City and Borough Assembly

ASSEMBLY CHAMBERS CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA 330 Harbor Drive Sitka, AK (907)747-1811 Minutes - Final City and Borough Assembly Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz, Deputy Mayor Kevin Knox, Vice Deputy Mayor Kevin Mosher, Thor Christianson, Crystal Duncan, Rebecca Himschoot, David Miller Municipal Administrator: John Leach Municipal Attorney: Brian Hanson Municipal Clerk: Sara Peterson Thursday, March 3, 2022 6:00 PM Assembly Chambers SPECIAL MEETING I. CALL TO ORDER II. FLAG SALUTE III. RECITAL OF LANDS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IV. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Christianson, Knox, Mosher, Eisenbeisz, Himschoot, Duncan, and Miller V. SPECIAL REPORT (10 minutes): 22-033 Community Recreation Initiative Group Andrew Friske, a member of the Sitka Recreation Initiative work group, told of the goal to reestablish and revitalize centralized community recreational opportunities for youth and adults in Sitka. Friske told of the health benefits, organizational framework, funding structure, draft memorandum of agreement between the Sitka School District and City, timeline, and history of a Community Schools programs in Sitka. Administrator Leach added with this initiative, a Parks and Recreation Department would be created within the City. Those employees would assist with community recreation and other city recreation needs - e.g. maintenance of playgrounds, and fields. VI. PERSONS TO BE HEARD Annette Evans, Coordinator of the Ventures school program, told of the need for childcare in Sitka and looked forward to discussing how Ventures could better serve the community through the Community Recreation program. VII. NEW BUSINESS: CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final March 3, 2022 A 22-034 Discussion / Direction / Decision of the FY2023 Draft Administrator's Budget with focus on the General Fund (Assembly action may be taken) Administrator Leach spoke to the FY2023 draft General Fund (GF) budget and said, for budget preparation, it would be helpful to receive feedback on desired changes. Finance Director Melissa Haley provided an overview of the (GF), reviewed revenue and expenditure trends, told of budget areas in which there may be change - union negotiations, health insurance, spoke to new capital appropriations, and deferred infrastructure repairs. Preliminarily, the GF budget assumed a surplus of $607,000 and an investment of $3,425,000 in infrastructure. Assembly members discussed the various positions. Full-time Employees (FTEs) needed to address the increase in tourism were: Police (1 MSO, 1 Police Officer), Fire (1 Engineer, 1/2 Office Assistant), Streets (1 Streets Superintendent). Other FTEs: Planning (1 Sustainability Coordinator, 1 Planning Manager), Public Works (1 Senior Engineer), Building Department (1 Plan Reviewer), Police (1 Code Enforcement Officer), Community Recreation (1 Parks and Rec Coordinator, 1 Parks and Rec Specialist). Contracted services: $45,000 for managing and prioritizing risk and $150,000 for a port authority. Leach provided additional information on the new program's improvements to core services specifically the Code Enforcement Officer, Community Recreation, lobbying, and Sustainability Coordinator. Assembly members, noted code enforcement would be new for Sitka, and stressed the importance of finding the right individual for the job and that education be education-based. Regarding Community Recreation, Leach reminded the two positions would focus not only on the work of a Community Recreation program but also attend to other recreation needs within the City. To plan for future needs, Assembly members requested a facilities assessment of the schools be wrapped in with the City facilities assessment. The addition of a Sustainability Coordinator was also seen to be of great benefit to the Municipality. While some members expressed concern whether moving forward with all positions at once would be sustainable, a consensus was given for the Administrator to do so. B 22-035 Discussion / Direction / Decision, if desired, of the FY2023 Draft Administrator's Budget as it relates to the General Fund, Enterprise Funds, Internal Service Funds, School Funding, and other Funds (Assembly action may be taken) Himschoot wondered about the last meeting to change rates. Finance Director Melissa Haley stated changes could be made at the remaining budget meetings or at the 1st reading of the budget ordinances in May. VIII. PERSONS TO BE HEARD: None. IX. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Knox to ADJOURN. Hearing no objections, the meeting ADJOURNED at 8:20pm. ATTEST: _______________________________ Sara Peterson, MMC CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 City and Borough Assembly Minutes - Final March 3, 2022 Municipal Clerk CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3