Loading...
03/25/1969 RMI () '1 *1 ! KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH SPECIAL ASSEMBLY MEETING - MARCH 25, 1969 I CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Presiding Officer Don Bullock, at 7:20 P.M. in the Courtroom of the New State Office Building, Kodiak, Alaska II ROLL CALL Present Don Bullock, Presiding Officer Betty Springhill Don Arndt Jim Barr Also present: Jo hajdu, Borough Chairman; Sally Hendrix, Clerk;Pete Resoff, Mayor; Wilton White; Harry Carter, Seafood Sanitarian; and approximately 35 people in the audience. III ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED A. Election of a New Assemblyman. I7rs.hajdu pointed out that several additional letters had been received on this subject since the last meet- ing. Mr. Kelly Simeonoff wrote that since he was moving his residence inside the City Limits he requested that his name be withdrawn. Mr. Ernie Milts had telephoned and requested that his name be considered for the vacancy on the Assembly. A letter was received from Old Harbor submitting the name of Joe Terabasso as their candidate for the vacancy. A legal opinion was received from the Borough Attorney and read in full. This opinion stated that nothing in the Statutes refer to the number of votes required to elect a person to office; therefore it was assumed that in Alaska an election is decided by the majority of the votes actually taken. Section 07.20.070 Alaska Statutes governs the procedure of an organized borough assembly and Sub - Section (C) provides that no action of the assembly is valid or binding unless adopted by a majority vote of all votes to which the assembly is entitled on the question. Mr. Bullock pointed out that it would take a vote of three (3) to elect any person at this meeting. 11r. Barr moved that the Assembly recess for a five minute executive session to discuss the personalities involved and the problems in arriving at a meeting of the minds. Seconded by Mr. Arndt. The question was called for and the motion failed by following roll call vote: Mrs. Springhill - NO; Mr. Bullock °- NO; Mr. Arndt - YES; Mr. Barr - YES. Mr. Bullock then read a statement which said that the City Members were not ready to consider a replacement on the Assembly at this time. They further felt that they were being forced into this and wished for more time to conssder.several members they felt would be agreeable to the Assembly. Mr. Bullock continued that several calls had been made and one answer had been received; since this is important to the Borough and the Assembly more time should be taken to consider the candidates. A special meeting had been called to take care of items that were on the past agenda but another meeting was arbitrarily called for fifteen minutes earlier. The City Representatives did not want to be pushed and forced into such immediate action on this issue. Mrs. hajdu replied that this meeting was not an arbitrary one, but was called to proceed with the regualr business as specified on the agenda. At the time of her resignation it was the unanimous vote that the election of a new assemblyman would be the first item of business at the next meeting. That meeting was adjourned, however before this could be accomplished and on the advice of the Local Affairs Agency and the Borough Attorney this special meeting for that election was called. The items on the agenda were not of an emergency nature and could have been handled in a manner provided by the position established on the agenda. Mr. Bullock stated that the item of the election had now moved down on agenda and it was up to the presiding officer to decide when this will taken care of; would come under old business. He again stated that he had called the meeting to take care of three items and that the Clerk had requested that the fourth item also be placed on the agenda for consideration. These things would be considered before the election of a new Assemblyman. 1 r . SPECIAL ASSEMBLY MEETING - MARCH 25, 1969 Page 2 Pars. Hajdu pointed out that the Borough Assembly is to be established according to the State Statutes and while she would rather that the City had four representatives, each with a vote in their own area, the Statutes are not written that way. The way to change this is to try through the legislature for a change of the law. As written, this is the way that the Borough is to be composed, and therefore we should comply with the law. Mr•. Barr pointed out the fact that Mr. Best had privately resigned some four months prior to this meeting and at that time Mrs. Hajdu was the logical person to replace him and therefore everyone should have been looking from that time for a. replacement on the Assembly. Officially Mr. Best resigned nearly a month ago and there has been plenty of time for reviewing replacements. He further felt that this was a blatant attempt on the part of the City to keep the seat from being filled. Mr. Bullock further stated that the City Representatives were requesting a delay of two weeks for further consideration of the candidates. And since the time was past that for the second meeting called Mr. Bullock adjourned the meeting. A point of order was raised and Mr. Barr appealed the Chair's ruling, the appeal was seconded by Mr. Arndt, a roll call vote was taken and the appeal denied by the following vote: Mrs. Springhill No; Mr. Bullock - NO; Tir. Arndt -- YES; Mr. Barr - YES: Mrs. Springhill moved that the meeting be adjourned, motion died for lack of a second. The question was raised as to the As-E mbly being a legally constituted body to meet for the BOE Supplemental on April 1st, 1969. It was pointed out that a quorum is all that is necessary, however it was a point to consider that there would not be a full assembly as