Minutes of the Regular Meeting
Denali Borough Assembly
McKinley Village Community Center
May 19, 2002
CALL TO ORDER Presiding Officer Jerry Mueller called the regular meeting to order at 3:00 pm.
ROLL CALL Assembly members present were: Jim Caswell, Jerry
Mueller, Teresa Hall, Teresa Usibelli, Dave Talerico, Gerald Pollock, Carol
Shields, and Mayor Gonzales. Assembly
members Jim Payne and Sid Michaels were absent.
CASWELL MOVED to excuse PAYNE and MICHAELS, and HALL
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
PLANNING 1.) A request
to subdivide: Hendren-Brooks
Subdivision near
COMMISSION Cantwell.
Mayor
Gonzales said the Land Technician had a death in the family and was not in
attendance to address this issue.
CASWELL said the Technician had produced a favorable report
for this request, and the Assembly had received a copy of the deed today.
CASWELL MOVED to grant approval, and HALL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
MINUTES 1.) April
14, 2002: Work Session, Public Hearing,
and Regular Meeting.
HALL
MOVED to adopt, and TALERICO seconded.
CASWELL stated that the Staff had done an excellent job on
these minutes, and suggested that these minutes be kept as a historical
document. The VOTE was unanimous.
FINANCIAL MUELLER entertained a MOTION to receive the February
2002
REPORT financial report. HALL so MOVED, and SHIELDS seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
MAYORS Mayor Gonzales gave an update on the northern
access
REPORT reconnaissance study (NARS). He said the TORA (Transfer of Responsibility
Agreement) has been signed and approved.
He said the administration is in the process of recouping monies spent
by the Borough on this project. He said
the overhead rate for the project is 13.9% for direct work. Mayor Gonzales said he has met and will meet
again with the Denali National Park Superintendent. He said Superintendent Anderson seems to be a cooperative
person. He said this project will be
completed in phases, and we are working on phase one right now.
Mayor
Gonzales stated that people have asked him about HB 244, and there is nothing
being done with that right now. He said
he has met several times with Mr. Joe Fields concerning this project. He
reminded everyone that HB244 and NARS are two different projects.
DBSD SUPT. Denali Borough School District Superintendent Chris Hagar
REPORT submitted a written report and gave a few brief
highlight of that report. He said they
have experienced several maintenance problems as outlined in his written
report. He said the Board submitted a
list of prioritized maintenance requests to the Assembly during their joint
work session. He said the first four
items are crucial for the District.
Hagar stated that he wanted to thank the Assembly for the
support that they have given to the school.
He stated that the enrollment looks like it will be up 7-8 students at
the Anderson School, and it doesn’t look like the Usibelli Coal Mine layoffs
will have a lot of effect on the Tri-Valley School enrollment. Hagar said the District has been working
with the Park Service to have the students build two cabins. He said they are also working with the City
of Anderson on a similar project.
CASWELL said he would like to see the backup for the request
for the funds to purchase a furnace for the Cantwell School. Hagar said it’s a heat exchanger.
2.)
Personnel Committee recommendation.
HALL
read the recommendation (see attached).
APOINTMRNT 1.) Appointment of
Carol Shields to the Finance Committee Seat A.
Mayor
Gonzales recommended Ms. Carol Shields for the Finance Committee Seat A.
CASWELL
MOVED to approve the recommendation, and HALL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous with SHIELDS
abstaining.
ASSEMBLY There were no comments.
COMMENTS
PUBLIC Village View resident Dulce Havill said she has
been here since
COMMENTS 1986, and spoke in favor of the proposed amendment.
Village View resident Steve Jones said he thinks that the
Borough is heading down a road that they will regret in the future. He stated that the borough government should
not be getting into this kind of detail in this ordinance.
Village View resident Mary Pearson said all they want is a
nice, quiet subdivision.
Village View resident Martin Weiner said he has been here
since 1986 as well, and he agrees with a majority of the amendment. He said he has a few problems with the
amendment like he plans to build a Bed and Breakfast and the amendment only
allows for two rooms. He said his
land’s septic is set up for a B and B in the future. He said another concern people have is traffic in the
subdivision. He said his driveway comes
in off the Parks Highway. He asked if
what he has is considered “conditional use”, and asked what does “conditional
use” mean.
Borough employee Eileen Armstrong said in theory he would
have to apply for a permit, and he would be in non-conformance with the current
Plan if he proceeded to build.
Village View resident Linda Franklin said she and others have
been working on this amendment for the past one and half years. She spoke in favor of the amendment.
