Monday December15 the Assembly Public Works Committee meets at noon in the City Chambers. One of the items is a proposed increase in water/sewer fees. The proposal is to increase rates by $2.59 per month for 2009 and again for 2010. For details see http://www.juneau.org/clerk/PWFCAGENDA/documents/Utility_Rates.pdf There will also be a presentation for a Downtown bus “circulator.”

The Lands Committee meets Monday at 5pm Several important ongoing issues will be addressed: the proposed West Douglas highway extension, how the Southeast Alaska Land (SEAL) Trust deals with environmental mitigation, and updating of the comprehensive Land Management Plan, including city land disposal proposals in a number of areas including land between Auke Lake and Mendenhall river, unsold Lena point lots and land in Switzer and Lemon Creeks. http://www.juneau.org/clerk/2008-12-15_Lands_Index.htm

An Assembly/Docks and Harbors Board joint committee met December 5 to hear the results of a Juneau Harbor Navigation Study on possible new cruise ship dock options. The study discussed how ships move in and out of the Juneau harbor and where an additional dock would be feasible. The study looked at possible expansion of the current city docks, a dock perpendicular to Merchants Warf and a proposal for a perpendicular dock at Gold Creek. The joint committee will report to the Assembly at some time in the future. We are still struggling with the issue of new ships too big for Steamship Warf, and other ships anchoring in the channel and lightering passengers into town. This has been an ongoing controversial issue.

As most of you know, site work, including blasting, for the downtown transportation center/parking garage has begun. Heavy blasting mats cushion the impact and noise from the surrounding area. More information including a construction webcam are at http://www.juneau.org/engineering/DTC/DTC.php

Other ongoing city projects include sewers on North Douglas and north of Industrial Boulevard in the Valley, and initial construction of a consolidated public works facility at 7 mile. The Diamond park pool only received 50% of its Rasmussen grant request for ground source heat pumps. Failure to secure additional grant money will result in increased city funding. Construction is expected next year. The Assembly will hear a request this Friday noon 12/19 for an additional 1 million for upgrading city computer infrastructure. This is an ongoing expensive project known as PRISM whose increasing cost is of great concern to the Assembly.

The Assembly continues to be concerned about spending in general as we head into uncertain economic times. The upcoming Spring budget cycle is likely to be “lively.”

Last week the Assembly made appointments to the Planning Commission and Hospital Board.

While most Board and Commission appointments are initiated by the 4 members of the Assembly Human Resources Committee, appointments to the Planning Commission and the so-called Enterprise Boards (Airport, Hospital, Docks and Harbors) are undertaken by the entire Assembly "sitting as the Human Resources Committee". The Enterprise Boards supervise city owned entities that have their own budgets and raise all their own money. Board members do a lot of work and have a lot of responsibility. The Planning Commission is responsible for approving land use permits, variances, conditional use permits, and large development permits. It is guided by the Planning Department, land use law (Title 49) , and the Comprehensive Plan. It is a crucial entity, takes a whole lot of time and commitment.....and tends to be the most political appointment process-- very ideological. Planning Commission members are paid an honorarium of $150 a month since 1998 (before that it was $25). Members have often gone on to run for the Assembly (e.g. Merrill Sanford and Johan Dybdahl-- and a year ago Marshal Kendziorek who ran and lost)

The Assembly re-appointed Maria Gladziszewski, and made new appointments of Nicole Grewe, Karen Taug, and Marsha Bennett. They join current members Nancy Waterman, Dennis Watson, Michael Satre, Frank Rue and Dan Miller. Terms are 3 years (unless filling out an unexpired term). Board and Commission members, like Assembly members, are limited to three terms. More on the Planning Commmission HERE.

For the Hopstial Board Kevin Sullivan and Dr. Nathan Piemann were reappointed and and Dr. Alex Malter and Bob Wysocki were new appointments.

Other Stuff
Monday 12/1 the Asssembly Committee of the Whole meets at 5pm to discuss "Graffiti."
Monday and Wednesday there are public hearings to revise the 1997 Juneau Non Motorized Transportation Plan (walking and biking). Hearings are Monday at 6:30pm at Floyd Dryden and Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Douglas Library-- run by Sheinberg and Associates 586-3141.

