Minutes of the Regular Meeting
Denali Borough Assembly
Tri Valley Community Center
April 14, 2002
CALL TO ORDER Presiding Officer Jerry Mueller called the regular meeting to order at 3:00 pm.
ROLL CALL Assembly members present were: Sid Michaels, Jim Caswell,
Jerry Mueller, Teresa Hall, Teresa Usibelli, Dave Talerico, Gerald Pollock,
Carol Shields, and Mayor Gonzales.
Assembly member Jim Payne was absent.
HALL MOVED to excuse PAYNE.
SHIELDS seconded, and the VOTE was unanimous.
Mr. Mike
Wright, Vice President of Power Distribution for GVEA, gave a brief update
concerning the Intertie Project. During
his update he said seven of the eleven towers are erected. He said the ice roads are no longer
travelable, and work will resume once the weather allowed for the ice bridges
to be reconstructed.
Ms. Kate
Lamal, Vice President of Energy Supply for GVEA, said the Healy Clean Coal
Project (HCCP) is one of her job responsibilities. She said GVEA is a co-op, so they must provide the cheapest and
most reliable electricity to their members.
She said those concerns are what they base all of their decisions
on. Lamal said when GVEA entered into
the agreement with the other participants; she said they did it with their eyes
open, knowing that the project was experimental. She said they did not want to be strapped with a plant that was
more expensive than any other option they had on the grid. Lamal said economic and safety concerns were
also important.
Lamal said the HCCP has been shut
down since the 90 day test, at which time GVEA refused to accept the plant as
is. She said during the two years it
was operational, it operated less than 57% of the time, and at less than 40% capacity. Lamal said GVEA is committed to getting HCCP
operational! She said they believe the
way to get that plant operational is to be retrofitted with the type of
technology that Unit One has in it.
Unit One was retrofitted in 1996 through 1997, and is operating
successfully. She said the plant needs
to have money to be retrofitted.
Lamal said they have approached
Senator Murkowski and asked for a loan that would help pay for the
retrofit. She asked that people write
letters of support to Senator Murkowski and Senator Stevens.
Healy
resident Bill Bailey asked if GVEA has thought about mixing the coal with other
things, such as ground tires. Lamal
said they would look into that idea.
CASWELL
asked what GVEA thought would be an acceptable target cost per kilowatt. Lamal said four cents.
Denali
Borough School District Superintendent Chris Hagar asked how the new Intertie
would affect the cost and reliability of the power. Mike Wright said reliability will increase and cost will
decrease.
CASWELL
asked why would he want the Intertie when that could be perceived as a threat
to his current employment. Wright said
with a second line they would have additional power capacity. He said they would be able to run both Healy
one and Healy two.
TALERICO
questioned the 90-day test period. He
said with a plant that size, he thought the test period should have been
longer.
Haagenson said the 90-day test
period was part of the contractual agreement.
He said the plant was run for about one and a half years before
that. He also said the safety and
reliability goals had not been met. He
said GVEA was not satisfied with the operation of the plant.
MICHAELS asked for a retrofit time
line.
Haagenson said about two years,
and after that the plant should run for 35 to 50 years.
USIBELLI asked if after changing
the technology would the plant need a new permit. Lamal said yes, and they are in that process right now.
Nancy Bale, Anchorage resident,
asked if an administrative revision was allowed by DEC. Lamal said DEC declined that revision.
Lamal said another option would be
a PSD avoidance or go into full PSD.
Lamal said when HCCP was first permitted, it was titled a modification
to unit one, and the emission levels were established such that in the event
that the technology failed, the standard technology would still apply. In 1993 the permit was contested by the Park
Service, and in an agreement with them the provisions of that agreement, unit
one would be retrofitted. Lamal said
the emissions that unit one was allowed prior to the construction of HCCP were
not going to be the cap for both units.
She said what that means is instead of getting 25 megawatts as an
emission cap; they would get 75 megawatts as an emission cap.
Lamal said a PSD is a Prevention
of Significant Degradation. She said
that type of review looks at new technologies and air quality monitoring. Lamal said a substantial effort was made to monitor
the visibility of the plant emissions.
She said during the two yeas the plant was running they conducted
visibility monitoring as well.