Village View resident Joe Durrenberger said it is a
reasonable and appropriate idea for the Assembly to adopt this amendment.
ORDINANCES 1.) Ordinance
01-07, Version A, an ordinance amending the Denali Borough Code of Ordinances,
adding Chapter 22, pertaining to business licenses.
MUELLER entertained a MOTION to postpone this ordinance
until July when the other proposed tax ordinances come before the
Assembly. TALERICO so moved and HALL
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
2.) Ordinance 02-01, Version A, an ordinance amending the
Denali Borough Enabling Code, Title I, Chapter 4, Public Records.
TALERICO MOVED to adopt and HALL seconded. The roll call VOTE was unanimous.
3.) Ordinance 02-02,
Version B, an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2002 Budget.
HALL MOVED to adopt, and TALERICO seconded.
Mayor Gonzales said he would like the Assembly to address
his requests for funds in two line items before they adopt. The request added 43,500 to the dues,
subscription, and advertising line item, and added $1,350 to the bonding and
insurance line item. HALL MOVED to
amend as requested by the Mayor, and SHIELDS seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
The roll call VOTE on the adoption was unanimous.
4.) Ordinance 02-03,
Version B, an ordinance establishing the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget.
Mayor Gonzales said the Borough does not have the amount of
funds that they normally have because of funding the Tri-Valley School Upgrade
Project. He said he has some more
requests for funding that he supports: $39,194 for the School District, $5,000
for the Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department, and $5,000 for the Anderson
Volunteer Fire Department. He said if
the Assembly decides to fund these requests, the funds would have to come out
of their Budgetary Reserve line item.
Mayor Gonzales reiterated that he is in support of the Assembly funding
these requests.
CASWELL said the Assembly Budgetary Reserve amount is set by
ordinance and he would like the administration to bring forth another ordinance
to amend the FY ’03 budget ordinance, after this one is adopted as presented.
CASWELL stated that he has no problem with making the
promise to the entities that made the funding request. He asked if any Assembly members were
opposed to his idea. There were no
dissenting comments from the Assembly.
Minimal discussion followed, and MUELLER entertained a
MOTION to adopt, HALL so MOVED and SHIELDS seconded. The roll call VOTE was unanimous.
5.) Ordinance 02-04,
Version B, an ordinance establishing the Denali Borough six-year capital
improvement plan.
MUELLER entertained a MOTION to adopt, HALL so moved and
CASWELL seconded.
CASWELL stated that he supports the projects that are
listed, but he objects to the dollar amounts that are listed here.
Chris Hagar asked what would happen if the legislature
decides to fund more projects than the ones that are listed here. MUELLER said
the Borough doesn’t have the money.
The roll call VOTE was unanimous.
RECESS MUELLER
called for a recess at 4:09 p.m.
RECONVENE MUELLER
called the meeting back to order at 4:21 p.m.
6.) An ordinance
amending the Sub Area Land Use Plan for Village View Subdivision.
MUELLER entertained a MOTION to introduce, HALL so moved and
SHIELDS seconded.
CASWELL asked if personally he would like to see let the
community make up there mind before the Assembly adopts this ordinance. MUELLER said the Assembly needs to adopt
this before an election can occur in the Village View Subdivision. He suggested changing the effect date of the
ordinance to make it effective after the election in the subdivision.
Discussion followed, and the roll call VOTE to introduce was
unanimous. This will be Ordinance 02-05.
MUELLER entertained a MOTION to postpone this ordinance
until the next meeting, HALL so moved and SHIELDS seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
7.) An ordinance
providing for an Ethics Commission and providing for disposition of alleged
violations.
USIBELLI MOVED to introduce, and HALL seconded.
HALL stated that USIBELLI brought this with her to the last
Personnel meeting and they sat down and went through this and that the
Personnel Committee is behind this.
HALL said there are a lot of changes that still need to be made.
CASWELL asked who was on the committee. HALL said herself, Eileen Holmes, and Jenasy
Jensen. CASWELL said if he were a fan
of this ordinance he could probably answer his own question, but he is
not. CASWELL asked if, according to
this proposed ordinance, the Personnel Committee must follow through with all
complaints, even if the complaint is frivolous.
HALL said she would assume that any complaint is going to be
directed to the Commission through the Mayor’s office.
CASWELL said that is quite the undertaking as some of these
complaints are frivolous.
HALL said there would be a form for people to fill out that
will state what the exact violation is.
