This video demonstrates a typical municipal council meeting structure, including formal proclamations (Building Safety Month, Memorial Day, Peace Officers Memorial Day), citizen comment periods, agenda approval, and departmental reports. The council approved developer reimbursement programs for infrastructure improvements in subdivisions, with specific conditions requiring residential zoning and on-site well/septic system feasibility before funds are released. The meeting also included an annual evaluation of the city attorney, highlighting the importance of transparent governance and community engagement in local government operations.
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City Council Meeting 5/11/2026Added:
Okay, the mics are on. We are streaming to YouTube. Ready when you are, Mayor Mccclary.
>> I'll call this meeting of the Seward City Council to order. It is Monday, May 11th, 2026, 700 p.m. Chief, would you please lead us in the court, please?
America, one Roll call for tonight's meeting. Draper >> here.
Is excused. Gates >> here.
>> Here. Barwell here. Warner >> here.
>> And Mayor McClair >> here.
>> You have a court.
>> Okay. Thank you. We have three proclamations tonight. And I've I've uh allowed a couple of my colleagues here to give two of them. I'll I'll give the first the first proclamation is for building safety month. Do we have anyone here that would be wanting to receive this?
Well, I'll read it and then we'll hang on to it and get it to the right people.
Whereas the city of Seward is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depend on the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. and pause. Our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and fire and life safety officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas these guardians are dedicated members of the International Code Council, a nonprofit that brings together federal, state, and local officials who are experts in the in the building environment to create and implement the highest quality codes and standards to protect us in the buildings where we live, learn, work, and play. And whereas these modern building codes and standards include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as snowstorms, wildland fires, floods, typhoons, and earthquakes. And whereas Alaska's history of significant seismic events, severe winter weather, and remote infrastructure challenges underscores the importance of maintaining strong building codes to protect lives and property. And whereas building safety month is sponsored by the international code council ICC to remind the public about the critical role of our community's largely unknown protectors of public safety. our code officials who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity and who has built to last. The theme of building safety month 2026 encourages us all to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. And whereas in Alaska, our building safety and fire profession professionals work diligently across vast and often difficult terrain to support communities large and small from urban centers to remote villages and draws each year in observance of building safety month. People all over the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment at home and in the community and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all of us by federal, state, and local officials, building safety and fire prevention departments in protecting lives and property. Now therefore, I, Sue Mccclure, mayor of the city of Seward, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as building safety month, dated this day. And we have someone. So, you want to come up and tell the television audience who you are and say a few words.
>> Jerry Rogers, official city. Um just a yearly uh recognition of everybody that works in the trades and uh works to keep everybody safe.
[screaming] >> Okay. The second one is the Memorial Day proclamation. I've asked Council Member Calhoun to read this one.
Whereas on Monday, May 25th, 2026, in cities and towns throughout our nation, Americans will join together to honor the fallen heroes of our armed forces.
And whereas Memorial Day each year serves as a solemn reminder of the scourge of war and its bitter aftermath of sorrow. And whereas this day traditionally has been devoted to pay tribute to loved ones who lay in hallowed graves throughout this country in Europe, in Asia, and in unnamed graves throughout the world, having sacrificed their lives that war may end.
And whereas over 1.1 million Americans have sacrificed their lives in all United States wars. And whereas our men and women in uniform have sacrificed their lives to maintain the security of our great nation and the liberties we hold so dear. And whereas each person who died in service of his or her country was a loved one who was cherished by friends and family. And each death was tra was a tragic loss to the community, state, and nation. And whereas we must pledge to never forget the men and women of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending our freedoms and our American way of life. And whereas in tribute to all those lost, we must steadfastly keep faith and lift our voices to Almighty God with humility and wisdom to search for an enduring peace. And whereas we honor our fallen soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and we pay tribute to their personal sacrifices by lowering our flags to half staff from sunrise until noon in observance of Memorial Day. Now, therefore, Sue Mccclure, the mayor of the city of Seward, hereby proclaims Monday, May 25th, 2026 as Memorial Day in Seward in recognition of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and service to our nation. and she asked all citizens of Seward to pause for a moment of silence at 300 p.m. on Monday, May 25th, 2026 in recognition of the National Moment of Remembrance of the Fallen heroes of our armed forces dated the 11th day of May 2026 in the city of Sur Alaska.
>> And you'll be I'll hang on to that.
Okay. Um the third proclamation is for peace officers memorial day and national police week and council member Barnwell will read that >> proclamation peace officers memorial day and the national police week. Whereas in 1962 president President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as national police officers memorial day in the calendar week in which May 15th falls as national police week. And whereas this week has been allocated to honor the service and sacrifice of those law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty and those who continue to serve and protect our communities and safeguard our democracy. And [clears throat] whereas it is vital that we pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty and recognize the sacrifices as well as the hardship and loss suffered by the families of those fallen officers. And whereas law enforcement officers are the first line of defense against crime and risk their own lives to save and protect the lives of all people in our communities. And whereas the law enforcement profession has become increasingly more complex, posing greater challenges than ever before. And [clears throat] whereas law enforcement officers strive to maintain a safe environment for all, often while facing significant dangers in our community recognizes the important work and sacrifices officers make each day to protect the citizens and property of the city of Sewward. And whereas all law enforcements who protect and serve our community deserve our utmost respect and appreciation. Now therefore, Sumur, mayor of the city of Seward, does hereby proclaim May 10th through 16th, 2026 as National Police Week and May 15th, 2026 as Peace Officer Memorial Day, dated 11th day of May.
>> Okay. And we have some police officers here. I don't know who wants to come up and you'll welcome up.
>> All right. And then you can say something if you'd like.
>> Okay.
Thank you.
>> All right. So, now we're at citizen comments on any subject except those items scheduled for public hearing. Uh there is a sign up and we'll go in order for the sign up and then if there's time within the 36 minute aotted time, I'll call on people. Um, when you come up, there's a microphone and a chair and we'd ask you to give your name and whether you live inside or outside the city limits. For the record, we probably know, but for the record. So, Mr. Clerk, who's first?
>> There are four people signed in to speak. First on the list is Skip Ryerson.
We have a lay down to hand out.
Good evening, Council Administration.
and fellow citizens. My name is Skip Ryerson. I live inside.
I'm here today to bring your attention to three finance related matters for your consideration.
First, as seen in my first layout, I am recommending council adopting the fund accounting format in section B, which is in keeping with administration's best practices for transparency and which we currently use for other funds such as a DRP and capital acquisition plans. By setting up funds uh for the approved major project listed, everyone will be able to see the financial status of each project as well as the balance of electric enterprise fund that can be spent.
Second, given the 19 million in appropriations in the second layown that I provided for 2025, I would like to propose that until a decision is made on the future of our electric utility that all non-budgeted non-essential electric expenditures be ceased or curtailed as I believe expenditures, for example, like the new accounting software for $400,000 was unnecessary and not an urgent priority as we uh have the account the ACU fund system in place and all that seemed necessary for the short term was for electric crew to work with the finance to reinstate the work order system that our city has effectively used for decades. Further, it is my opinion that if we sell a utility to another rail belt utility, it is highly doubtful that we will be compensated for lease assets like this as we as I doubt if they will be using um their they will be using their own software.
Third, and let me be perfectly clear that what I'm about to say has nothing to do with the hard dedicated work and highly skilled IBW staff which Taylor is a member of that, but rather is intended for administration and electric managers. You see, since 2023, I could not help but notice uh that the total electric salaries have been over budget by as much as 50% or more. But I never understood why. Then recently I became aware of the Mount Marathon hydro project for 2025 where we spent $125,000 in materials and consulting but it did not include any labor and neither did the resolution you passed for $400,000 for the 2026 work. Then I wondered if this was also the case for other projects such as the infrastructure project and the cruise ship projects. If we are tracking and capitalizing labor costs and adding these to the material cost to properly book uh to to to reflect the proper book value, this could be a serious problem.