Healy resident Tammy Scholton
asked how much cleaner the air would be with the new technology in place. Lamal said there would be no change in the
emissions. Scholton asked if there had
been any research done to make the plant function better. Lamal said GVEA employees can operate both
plants from one location. GVEA, as
small as it is, cannot afford to have an experiment in Healy. She said the HCCP is the first and only one
of its kind. She said there are no
spare parts, etc.
Healy resident Charlie Loeb asked
if the loan goes through, then when does GVEA take over operation of the plant,
and when that occurs does GVEA still have a financial obligation to AIDEA.
Haagenson said GVEA is in favor of
completing a full retrofit, and anything else would be just a short-term
fix. He said the loan would allow the
retrofit to take place. He said they
are also considering applying for a grant.
CASWELL asked what the difference
in the cost of power (based on parasitic load) would be between the existing
technology and the new technology.
Parasitic load means how much power it takes to run the power plant and
all of it’s subsystems. Lamal said it
would go from 13% to 8-9%.
Dave
Hoffman, Healy Power Plant Superintendent said unit one is
running
at about 2.8 megawatts. He said the
parasitic load for the
HCCP should be about 9-10
megawatts. He said their target is four
cents a kilowatt-hour.
Healy resident Rebecca Skrivanek
said she could hear the power plant from her house! Lamal said a noise study was done and they have made some
modifications in an attempt to rectify the noise problem.
Healy resident Nancy Russell asked
if the ice fog created by the plant will continue. Lamal said if the ambient conditions are correct, there will
still be ice fog in Healy at certain times of the year.
Discussion followed and Wright
said once the retrofit occurs the plant will be running the same way it was
during the two years it was operating.
CASWELL asked what it would cost
for a partial retrofit.
Lamal said in their assessment of
the plant, the more money they put in, the more reliable the plant will
become. She said that’s a very hard
question to answer. Lamal said if you
look at AIDEA’s list and GVEA’s list, both are very different. She said it would take the involved parties
to get together and decide what to move forward with.
Healy resident Colin Keith said
recently he saw a GVEA ad that says there has not been an increase in cost
since Jay Hammond was Governor. He said that’s admirable, but it seems to him
that the HCCP could use some tweaking.
He said several months ago there were some discussions about the
possibility of Usibelli Coal Mine operating the HCCP. He said during those discussions someone walked away from the
table. Keith asked GVEA to address this
issue.
Healy resident Joe Usibelli Jr.
was in attendance and said he didn’t walk away!
Haagenson said it all boils down
to economics. He said less paid for an
operational power plant, the less reliable it would be. He said there is a 40-megawatt battery back
up there that last 15 minutes. He
said it’s 4 cents now, and if the plant were to keep tripping, then that would
go down to two to three cents. He said
GVEA wants a reliable, long-term commercially viable plant. Wright said GVEA still believes the way to
do it is to do it correctly by doing a full retrofit! He said the Department of
Energy is happy with the technology because they know it works. He said their goals are much different than
anyone else’s.
Keith asked again who walked away
from the bargaining table. He said if
it was GVEA he wants know why. Lamal
said the only way that plant is going to be economically viable is combining it
with unit one and run it as a single plant, and use the same trained work
force. She said GVEA thinks the best
way to run it is to have GVEA operate the plant.
CASWELL asked that he knows that
one of GVEA’s tasks is to provide power at the lowest possible cost. He said if under some scenario this plant
were operational, how much more would he have to pay on his bill.
Wright said about $6.00 a month
for a residential customer.
CASWELL said that some people have
stated that they are willing to pay more if they think that they are getting
cleaner air.
Haagenson said he does not think
the residents of Fairbanks would be agreeable to paying more. Wright said we would have just as clean
power with the full retrofit, and no increase in rates.
Lamal said GVEA’s annual meeting
is April 23rd in Fairbanks.
Executive Director of AIDEA, Bob
Poe spoke next. He said AIDEA owns the
HCCP plant. He said he would like to
thank our Federal delegation. He said
$117 million federal dollars went into this plant.
Poe said the delegation, AIDEA,
and GVEA would like to se this plant run.
He said when they started the process to get the 125 million dollar loan
that arrangement was made back in June 2001.
Poe said when Mike Kelly put the deal together, he wanted to get the
loan and get a permit adjustment to allow for the retrofit. Kelly also wanted a coal sales and power
sales agreements as well.