CASWELL said this creates an avenue for people who hate life or whatever
to continue to keep producing paperwork.
Discussion followed and HALL said she believes that avenue
is necessary.
HALL said this process is similar to an employee filing a
grievance. CASWELL said there are some
similarities but there are differences as well. He said this avenue allows someone to come really close to
slandering someone.
Discussion followed and HALL said we couldn’t deny them
their rights. CASWELL said no one had,
and HALL agreed.
MUELLER asked if a separate work session to discuss this
ordinance was necessary. HALL agreed.
Healy resident Neal Laugman said the Fairbanks North Star
Borough Ethics ordinance is a good starting point. He said they have a well thought out procedure to handle these
complaints. He said their ordinance
addresses the idea of a public official being slandered so it does not come to
that. He said the Chairman of the
Ethics committee reviews in private the charges and considers whether there is
a basis for a screened hearing. Laugman
said he agrees that it should not be an avenue for someone to cause
trouble. HALL said that idea was part
of the Personnel Committee’s recommendation.
USIBELLI said part of the reason that this is simplified
version is that there are complaints out there that need to be addressed. She said the form would be signed by the
complainant and notarized as well. She
said the form would say that the allegations must be true to the best of the
complaintent’s knowledge or they can be committing perjury and can be
prosecuted. USIBELLI said when someone
brings forth a complaint they must state which section of the Code has been
violated, etc.
CASWELL stated that perhaps there should be some penalties
for a person that files a complaint knowing that it is unfounded.
Mayor Gonzales said the first thing that comes to his mind
when he sees this ordinance is more government and more staff. He said the ordinance requires that our
Attorney hire another attorney to handle a complaint. He said that would cost money.
USIBELLI said the North Star Borough’s Ethics commission met
last week for the first time in ten years.
The roll call was: USIBELLI, HALL, POLLOCK, TALERICO,
SHIELDS, and MUELLER were in favor, and CASWELL was opposed. This will be Ordinance 02-06.
Discussion followed.
USIBELLI MOVED to refer this to the Personnel Committee. HALL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
RESOLUTIONS 1.) A resolution
supporting approval of Doyon LTD’s request for a gas exploration license from
the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas.
MUELLER
entertained a MOTION to adopt. HALL so
moved and CASWELL seconded.
CASWELL
asked if Doyon owns this gas that is out there? MUELLER stated that it is owned by the State.
The
roll call VOTE was unanimous. This will
be Resolution 02-06.
2.) A resolution of the Denali Borough Assembly
to encourage businesses of the Denali Borough to request their employees reside
in the area that they work.
USIBELLI
MOVED to adopt, and HALL seconded.
USIBELLI
stated that what we see in our borough that business have there businesses in
our borough and their employees live somewhere else. She said this is not an attempt to regulate; it’s just to let the
businesses know that we want their employees to reside where they work. USIBELLI said that some Park Service and Clear
Air Base employees work in the Borough, but don’t live in the Borough.
HALL
stated that she can support all of the whereases in the resolution, but cannot
agree to the last statement in the resolution.
TALERICO concurred.
The
roll call VOTE was zero to seven, with all present in opposition.
3.) Annual asset allocation resolution
pertaining to the Borough’s Permanent Investment Fund.
MUELLER
entertained a MOTION to adopt. HALL so
moved, and SHIELDS seconded.
Minimal
discussion followed, and Administrative Clerk Amanda Nyberg gave a brief
overview of the reason for the proposed verbiage changes.
The
roll call VOTE was unanimous. This will
be Resolution 02-07.
OTHER 1.) Liquor license designation addition and
transfer request for BUSINESS Grande
Denali Lodge.
MUELLER
asked the Clerk if any written or verbal complaints
had been received. The Clerk replied no.
HALL MOVED to approve and TALERICO seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
2.) Major School
Maintenance funds request from the Denali Borough School District.
This discussion was
held earlier in the meeting.
3.) Public comment.
Village View resident Steve Jones said he had a chance to
read the proposed amendment ordinance and he felt a Bed and Breakfast owner
should be allowed to have up to four rooms, or it’s not worth it
monetarily. He also said he would like
to see the definition of a family be changed to not more than 5 non-related
family members in one dwelling.
ASSEMBLY There were no
comments.
COMMENTS
NEXT MEETING The next Assembly meeting will be held on June 9, 2002 at the
Cantwell School.
MUELLER
said the joint work session with the School Board might be held on June 22,
2002 from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
ADJOURNMENT MUELLER
declared the regular meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Date Approved:
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