I don't have enough time to go into details tonight on the impact uh that this could have on our finances, but I'm recommending council consider commissioning our auditors to look into this matter for at least 2025 and report back with their findings as I am also concerned about the potential impact to the rate study results we are about to undertake. Thank you for your time and consideration in these matters.
>> Thank you, Mr. Click. Who's next?
Victoria Provenza.
>> Hello.
>> Good evening. My name is Victoria Provenza. I'm a resident of the city of Seward. I don't have a lay down, but I do have a bug that I'd like to put into your ear. Um there is the middle school that is somehow becoming available and I don't know all of the real estate issues surrounding that but I was selected to be one of the partner port partners business accelerator program and naturally coming out of that if you're familiar with a business incubator I've started two companies as a beneficiary of those type services they're heavily funded by the federal government state government and economic development um agency agencies. They're mostly run by nonprofits. And I would just like for you, if you're getting a work session coming up about thinking about doing something with the middle school, whether it's moving at um the parks and wreck over there to take advantage of the gym or uh you know, daycare, whatever becomes of the discussion. I would like for you also to consider what's known as a business incubator.
It's normally run by a nonprofit. Um, uh, Kellyanne, I've already spoken to her and she's gung-ho. She very much, uh, is aligned with this philosophy.
It's a huge economic development boom for the city and then ultimately it prevents uh, barriers to entry for small startups because basically an incubator is a shared co-shared working space. So you share all the capital a conference room a conference table desk and I the two that I've been associated with one was the cyber innovation center that was in uh Bojer city Louisiana was heavily a multi-million dollar research incubator for the global strike command. Um but the one that I'm most proud of was I was their second client. It was called cohab. It's real easy to look up. It's cohab.org. And I literally we had plywood on top of cinder blocks in an old abandoned warehouse down on the river. But many successful businesses grew out of that space. And if you look at them online now, they're absolutely incredible. I had heard that Royal Caribbean had also uh approached the chamber potentially about an internet cafe and that's ultimately what these uh go into. It's a sure workspace for people who travel on vacation but they still need access to uh data you know in an office space. So thank you bug in your ear and if you need any information I'd be happy to provide it to you additionally. Thank you >> Mr. Clerk. Next on the list is Phil Kuza and a lay down.
Bill Kuza, Inside City Limits. Um, I just passed out a little document that I was having trouble with trying to figure out how to explain how the different electric rates and fuel oil cost rates all impact a heat pump. And it turned out to be far more complicated than I was hoping for. But if I could get you to at least read the executive summary and maybe browse through some of that because, you know, until we actually can get some real construction cost numbers for comparing a heat pump to oil heat, um it's still, you know, a guesstimate at best. And really, what do we do with the price of oil when we're comparing oil to a heat pump today? Do we use $6, $8, $4 a gallon? Because it all impacts this. So, I was trying to come up with at least three different scenarios of different prices. So, I hope you can take a look at that and comprehend most of it. Um, I guess what really changed in the last couple weeks is I found out that there is still a 30% tax credit for ground source heat pumps. And if you apply that 30% to the cost of putting new ground source heat pumps, it changes the economics substantially and it's the same carryover that the hydro projects got from the Trump administration left those in. So we've got multiple years of that 30% benefit.
Um and again I I really want to dismiss using waste oil in the new facility. The existing facility uses all of that oil plus another 3,000 gallons of regular diesel. In fact, I don't even know if the building is all that efficient, as efficient as we're hoping will be that we can even use all the waste oil that we're producing on the new facility. So again, I just don't think burning waste oil in a brand new building is really the future for sewer.
Um and we can certainly continue to use it in the existing facility for as long as we want.
Um yeah, so I just think about this oil crisis and why would we not be looking at alternatives to burning of oil today?
Um no doubt electric rates will continue to increase. We're going to have increase in natural gas prices. Um but that only makes up a small part of of our electric bill compared to oil. So my recommendation to the city is consult with an energy engineer with years of experience designing large heat pump systems for a climate like ours. Take Juno for example. Plenty of expertise down there to to use as consultants.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Mr. Clerk who's last on the list is Amanda Sweening.
Uh, hi. I'm speeding outside city limits. Uh, I'm here on behalf of the chamber. Um, I'm sorry this last city council. I just flew in uh like 40 hours ago from my uh back country trip and so it's nice to be back in time for all the rain and of course here's faces again.
Uh, okay. So, in the world of chamber, we have the Seward Summer meet and greet coming up. Uh it's on uh Sunday, May 24th from 6:00 to 7:30 at the Alaska Sealer Center. Uh this was formerly known as the Double Scoops event. Um so it's a bit of a job fair, but we're also pivoting it uh to be just like kind of a meet our community and see like we have like some nonprofit tables. Um so promoting second jobs. Um or uh if you just want the seasonal workers to kind of know what this community is about as they are kind of the face of the community for a lot of our our visit visitation. Anyways, we have tables left. Uh it's a free event. There's popsicles. It's fun. Um and then uh we have first Friday signups are open for the June first Fridays. Uh it's on our social media or you're welcome to email uh Liz, our communications and community coordinator at communications.com.
Um and then there has been some questions and we called today and the cruise ships have been cancelled for May 14th, May 15th and May 20th. Not canceled uh rerouted to Whittier. Uh so the 14th one is the Silver Moon with 596 passengers. The 15th is the uh Celebrity Summit with,900 passengers and the 20th is uh 930 passengers, the Viking Venus.
So far, no confirmed cancellation on the cruise ship for the 22nd. Um and that is about it. [laughter] Thank you. Thank you. So, anybody else wanting to talk at this time?
Sure. Okay. We'll move on to approval of the agenda and the consent agenda. I'd ask for a motion to approve and a second, please.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the agenda and the consent agenda.
>> Second. It's been moved and seconded.
Um, this is a time for adjustments. I have one request. Um, I move to um put resolutions 2026-044 through resolution 2026-049 on the consent agenda. Um, and are there objections to that? Um, there are two of those that I would like to uh discuss and possibly amend. Uh that would be 2026-045 and 2026-048.
Okay. So we will um hear those and under other new business um later in the meeting. Are there any other changes anybody would like to make?
No. Okay. Mr. Clerk, we're ready to vote on that.
Voting on the approval of tonight's agenda and consent agenda as amended.
Warner, >> yes.
>> Barnwwell, >> yes.
>> Craig, >> yes.
>> Draper, >> yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes.
>> And Mayor McClur, >> yes.
>> Your agenda and consent agenda have been approved and approved on the consent agenda for the April 27th, 2026 city council meeting minutes. Resolution 2026-052 accepting funds from the museum's Alaska Association Collections Management Fund Program for the Seward Museum exhibit upgrades project in the amount of $16,525.
Resolution 2026-044 approving the developer reimbursement program application submitted by Tom Linquist for sewer extensions benefiting lots 15 through 18 along the Unamax Circle and authorizing the expenditure in the amount of $119,000 and appropriating funds.
Resolution 2026-046 approving the developer reimbursement program applications submitted by Robert Williams and Travis Mau for water sewer electric and road extensions benefiting tracks 5B-1 and 5B-2 forest acre subdivision and authorizing the expenditure in the amount of $639,100 and appropriating funds resolution 2026-047 approving the developer reimbursement program application submitted by Charles Mella for water and sewer extensions to block 9 lots 1 through 4 in the Bay View edition and authorizing the expenditure in the amount of $129,550 and appropriating funds.
And lastly, resolution 2026-049 approving the developer reimbursement program application submitted by CJ Peterson Properties for water and sewer extensions to lots 30 31 and 32 in the gateway subdivision and authorizing the expenditure in an amount of $61,750 and appropriating funds.