Poe reminded the Assembly that
AIDEA is a for profit state corporation.
He said when they make a profit half of that profit goes back to the
State of Alaska. He said since 1996
they have paid back $126 million to the State.
Poe said, to date, the HCCP cost $297 million ($117 million of Department
of Energy, $29 million in State grant money, and $128 million in AIDEA money)
He said the 128 million in AIDEA funds includes77 million in outstanding
bonds. He said that plant costs them 9
million a year to just sit there. He said that equates to 4.5 million less they
are able to give back to the State. Poe
said AIDEA has been willing to go along with the loan approach partially
because GVEA is the only viable purchaser.
Poe said during the 90-day test
the plant met all the emission goals that were established for it. He said he thinks that GVEA fears the
development risk as a co-op. He said he
thinks GVEA is also concerned about the cost as the technological bugs are
being worked out. He said it was a
pretty acrimonious working environment.
He said the plant ran a lot better on 40% waste coal than it did on 50%
waste coal. Poe said when the plant was
tested and failed because it did not pass the test criteria, everybody began to
sue each other. He said then that all
stopped and everyone said “let’s try to find the path home”. Poe said that created two paths: one was a
full retrofit and the other was a limited retrofit. He said the limited retrofit would fine tune issues that are
known, like the exhaust fans. Poe said
Duke Engineering concluded that those two paths could work. He said without a power sales agreement they
couldn’t get where they want to be. Poe
said they met with Senator Murkowski and he understands the issues. He said at this point they have one
supplemental bill in congress. He said
it is AIDEA’s job to find a way to make this thing work and move forward. Poe said every year that they wait it costs
them $9 million more. He said AIDEA
appreciates all the efforts of the federal delegation. He said they are actively looking at
options.
RECESS MUELLER
called for a break at 4:10 p.m.
RECONVIENED MUELLER
called the meeting back to order at 4:25 p.m.
CASWELL asked what the cost of
power was during the 90-day test. POE
said AIDEA believes the plant can run at 4.7 cents basic cost. He said uninterruptible power coming from Chugach
Electric right now is about 4.7 cents.
Haagenson said he thinks the
Chugach number will eventually slide down to 2.5 to 3.5 cents.
Healy resident Monte Burbank said
the consensus is that the cost of gas will be increasing but the cost of coal
will be staying the same.
Haagenson said GVEA is aware that
there might be a gas line to Fairbanks ten years from now. He said it takes about three people to run a
60-megawatt turbine. He said GVEA understands
the economics of this issue, and they know how to make things flow.
Poe said he agrees with what
Haagensen said, as Haagenson is speaking from a Utility Manager’s point of
view. He said there is $297 million in
public money to date into this project.
He said the engineering firm believes it can work, and so does Usibelli. He said AIDEA is also about jobs and helping
the economy. Poe said it’s nice that
Haagenson is able to sort of pretend it doesn’t exist when it comes to all
these economic options, and Poe said he understands that that’s Haagenson’s
job. Poe said we have to make the
project work!
Healy resident Tim O’Neill asked
how much was AIDEA involved in the operation of the HCCP outside of the
ninety-day test period. He asked why it
was only operating at 50% during that time.
Poe said they were working out the
bugs. He said a coal pulverizer got a
spark and it blew up. He said if
someone were standing near that explosion they would not be with us today. Poe said it is true that the fan belts did
erode because of the coal.
Healy resident Scott Killian asked
if that erosion occurred because of the type of coal that was used. Poe said yes, the coal had a lot of rocks in
it. He said another reason is the coal
is actually moved through the fan, and when the coal has pulverized rock in it
it’s more erosive, and that wears down the blades.
Killian said from what he
understands they did not have the correct blend of coal, so they had to blend
the coal with sandstone, and sandstone is silica.
Poe said one way to fix that might
be to make it so the fans can be slipped in and out on a regular maintenance
basis. He said another area of concern
is how the coal mix gets to the plant.
Poe said he thinks we should try and make the plant work.
O’ Neill asked how the problems of
HCCP compare to the start up of any new plant.
Discussion followed.
Healy resident Wayne LaChapelle
asked if unit two is for sale on the open market.
Poe said it is not for sale. He said the AIDEA Board had a long executive
session regarding this issue on Thursday, and one of the things they discussed
was a full range of options.
