By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
City officials met Monday with fish processing companies in Sitka to discuss their plans for operations this summer, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, City Administrator John Leach said.
A particular concern is about local fish processors’ plans to bring in seasonal workers from other states and Mexico.
“We’re having some great conversations,” Leach said today. “We told them what we’re looking for. They’ve been cooperative, they’ve provided comprehensive information and well thought-out plans. We will work with them on implementation and enforcement on those plans.”
A conference call on Monday included representatives from Silver Bay Seafoods, Seafood Producers Cooperative and Sitka Sound Seafoods, as well as Leach, other emergency responders and Assembly members Thor Christianson and Richard Wein.
Christianson and Wein are co-sponsoring an ordinance dealing with the mitigation measures that will be required for seasonal workers coming to Sitka.
Under State Covid-19 Mandate 10.1, companies with workers coming from out-of-state are required to submit plans “outlining how you will avoid the spread of COVID-19 and not endanger the lives of the communities in which you operate, of others who serve as a part of that infrastructure or the ability of that critical infrastructure to function.”
There is currently no requirement for the state to share company-submitted plans with the public or the local governments concerned, although some companies have voluntarily done so, Leach said.
Last week the Wrangell city council, which had stated its concerns about a local fish processor’s coronavirus mitigation plan for its seasonal workers, found that the state refused to give them a copy of that plan. The Wrangell officials considered the possible economic effects of continuing to pursue the issue, and voted 5-2 to drop it.
The state mandate requires a 14-day quarantine for everyone arriving in Alaska from out-of-state. The ordinance going before the Assembly tonight says “people arriving in Sitka, without exception unless determined a critical health care worker, are required to self-quarantine for 14 days before working for critical workforce infrastructure businesses and requiring such businesses to submit a protection plan to the City and Borough of Sitka that must be approved by the municipal administrator.”
The proposed emergency ordinance says it is consistent with state health mandates “while providing individualized orders which address the unique circumstances of Sitka.”
“If the state won’t give (the plans) to us we’re pointing at the ordinance; we would like to see them, as a concerned community,” Leach said. The ordinance would apply to any employer bringing seasonal workers to Sitka from outside Alaska.
SEARHC chief medical officer Dr. Elliot Bruhl wrote a letter to state Department of Commerce Commissioner Julie Anderson on April 7 objecting to the plan submitted by Silver Bay Seafoods in which each of the hundreds of workers destined for Sitka would self-isolate for 14 days before starting their trip, and would self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival in the seafood company’s bunkhouse.
“The medical reality is that despite best efforts, if this plan is enacted, the virus will come to Sitka and spread to these workers and the community, creating a strain on limited medical resources intended for the entire region,” Bruhl said.
As for the state’s policy of not making such plans available to local officials, Leach said today that the city “would like to see the plans for the safety of Sitka. Making the plans public is up to the individual business.”
The state considers the information from the businesses to be proprietary, Leach said.
“I’m willing to bet most of them, if not all of them, will agree they have a duty to the people of Sitka,” the city administrator said.
A task force meeting is planned for Friday to discuss the companies’ plans.
“There was a lot of good conversation,” Leach said of the conference call with the processors. “I feel better about it.”
He said the companies’ plans were put together quickly in response to the state mandate, and that he believes they will be improved in the coming weeks and months.
Assembly member Thor Christianson, who attended the teleconference, said he felt the meeting was productive.
“The main goal was getting the processors to talk to us and talk about it seriously,” Christianson said. “The problem is it’s coming up so fast.”
He said he sees future conflicts with the state over this issue, since there is no requirement for the communities to receive the companies’ plans.
Christianson said he may propose postponing the emergency ordinance since the situation with the processors is evolving.
He said the goal of the ordinance, which he co-sponsored with Richard Wein, “is to make Sitka safer. Now the goal is to get people talking. It’s achieved this goal.”