>> Okay. Thank you. Uh, next is the city manager report and our city manager is in DC right now, but we have our assistant [clears throat] city manager here. So, what you got, madam? Uh, just I don't have a lot of announcements. U but just a few kind of reminders that I think are really important is the next electric town hall will be May 28th at 5:30 at the Ray building. Uh, and that topic will be comparing the economic impacts of different electrical utility storage structure options.
uh true race trail will be closed May 29th to 31st for trail maintenance and beautifification.
And then just a reminder that if anyone is interested, the KPB still has an opening on the Burough Planning Commission. And that's something that we'd like to really get filled from someone in our community. And then I do have uh two staff people that will be giving their department reports. Uh first I have uh Russ from parks and rec.
Thank you.
>> Hi. Thanks. [clears throat] Yeah, I just wanted to give an update on what we had the last few weeks when we got coming up. This is a really busy time for us, but uh I want to give a shout out to the Alaska Cers. You still need your name.
>> Oh, sorry.
Yeah, I want to give a shout out to the Alaska Kiters. That's the group of kiters that come down every year for the kite festival. We somehow got really lucky without getting rain and somehow got wind that day, too. So appreciate their work for coming down and then painting triathlon. Thank you to all the volunteers and Bob was there and a few others in here. So um that went really well. We had 134 signups and all our events are getting uh more participants this year. Um so I wanted to draw attention to one this Saturday. Uh we have the exit Glacier 5K and 10K race.
Um so far we have over we just got up over 170 participants. Um which is more than double what we had last year. Um there's still time to sign up until Saturday. So uh and you can use volunteers for that as well. Um since we'll have so many people. So if you're interested in volunteering, you can contact us um after June. Um a few other announcements. Uh we're going to push the softball league back a week just so we can do a little maintenance on the field. Um as well as uh try to get one more team in the competitive league. Um, so that'll start the last week of May or whatever the last Monday is there. I forget the exact date. Um, and then, uh, we're really searching hard for soccer coaches. Uh, so if anybody's interested in coaching soccer, uh, we need some help with that. And that'll start mid June, the soccer league. Um do one final announcement. The gym will be closed from May 19th till 23rd. Um it's tech graduation health fair. There was a day in between that they just decided to kind of take a Saturday instead of opening. Um but a lot of events going on throughout the week. Uh we have tie-dye uh down at the Branson. um four square tournament at four sters. Uh and then kind of cap it all off, we have movies at the pool. So we'll be showing Finding Nemo at 4:00 at the high school pool and then Jaws after that. So check that out.
Should be fun.
Thank you.
Thanks. We have Karen from the library.
>> Hello. Um, I am Karen Cooper McLaclin.
I'm the deputy director at the library and museum. I just have a couple of announcements on our programs. So, we're wrapping up our spring life skills series. Um, Kellyanne Cavetta from the Small Business Development Center is hosting basics of starting a business this Thursday from 12 to 1 and that'll be uh in the meeting room at the library. And then also on Thursday, we have our scrapbooking social from 4:00 to 5:30. We have a lot of scrapbooking materials, so you kind of just need to bring your pictures and then uh we'll have fun scrapbooking together. We now have our daily movie at 2:00. It's $5 for two movies, Waves Over Seward and the Ida Road National Historic Trail.
And then every Monday we have Lego lounge 3 to 4. Every Tuesday tech tutoring 2 4 uh every Thursday play and chat 10:30 to 11:45 and story time every Friday at 12:30. Next week, we will also be launching our summer reading program.
It'll go from May 21st through August 12th. And this year, the theme is plant to seed, read. The theme celebrates the journey from farm to table. Just as a farm nourishes our bodies, the library nourishes our minds. So, please stop by, sign up. Um, adults included. Last year, we ran uh we read five months of continuous reading throughout the summer as a community, and I feel like you guys can beat that. We have a very competitive community, so I think you guys can beat it. Um, we'll have prizes, reading events, um, more info at city of seward.us/summerreading.
And then, just to point out a couple, on the 22nd, we have paint your own planter. The 24th, we have a seedling swap. Um, we are partnering with the Seward Community Garden by the Bay, Seward Parks and Recreck, and the library. So, bring seedlings to trade. That's at Branson Pavilion May 24th 2 to 4th. We al also have Sean Olman doing an author and writing workshop on the 27th. Bean mosaics on June 3rd 2 to 3 and paws and pages. That'll be where kids are reading to the animal shelter animals. And that is the June 4th 10:30 to 11th. And just a note that digital literacy workshops at the senior center are wrapping up for the summer. But don't worry, we still have tech tutoring every Tuesday 2 to 4.
I can help with most things. If it's super intense, might not be able to help you, but bring in your phones, tablets, watches, Kindles, anything, and I can help you out. And then we had our volunteer appreciation event last week.
It was great. We were able to honor the Resurrection Bay Historical Society, Adidar Trailblazers, Steuart Community Library Association, the Garden Fairies, Bloom, Summer Reading Program Volunteers, the Children's Museum, Sources of Strength, ABTE, Big Beach Bicycle Co-op, Emily Jordan Photography, and Seward Parks and Wreck. And lastly, Timberline Learning Center. Um, so we want to thank all of them for volunteering throughout the year, including our library volunteers. Uh the library wouldn't be without wouldn't be what it is without all of our boxers.
And then our second annual chess tournament was this last Saturday and we nearly doubled. So last year I think we had about 16 competitors. This year we had 30 from across Alaska including Anchorage, the Valley, Juno, Cooper Landing and a strong showing from our Seward locals. Uh it was very competitive this year cuz it was a US chess rated event. So, I got the Red Lantern Award. I'm very proud of that.
Um, and then Ben Hobach of Anchorage, he received first place with the perfect 5-0. Um, there's five matches total. He won all of them. So, pretty cool to see.
And we had a lot of locals stop by and it was it was just cool to share that with our community. We we plan to keep doing it every year. And then two more last things. Uh, we have a library aid job opening right now for the summer.
Um, so you can find it on the city website under job openings. And then we are trying to fill our summer reading program is is done, but we are trying to fill one more week for like a teen tech week. And so we're looking for a couple of volunteers to teach a 1-day 1 to 2 hour workshop for teens. And basically every day will be a different topic. So it'll be music producing, photo editing, video movie making, and animation, stopmotion or graphic design. So, if any of you are willing to spend an hour or two with some teenagers, uh, June 8th through the 12th, please reach out. Um, I don't know how to do most of these things. I can try to teach them, but it would be much more beneficial if someone um, can help out with that. So, I know that was a lot. Thank you. I really appreciate it. And come by the library.
Thank you.
>> Those were good, too.
>> Yeah. And actually, I do have uh, one more. Um, I did speak with DEC today regarding the Jesse Lee home property and so they just uh wanted to confirm with me that the red box which is kind of they kept a couple of things up there in case there was any more material that needed removed and so they I spoke with them and and they were just confirming that all the super sacks have been moved and the red box moved and so I think they're just checking to make sure everything's out. So they said they'll be in touch in the not too distant future here. So that I think we might that's that that's actually feels like it might be some progress and good news.
So >> about time.
>> Yeah. But that's all I have.
>> Okay. Well, if anybody um can say there's nothing to do in Seward after listening to all of that. It's just amazing what we have available here.
Seems like every every day, every night, there's something a person can do. I have to say, you didn't mention the cleanup. Um, I have never been I have never been as wet as I was after spending a couple hours. I got my five bags in a couple hours early on Saturday morning when it was just pouring rain. I mean, but it looks like we had a pretty good turnout and um, that's what the yellow bags were. It was interesting though about that. Um, I feel like I know everything going on. I've ran into so many people that didn't know it was happening. So, I don't know how we get the word out to people, you know, that but anyway, thank you for sponsoring all that, too. Um, any other questions for our assistant city manager? This good report? Okay, thank you very much. And, uh, the report itself is on page 21 of the packet if you want to read it. City clerk, you've got some exciting news.
So, what are you guys over there?
>> Thank you. So, the clerk's office does not have near as many fun activities as the library or anywhere, but we [laughter] do have the sister city exchange program. And we are pleased to announce our final lineup for this year.