Healy resident Jay Carter said he
had heard this plant can produce up to 68 megawatts. Poe said he has not heard 68, but he has heard greater than
50. He said the plant is rated at 50
megawatts.
Haagenson said the generator
itself is rated at 63 megawatts, and that includes a ten-megawatt auxiliary
load.
Keith said if at some point GVEA
does not acquire the money they’re after, then will the plant be dismantled and
sold off in pieces. Poe said they are
looking at the time value of money. He
said chopping it up and selling it would only give them 3 to 4 million positive
cash flow. He said using tax-exempt
bonds finances this plant. He said if
the plant disposes of waste coal, then it qualifies for those types of
bonds.
Usibelli Coal Mine President Joe
Usibelli Jr. said they mine coal, that’s what they do! He said for him to tell GVEA how to operate
their plant or tell AIDEA how to operate their plant isn’t really his place. He said they have invested several million
dollars into this project, and they have a say in it because they are the
supplier of the coal for the plant. He
said everything you have heard today is actually very simple. Usibelli said GVEA wants safe, affordable
and reliable power. He said all the
technical issues can be cured. He said
it’s the cost of operating the plan versus the reliability, and who’s going to
pay for it.
Usibelli said Mr. Poe wants to be
paid back for his debt service. He said his company wants to sell coal, and the
cost of operating the plant has to cover the purchase of the coal. He said a coal supply agreement could be
decided if they knew when the plant would begin to operate. Usibelli said a lot of what you are hearing
is posturing. He said he is negotiating
with GVEA to sell coal, and they want the cheapest price for coal, and they
want the cheapest price for power for their customers. Usibelli said he wants the highest price for
the coal, and Mr. Poe wants to be paid back on his debt service. He said there are a lot of undertones going
on because they are all negotiating with each other as they’re speaking. Usibelli said as a coal miner he looks at
things pretty simply. He said he thinks
the technical problems can be solved.
He said the question is to what degree to solve those problems. Usibelli said he thinks it will run someday,
and if it doesn’t, then that’s a tragedy.
CASWELL asked if the three parties
involved would commit to getting together in the near future to discuss this issue,
without a large audience. Lamal said
they see a lot of each other already.
Rick Martin said the plant needs
to run, and it seems to him that it’s just a matter of cost, and he wants to
know where that money is going to come from.
He said the money would need to come from somewhere to complete a full
retrofit or a minimal retrofit.
Poe said he does not think that
anyone is dragging their feet on this issue.
He said he has never felt for one minute that GVEA isn’t working hard on
a solution. Poe said he thinks the
bigger issue is what’s the solution. He
said if the only solution was to rip the guts out and replace it then that is
what needs to happen. He said he thinks
you could do a limited retrofit and get the plant to run well. Poe said the long term commercial
reliability issue is true. He said all the partners in this journey knew going
in that this was a new technology.
MICHAELS asked if AIDEA was
willing to provide the money for the full retrofit, and if a partial retrofit
were decided upon, then where would the money for that come from.
Poe said the cost of a full
retrofit is astronomical! As stated
previously, AIDEA is a for profit entity.
He said they couldn’t lend money at 2%.
He said they get paid through a user fee system, and they get the cost
of capital over profit, like at the Red Dog Mine. Poe said if they did a limited retrofit, then he thinks the AIDEA
board would be willing to provide some of the capital. He said another idea would be to do it in
stages. Poe said he thinks the AIDEA
Board would be willing to do reasonable things that get us to that limited
retrofit. He said with a full retrofit
GVEA would have to pay a much larger amount of cost, and with a limited
retrofit AIDEA would pay a larger amount.
O’Neill asked if GVEA was not
willing to go with a limited retrofit.
Haagenson said he would like to work toward a long-term plan.
Discussion followed. Jay Carter said there are people here who
would like to work a limited time than not work at all!
Healy resident Dennis Needham
asked how many jobs would be created.
Lamal said they have maintained a work force in unit one that is higher
than what their ultimate goal was. She
said the reason for this is because they had scaled up the work force during
the test period for HCCP. Lamal said
they have a very well trained work force.
Colin Keith said if AIDEA is
losing 9 milllion a year, then why not use those funds to begin the limited
retrofit.
Healy resident Ron Clark said he
has been a resident of Healy for 30 years.
He asked if the Intertie is really needed if unit two is not
running.
