Daily Sitka Sentinel

VHF Radio Upgrade Added to City Budget

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

The Assembly approved a budget item Tuesday night for use of a $75,000 federal grant to install radio communications repeaters at Mud Bay on Kruzof Island.

The vote was 6-0 on second and final reading. The ordinance calls for spending the $75,000 from a Division of Homeland Security grant for the equipment that will be placed in Mud Bay, 15 miles northwest of Sitka.

Assembly members present were Thor Christianson, Crystal Duncan, Kevin Mosher, Rebecca Himschoot, Dave Miller, and Kevin Knox who presided in the absence of Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz.

It was a short meeting, with only a few items on the agenda. It concluded with a half-hour executive session on a legal and financial matter, related to a claim against a utility customer for theft of electricity and equipment tampering. The purpose of the executive session was to receive and discuss an update on the matter. No information was given when the Assembly returned to regular session after a half-hour. The meeting was adjourned around 7:15 p.m.

The meeting was preceded by a work session on the fiscal year 2022-23 budget. The story will be in Thursday’s Sentinel.

Mud Bay Repeaters

Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said that the three repeaters will boost the VHF radio signals for fire, police, and search and rescue calls. The repeaters will be placed on a hilltop at the 1,500 foot level. 

“The fire department and police department both have range issues when it comes to Granite Creek, the area of The Cove marina, Nelson Logging Road, and Katlian Bay Road ... could be a really big problem for us, when that opens, if it opens,” he said. “This is going to solve some of our communications holes but will also cover the expansion of the Katlian Bay road.”

Assembly member Dave Miller said the project was under discussion when he was the Sitka fire chief.

“When the Katlian Bay road extension first came out we started the discussion ... it came to light when the excavator went into the water and our resources were taxed to the limit for getting radio conversations back and forth,” Miller said, referring to a fatal accident on the road project in 2019.

“We have quite a number of dead spots that our radios can’t cover just here in town,” Miller said. “This will cover a lot of areas and it’s all ...  covered under the grant.”

Other Business

On other agenda items, the Assembly:

– approved a liquor license application renewal for Sitka Golf Association Inc., and liquor license renewal, transfer of ownership, restaurant designation permit, and premises diagram for Sitka Hotel, LLC.

– approved a resolution to adopt the alternative allocation method for the fiscal year 2022 Shared Fisheries Business Tax Program. The “alternative method” allows all municipalities within a fisheries management area to work together to develop an alternative formula for distributing the available funding among themselves. The administrator said in his memo that this represents a small portion of the raw fish tax. Under this allocation method Sitka would receive $19,607.27 or 34% of the total allocated to the management area. Last year’s allocation was $4,444.72.

– approved on final reading a lease to K&E Alaska Inc. for 5.5 acres in the Granite Creek Industrial Area to store construction equipment and material and support construction activities. K&E was the only responder in the invitation to bid and will pay $2,750 a month during the first 2–year lease term and the rate “may be renegotiated at each lease renewal period.” The lease includes two two–year renewal options.

– approved on final reading a lease of 3.2 acres at Granite Creek to SECON for an asphalt batch plant, equipment and storage of stockpiled material. The lease is for five years, with a renewal option. The rate is $3,200 a month.

A few residents spoke under persons to be heard about face masks, rising inflation, and a request for an update on the seaplane base plans and renewal of the city’s license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The discussion on police body cameras was removed from the agenda prior to the start of the meeting.