Uh, team leader Jody Curts, and then four students, Kaia Gunter, Chloe Lions, Alan Ryan, and Kira Dermia.
And we had, uh, 10 total applicants. And it was really fun to meet all of them and really hard to narrow it down to. I wish we could send all 10, but we had to to come up with just four. So, there's the the roster for this year.
>> Um, and you might just could you reiterate the fact that we are sponsoring the plane fairs for those four, right?
>> Correct. The this year that was a change um with the resolution sponsored by council member Price that the city is paying up to 3,000 per student to cover the airfare.
And last time we looked, we were just browsing flights the other day. They looked right about in that range, just a little under 3,000. So I think that's good numbers about right on.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um, city attorney, we have you here for the whole time and you have a report, too. So you want to give a report?
>> I do. I the Thank you. Um the report is particularly dry which and uh kind of short this time which is good. That's how it should be. We want to we don't want to have anything very exciting or interesting in there. That means we're doing our jobs. Uh the couple of just quick highlights. I talked about this case before, but this uh the first thing under the general matters is a was a 2023 short-term rental case that we got a judgment for injunctive relief. Uh they were operating unlawfully and uh also got judgment for about $8,000 in attorney's fees, which uh [clears throat] is a 2023 case and a 2024 judgment. And just this month, or just today, I brought Jason a check for the $8,000 The reason I I raised that one, it's not certainly not the most important thing, but uh those we often talk about cost benefit when we're contemplating there's lots of other factors, but when we're contemplating something like code enforcement or any otherwise going on the offensive and uh it's not always a successful uh that was a complete recovery on the judgment and it just takes sticking with it. I mean that was 2 years and uh but finally got it so it feels good to check the box on that one.
Um, the only other one I thought I'd just mention briefly, personnel stuff, and I say this a couple times a year, but is uh there's unless we're working on a policy or something related to personnel matters, we we really can't and don't say much. Um, but that's really one of those behind the scenes things that we're uh thankfully sewer hasn't required a lot of that, but when it comes up, it's uh tends to be kind of fast-paced and require a bit of uh focus for a little while. And uh so you see like one one or two sentences there, but that often requires a handful of city employees and one or two of us working uh pretty hard behind the scenes, usually for a short period of time. so that uh some of those entries they don't say much but uh occasionally represent a lot of uh a lot of work going into them.
Uh otherwise I'm going to be taking up a lot of air time at the end of the meeting so I'll quit where I'm at for now unless there's any questions.
>> Are there questions at this point? Thank you very much. It's good to have you here.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay. So now we will move along to I believe resolution 2026-050.
Correct Mr. Clerk?
>> Uh actually it would be 045.
>> Oh, I thought we were moving those to the end. No.
>> Uh we'll keep them in chronological order. So we'll go 045 and then 04 8 remained in place and then >> okay always before we put them after but let's go chronological. All right. Uh so [clears throat] we u have um we have resolution 2026-045.
And when you're ready, Mr. Clerk, would you please read that into the record?
Resolution 2026-045 approving the developer reimbursement program application submitted by OV LLC for road and electric extensions for proposed lots 1 through 17 within the point subdivision and authorizing an expenditure in the amount of $423,53725 and appropriating funds.
>> Okay. Thank you. And you'll find that on page 53. I'd ask for a motion to approve and a second, please.
>> Mo motion for resolution 2026-045.
I'll second.
>> Okay. Moved and seconded. Um, let's have the administration talk about it and then we'll move to U. Council member Draper's reason for not putting it on consent. Okay.
>> Yeah. So this is basically just bringing uh back to exactly what was presented in [clears throat] our uh work session uh about a month ago. And uh this first one is for um yeah this is for road and electric extensions uh cuz they're planning on doing water and sewer on just across the bay there um on the former McDonald property. So yeah, they're just bringing back to what we discussed at that time.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um, council member Draper, you asked to keep this on the >> Yes. And you've got some amendments.
>> Yes. I wanted to recommend a couple of um conditions to be added to this. I guess they'd be called conditions um because I got concerned that the well and septics to just to be sure that the well and septics had a stamp of approval from an engineer that they would all work within the the property. And then for this particular one, um, also that the reszoning would be accomplished before we expended any of our city funds that this would be residential property.
So, I thought those should be in the resolutions and they're they're written down here. I don't know whether I need to read them in or um um where and where they should go within here.
It would probably be good to read them, but also could you could we reference the page in the packet? I could do that.
It starts on 53. So, um, Madame Mayor, if I may, um, we also have, uh, community devel, uh, topics and and why, um, and what have been done with like kind of the time with subdivision agreements and, uh, [clears throat] >> do you want to do that then, >> but it would be as an amendment? Uh 04 57 [clears throat] Dick, director of community development. Um, and for this one, so this would be page about 56 and 57.
So everyone can follow along.
>> Uh, excuse me.
>> Yes.
>> Should we have an amendment before we discuss this?
>> Um, I don't think we're just >> Did you want to make a motion for >> section five on the lay down or >> uh Yeah. Can I do them both at once or should I >> I'll do one at a time.
>> Okay. Um I like >> Okay, hold on. Um Okay. I was just hoping you get some Well, that's okay.
Go ahead and make your make your motion.
First motion. Okay. Um I move that we add um the language from section four of the lay down um into the resolution between do I need to say between uh sections four and five.
and I can read it or >> Okay, I can read it. The developer may proceed with design and construction activities associated with the project prior to reszoning approval. However, reimbursement under the developer re uh reimbursement program shall not occur unless a subject property is reszoned to a residential zoning district permitting the proposed residential development.
>> Okay. Um is there a second?
>> Okay. Moved and seconded. So now we can discuss it or we can ask questions of Danny. So do you want to explain your rationale?
>> Well, I just thought that um we didn't want to see a situation where the reasoning never happened and then we've given money for the electrical to and then we've got we've given the money that I've considered to be housing related to an industrial property, you know, and an industrial project could go in there um if that if the reasoning ever happened. I just thought it should be a contingent item.
>> Okay. Um, questions, comments from council.
>> Go ahead, Council Member Warner.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor Mccclair. Um, I just want to second what Lorie said and I just would like to say um, thank you for bringing this up and catching that in the resolution because it was something that was discussed during the work session making sure that reszone happened to residential. Thank you.
Okay. Any other comments?
We ready to vote on that amendment?
Okay, Mr. Cler on the amendment.
>> Listen, I'm voting just on that amendment. Uh section 4 as written in the lay down. Barnwwell, >> yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes.
>> Yes.
>> Draper, >> yes.
>> Warner, >> yes.
>> And Mayor Mccloo, >> yes. That amendment has passed and the main motion as amended is back on the floor.
>> Okay. And you have a second one then. So you want to explain where this would go in the rational if you could.
>> So you can read it first. Either way. Um yeah, I'd like to recommend uh that we um amend the resolution to the language in section 5, which is reimbursement authorized under this resolution is contingent upon the developer obtaining all necessary approvals for the uh use of on-site wells and septic systems and providing documentation signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer demonstrating that adequate on-site wells and septic systems are feasible and sustainable for each lot within the subdivision. vision in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements such that all required improvements necessary for issuance of building permits can reasonably be achieved.
>> Okay, that's your motion.
>> That's the motion. Is there a second?
>> A second.
>> Okay, it's been moved and seconded. I have a question. Are you adding that to the existing language of section five?
>> Uh, no. I think it would be another section.
>> There's there's a little note. It would go between sections four and five. So I think this was an all new section, right?
>> Yes. Because we have a section five.
>> Okay.
>> So then I would just re number the rest when it comes time off.
>> That was my concern. Okay.
>> The new one and then Okay. Okay.
Discussion or questions for director council member.