The Assembly has its next regular meeting December 8th.

Snow storage, Garage art, and dollar demands

The city has an ongoing problem of what to do with the snow it picks up in the winter. Often in the past we have simply dumped it into the channel – and we still do that in some places. But the fact is that snow from the roadways is often polluted with the chemicals put down to melt ice, and with automotive and other debris. Dumping it into the channel is environmentally harmful and DEC has been pushing us to find alternatives. A couple years ago we dumped Valley snow at the site of Thunder Mountain HS. Last year and this year the feds have given us permission to dump at the bus loading parking lot at the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center. We are currently developing a site between Industrial Boulevard and Engineers Cutoff which will filter out the pollutants and that will hopefully be ready in another year. Downtown we are looking at the Little Rock Dump area. And then there is the issue of where all the private haulers should dump. Such a mundane issue- yet very complex.

Work on the downtown transit center and parking garage is beginning, and many people have been concerned that the structure will be an ugly concrete block. I have been advocating since early planning that we pay particular attention to the aesthetics and that we use the 1% for the arts (required for all public projects) to do more than just put individual pieces of art here and there. A public committee has been appointed to coordinate these efforts and includes: Paul Voelkers, Nancy Waterman, Barbara Craver, Ken Alper, Donald Gregory and Jane Lindsey. I am hopeful that their creativity will inspire positive results.

I continue to be concerned about the long term financial health of the Borough, given story after story about cities across the U.S. falling into big financial crises. I think we need to be very cautious about our spending. I mentioned previously that the Jensen Olson arboretum lost a bunch of money from their endowment because of the market downturn. Now they need to borrow from the city general fund. The Airport is looking to borrow against future revenues. We recently had a request from the Fisherman's memorial group to just forgive their debt. I can see more things like this happening in the future. This is going to require careful planning.

Upcoming Meetings
Monday the Assembly Public Works committee meets at noon. There will be an update on the progress of the Transit facility/Parking garage and the Public Works Facility at 7 mile. There is also a report regarding a second access to the Lemon Creek commercial area. See the agenda.

The Lands Committee meets at 5pm and will address issues on the Seawalk, particularly the problem of getting past Taku Smokeries where there is lots of back and forth offloading forklift traffic. The committee will also hear about the Lemon Creek access issue and about potential Wood Stove restrictions in the Mendenhall Valley. See the agenda.

The Planning Commission meets Tuesday night at 7pm and will hear a “Downtown Parking Garage and Transit Center Update” See agenda.

This week the Alaska Municipal League holds its annual meeting in Ketchikan and several Assembly members (including me) will attend. The Municipal League represents all local governments in Alaska. It tries to develop a unified front on various issues affecting communities across the state. For more information click here.
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Miscellaneous: City Manager Rod Swope announced he will retire as of April 30. The Hangar owners have purchased a controlling interest in Merchants Warf. And the Mental Health Trust is negotiating to build an office building for the Department of Labor on the Subport land area.
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Future Challenges
In the upcoming year the Assembly will confront at least two major proposals for new spending; Area-wide curbside recycling and an expansion of Capital Transit. Last year the Assembly approved moving forward to establish an area-wide recycling program, but final approval awaits an estimate of costs and how it will be paid. Currently the plan is to pay through increased user fees on garbage pickups. There is also an urgent need to expand our public transportation system. It is overcrowded and limited in its routes. However, this expansion will not be able to be covered solely through bus fares. It will require general fund money and the challenge, again, is how to pay. There is a good chance we can get federal grants to help pay for new busses, but annual ongoing operating costs will have to be paid through local revenue.

Essentially any new spending requires either cutting back on other programs, new taxes, or eliminating current tax exemptions. All three are difficult. All three have vehement opponents.

There will also be discussion in the near future about cutting sales taxes on food and utilities. Everyone likes to cut taxes, but the question is still how to pay. Will citizens accept a higher property tax to pay for sales tax reduction? Do citizens want to cut government services? (Our League of Women Voters Budget Survey says no) Will citizens accept elimination of the senior tax exemption, if food and utility taxes are eliminated. Last time we discussed the senior tax exemption there was huge opposition.

Anyhow, these are the big issues I see confronting the Assembly in the coming year. I am sure there will be others.