By SHANNON HAUGLAND and ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writers
Two years after the pandemic shut it down, the cruise industry made a spectacular comeback – and then some – in 2022.
There were the expected benefits to businesses and city sales tax revenue, but they came with adjustments in the day-to-day life of residents.
Lincoln Street was closed to vehicles on busy cruise days, and extra workers were hired to manage the influx of cruise ship visitors.
While the growth in tourism was a constant theme – and frequent topic of discussion – throughout 2022, Sitka had more challenges on its plate throughout the year, with a share of good news and bad, exciting and not-so-much.
With closure of the Halibut Marine Services haulout dock in April, Sitka voters rallied to the support of the local fishing fleet in October, approving a ballot proposition to dedicate $8.18 million from the city permanent fund for construction of a city-owned haulout and boatyard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park. The $8.18 million figure represents the income the city received from sale of the community hospital building and real estate to SEARHC.
In an August special election, and again in the November general election, Sitka helped make history by strongly supporting Mary Peltola in her successful bid to become the first Alaska Native to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives. Peltola spoke to enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowds here at Sitka’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day community and school celebrations.
In April, a “swarm” of earthquakes was detected in the area of Mt. Edgecumbe, Sitka’s “historically inactive” volcano, resulting in a number of news stories about their significance. (Result: No reason for alarm.)
Affordability of housing in Sitka was, as always, a concern throughout the year, compounded by the effects of national inflation.
There was progress in a number of local public works projects: federal help for rebuilding the seawall at the Marine Services Center, and planning for expansion of the airport terminal, as well as for building a seaplane base. Other major projects included installation of a solid waste compactor, and a critical secondary water source.
Many activities and gatherings resumed after the long pandemic shutdown, although at year’s end many would argue that Sitka is “not quite back to normal.”
Here, then, is 2022:
Tourism
Sitka spent the first part of the year preparing to manage up to 450,000 cruise passengers, planning new excursions, portable restrooms and additional city staff directed at tourism-related duties, with expenses covered by the cruise ship passenger tax.
The number who traveled aboard cruise ships turned out to be closer to 383,000 but expectations are for a season topping 500,000 in 2023.
“The ships will be fuller, and there will be additional shuttle traffic, but the number of ships will be similar,” Sitka Sound cruise terminal manager Chris McGraw said. “The cruise lines are optimistic; the bookings are going well.”
The reviews about how the season went were mixed, with residents weighing in on improvements in 2023. A city plan for next year’s cruise season will be presented by the Assembly early next year.
During the summer Lincoln Street was closed to vehicles on 74 days. Portable restrooms were installed on Lincoln Street and Maksoutoff Street. The Maksoutoff Street facility closed the street to traffic for the summer.
Surveys showed that Sitka residents and businesses tended to favor of closing Lincoln Street on high-volume cruise ship days, and the closure did not appear to have a negative effect on Seward and Katlian streets. A majority of Sitkans who responded to a city survey said they liked the food cards on Lincoln Street.
Also in the review, McGraw said he would like to find a new spot for dropoff, other than Centennial, to ease downtown traffic and keep shuttles on Sitka’s main roads.
Concerns raised included the lack of control the city has over cruise tourism growth, with McGraw saying the number will likely “flatten out” in a few years, given the factor of limited dock space.
A planning commission discussion on the 2023 summer visitor plan considered such issues as pedestrian safety, portable restroom locations, traffic at the Lake and Lincoln stoplight, and Lincoln Street closures. Part of the proposed plan for next season seeks to create a new volunteer body to continue work.
The “Walk, Bike, Win!” program encouraged walking and biking to ease traffic congestion downtown during the busy tourist months. The program reported 312 local participants who logged 5,000 trips over the summer. Organizers said the program exceeded their goals in encouraging Sitkans to get to work by bike or on foot.
One of the main challenges for many businesses was a labor shortage.
And Sitka was caught by surprise this summer by the backup of morning flights at the airport, with three planes departing within an hour and long lines to enter security.
Indigenous People, Peltola
The pandemic shut down a number of social and celebratory events, but those activities were resumed in 2022.
One of the high points of the year were the Indigenous Peoples’ Day events, which included big celebrations by UAS, Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Mt. Edgecumbe High School, highlighted by a speech October 10 by Rep. Mary Peltola the first Alaska Native in Congress.
In her comments to a standing-room-only audience at UAS, Peltola said, “It is also very special to really acknowledge and embrace being Native. And it’s nice to have this one day where I don’t have to minimize that.”
Under the theme of “Our Journey Forward.” Crystal Duncan commented her involvement in the celebration at UAS was personal. The holiday, she said, “represents progress, and it represents recognition, acknowledgment, gratitude, all of those things to the Indigenous communities who have largely felt erased or negatively affected in ways that we still have to heal from. But we know that we’re moving forward.”
