By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska tribal council covered a number of issues of shared concern last Thursday at their twice-yearly dinner meeting.
Bears, historic preservation, tourism planning, rising costs of living and the seaplane base were among topics covered in a government-to-government meeting over dinner at Westmark Sitka.
The event lasted more than two hours, and was hosted by Sitka Tribe of Alaska. The meeting was open to the public, and a recording was provided to the Sentinel upon request.
Tribal Council Chairman Woody Widmark brought up some areas of mutual concern, including supporting each other’s legislative priorities, bears in residential areas, financial support of the Ride bus service, and historic preservation on Katlian and Kaagwaantaan streets.
Widmark said the partnership and cooperative efforts between the tribal and city governments have improved over the years. The agenda packet included a copy of the 1998 Memorandum of Understanding that established the government-to-government relationship between the city and STA.
“I think it’s grown, I think it’s gotten better,” Widmark said. “The first step is symbolic, having a municipality working with a federally recognized tribe – that’s unheard of.”
The two organizations discussed the seaplane base the city is planning for the north end of Japonski Island. STA and the SEARHC Raven’s Way counseling program have objected to that location for the facility.
Tribal council member Lesa Way said she was taken aback that the city continued to move forward for funding for the planned location because she felt STA members had expressed opposition to the choice of that site some time ago.
“I found that it was a little shocking for me to find out that the city had decided to go out and get funding for the property and everything else,” she said. “I was like, ‘gosh, I thought we were really clear that we wanted it moved.’”
Way also talked about economic contributions the tribe makes to the community, including compact funding for SEARHC (over 600 jobs); and 70 full-time jobs at STA; and summer jobs.
“I think it’s really important that we all work together because you are us and we are you,” she said. “We want to have healthy families with good jobs working in this community.”
Bears
The two bodies also talked about improving communications and removing possible barriers before moving on to tribal council comments about bears, equity issues related to trash handling and enforcement, and the need to help those struggling with trash handling.
Martha Moses suggested becoming more proactive in bear control, and ensuring that the actions taken actually solve a problem. “We don’t strategically plan for how we’re going to take care of those bears beyond talking about what problem we have with them,” she said. “... We need to talk about strategically versus running around and giving people fines.”
From the Assembly, Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz brought up some new information related to bears.
“The crew working on the Katlian Bay road, they had to get special permission in order for their crew members to carry firearms on the job site,” he said. “And that’s because they had an immense bear problem this year... hoses torn, windows broken, equipment damaged. So I understand that trash does attract bears but I’m of the mindset that Sitka is doing better than we have with trash... It’s more than a trash issue.”
Moses also talked about her support of the Ride bus service and keeping the transfer site at the Crescent Harbor parking lot, particularly with the busy summer tourism season coming up. Discussions have been held about moving it, but the existing location is the safest place, she said.
Council member Dionne Brady-Howard spoke about traditional place names, land acknowledgments and signage, which she said, “is literally just a small first step but it’s a small first step that can lead to changing people’s mindsets.”
Sea Plane Base
Discussion on the seaplane base was on both the STA and Assembly portions of the agenda.
Eisenbeisz said planning for the base has been in the works for 10 years, and he was surprised to see such strong opposition now. The project is expected to be funded 100 percent by the FAA.
In other discussions, Melissa Henshaw talked about events planned around the 50th anniversary of the unification of the City of Sitka and the greater Sitka Borough. A time capsule was sealed last week with some 70 items of memorabilia plus photographs. Henshaw said she placed the agenda of the government-to-government meeting and the STA annual report inside the capsule.
Henshaw also mentioned a timeline display in the William Stortz Gallery, on the second floor of city hall. It includes the MOU establishing the government-to-government relationship 23 years ago. Leach and the mayor were asked to talk about it at the recent AML meeting, which spurred interest from other municipal leaders.
Eisenbeisz also talked about expected changes to the COVID risk assessment for communities based on hospitalizations and deaths, instead of cases per population.
“It sounds as if this is going to be happening maybe toward the beginning of January now,” the mayor said.
Dr. Anne Zink, the state chief medical officer, will speak to the Assembly at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Ferries, Inflation
Eisenbeisz said he was pleased to announce good news for the ferry system. “I never thought I would be able to say that. I just watched a slow grave being dug for the ferries especially with the current (state) administration.”