Haagenson said the existing one
needs to be rebuilt. Wright said the
line to Healy is as old as unit one.
Minimal discussion followed, and
MUELLER thanked all those in attendance.
RECESS MUELLER
called for a recess at 5:00 p.m.
RECONVENE MUELLER
called the meeting back to order at 5:15 p.m.
PLANNING 1.) A
resolution in support of the Department of Transportation
COMMISSION and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) Project No. 61279. (This project constructs a highway bridge
over the railroad crossing near milepost 204 Parks Highway.)
MUELLER
entertained a MOTION to adopt. SHIELDS
so moved and HALL seconded.
The
roll call VOTE was unanimous. This will
be Resolution PC 02-02.
2.)
A request from Owner, Don Shannon, to re-plat and vacate utility
easements. Case File No.02-003. Location:
Lots 30, 31, and 32, Block 3 Tri-Valley Subdivision, within Section 18,
Township 12S, Range 7W, Fairbanks Meridian, Healy, Alaska.
Owner
Representative Tim Venechuk said he had obtained letters from those involved,
like GVEA, etc.
HALL
MOVED to approve and SHIELDS seconded.
MICHAELS
stated that we should wait until the Alaska Railroad and Usibelli Coal Mine
submit a letter of non-objection before we give final approval.
Land
Technician Gail Pieknik said that those two entities have to sign the final
plat before it can be recorded.
The
VOTE was unanimous.
MINUTES 1.) March
10, 2002: Work Session, Public Hearing,
and Regular Meeting.
MICHAELS
MOVED to adopt, and SHIELDS seconded.
The VOTE was unanimous.
2.)
February 22, 2002: Canvass meeting.
HALL
moved to adopt, MICHAELS seconded. The
VOTE was unanimous.
FINANCIAL MICHAELS MOVED to receive the February 2002 financial
REPORT report, and HALL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
MAYOR’S The Mayor chose not to submit a report at this
time.
REPORT
ASSEMBLY MICHAELS stated that he would not be at the May
meeting as he
COMMENTS will be out of the state, and asked to be excused.
COMMITTEE Mayor Gonzales recommended Nancy Hollis for Finance
SEAT APPT. Committee Seat D.
HALL MOVED to confirm the Mayor’s recommendation, and SHIELDS
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
PUBLIC There were no comments.
COMMENTS
COMMUNICATION 1.)
National Park Service Planner, Mike Tranel, regarding the
AND Backcountry
Plan and Regional Trails Planning.
APPEARANCES
Mike Tranel gave then Assembly a
brief overview of the updated plan. He
said some of the main issues are access for planes and snowmachines in the
Park. He said the plan he is talking
about does not affect the Northern Access issue. He said there has been a rapid increase in the amount of
airplanes landing on glaciers in the Park.
Another big issue is how snowmachiners near Cantwell will be able to get
to the Park boundary off of the Parks Highway.
He said they would like to coordinate with the Borough regarding where
the snowmachine trails will go once they leave the Park, near Cantwell. He said
if we are providing for snowmachining access in the park then they have the
ability to provide for trail planning and if you look at the map most of the
area affected is in the Denali Borough.
He suggested that the Borough be involved in the trail planning
process. He said the NPS is looking to
assist and facilitate where trails go, but not to dictate. He said it is
important to make sure what happens inside the park is compatible to what
happens outside of the park.
CASWELL stated that you are national
park not an international park as stated in the handout. Tranel said Denali has been recognized as an
international destination, and that falls in line with Alaska being a different
and special place.
2.) Golden Valley Electric
Association Representative regarding an up date on the Healy Clean Coal Project
and the Northern Intertie.
This issue was handled earlier in
the meeting.
3.)
Appearance request from Mr. John Winklmann, regarding the
Denali Borough voter
pamphlet.
Healy resident John Winklmann said two
months ago he submitted a complaint regarding the hand out that was sent out to
the potential voters by the Assembly.
He said he is resubmitting his complaint that was addressed during last
month’s Assembly meeting because he feels some of his questions was not
answered. He said he feels the Assembly
sent out and handed out misinformation to potential voters. He said let there be no mistake! The Assembly disseminated misinformation to
the voters of the borough. He stated
that he is not saying that the Assembly did that on purpose, but he feels that
the Assembly did send that misinformation out.