The Assembly continued the practice opening its meetings with a land acknowledgment.
Sitka marked Elizabeth Peratrovich Day with a celebration in February, and a busy month of activities filled the calendar in November, Native American Heritage Month.
Haulout, Public Works
The October vote in favor of spending hospital land sale proceeds on a haulout broke the impasse on funding the facility. There was no debate that Sitka needed a haulout to serve Sitka’s large fishing fleet, but previous requests for proposals were unsuccessful.
The ballot question passed by more than a 3-to-1 margin. At year’s end, an RFP has been issued for a project manager and comments were being solicited on design parameters.
Other projects:
– the Assembly in November approved up to $2.1 million from the general fund for the start of the seaplane base on Japonski Island. The estimated cost is over $36 million, 94 percent of which will be covered by the FAA.
– the city was successful in its third attempt for a $7.8 million federal RAISE grant to rebuild the seawall at the Marine Services Center. A 20 percent match is required.
– the city outlined plans for a $33 million expansion and upgrade of the airport terminal building, with federal dollars funding most of the project. The expansion will increase the size from 20,500 square feet to 35,000 square feet, and add a second-floor gate area.
– comments were requested on a $5.4 million extension of the seawalk from the library to Totem Square, funded mostly by federal and state programs. The deadline for comments was extended to Jan. 4.
The city also purchased a new solid waste compactor and upgraded the Jarvis Street transfer station, and spent $600,000 to replace the heating system at Blatchley Middle School.
Mt. Edgecumbe
Mt. Edgecumbe, which last erupted 4,000 years ago, made the front page several times during the year. After detecting an underground earthquake swarm in April, Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists installed GPS and seismic sensors on the mountain to gather more information.
Since August 2018, rising magma beneath the mountain caused about 7.1 centimeters of deformation annually.
Scientists said the mountain – L’ux Shaa in Tlingit – is deforming faster than any other Alaskan volcano. While no eruption is imminent, U.S. Geological Service scientists have reclassified Mt. Edgecumbe status from dormant to “historically active,” and now list it as a “moderate threat.”
Other Top Stories
Housing availability and affordability were major concerns, and were addressed during 2022 in a number of ways. The Assembly provided city land for 11 housing units in the Sitka Community Land Trust project on Halibut Point Road, and residency requirements and other restrictions for short-term rental permits.
Also on the housing front, a new neighborhood is planned for 13 cabins and a community center for unhoused people at the top of Jarvis Street. The project got a big boost from Sen. Murkowski, who put $1 million toward the project in an appropriations bill, and local fundraising exceeded goals.
In the November general election Rebecca Himschoot, a registered nonpartisan, was elected to the state House of Representatives, succeeding Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who served for 10 years and didn’t run again.
“After a decade of service to the communities of the district it will be hard to fill Jonathan’s shoes,” Himschoot said this week. “I’m grateful for his mentorship and advice and I think we’re all grateful for his years of dedicated work to the benefit the people of the region.”
Long-serving Republican Sen. Bert Stedman was re-elected by a hefty margin, and will continue his streak as longest serving co-chair of the Senate Finance committee.
It was the first general election where ranked-choice voting was in play. Sitkans heavily favored returning Republican Lisa Murkowski to the U.S. Senate, and chose Democrat Mary Peltola for the House to replace long-serving Republican Don Young, who died suddenly this summer.
SEARHC broke ground during the summer on its new hospital, which will serve the entire community with an acute and emergency care facility and provide other services, such as pharmacy, lab, ICU, rehab, surgery and specialty care. The opening date is set for 2025.
Fishing had a few surprises this year, a huge return of chum salmon drawing effort away from the kings, and the trollers did not take their full allocation as a result. Trollers caught a historic number of chum salmon between Sitka Sound and Crawfish Inlet. Prices hit $1.20 per pound, up from the usual sub-$1 prices. Even though they didn’t catch the full king allocation, trollers took more kings this year than they have since 2016.
Sitka schools superintendent Frank Hauser counted the successes of the year as keeping school open and in-person, as numbers with COVID, flu and RSV waxed and waned; starting the school year fully staffed; and the kickoff of the new Canvas portal in the fall that allows school to transition to online learning easily if needed.
Recreation got a kick-start in several ways. One was with Assembly approval of funding for a new Sitka Parks and Recreation office, years after the closure of Community Schools. In the city election, voters passed a marijuana tax, with proceeds dedicated to scholarships for school sports and activities participation.
Sitka first responders – police, EMS, fire, search and rescue and the Coast Guard – were busy throughout the year with law enforcement calls, and responding to searches and rescues, fires and medical calls, reported in the Sentinel on a daily basis. Many of Sitka’s 100 nonprofits held fundraisers and continued to offer other needed services in the community.