He said that if the money that Alaska gets from the Biden infrastructure act is spent correctly, Sitka will have ferry service again.
“Lisa Murkowski was able to get $1 billion over the next five years in the infrastructure plan for ferries; $250 million of that is going to go to a pilot electric ferry program running from Skagway, Haines and Juneau,” Eisenbeisz said. “The best part about the infrastructure plan and the money they were able to get is they were able to get ferry service classified as essential ferry service.”
“That unlocks federal highway funds for the ferry system, which to me ensures its longevity and its stability,” he said. He encouraged others at the meeting to follow how the funds are spent.
Touching on other issues, Eisenbeisz talked about the effects of inflation, especially on rentals and shipping.
Administrator John Leach said he’s hoping Sitka’s increases to consumers for utilities will come in under the rate of inflation, while still covering costs and infrastructure needs. The Assembly makes the decisions on rates for those services, (electric, water, sewer, garbage, and harbor).
“We’ve got to find that magic spot to keep things healthy,” Leach said.
Leach said Sitka is on the cusp of seeing economic growth with federal dollars available for projects, and tourist numbers expected to more than double from pre-pandemic levels. But the city has to make an effort to reap benefits, with appropriate investment, he said.
“If we just assume ... revenues are going to start flowing in without us doing anything or getting personnel here to make that happen is a faulty view,” he said. “We’ve got have people here to make sure we’re collecting all those sources of revenue.”
Tourism
Eisenbeisz moved on to the tourism planning effort to prepare for the 478,000 cruise ship visitors scheduled for 2022.
“I’m cautious about the investments that Royal Caribbean has been making in our town,” the mayor said. “Just know I’m going to be trying to make those go as well as possible. If we lose our soul in town, what is Sitka to us anymore. And that’s one of my largest concerns with this, even more so than revenue – more so than anything else here.” He said he and others are going to do the best they can to “keep the livability” of Sitka.
Leach said he spoke with Royal Caribbean about local concerns for preserving Sitka’s character, which is its main attraction.
“If we grow into a giant Disneyland cruise ship town, Sitka starts to become not Sitka anymore,” the administrator said. “The passengers’ experience goes down and Royal and whoever else stops coming here. And now we’re left with a bunch of vacant buildings and some Diamonds International stores.”
Katlian Street
Speaking about the problems posed by the deteriorating houses in the 400 block of Katlian Street, Eisenbeisz said he realizes it is not an STA issue but the tribal government’s help would be appreciated.
“I will continue to look toward your leadership and guidance there because we’re going to need the help,” he said. “It’s a extremely culturally sensitive issue no matter what happens with it ... we need to be partners on this working forward.”
Leach agreed. “We’re looking for the outcome that is safe and fair and respectful,” he said. Pointing to commentary appearing on social media, Leach said, “There’s one thing I won’t put up with is misinformation, especially when it turns into venom.”
Leach talked about the time-consuming nature of resolving the public safety hazards related to the houses, but said he believes those involved are making progress, and noted the street is once again open.
“I wouldn’t say I feel 100 percent comfortable with the solution that we’ve got in place right now but it’s better than having it closed,” he said. Currently a section of sidewalk is closed and a section of street has only one lane open for cars, with stop signs to keep traffic flowing, “It will buy us some time until we find out what the right path is.”
Way, the granddaughter of Herman Kitka Sr. (who is a sibling of one of the owners), provided some history of the house at 418 Katlian Street and some of the barriers to lifting the restrictions on the historic clan property, and making repairs in order for people to once again be able to live there.
“It’s going to be a terribly slow process,” Way said.
STA tribal attorney Diana Bob provided some history as well, including the Allotment Act of 1887 that led to 24 or more individuals having an ownership interest in a single property.
“It’s rooted in inequity in Native people and not having the capacity to be recognized as full citizens with domination and control over real property,” she said. “And we cannot undo that in any of our legal history very quickly...”
“It is “a very complex real estate problem that has really manifested into a community and public issue ... Bear with us as we go through these processes and these hoops.”
Other Business
Near the end of the meeting, Eisenbeisz said he’s following up on the suggestion for tribal council seats on some of the city boards, commissions and committees.