He stated that the letter of response that he got back seemed to gloss
that all over and to make it a real small time problem. He stated that if you read the minutes
everything that he said was backed up by comments by many of you folks. He stated that if you read the minutes from
last month’s meeting, Mr. Mueller brought it to the table and Mr. Michaels and
Ms. Hall both said that this should be discussed. He said and then someone moved and another seconded to send a
response that was already written. He
stated that there was no discussion. He
questioned that there was never a meeting or if anybody had even looked at that
written response, except Mr. Mueller.
He stated that the answer did not address the points that he made. He stated that first the pamphlet was five
(5) pages long and the Borough propositions got four and a half (4½) page and
the at-large sponsored proposition only got four (4) paragraphs. He felt that that was anything but
nonpartisan, and if it were non-partisan, they would have have both received
two and a half (2½) pages. He stated
that in a paragraph in that pamphlet it stated that “at the request of the
School Board …”, and he feels that was inaccurate information. He stated that it implies that the School
Board came to the Assembly and everybody sitting here knows that that the
Assembly went to the School Board, and forced that issue on them.
Winklmann said the issue is whether
the Assembly wants to be honest or not.
He stated that he is not saying that anybody did that on purpose or not,
but that is what happened. Winklmann
stated his next issue is the maps. He
said the map that became a part of Ordinance 01-12 was not the same map as was
sent to he voters in the pamphlet. He
said the map in the pamphlet was not accurate, and asked why that was sent
out. He said the pamphlet says, “For a
more detailed map contact the Borough Office”, and he asked why this map that
went with the ordinance was not a par of the pamphlet. Winklmann said he would like it very much if
they made a little committee and took 10 minutes to discuss this issue. He said he would like it if, when the
committee is put together, that they put an honest member of the community on
the committee.
Winklmann said he thinks this is
also an ethical problem, as the Assembly should be held responsible for their
actions. He stated that when someone
comes to the Assembly and complains, then there needs to be some method to take
care of it. He stated that when you
take a minute and write a note as a response to a complaint, and then the
Assembly votes on that note, that is unethical.
ORDINANCES 1.) Ordinance
01-07, Version A, an ordinance amending the Denali Borough Code of Ordinances,
adding Chapter 22, pertaining to business licenses.
MICHAELS MOVED to postpone TALERICO seconded. The VOTE was
unanimous.
2.) Ordinance 02-01, Version A, an ordinance amending the
Denali Borough Enabling Code, Title 1, Chapter 4, Public Records.
CASWELL MOVED to send this to the Borough Attorney, and HALL seconded.
USIBELLI MOVED to send the “Employee Handbook” to the
attorney also. POLLOCK seconded.
The VOTE on the amendment was 5-3 with CASWELL, MUELLER, and
MICHAELS opposed. The amendment
passed.
CASWELL asked how thick the “Employee Handbook” is. The Clerk clarified that it is called the
“Office policy”.
The VOTE on the main MOTION was 7-1 with TALERICO opposed.
3.) An ordinance of the Denali Borough Assembly amending the
fiscal year 2002 budget.
MICHAELS MOVED to introduce, and HALL seconded.
Mayor Gonzales stated that there was an error under
“Assembly Expenses, Municipal Land Management”. He stated that the amount should be $6,000 not $66,000.
The roll call VOTE to introduce was unanimous.
HALL MOVED to postpone CASWELL seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
4.) An ordinance of
the Denali Borough Assembly pertaining to the fiscal year 2003 budget.
MICHAELS MOVED to introduce, and HALL seconded.
USIBELLI asked if the fire departments in the Borough need
to use current census numbers. She
stated that it looks like they are still using old numbers.
The roll call VOTE was unanimous.
USIBELLI repeated her question.
Mayor Gonzales said the numbers come from the Fire
Departments and they are using census numbers.
USIBELLI stated that she had asked the Fire Chief, Rusty
Lasell, if Anderson could be serving that many people and he did not think
so. She asked if these are numbers
possibly outside of the borough. She
stated that they do not reflect the census numbers.
Discussion followed and the Clerk said the City of Anderson
is going to resubmit their number, as they are completing their own
census.
The Chair entertained a MOTION to postpone. HALL so moved
and SHIELDS seconded.