In the rest of the year:
January
- Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association distributed 690 pounds of seafood to the Pioneers Home, SAFV, the Salvation Army, Swan Lake Senior Center, and Sitka Counseling. The previous two years the donation program distributed more than 7,000 pounds of fish to families across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
- Alaska Arts Southeast (Sitka Fine Arts Camp) received $30,000 and Sitka Music Festival was awarded $10,000, the National Endowment for the Arts said.
February
- The Assembly voted to allow ATVs on streets and roads. Permits and safety equipment are required.
- Schools announced Feb. 10 it would go mask-optional March 22.
- A celebration, including a parade, was held on Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, Feb. 16.
- Sitka Sound Science Center and local, regional and national partners received a five-year, $5 million grant award from the National Science Foundation.
- The Assembly funded schools to the cap, plus non-instructional appropriations, for $8.18 million.
- Sitka High defended its titles at the state drama, debate and forensics tournament capturing division titles for drama, debate, forensics, and sweepstakes (overall), and the academic award. Coach Christian Litten won state coach of the year, Darby Osborne won state student of the year.
March
- The tug Western Mariner was struck by the barge it was towing, and ran aground March 22 in Neva Strait. A fuel leak prompted a cleanup response in the following days.
- Kreiss-Tomkins announced he would not run for a sixth term.
- Sitka was recertified as a “Coast Guard City,” recognizing the strong relationship between the Coast Guard and the community.
- After six years, Michelle Vanasse stepped down as Mt. Edgecumbe High School superintendent to become president of Alaska Pacific University.
April
Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage reported that “a swarm” of earthquakes has been detected under Mt. Edgecumbe volcano, starting at 2 a.m. April 11 and “settling down” three days later.
– Many participated in the Yaaw Koo.eex’ April 16 to celebrate the spring, including the return of the herring.
- Halibut Point Marine hauled its last boat April 15.
- The Chamber of Commerce gave Lawrence “Woody” Widmark the Cossack Cap; AC Lakeside Business of the Year award; and Sitka Swirls was recognized as New Business of the Year. The city’s COVID response team members were Heroes of the Year.
- Mary “Suzzuk” Huntington, an alumna of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, was selected as the new MEHS superintendent.
- The School Board rejected a proposal to rename Baranof Elementary to Charlie Joseph Sr. Awdigaan Hit.
- The sac roe herring fishery opened April 6 and ended April 12 with 25,900 tons caught out of the 45,164 ton GHL.
>
May
- A bench was installed in front of Centennial Hall to honor Tlingit civil rights advocate Elizabeth Peratrovich.
- The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas struck the dock at the Sitka Sound cruise terminal on May 9, reducing capacity to one ship, but repairs were completed quickly.
– responding to the war in Ukraine, Silver Bay Seafoods fishermen, employees and the company raised $130,000 to donate to the World Central Kitchen, a worldwide hunger relief program. A 20-foot container of Silver Bay Seafoods canned pink salmon was shipped to Ukraine.
- Alexander Serio was hired as the new Sitka Music Festival executive director.
- The Coast Guard rescued the four people on a plane that crashed in Dry Bay.
June
- Savanah Plank won the 2022 Sitka Salmon Derby with a 40.2-pound king salmon she caught on the opening weekend.
- Sitka took second place in a national drinking water competition at the American Water Works Association’s annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.
- 106,900 treaty kings were allotted for the initial summer troll opener, along with 3,300 hatchery Chinooks for a total of 110,200 fish.
- Sitka Salmon Shares closed its Sitka plant June 6 with 40 workers laid off.
- Sitka earned its third bronze-level walk friendly communities designation.
- Seattle-based Tlingit artist Preston Singletary came to Sitka for the dedication of Xóotsk’i Tláa Kootéeyaa, or Little Bear Mother Story Pole, outside Centennial Hall.
- Lt. Cmdr. Joshua W. Branthoover became commander took command of the Cutter Kukui.
July
- Cmdr. Vincent J. Jansen became the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station Sitka.
- The landslide warning system went live, and Sitkans can visit sitkalandslide.org for information on area landslide risk at any time. The multiagency effort was led by the Sitka Sound Science Center.
- A bear was shot and killed July 24 near Sitka High School, the first of five killed in defense of life and property in 2022.
- The Planning Commission approved a permit allowing five short-term rentals in the old Presbyterian Church. The plan for rehabilitating the building calls for 17 dwelling units, including the short-term rentals.
August
– A city Sustainability Commission was established, dedicated to proposing solutions to environmental, social and economic concerns here.
– Politicians vying for state and national offices campaigned here over the summer, including U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and former Gov. Bill Walker.
– Mt. Edgecumbe High School scrambled to find housing for four new teachers for the start of the school year.