>> Yeah, I like this one too. I just have a question I guess for Danny. Um, I'm sure the developer is under time constraints for the summer season. How does this fit in his uh how does this impact him? How does this work for for this one? Like this one has not gone through the planning process or the reasoning process and so I don't know an exact timeline for the developer on this specific one, but I don't think that this would interfere. This would also be something that we would require in the subdivision agreement that we do with the developer. Um, so essentially, and I can get a little context that might be easier to understand. Uh, this is for housing development. Uh, in order to build housing, you need a building permit. Uh, in order to have a building permit, you need all public improvements to these lots. And whenever you subdivide land, that is a requirement in our subdivision code. The developer, the subdivider brings all those uh improvements. Now, typically with water and sewer, it's the city water and sewer systems, but this isn't an area across the bay where it's not near any city infrastructure. Our code allows an exception for septic systems or other sewer systems if you're beyond 200 ft.
Um and right now the commission planning zoning commission is going to bring forth the recommendation to have something similar with wells but uh there also other mechanisms in our code like a planned unit development that would allow wells in in place of a uh water system similar to what was approved with the Mount Helis estate which will be the next one that we're talking about. So essentially the goal is right the city wants to see land developed subdivided but wants to ensure that the future lot owners have services adequate services to their lots and so it's easier when it's on this the city system since these are not this is just making sure the developer showcases to the city that the future lot owners will have access to water and some sort of sewer system septic system.
So just to clarify then no [clears throat] no city funds will be transferred until all of this has been achieved.
>> That's what I'm assuming. Yes. Yeah.
>> And the sub and the subdividers can sell the lots and have the future lot owners install the septic systems, the wells.
Um, so what this language does is it requires an engineer to showcase that that is feasible that that wells are feasible that septic systems are feasible on these lots.
>> Okay, other questions?
>> I just wanted clarification just I still don't want citizens getting in the situation where they purchased a lot. Oh no, I don't have water.
[laughter] >> Okay, thank you for that. Um, any other questions? We're ready to vote on the amendment.
>> Okay, we're ready to vote. Mr. Cler, >> voting on the amendment to add this new section five. Barnwell, >> yes.
>> Christ, >> yes.
>> Yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes. Draper, >> yes.
>> And Mayor McCcler, >> yes.
>> The amendment has passed and the main motion with two amendments is now back on the floor.
>> Okay. And you're going to renumber the rest the sections. Okay. Uh, further discussion on the main motion then of I mean the main resolution. Are we ready to vote?
>> We're ready, sir.
>> Final vote for the approval of resolution 2026-045.
Kates, >> yes.
>> Draper, >> yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes.
>> Barnwell, >> yes.
>> Warner, >> yes.
>> And Mayor McCclar, >> yes.
>> That resolution has been approved.
>> Okay. And the other one that we'll discuss is resolution 2026-048.
And when you're ready, I know you got a lot to write down there, Mr. Cler. When you're ready, would you please read that?
Resolution 2026-048 approving the developer reimbursement program application submitted by Resurrection Bay Investments for electrical extensions benefiting lots 1 through 11 within the Mount Alice estates development and authorizing an expenditure in the amount of $48,233 and appropriating funds.
>> Okay. I ask for a motion to approve and a second, please.
I'll move for approval of resolution 2026-048.
>> I'll second. Okay. So moved and seconded. Um we'll start with administration maybe.
>> Sure.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. So uh just again this is uh brought back to you exactly like well I'd say almost exactly like it was discussed as far as number wise goes but they did ask for uh a 15% contingency to be added to this amount uh just because when they had gotten that first quote it was it had been a while back and so just to be safe they added a contingency to this. So this the funding here is with that additional contingency. So it's just a little bit higher as some electrical supplies may have gone up in price and uh but this one they already have uh the roads and they just asking for electric and it's another one that's outside uh over 200 ft from city utilities. So they plan on doing wells and septics.
>> Okay. And council member Draper, do you want to talk about >> Yes. I'd like to offer an amendment to this. Um uh and I I'll just read it in um I would like to recommend that we add uh reimbursement authorized under this this resolution is contingent upon the developer providing documentation signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer demonstrating that adequate on-site wells and septic systems are feasible and sustainable for each lot within the subdivision in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
such that all required improvements necessary for issuance of building permits can reasonably be achieved.
>> Okay. Is there a second for that?
>> Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Um do you want to just say a few things?
>> Yeah, this is just exactly the same reason as the other one, but I noticed there's no section three on this.
There's a numbering issue on here, so I'm not sure where to put it.
>> Yeah, I was going to ask that too. It goes from section two to section four on page 119. So, so can I do section three or is that >> Yeah, we confirmed with city administration there was no sections missing. It was just a numbering issue.
So, when we go to renumber these and print out the final versions, we'll be sure to correct that.
>> So, you'll insert it sort of between three and five.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. Um discussion questions about this amendment.
I think it's a good idea.
We're ready to vote on the amendment.
Seeing no, Mr. Clerk.
>> Voting on the amendment for this new section five. Calhoun, >> yes.
>> Barnwell, >> yes.
>> Crates, >> yes.
>> Warner, >> yes.
>> Draper, >> yes.
>> And Mayor Mccclure, >> yes.
>> That motion is passed and the main motion with one amendment is back on the floor.
>> Okay. Um, any further discussion?
Are we ready to vote on the main motion?
We're ready, Mr. Clicker. when you are done writing.
>> Okay. Final vote for resolution 2026-048.
>> Warner, >> yes.
>> Barnwell, >> yes. Draper, >> yes.
>> Great, >> yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes. And murder, >> yes.
>> That resolution has been approved.
>> Okay. And thank you. Um, so now that brings us numerically in order to resolution 2026-050.
Um, could you read that when you're ready, Mr. Click? Resolution 2026-050 authorizing the city manager to accept the quote from NC Machinery for the repair of the Caterpillar D6 dozer following ocean immersion in the amount of $25,2129 and appropriating funds.
>> Okay. And you'll find that on page 139 of the packet. I'd ask for a motion to approve in a second, please.
>> I'll move for approval of resolution 202650.
I'll second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Um, administration.
>> I'd like to have uh the public works director come and speak to us.
>> Thank you, D.
>> Good evening, Mayor Council. Uh this is a it was an unfortunate event last year of a dozer that slid into the the bay last year and uh uh it's been up to NC machinery to get all checked out, see what we can do or not do. We checked in on pricing on new machines to replace it. It was uh just under 700,000 for a new machine. um as we got going on this to what would make it still work for what we need. Uh it would need the engine replaced, transmission replaced, and the uh all the electronics straight down through. Um once that's done, um most everything else checked out pretty good. No, uh water fluids in the the drives or anything else. And uh the decision on, you know, we do have the insurance. We were able to pick up the insurance money on that. and was over 300,000, [clears throat] but that also included the recovery and everything else and shipping up to Anchorage. So, we still have a little some left over and there may be just something smaller once they start it up, get it all running, get things going, there may be some extra little cost, but nothing too bad.
end up with a instead of a 2010 engine transmission, we'll have brand new engine transmission on the main drives of that thing and all the electronic uh components and gauges and be ready to go again.
>> Thank you. I wanted people to hear all that and that it's covered by insurance, too. So, uh discussion questions. Yes, Council Member Barnwell.
>> Yeah, we've all watched those guys working there. Um, we know how dangerous that is, but I'm just wondering what kind of Have you changed any of your protocols working on that environment or it just comes with land?
>> No, there there was, you know, it was an operator little bit of a mistake where he went and we've been working on those the whole time. So, um, as you know, it's underwater when you get way out there. That sand is is is saturated. Uh we we only go so far out and we back off track. We'll work with different things. We've got uh any safety protocols that we've come up with as we've uh went through the whole incident. We've checked all of our, you know, lessons learned. What could we do different? and and we have made some changes for uh safety equipment with the loader for uh it's really hard to hear your radio when you're in that it's so loud but we're we're putting in some other systems that can really blast in there when somebody needs something to to get with them. So it's uh we have made some changes and and I think they'll keep it from happening again.
