, including an update on the planned $300 million campus upgrade and rehabilitation.
In the affiliation agreement between the two hospitals, SEARHC agreed to a number of items, including offering employees in good standing a job for at least a year, increasing the range of medical services offered and keeping the community informed. Promises also were made to upgrade the Japonski Island campus, including a new hospital, long-term care and medical offices.
“At this point I think we are on track with regards to all the commitments we made to the city,” Clement said. “We continue to maintain and actually increase the level of service that is being provided to the community of Sitka. To say these past six months have been interesting and challenging would be an understatement.”
He noted the consortium’s work on COVID prevention, including testing resources and making testing widely available. Clement said the hospital recently purchased an M2000 analyzer, and Infinity analyzer, which allows SEARHC to ramp up testing “exponentially” in Sitka.
“The ability to actually process our standard PCR tests here have been fairly limited,” Clement said. “We’ve been able to do some processing here, But these two new machines are an exponential expansion of our ability to process tests here in Sitka.”
The result should be faster processing of tests and less expense, he said.
Clement said SEARHC remains on track with its commitment for a $300 million expansion of its facilities on Japonski Island. The timeline includes an RFP ready for contractors by fall, and ground-breaking in 2021.
SEARHC has committed to build housing to avoid negative impacts on the housing market in Sitka, he said. He also updated the Assembly on land swap deals with the Indian Health Service and the state.
“The primary land where the hospital is going to go has been transferred,” he told the Assembly. Other deals for land transfers and site cleanups are important, but none would “stop the ball from moving,” he said.
On a question of SEARHC’s commitment to keep Sitka Community Hospital employees for at least a year, Clement said to his knowledge one or two people had been laid off since the one-year anniversary of the agreement between the city and SEARHC.
“None of that was necessarily planned, and no additional layoffs are planned,” he said.
Calling attention to his own experience, when SEARHC billed him at a a much higher rate than Sitka Community Hospital had charged for the same kind of routine test, Thor Christianson said increases of that magnitude might cause residents to seek care out of town.
“What’s driving that? You’re going to start losing people to Seattle if that continues,” Christianson said.
Clement said he didn’t know about Christianson’s particular example, but that there are seasonal price adjustments of some 10 percent.
“In the community of Sitka our prices are less than the cost of the service we provide, on the whole,” he said. “Not every single item ... The increases are incremental increases to catch us up on the cost.”
Some Assembly members gave positive comments about SEARHC and asked for more information about pricing. Clement said he is concerned about keeping prices competitive for Sitka residents.
Commission Appointments
The Assembly made two commission appointments without discussion, including Wendy Alderson to the Sitka Planning Commission and Vaughn Morrison to the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board. One other candidate for the industrial park board withdrew his nomination.
There was some discussion about the three nominees for Police and Fire Commission, with each of the three applicants – Gary Oines, Samuel L. Pointer Jr., and Wayne Young – making short statements.
In the end, the Assembly selected Young with six votes in favor. Richard Wein spoke in favor of all three, and voted for Oines.
Young is a volunteer at the Sitka Fire Department, and says in his application that he has “qualified as an Emergency Medical Technician and as a certified nursing assistant.” He told the Assembly that he has gone on a police department ride-along and learned more about the police department. (Young’s late grandfather served two terms on the Police and Fire Commission, a family member said today.)
Valorie Nelson noted she is Young’s aunt, and Steven Eisenbeisz said he is a fellow volunteer for the Sitka Fire Department. Assembly members agreed these did not constitute conflicts requiring the two to recuse themselves from voting.
Assembly members speaking in favor of Young commented on the opportunity for a young person to get involved in city commissions. Young, 20, graduated from Sitka High School in 2019.
Retiring Sitka Fire Chief Dave Miller, left, and incoming Fire Chief Craig Warren pose for a photo this afternoon at the firehall entrance. The Assembly voted unanimously to appoint Warren, who has been at the department for 29 years as both a volunteer and as a paid staff member, during Tuesday’s Assembly meeting at Harrigan Centennial Hall. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
New Fire Chief
The vote was unanimous to approve Craig Warren as the new fire chief. He will replace longtime chief Dave Miller.
A number of Assembly members said they were pleased the city was able to hire from within the department. Warren has 29 years of experience in the Sitka Fire Department, both as a volunteer and paid staff. He is a senior engineer in the department, a position he’s held since 2016.
“He’s been around a long time, he knows the city, he knows the players, and so the transition is not even noticeable,” Richard Wein said. “Even more, he knows the shoe size of our current chief, because those are the shoes he will have to fill. He already knows what he’s truly up against ...”
“We’re lucky to have him,” Mayor Gary Paxton said, and Christianson, a volunteer in the department, said he had positive experiences in many years working with him. Christianson said he thought of Warren as soon as the opening came up.
“I enthusiastically support this,” Christianson said.
CARES Act Updates
City Administrator John Leach reported on the programs being funded with the city’s $14 million in CARES Act funds.
Utilities and Moorage ($4.5 million dedicated) - some $2.7 million has been committed in utility and moorage subsidies, with $1.8 million remaining that can be dedicated elsewhere.
For-profit and nonprofit businesses ($5 million) - 661 applications for a total of $3.095,000, with an average request of $4,675. He broke down the applications to: commercial fishing 37.7 percent of the applications; tourism 10.3 percent; nonprofits 6.8 percent; retail 4.5 percent; restaurant and food service 3.9 percent; rentals 6.8 percent; all others (including deckhands and independent contractors) 30 percent.
By category, 53.9 percent of grant seekers applied at the $2,500 level; 20.6 percent at $5,000; 10.9 percent at 7,500; and 14.7 percent at $10,000. Some 30 applications have some missing information, and about 25 applicants are expected to speak to the Assembly about receiving a higher amount than they qualified for under the program’s classifications.
“I expect to have $3 million spent in this category, and I’m recommending we do another round of business and nonprofit grants,” Leach said. “Time is of the (essence) here. ... We need to move quickly to get information out for Round 2.” The Working Group is working on a draft application for Assembly review.
Leach provided updates on other categories for CARES funding, which will appear in a later edition of the Sentinel. The city has signed a number of sub-recipent agreements, and contracts with organizations to help on food supply, childcare, counseling and transitional employment. No responses have been received to the city’s RFP for a temporary homeless shelter.
In a public comment at the Assembly meeting, a member of the public said he would appreciate more CARES funding dedicated to help residents pay their utility bills.
Other Business
In other business, the Assembly:
- approved a standard marijuana cultivation facility renewal application for Fiberflite, on Jarvis Street.
- approved supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2021 to upgrade public restrooms. The budget ordinance will be up for final reading at the October 13 Assembly meeting.
- approved on first reading a change in general code to allow for the “permanent registration” of vehicles eight years and older, and noncommercial trailers. The item will be up for final reading Oct. 13, when more information will be available about the financial impact to the city from the loss of revenues, said Kevin Knox, who co-sponsored the measure with Eisenbeisz.
- In comments from the public, the Sitka Community Land Trust provided an update on the development at the old city shops property. There has been one “happy home owner” on the tract since July, confirmed buyers for two three-bedroom homes, and one applicant for another home. In the program, residents buy the home but the land remains in SCLT ownership.
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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.