September
– the Assembly approved the city’s first strategic plan 2022-27, which includes the mission statement: “Providing public services for Sitka that support a livable community for all,” with values related to “people, innovation, integrity, sustainability and service.”
– the Assembly set an owner residency requirement on short-term rentals in residential zones, and made conditional use permits end with sale of the property.
– a river otter bit an open water swimmer in the foot in Leesoffskaia Bay.
– Sitka celebrated O’Connell Bridge’s 50th Anniversary. The bridge was dedicated Aug. 19, 1972.
– Abby’s Reflection Apparel and Quiltworks closed its doors after 44 years as a mainstay downtown shop.
– SEARHC and Harry Race Pharmacies started offering the bivalent COVID booster targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of COVID. The announcement came with a reminder by providers to stay up-to-date on flu shots.
– UAS saw gains in enrollment.
– the health summit selected goals and assigned action groups for creating a “sustainable and accessible” childcare system in Sitka, and enhancing services for elders.
October
– in the municipal election, Steven Eisenbeisz was re-elected mayor in a three-way race, with 54 percent of the vote; Chris Ystad was elected and Thor Christianson was reelected to the Assembly. Mitch Mork, Tristan Guevin and Melonie Boord were elected to the School Board.
Two positions on the Assembly were filled by appointment after Dave Miller stepped down for health reasons and Rebecca Himschoot resigned after winning election to the state House of Representatives. Tim Pike and JJ Carlson were chosen for the positions.
Mitch Mork, Tristan Guevin and Melonie Boord were elected to three-, two- and one-year terms on the school board.
The two ballot propositions were approved in the election, dedicating the hospital sale proceeds to a haulout, and the other for a 6 percent marijuana tax that goes into effect Jan. 1. Proceeds will be dedicated to school sports and activities. Discussions commenced on how to structure the scholarship fund to best help students.
– in October Sitkans discovered a possible 100-foot high mud volcano or possible fumarole at a depth of 200 feet in Nakwasina Sound.
– Megan Pasternak and Vince Winter received Isabel Miller community service awards at the Sitka Historical Society annual meeting.
– a Coast Guard air station helicopter crew rescued a man and his two dogs after his fishing vessel sank at Freshwater Bay.
– Sea Lion Cove hiking trail on Kruzof Island received long overdue repairs thanks to a crew from the nonprofit Sitka Trail Works.
– the city went live with Open Finance and Balancing Act computer programs, which allow citizens to review spending by the city and suggest changes.
November
– Sitka Tribe of Alaska held a ribbon cutting Nov. 1 for its new tribal headquarters offices at 204 Siginaka Way, the former home of the U.S. Forest Service.
– the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska received nearly $50 million to improve broadband connectivity across Southeast.
– Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe schools were hit hard with absences due to RSV and flu. Student absences reached a high of 26 percent Nov. 21. The spate of illness also highlighted the need for more subs. In other school news, Blatchley students got two unexpected days off for replacement of heat pumps at the school.
– Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, which declined during the summer, reappeared in town. The Raptor Center received reports of ravens showing symptoms of the virus.
– the month was filled with events for Native American Heritage Month, at Mt. Edgecumbe, Sitka schools, SEARHC and STA. Woody Widmark was re-elected as tribal council chairman in the November election, and Louise Brady, Dionne Brady-Howard, Lillian Feldpausch and Alana Peterson ere elected to the council.
– a fundraiser was held for construction of a new clan house at 226 Katlian Street.
December
– a cold snap set a record low temperature for Dec. 22, 9 degrees above zero, beating the old record for the day, 12 degrees set in 2008,
– Fish and Game announced the 2023 herring sac roe GHL in 2023 was 30,124 tons, down from 2022’s 45,164. The harvest was 25,900 tons this year.
– A Department of Energy-funded study of Sitka’s future power needs gave solid marks to the potential of wind power, improved efficiencies, and selling power in high-water years. The final report is expected in February 2023.
- near the end of the year, there was a fatal a boating accident on Sitka Sound, and longtime search and rescue volunteer Mike Motti died of natural causes on a day-hike.
- Sitka Fine Arts Camp ended 2022 by preparing for signups at the stroke of midnight, New Year’s Eve. The camp also announced Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella would be the Musical theater Camp’s show this summer.
Live community events were back in full force, including the Monthly Grind, nonprofit fundraisers, four SFAC camps, school concerts. WhaleFest, Holiday Brass; Plays by Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Young Performers Theater, Sitka High School and Sitka Community Theater; Sitka Music Festival; Fireweed Dance Theater and Sitka Studio of Dance; visiting dance, comedy and music acts; Porchfest; Sitka Cirque; Sitka Jazz Fest; Alaska Day Festival; Fourth of July and Sitka Tells Tales. The Alaska Travel Industry Association had its annual convention in Sitka, with over 400 attending.