>> Thanks. Okay, >> council member.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just one clarification, Doug, you know, because it talks about us getting $326,000 received. Um, just wanted to to reemphasize that we're not ending up with $121,000 left over from that. That isn't just the repair, but it's also the cost um to get it to Anchorage and and everything else that's involved. Is that correct?
>> Correct. Yeah. And and the recovery. I mean, I have to shout out Metroco on our local uh they just dropped everything, brought big equipment out there and were able to get that thing out pretty quick, saving further damage to it. But that isn't cheap either. I mean, they pulled three, four different pieces of equipment down there just to get everything to pull back out and then uh of course you got to let it sit till the insurance makes their decision and then haul it up to Anchorage and we'll still have to haul it back. So, we'll have that cost and some others. So, there's not 120 just left over, but there's going to be hopefully something there that we end up. But, um, we'll wait and see if we need some extra things. We added the seat of course got messed up.
The electronics, the whole thing was underwater, so we did replace that also as part of this.
>> No, that's fine. Thank you. I just It's unusual for an insurance company to give you more money than than they should.
>> Well, it was just question. It was a 6-month battle getting it through with NC machinery of what and where and I think one of their quotes was 700,000 to repair it. And I said, "Well, we can buy a brand new one for that." And and so we had to really work back and forth and and get it up the chain there. But it was a a process unfortunately that takes a while, but we finally got there. And uh yeah, I think we'll need more, but it won't be bad. I think it'll be pretty good.
>> Yes.
Yeah, I just had one comment. It won't uh these type of maintenance requirements be greatly diminished when we get the new tunnel. We won't have to be doing that type of work as much.
>> We'll still be doing some of that type of work. Ideally, when we get the new tunnel, we'll be able to do it before and after, not during. Ideally, it'll be cleaned out, ready to go, and and it'll go over the road, over the top. You'll drive under like an overpass. And so it'll be further out there and we can then go in after the fact, clean it up around and then move it out. So the the good part is that it's just not as dangerous as where we've been trying to get it out of there.
>> Okay. Ready to vote? We're ready. Mr. >> Voting on the approval of resolution 2026-050.
Oops. No is not here. Warner.
>> Yes.
>> Draper. Yes.
>> Barnwell.
>> Yes.
>> Crates.
>> Yes.
>> Calvin.
>> Yes. And Mayor McClair.
>> Yes.
>> That resolution has been approved.
>> Okay. Our last item is resolution 2026-051.
Mr. Clerk, could you please read that?
Resolution 2026-051 authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Sturgeon Electric for boring support services for summer 2026 construction projects in an amount not to exceed $210,540 and appropriating funds.
>> And you'll find this on page 152 of the packet. I'd ask for a motion to approve and second, please.
Uh, I'll I'll make a motion to uh approve res approve resolution 2026.01.
I'll >> second.
>> It's been moved and seconded.
Administration, you want to say something about that?
>> Yeah. I'll have Taylor Cocker, our operations manager, come and speak to that.
Madame Mayor, members of the council, um this this may seem kind of odd that we're just bringing out a random um resolution for boarding, but um $133,000 of this work is for QAP for uh power to their gravel pit off Herman Road. So, they actually pay their estimate before we start the work. And so, that 133,000 will actually come back to the city through them paying their estimate. And then um the other bore we have is under L Creek um for the overhead to underground project the city has in support of the uh the new tunnel. And so you know the city would be paying the cost for that. But the reason why it wasn't budgeted is we didn't know about that work 2 years ago when we submitted the budget.
>> That's great.
>> And so that would be capitalized with the rest of the work for the system improvement job for the overhead underground. And then um I got 21 days in. So we might have another customer-driven job pop up. And then we have the money and the PO for Sturgeon so we can or across the highway like uh the the Nash Road um subdivision that was on the uh um one of the other resolutions is a good example. Whenever we have to cross under a highway, the state doesn't want the power line going overhead. And so um we can put a bore under the road and then they don't have to worry about height requirements and stuff for their trucks. But so we're just asking for 21 days boring with the mo and demob and uh just to have that PO for the summer for construction work and some of which we paid back via the estimates.
>> Thank you for that explanation. I think a lot of people wanted to hear what that was. Uh questions from council or comments?
>> Yeah, I had a lot of questions earlier on but I think yeah that kind of clears everything up for me. I was like, "Ah, 200,000 unbudgeted money." I was like, "These are things these are starting to add up." [laughter] But yeah, I appreciate the explanation and that these are for ongoing projects and most of them be capitalized.
>> Anything else?
We ready to vote? We're ready to vote, Mr. Cliff. Thank you, Tyler K.
>> Voting on the approval of resolution 2026-051.
Warner, >> yes.
>> Calhoun, >> yes. Cornwwell, >> yes.
>> Crates, >> yes.
>> Draper, >> yes.
>> And Mayor McClar, >> yes.
>> That resolution has been approved.
>> Okay, that brings us to a reminder about our next meeting, which will be on a Tuesday because May 25th, Monday, is Memorial Day, so the next meeting will be May 26th. We have a work session at 5:30 and then the meeting. And this brings us to citizen comments, which is the five minute option. And if you want to say anything, just raise your hand and I'll have you come on up.
Come on up. We still need to know who you are. [clears throat] Taylor Crocker outside of city limits.
And uh I just wanted to give the council some good news. You passed the resolution for the local hire alignment apprentice. So yeah, I can't announce a name because they haven't accepted the offer yet, but um we are sending an offer out to a third generation sewer dite and uh we actually had two third generation sewer dites that applied and were interviewed this morning. But uh it's exciting news for us that we'll be able to take one of our own from Seward and get them trained up to be a journeyman lineman in 4 years.
>> That is awesome.
>> Thank you.
>> Oh, thank you. Anyone else? Good or bad news, I guess.
Okay, seeing none, that brings us back to council and administration comments and responses to citizen comments. And I'll start with Mr. Beckley.
>> Uh, actually comments. That's all. Thank you.
>> That was easy. Council member Calhoun.
>> Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. Just a couple things. May is a is a pretty busy month. Um, just some reminders. May 15th is uh a day that we should fly our flags at half staff.
That's uh Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Armed Forces Day is May 16th.
I know that everybody's into the mermaid festival and the salmon music festival, whatever it is out of out of Point.
Sounds like a lot of fun and some great stuff going on. But remember that it is Armed Forces Day on May 16th and there will be a uh a free hot dog feed in front of the Harbor Masters building from 11 to 2. There'll be all people milling around with everything else. So that's cool. Um it was mentioned the blessing of the bikes. Anybody that wants to come at 9:00 am in front of the American Legion on Saturday the 16th, um there will be a blessing of the bikes and that's typically for motorcycles, but we have had nonmotorized bikes show up for that. So that's okay. Um coming up before our next meeting, we also have the combat fishing tournament which you should all be mostly aware of. That'll be on May 20th and that's where um there'll be about 220 to 230 active duty members brought down to Seward for a day of fishing and then uh a banquet um in one of the Afttech facilities after that. If you want to welcome them, um you can show up down in the harbor about 5:00 in the morning.
>> Mhm.
>> On that day, and you can welcome them as they get ready to go out on their fishing day. And then of course, uh Memorial Day on the 25th, there will be the American Legion Cemetery. Um so I don't want to call it a celebration. It's not a celebration.
>> Service.
>> Yeah. the service out there at 11:30, excuse me. Uh that will start at 11:30.
That way the train will not interfere with any of that. Um and our ceremony will uh it usually takes about a half an hour or so and we all pray for good weather and that is May.
>> Okay. Thank you, Council Member Warner.
Thank you, Madame Mayor McClair. Um so originally I thought I was going to have nothing to say but I do. Um, so I just want to tag on this coming weekend is mermaidfest. Um, so there will be a lot of people out and about walking lots of cars in the harbor. People maybe not paying as much attention. So let's just make sure we're staying aware, especially driving down in the harbor.