Mayor Gonzales stated that the school asked for $1,220,256,
and during the next meeting he will be asking the Assembly to take $35,000 from
the Assembly Budgetary Reserve line item and out that into the Major school
Maintenance Reserve Fund.
Denali Borough School District Superintendent Chris Hagar
stated that he would like to be able to go to the school board tomorrow night
and recommend to the School Board that they hire the nontenured staff. He stated that the only way that he can do
that is if the Assembly lets him know that they are in support of their
proposed budget. MUELLER reminded
everyone that this was just an introduction of this ordinance.
CASWELL asked that Usibelli Coal Mine be contacted to obtain
a better figure for projected Severance Tax revenues.
HALL raised a point of order regarding the time
constraint. HALL MOVED to suspend the
rule to set the time for adjournment no later then 7:00 p.m. CASWELL
seconded. The vote was 7-1, with
POLLOCK opposed.
The VOTE on the main motion was unanimous.
5.) An ordinance
pertaining to the Borough Six Year Capitol Improvement Projects.
HALL MOVED to introduce, and SHIELDS seconded. The roll call VOTE was unanimous.
The Chair entertained a MOTION to postpone until the next
meeting. TALERICO so MOVED and MICHAELS
seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
RESOLUTIONS 1.) A resolution
determining the total amount to be made available from the Denali Borough
sources for school purposes in accordance Chapter 30, Section 9, Denali Borough
Code of Ordinances.
CASWELL
MOVED to adopt and MICHAELS seconded.
The
roll call VOTE was unanimous.
Nancy
Russell, School Board member, stated that she appreciates the Mayors
comments. She stated that in the past
there has been some concerns that the major school maintenance projects are
funded properly. She stated that she
looks forward to discussing it in the May joint work session.
2.)
A resolution of the Denali Borough pertaining to Safe Communities funding.
HALL
MOVED to adopt SHIELDS seconded. The
roll call VOTE was unanimous.
3.) A resolution of the Denali Borough Assembly
pertaining to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
(DOT&PF) highway bridge over the railroad crossing near Cantwell.
This
was addressed earlier in the meeting.
OTHER 1.) Formal written complaint from Mr. David
Braun dated March BUSINESS 10, 2002.
HALL MOVED to send the draft letter, and MICHAELS seconded.
USIBELLI MOVED to have the Personnel Committee review the complaints. She asked the Presiding Officer for
direction. MUELLER said Code
establishes the formation of investigative committees and the Personnel
Committee is not that committee. The
MOTION failed for lack of a second.
MICHAELS raised a point of order, and said the Code of
Ordinances calls for the formation of a standing committee by ordinance and a
special committee by resolution.
USIBELLI stated that she would like to see both John
Winklmann's and David Braun's complaints handled by a committee. Discussion followed, and HALL suggested that
USIBELLI bring a resolution to the next meeting for the formation of a special
committee. USIBELLI asked to take a
recess and write that resolution.
MUELLER said that would have to go on the next agenda.
The maker and second of the motion withdrew the main motion.
USIBELLI MOVED to postpone sending the letter until the next
meeting, at which time there could be a resolution that forms an investigative
committee. TALERICO seconded. The VOTE was unanimous.
2.) Discussion regarding ethics of Assembly members.
MUELLER said this issue is on the Personnel Committee
agenda.
USIBELLI asked how to bring the complaint form to the next
meeting. MUELLER said she could bring a
resolution or an ordinance to the next meeting. MICHEALS suggested that she bring forth an ordinance that
includes the form and changes the section of the Code that would put that form
into use.
Discussion began and MICHAELS said there are sample forms in
the Code that could be used to address the formal complaint form issue.
3.) Public comment.
David Braun stated that six members of the Assembly, the
Mayor and three women of the staff witnessed an incident before the Assembly
meeting last month between him and Mr. Payne initiated by Mr. Payne. He stated that it has come to his attention
that someone on the 10th that witnessed this started a rumor that he
was “throwing chairs” around. He stated
that he would appreciate it that no such slander be put out against him. He stated that it is the second time that
one of his public servants has slandered him.
He stated that he does not appreciate it.
ASSEMBLY There were no
comments.
COMMENTS
NEXT MEETING The next Assembly meeting will be held on May 19, 2002 at
McKinley Village Community Center.
ADJOURNMENT MUELLER
declared the regular meeting adjourned at 6:18 pm.
Date Approved:
____________________