required by the State Statutes. Mr. Joe Terabasso, a candidate for the vacancy and a representative from Old Harbor, stated that he had lived in the City and also in the Village of Old Harbor and felt that the villages should be represented and have a say in the government. Mrs. Helena Schwiete, also a candidate, was in the audience and stated that she would be willing to accept the seat if elected and would try..her best. Mr. Carter, president of KANA spoke on behalf of the people that were listed as candidates and had made the trip into town at their own expense and felt that they should know whether or not they would be c.:;nsidered for the position as Assemblyman. Other members of the audience expressed the desire that the election should take place and that the vacancy should be filled. During the discussion on the previous voting on the election of the Chairman's position, sirs. Springhill pointed out that a telephone call had been made to Juneau, asking Mr. DeVeau to contact the Attorney General for an opinion on whether or not the weighted vote would apply in this case. At the last meeting on March 6th, they had not had the Attorney General's opinion and he had infect requested time to research the question because no precedent had been established. This was the reason that Mt, Best had been asked to wait on his resignation. Mr. Richard White pointed out that although there are 4500 people in the City of Kodiak there are six villages around the Island and this represents six communitites, each having a city or village council and they should be heard. Mr. Wilton White did not feel that there was any obligation to fill this vacancy with anyone from the Villages as the seat vacated was a local sett. Mr. Terabasso requested some information as to what he should tell the people of Old Harbor in reference to the necessary qualifications for a� candidate. Mr. T. T. Jackson said that as far as Old Harbor was concerned a person from there would be qualified to represent Old Harbor but perhaps not qualified to represent Port Lions and felt the person should be elected from the local area to better represent the entire borough. Mrs. Springhill moved that this matter be taken up at the next regular meeting, motion died for lack of a second. 1 (I 4 ` SPECIAL ASSEMBLY MEETING MARCH 25, 1969 Mr. Bullock asked that the minutes show that the City asked for more time and that the Outside Voters denied them the time, and did not instigate this meeting. Mrs. Hajdu stated that as Borough Chairman she had the right to call a meeting at any time and did so at this time based on the advice received from the Local Affairs Agency and the Borough Attorney that as far as a regular business goes it should be taken care of after the election of the Assemblyman. Mrs. Springhill moved that this matter of filling the vacancy be taken up at the next regualr meeting and that the City representatives will be prepared at that time to present a cand'•date that will be acceptable to the assembly and that the BOE Supplemental set for April 1st be moved to April 8th, following the selection of the person to fill the vacancy. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barr. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. At this time three other names were presented to the Assembly for consideration Mr. DeWitt Fields; Mr. Iver Malutin and Mr. Robert Brooks. Mr. Barr moved that the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mrs. Springhill, carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 P.M. SPECIAL MEETING ASSEMBLY - MARCH 25, 1969 I CALL '10 ORDER Page 3 The special meeting was called to order by the Presiding Officer Don Bu'.ock at 9:00 P.M., in the Courtroom of the New State Office Building, Kodiak, Alaska. II ROLL CALL Present Don Bullock, Presiding Officer Betty Spreinghill Don Arndt Jim Barr - constituting a quorum Also present: Mrs. Jo Hajdu, Borough Chairman; Sally Hendrix, Clerk; Pete Resoff, Mayor and approximately 35 people in the audience. III ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED A. Approval of Shuyak Island Timber Sale. A letter from the State Division of Lands has been received stating that there has been a firm request to have the Big Bay Timber Sale on Shuyak Island reoffered for sale. The area, volume, and general contract terms would be the same as offered on June 4, 1968. The general area has been selected by the Kodiak Island Borough and monies derived from the sale would be credited to the Borough. It was requested that Borough concurrence be given either in the form of a resolution or directive. An earlier letter from Mr. F. J. Keenan, then acting Director of the Division of Lands, was referred to in which he stated that the timber sale auction held on June 4th, 1968 did not result in the sale of the Borough Timber. The Perinosa Sale on Afognak Island was however successfully bid for by the Columbia Lumber Company. Mr. Sutliff had called the Borough Office and recommended that if the Assembly did approve this sale that the earlier letter be referred to and that the price be set that would not be lower than the price bid at the Afognak sale. Mr. Sutliff was in the audience and recommended further that the Assembly not take action on this until all the facts were presented. He pointed out that the acreage was sold about a year ago on Afognak and at this time no effort has been made to start operation of the logging. This work should be started before more timber is requested. Mr. Sutliff did not feel that the sale of this timber was in the best interest of the people in this area. Fishing is the one major industry and if a logging operation' A - SPILL , I•II ET AIG -- ASSE,i1I LY,' T1ARCIi 25, 1969 Page 4 is allowed to log the timber near