Um, the last day of school for our kiddos this year is uh Thursday, May 21st. Uh so just keep an eye out for kids out and about during the daytime uh cuz school will be letting out. I also had heard [laughter] that there is a significant number of our Steward High School graduates that have alumni parents. Um so I thought that was pretty cool. I'm not sure what that exact number is, but I just wanted to give a shout out to those high school graduates that have alumni parents and all Steuart High School graduates uh for 2026.
And then my last is on Saturday, May 16th is the kids fish day um up at Two Lakes. I believe that's 9:00 a.m. to noon. Um so if you got some young kiddos, come out. It's a really good time. They put a lot of work and effort into making that a fun event. Um thank you. Thank you, Council Member.
>> I just have a confession.
>> I I did not go out on Saturday to clean up.
>> I know you didn't. And I did some bags. I was going to go out there, but it was raining really hard and I just couldn't do it. And then I went out later and there were hundreds of bags out there. I'm like, "Oh my god, these consumers are amazing." So congratulations to all of you who did it. But I I'm going to fill my bags out this summer and take it out. So thanks for all the work.
You going to check me here?
>> I'm going to keep track.
>> Okay. Council member I wanted to thank the citizens who made comments today, especially the really thoughtful ones with the all the the layowns that we got that I will definitely take a look at. Um, and then I wanted to say that sewer Rotary Club had a very successful fundraising event, raised over $22,000 all to be spent in the sewer community and maybe some international projects will do with that. Um, and then I attended the variety show which had a really funny skit about city council that was I wasn't sure who they were poking fun at, but I don't know if I saw myself in there or not. Uh, and I want to bring this up. I I was reading the article in the Anchorage paper about the building plan idea that like the one that Casey brought forward and [snorts] I think the missing piece that might have made it think seem like, huh, maybe that would be a good thing for Seward was that the plans were free. if the people wanted to do that project, they could go in and get those plans for free and then they're not cheap. So, I just thought I would bring that up that I read that in the Anchorage paper and um other than that, that's all I had. Okay, Council Member Chris, other than that. Okay.
Well, I'm going to echo all of that, but I do have an announcement to make, too.
This comes from um Deborah Aldramat, who's involved with the Mariners Memorial and sort of traditional harbor opening, but there's a change this year.
So, I'm going to sort of paraphrase a message that the Seward Me Mariners memorial dedication and the blessing of the fleet are going to be held on Sunday, May 17th. They're normally on Saturday. So, this will be on Sunday, May 17th at 1. The blessing of the fleet will immediately follow the dedication at the This is the memorial in the South uh Harbor Uplands. And this year there's going to be music from the Seward Silver Strings. and also induction of new honores at the memorial. So, um we invite everyone to come. It's always sort of tagged in with the harbor. Well, it used to be the harbor opening and now the mermaid festival. So, they've moved this to Sunday to kind of separate the this particular event. So, we're hoping to see everyone there. And I want to reiterate that there is a lot going on in Seward. Um, just something we should all be proud of, especially, you know, if if if it was sunny all the time, there would be a lot going on. It would be a lot more pleasant. But like I say, I've never been as wet as I was on Saturday picking up trash. But, you know, you got to hang in there. Some people didn't come out because it was raining. But, you know, you pick a sunny day.
[laughter] Anyway, um, any other last tag? Yeah, of course there is something, Madam Mayor.
Thank you. Um, I just need to uh to give a bit of a shout out to a couple of young gentlemen. I believe that they are part of the teen and youth board if I'm not mistaken, but Declan Zabowski and Hunter Strickland have been volunteering um the last couple of afternoons at the food bank.
Um, and so I just wanted to give those two young gentlemen a shout out. They're showing uh young people in their volunteer spirit and uh they've been doing a great job and helping out down there.
>> That's excellent. Thank you. Anything else?
Okay. Um, at this point, um, it says we're having an executive session, but I'm just going to double check. Our attorney has requested just having his evaluation be public. Is that correct?
>> That's correct. Yes.
>> Okay. So then I have to ask, do we need a bit of a break before we go into that or just continue? That would be the last item on our agenda. We're all good.
Okay. So let's um take a look at the annual evaluation of the city attorney then. We have the city attorney here.
And um usually I mean there's always an option to have these public or you know but we're just going to sit here and evaluate and uh you know usually we have snacks and we take that but now we have you know it's like um but um do we want to let's start with your self-evaluation if you don't mind and you don't have to read the whole thing just could you paraphrase or sometimes >> yes actually realizing just now that uh I get for preparedness. I I forgot I need to pull that up. So, thank you.
the I guess the first thing there there's the form with all the uh boxes to check and it's it's a little bit of a challenge because it's really designed for it's more of a model for an employee. Uh I really do think all those things are excellent but also if I'm given the opportunity to rate myself I'm going to give myself an A. Uh but I really do think those are all excellent. I I do I did check a couple of them as good and not excellent which were uh service excellent that I just because I'm always open to feedback. I mean I'm sure there's always room to do a better job if anybody has any ideas teamwork. I I've done this evaluation form a couple times. I don't know if that's teamwork internally in our firm or teamwork with the city. Um >> no one knows.
>> No one knows. So I just interpret that either way and to the extent that it's work with the city I actually think it's uh remarkably good and our relationship with city management is just really smooth and always I don't say always has been but uh but you know if there's if there's ways to improve I'm I'm open to it. um and leadership and decision making I said don't apply I think decision making is a there's a unique reason that I tried to summarize which is we do make decisions as part of our job but ultimately our job is not to be a decision maker unlike a department head or something where that's a extremely important quality for advising the city's making decisions so that's maybe kind of hyper technical sounding but I thought that was an interesting thing is that ultimately uh our job on behalf of the city isn't really decision-m but uh so it's kind of a form uh and then noteworthy accomplishments you know I thought [laughter] this was kind of interesting as I went back to do it there's plenty to talk about but many of the things over the last year were not um necessarily big resume sort of um things wasn't a particular piece of litigation that was big and is now over, but a lot of it was uh for example a big code rewrite. But that's really good. I think that's where we should be. It's a lot of just helping my monetary report uh for the month too is that a lot of it is just quiet behind the scenes work. We're always very busy with sewer in touch with sewer on a regular basis. But um so just running through those briefly uh the noteworthy accomplishments.
Uh a few of those were litigation. Um there was a lawsuit from a former employee that uh the highlight there is it ended. Um that's good. Uh the the attorney's fees thing that I mentioned during the um [snorts] during the regular meeting uh is an example of just finality uh and a couple of other things that were um maybe smaller matters but they're just finalized. litigation in general is hard to it's easy to start it's hard to finish and so I think the fact that most of those things right now I can't think of a real active ongoing lawsuit it's demanding a lot of attention and again that's that's right where we want to be I think um a a real highlight is Rob Palmer in my office uh who I believe came down for one meeting but uh actually based out of Juno cuz that's where we where he lived when we hired him. Um, and he has been um really getting successfully integrated with planning in particular. And he's got more experience and potentially more enthusiasm for a really likes that stuff and uh land use issues and planning and legislation and it's been a really good uh getting him plugged in with planning has been a really good deal.
The Porn Harbor just kind of clicking water, I guess. uh there the electric utility I hesitate to even speak to. I think everyone knows that's a very busy department. Uh Cody in our office uh has been doing a lot of that but frequently checking in with um frequently checking in with us and um personnel uh again that's kind of private but that that's been for a year or two the personnel uh was really a big part of what we were doing for sewer on a daily basis and that is no longer the case which is good. uh in general. Uh it's so that's uh but that's still one of those where a Friday usually brings a personnel matter my way. We do this kind of work all across the state and uh and there's usually a personnel matter or or police or fire call me on the day before the 4th of July is [clears throat] pretty common one too. But uh but it's been pretty quiet on the personnel front other than just the dayto-day. there's always questions I just film or discipline or just there's always something there. So, um but largely kind of status quo in a lot of ways and uh you know it's generally pretty active.
