City Council barely met quorum last night, with three Councilors and the Mayor absent from the meeting, but those who were there had lively discussions about the fee schedule for the Carl E Moses Small Boat Harbor and the Council’s Travel Policy.

Although Councilors didn’t vote on the Harbor fee schedule last night, they did agree to make several changes to the current policy.  Most of the discussion focused on fees for use of the drive down dock and crane.

Councilor Dennis Robinson wanted to amend the policy so that vessels with permanent slips would be treated differently from transient vessels.  Transient vessels are the “they” he’s talking about.

“They will and they do already use services in the community.  But we need to make money off this because at the end of the fiscal year, it looks like ports is going to be doing pretty badly.”

Council concluded there should be a four-hour grace period for all vessels before additional charges kick in, but transient vessels would be charged daily moorage from the time they tie up at the dock.  After four hours, both permanent and transient vessels will accrue additional charges, although at slightly different rates.

The other issue at Council meeting last night was whether Mayor Shirley Marquardt had violated the Council’s travel policy by booking a flight using City funds before receiving Council approval.

Councilor Zac Schasteen raised the objection, saying approving the funds would violate procedure.  

“I think it’s a great thing that she’s going to Seattle for this Conference as the AML president, but it falls outside our travel policy.   And if Council and the Mayor don’t follow the policies we set for ourselves, how can we expect the city employees to follow the policies their supervisors set for them or the community to follow the policies [sic], the ordinance Council sets for them.”

Mayor Marquardt was not at the meeting last night, but said via telephone this morning that she didn’t think her request had violated the policy.

“I’m really not understanding what the big deal is.  But I think what we’ll probably do is bring that travel policy back to Council and put it on the table and say ‘Guys, make whatever changes you want to make. If you think things are too tightly written or not flexible enough, change it.’”

The measure failed 3-1.  Since the flight has already been purchased, Assistant City Manager John Fulton says the City will probably just hold on to the ticket and use it for other travel sometime in the next year.

Council sent an ordinance amending the 2012 budget to second reading.  If passed, the ordinance will authorize funding for new pilings at the Unalaska Marine Center and convert Public Safety’s First Sergeant position into Deputy Chief of Police.

Council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing City funds to connect a residence to the electrical grid, although not without some discussion of whether that was in fact within the scope of a previous resolution about electric line extensions.  Because of the ambiguity, Council moved to readdress the original resolution during an upcoming work session.

The consent agenda appointing Ali Bonomo to the Museum of the Aleutians Board of Directors passed without discussion.

Clarification: Although the Mayor's travel was booked by the City, it would have been reimbursed by the Alaska Municipal League.