the salmon streams it will destroy that streams /fishing potential. If this lumber was to be used for hones and business here in Kodiak that would be different, but the lumber is to be shipped to Japan on Japanese ships and the community will derive only a percentage on the stulpage. Pair. Bullock stated that he had talked with a man from the Fish & Game department on this and was advised to be cautious about - allowing timber to be cut from around the salmon streams. There was a similar situation in the southwest part of the State where the Salmon streams were to be protected and were not protected thereby depleting the stock in the strewn. Mrs. Springhill asked what about the expense that would be assumed by the Borough . Mrs. Hajdu replied that she had asked about this and had received every assurance that the expense to the Borough would be a small amount, but initial expense might be more than the initial return would be. The Borough would pay for the survey work in the beginning but the money would come back later and would more than cover this. It is possible that the Afognak sale was overbid and the company cannot afford to start operation After discussion of the fact that although a provision can be put in the sale that the streams must be protected this would be very hard to police, Mr. Arndt moved that the Assembly wait for two years and then to reconsider the Big Bay Timber Sale at the end of that two years, seconded by Mrs. Springhill. P•1r. Barr asked if Division of Lands had been contacted to find out if there is particular reason for the sale of the timber at this time or was it just because of one indication of interest. It was suggested that the Borough Chairman contact Division of Lands to find out about the offers. The question was called and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. B. Discussion of Hospital Quarters. The Borough Chairman wished to know the direction the Assembly wanted to go in pursuing the housing _f the Hospital Staff. There are several ways that this can be handled; (1) contact Olsen & Sands and negotiate with them or another architect; (2) go to company making pre -cut structures for a design to meet our needs and put it out on bid or (3) buy a house that could be remodeled to meet the needs of the Sisters. There are two houses in the East Addition close to the Hospital that could be considered as possibilities. One house is $40,000 completely furnished and has three bedrooms. This house could be remodeled into the needed six - bedroom. The other is a three bedroom house for the price of $33,000 and could also be remodeled. Even with remodeling costs we would still cane out ahead. Sister Mary Loretta and Rev. Childs, head of the Hospital Board, are both in agreement with this approach. The Sisters have indicated their willingness to make do in the house until the modifications have been made, they could even stay at the he pital if necessary. The question was raised as to the date of the hospital opening - noted that the final inspection is set for April 8th or 9th and the Grand Opening for the 13th of April. mr. Okay Chandler mentioned that he had a house that could be available for the Sisters and would be glad to show it to them. P•1r. Fields also mentioned that another house was available and should be checked into -- that was the house belonging to Mt. Jack Moore, located on the City side of the Hyde: house. It was further noted that ilr. Otis Williams has the key to this house. It was suggested that the Borough Chairman make an announcement in the form of a press release that the people interested in either selling a house or building a house for the Hospital Staff should contact the Borough Office. After these proposals have been submitted they will be checked and the Assembly can have an opportunity to look at all the houses and take action on this matter. Mrs. Hajdu brought up the fact that a contract had been signed with the Sisters that if there was a deficit in operating the hospital, the Borough would pick this up. In view of this the Sisters have been asked to allow Mrs. Hajdu to review their budget and review price construction and collection procedure as the Borough cannot afford to pick up a operating deficit for very long. ATTEST: SPECIAL MEETING -ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 1969 4 Page 5 A member of the audience brought up the question as to whether or not the Sister's could be housed in an R -1 Zone and it was noted that they were considered one family. Mr. Bullock asked if the members of the Assembly were agreeable to having the Borough Chairman look into housing for the Hospital Staff and also to review the books of the hospital. The assembly agreed in both of these suggestions. C. Approval of Resolution 69 -13 -R Setting Date for 1969 BOE For Real anc? Personal Property Taxes. The resolution was read setting the dates of Monday, May 12th, 1969 for the 1969 BOE with Tuesday, Mary 13th as an alternate date in case two days are needed. Mr. Barr moved for approval of Resolution 69 -13 -R, seconded by Mrs. Springhill. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. D. Ratification of New Members to Economic Development and Planning Committee Three names were submitted as new members of the Economic Development and Planning Committee, Ed Haney, Don Arndt and Emil Norton. Mrs. Springhill moved for the ratification of the three new members, Ed Haney, Don Arndt and Emil Norton as members of the EDP Committee. Mr. Jrndt..abstained from voting and the motion carried with three YES votes. IV ADJOURNMENT Mr.. Barr :. ,**... that.. tre meeting be adjourned, seconded by Mrs. Springhill, the meting adjourned at 9:45 P.M. Sal y B. endrix, Clerk/Treasurer APPROVED: o Hai u ' Borough Chairman