City and Borough Assembly

ASSEMBLY CHAMBERS CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA 1332 Seward Ave. Room 229 Sitka, AK (907)747-1811 Minutes - Final City and Borough Assembly Mayor Mim McConnell Deputy Mayor Matt Hunter Vice-Deputy Mayor Benjamin Miyasato Aaron Swanson, Steven Eisenbeisz Tristan Guevin, and Bob Potrzuski Municipal Administrator: Mark Gorman Municipal Attorney: Robin L. Koutchak Municipal Clerk: Sara Peterson, CMC Thursday, September 24, 2015 6:00 PM Assembly Chambers SPECIAL MEETING I. CALL TO ORDER II. FLAG SALUTE III. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - McConnell, Hunter, Swanson, Miyasato, Eisenbeisz, Guevin, and Putz IV. CORRESPONDENCE/AGENDA CHANGES None. V. PERSONS TO BE HEARD None. VI. NEW BUSINESS: A 15-188 Award FY16 General Fund Non-Profit Grants Guevin recused himself stating he was a former employee of Brave Heart Volunteers and continued to provide some consultation services to them on a pro-bono basis during the transition time. Mayor McConnell noted she had done some work for the Hames Center and Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services, however, it was under the $1,000 mark and therefore she would not be recusing herself from voting on this category. Mayor McConnell clarified applicants would not be given an opportunity to speak to the merits of their applications, however, if there were members of the public present that wished to speak to specific applications that would be allowed. Putz noted there were two organizations that were not current with tax liabilities at the CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final September 24, 2015 time of filing, but were now current, and for that reason she considered not granting them an award. A motion was made by Hunter to award the following FY16 General Fund Non-Profit Grants in the category of Human Services: Brave Heart Volunteers $9,917 Hames Center $1,500 Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services $7,581 Southeast Alaska Independent Living $4,833 Salvation Army Alaska Sitka Corp $12,917 Youth Advocates of Sitka $752 The motion PASSED by the following vote. Yes: 6- McConnell, Hunter, Swanson, Miyasato, Eisenbeisz, and Putz Recused: 1- Guevin Mayor McConnell recused herself from voting on awards for the Cultural & Educational Services and Community Development categories indicating two of the applicants were her clients. A motion was made by Miyasato to award the following FY16 General Fund Non-Profit Grants in the category of Cultural & Educational Services: Friends of Sitka National Historical Park $1,844 Greater Sitka Arts Council $5,473 Sitka Sound Science Center $2,633 The Island Institute $5,050 The motion PASSED by the following vote. Yes: 6- Hunter, Swanson, Miyasato, Eisenbeisz, Guevin, and Putz Recused: 1- McConnell Guevin recused himself from voting on awards in the Community Development category stating he was to begin employment with Sitka Fine Arts Camp October 1. Miyasato spoke in favor of the streamlined grant process. Putz reminded the Assembly and public that budgets would get tighter in the future and encouraged people to think of creative ways to maintain the non-profit grant funding. A motion was made by Swanson to award the following FY16 General Fund Non-Profit Grants in the category of Community Development: Sitka Community Development Corporation $3,300 Sitka Fine Arts Camp $3,300 Sitka Trail Works $8,400 The motion PASSED by the following vote. Yes: 5- Hunter, Swanson, Miyasato, Eisenbeisz, and Putz Recused: 2- McConnell, and Guevin CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final September 24, 2015 Assembly members offered their thoughts on the Non-Profit Grant process. Eisenbeisz felt the process was streamlined, suggested revisiting the percentage amounts for each category and to consider the possibility of having an option to not fully expend funds. Hunter noted the organizations were all important and suggested for flexibility that Assembly members be able to allocate the total grant fund amount amongst any of the groups that they were not recusing themselves from. Assembly members discussed the possibility of eliminating grant categories. Guevin hoped to see the grant process continue to be a part of the City budget and considered it to be a very small investment the City made with great return. Mayor McConnell reiterated this was money well spent and thanked the Assembly for their support. It was decided Guevin and Hunter would work with Municipal Administrator Mark Gorman to further streamline the grant process for FY17. VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION None. VIII. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Hunter to ADJOURN. Hearing no objections, the meeting ADJOURNED at 6:23pm. ATTEST: __________________________ Sara Peterson, CMC Municipal Clerk CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3