It's got a lot going on like the not so much like this activities which are remarkable but it does have novel legal issues because it's actively sewers trying to improve and doing good things.
So we're uh doing a lot more forward thinking type of work than um just problem solving and that's where we should be. I'm really glad to be there.
So that's my little unplanned speech, but I I do want to speak briefly to that. I'm glad we did this in open session. I as I've thought about this over the years, I'm not entirely sure that executive sessions really all that frankly appropriate. makes a lot more sense for a person, but my office is really kind of the tech technically the city attorney. I'm sort of the the partner who mostly appears in sewer. But uh I think to evaluate an institution such as a law firm, unless somebody has something particularly personal or embarrassing about me that they need to say, which I'm open to, we can do that now executive session if it's particularly uh juicy. Um, but I also would be glad to come back if there's specific matters where somebody has more questions and really wants to question how something was handled. Um, particularly if it's would impact the public or litigation, it just let me know or let Chris know and we can set up an executive session in the future. I I did this deliberately in asked to have it be public partly. I think it's probably most appropriate under open meetings, but also uh I I think it's good for the public if we're doing something uh that's not good enough. I don't mind the world knowing that. We'll try to make it better. But I didn't do it to avoid any particular topic. So if there's a topic anybody wants to talk about in greater detail, we can come back and do it privately if that's more comfortable. So >> Okay. Thank you. Um We have been through many iterations of evaluation forms over the years and it's you know work in progress. Um comments from council m council member.
>> Oh thank you madame.
You know it's uh I would tend to agree with most everything that that uh that Sam said about self evaluation. Part of the challenge for us with an evaluation like this is we don't deal with the attorneys all that much. We we see them when they come from meetings. We can chat with them a little bit, but on a day-to-day basis, it's more the administration and the departments that are dealing with them. And so, it's we have to kind of get our feedback a little bit from them if if there's anything going on. So, um, and I don't know that there's a better a better way to evaluate, um, you know, a firm like that. It doesn't really fit like when we evaluate the city manager or the city clerk because we're dealing with them so much more on a day-to-day basis personally.
Um, so I just I tend to agree, you know, reading through everything uh that Sam provided to us um the last few days and and I can't disagree with anything that he said. Um they I will say I've been through a couple of iterations with this farm and some of the changes and um it's always been a good experience. I will say that um Sam, I appreciate that you are um very succinct when you're giving us information and it's uh it's it typically tends to be very good information, but it's given in a in a short, succinct way that's understandable uh for us non-legal people like myself.
And so I do appreciate that. And um yeah, that's I I think we've got a good thing going with this firm and the leadership that it has. Uh there may be a way we can explore down the road on a better way to evaluate them than something like this. They think they're doing a great job for us.
>> Yeah, I agree. I I think uh Sam, you're just really often we don't have questions for you and I feel a little guilty, but it's because you're doing a good job. You know, you just don't have that drama and [clears throat] uh we trust you. So, I um I think I think you guys and your team are are doing great work and I really appreciate that. We're lucky. Having said that, I have a question that may I I would like to know how your firm charges the city cuz I always wondered with Cody and Rail Bell. Cody put a lot of hours into rail belt. Was he charged? Were we charged for all that or how does that work?
>> Yeah, the we have historically had a really unique and uh unique building arrangement. our firm started, there was a flat rate and then that flat rate had a number of exceptions to it which were um like litigation and certain other things and there have been some carveouts over the years to the flat rate for like the uh the RTO and that kind of stuff because it was just um we just that's kind of unforeseeable and so we just negotiated that over the years.
that was built. Uh Cody's rate on that was remarkably low because it was kind of pegged to when he was a brand new attorney uh number of years ago and it just never got moved up. So it was a a discount of $300 or $400 from the lower 48 attorneys that were looking at hiring uh hourly and um literally maybe more. So yeah, that was hourly work. And so a lot of um the litigation in particular and a lot of the electric utility work has been historically um build hourly at a rate um you know consistent with the other city work that we do.
all the one of the and we've over the years had to make um we've just made amendments to that uh trying to increase it that flat rate because it historically has not been uh financially viable frankly. Um yeah, I mean it's it's uh it's pretty rough, but it doesn't impact uh you know, we keep showing up. So uh but we keep trying to tweak it. And but the the benefit of it, the really cool thing, the reason I'm not ready to get away from it, even though it's also kind of a billing headache cuz I'm trying to sort out what's on this flat rate and what's unavailable. I'm trying to make sure that I got five or six people that nobody put one in the wrong basket, which normally it's just all just build.
And so there isn't that. Um, but what's really interesting to me about it is like I like to have two people on a lot of the initial more complicated uh like personnel calls for example. There's just a lot going on in those. And I think it's great to have a colleague on the phone with me when that call comes in so that we can be talking about it and then we're more nimble because the two of us know what's going on. So if one of us is out, we can cover and make sure things are moving forward. I just love that. It's a luxury of the flat rate because we're not then a phone call isn't going at, you know, $600 an hour or um you know, Chris calls me quite a bit with um really good good questions about just public records stuff. That's a particular area that I um like to work on, like to help with. It's easier to ask first than get it wrong or a crystal call with uh there's just all kinds of the day-to-day just mechanics of city government stuff and there's not there's not a real cost to that. That's not a $100 call just to ask what I think he should do. And I I really appreciate that. So that's a long-winded version of it. But there's it's on any given month 2/3 of it probably just very roughly is covered under that flat rate. And then the other whatever else is under the uh uh is build.
>> Anyone else? Well, I really appreciate the depth of your firm that you have people specifically really good in certain are like you've got your preferences you've always said and >> and uh they all do and so we've got like a lot of u a lot of professionalism and uh expertise there. I also always appreciate your sense of humor. It's real subtle, but there's a good sense of humor going on there. I know.
>> I appreciate that.
>> And also um just being occasionally I'll bounce off of Chris something and he will check with you on how to go about things for me and and I you know I get the response. So I I'm just very pleased with the whole arrangement we have with you guys.
>> Um anybody else? We don't all have to say but >> we want to keep him.
Okay. Anything else?
So, for people that have not seen an evaluation before in public like this, this is generally how it goes. It's just that nobody's there listening and we're usually eating candy or something at the time, but we're being real sophisticated now. So, just so you know.
[clears throat] Are we good to go then on that front?
Okay. Any last words? I forgot to say this is not on the city attorney though.
Is that right? Oh, hold on.
No way. I'm trying to think. I mean, we we do a lot of work for sure. That's a priority for us. We really all enjoy it and I'm just trying to think. I don't want to I've got the floor for a minute on this topic. I don't want to lose it.
Um [clears throat] I I do think I mean one thing I would say you guys have said complimentary things to me but one thing I would say is that we've all agreed that Seward Council and city in general but particularly council is really a breath of fresh air as far as just overall civility. We spend a lot of time and we do this work in communities big and small all across the state. It's really neat how big of a footprint we've got.
And uh we spend a lot of time refereeing internal uh disputes and attending meetings where my constant refrain is if we would just stop doing this for a week or two, we could build a really nice park. That's what I'm always um and uh the sewer. We've uh I've brought other attorneys down here for these meetings where they've watched them on TV and stuff and then we all go, "Wow, what are they doing?" So, uh keep that up on uh yeah, on your end. It's uh it really is kind of remarkable. Um so, yeah, thanks for thanks for having us. We're our office really enjoys Seward as a community and the work that we're doing.
So, we're glad to keep it up.
>> Thank you. Well, it's a good match.
>> Yeah.
So, council member Dre, you have the oil. I just forgot to mention that I was invited to sit with Sulie and the bankers and go over our banking services contract and the services that we provide. And it was a little bit old home week for me. There's people that actually worked there when I worked there still working there. But um yeah, I think we got a few things um in the works that might improve our baking services a little bit. And uh yeah, it was it was very fun. We all had fun. Any last comments before adjournment?
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