By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly postponed an item related to bulk water sales at Tuesday night’s regular meeting, and passed a resolution seeking federal assistance that would allow for a 2021 cruise ship season.
Most of the business items on the agenda took only a few minutes until the final one: a proposed long-term contract to sell Sitka’s Blue Lake water in bulk.
Noting the importance of Sitka’s fresh water resources, Assembly members said they wanted more public feedback before making a final decision on the proposed agreement with Arctic Blue Waters Alaska Inc.
Some members said they were not inclined to vote in favor, citing the length of the proposed lease, questions about the value of the resource, and the history of past deals on options to purchase Blue Lake water.
“I don’t like the idea of tying up our water rights,” Valorie Nelson said.
Others on the Assembly said they did not see the harm in approving the agreement, since it could result in benefits to the community, including the $10,000 up-front deposit and additional revenue if water delivery actually takes place.
Under the agreement the company would pay $10,000 to secure the rights for up to 2 billion gallons within five years, and secure the rights to up to 6.8 billion additional gallons for $350,000.
Thor Christianson commented that the 6.8 million gallon figure was extremely high, but added, “The chances of their being able to move anything close to that amount are very low.”
Crystal Duncan asked about the possible downsides, and whether other offers were on the table.
Under the agreement, the city would charge a half cent per gallon of water, and the money the company paid to secure the rights could be used as credits toward purchases. The company would be required to pay $10,000 to secure the water purchase option within 15 days of the signing of the contract. The water would be taken from the afterbay, after the city has generated electricity from it.
The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board recommended approval of the contract.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said he is generally supportive of following commission recommendations, but in this case he feels the proposal is speculative. He said if Sitka signs the agreement, the city will be tying up its water rights with no actual sales in sight.
The mayor said Sitka’s history with the businessman proposing the deal, Fred Paley, goes back more than 20 years and none of his plans has ever come to fruition.
On the financial end, it was pointed out that Sitka has benefitted from the payments various companies have made over the years for options on Blue Lake water purchases. But Nelson added that there have been costs to the city from these deals also.
Kevin Mosher said he was doubtful about the proposal from the start, given the value of the resource to the community, and asked whether the length of the lease could be shortened.
Garry White, executive director of the industrial park, said he could approach Arctic Blue with that question.
The Assembly asked a number of questions about protections in the contract for the city’s needs of Blue Lake water for power generation, and also the potential loss of Sitka’s water export rights if they are not used.
Given the number of issues in the mix, and a desire by Assembly members to hear from the public, the item will be on a March meeting agenda.
“I’d like a little more information,” Rebecca Himschoot said, noting such issues as climate change and predictions for the future of Sitka’s water supply.
From the public, Richard Wein recommended against this and any leases and contracts for Sitka’s water, and instead make it available to those who want to purchase it.
Cruise Ship Resolution
The cruise ship resolution, co-sponsored by Kevin Knox, Mosher and Eisenbeisz urges the federal government to issue a temporary waiver from the Passenger Vessel Services Act “to allow the Alaska cruise industry to resume operations in 2021.”
The vote to pass it was unanimous.
The resolution also asks the CDC to issue technical guidance for resuming cruise operations.
The Canadian minister of transport, citing the COVID risk, recently extended the ban on cruise vessels in all Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022. Under the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, foreign-flagged vessels carrying passengers from one U.S. port to another must stop in a foreign port in the course of the voyage. The foreign port visited by Alaska-bound cruise ships is one in Canada.
The resolution notes the importance of the tourism industry in Alaska, and the loss of the 300,000 passenger visits projected for Sitka this year.
“One of the important pieces for me is, this isn’t just saying, open it up, let them come, however they want,” said Knox. “This has strong recommendations or requests this be done still in an appropriate manner, asking the CDC provide technical advisement and guidance. We know that passenger vessels that would come here, or even those that are currently originating here and sailing are doing the right thing to keep themselves safe, to keep our community safe.”
The resolution will be sent to Rep. Don Young, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and is similar to ones passed by other Southeast communities. The congressional delegation has issued statements in the past month about their appeals to Canadian authorities on the cruise ship issue, but they have not mentioned any effort to get relief from the U.S. regulations.
Emergency Operations Center
In an announcement at the end of the meeting, City Administrator John Leach told the Assembly he was stepping down as Incident Commander for the city Emergency Operations Center that was set up in the city’s response to the pandemic. Fire Chief Craig Warren is the new incident commander. Leach thanked all for their work, including members of the EOC and Unified Command.
Other Items
At the outset of the meeting. Mayor Eisenbeisz read a proclamation to declare March 9, 2021, also known as “International Women’s Day,” as a day to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Relatives, and Persons in the community.
Other items approved in short order included:
– a resolution in support of participating in the National Park Service Planning Assistance Program for parks and recreation planning for the city.
– budget adjustments for equipment for the electric department and repair of the bulk water line at the industrial park.
– a lease agreement extension for NSRAA at the industrial park.
– a port tariff fee schedule adjustment for GPIP.
– the promotion of Melissa Henshaw from deputy clerk and records specialist to Public & Government Relations Director. She has worked for the city for more than 20 years.
The vote was 6-1 with Nelson against. She said today the Assembly had decided about a year ago not to fill the position, and was already paying lobbyists.
Duncan said she supported Henshaw for the position, and said she would like to have a larger conversation about recruitment and retention of Sitka city employees, and was supportive of a workforce that “reflects the community at large.” Both Mosher and Eisenbeisz objected that Duncan’s workforce comment was out of order because it did not speak directly to the motion.
The Assembly also approved updating the enforcement section in the harbor regulations.
