Council Advances Changes to Disputed Trucking Rule
Wednesday, October 23 2013
City council took a first step toward amending a contentious trucking rule at their meeting Tuesday night.
Since July 2012, it’s been illegal to drive a tractor-trailer with the fifth wheel in the raised position. Public safety director Jamie Sunderland suggested some changes to the law that bans the practice, based on public safety’s first year enforcing it.
Sunderland said tractor-trailers are being modified in a way that prevents the fifth wheel from going down all the way. So he proposed changing the law to say that the trailer must be “level,” not just lowered, and to say that modifications that prevent the fifth wheel from going down are illegal.
Three members of the public signed up to speak to that proposal. They said the modification was just a small metal block welded into place to make hydraulic fifth-wheels safer to drive on city roads. In addition, some said that even Sunderland’s proposed changes were not clear enough.
In response, city councilor Dennis Robinson moved to amend the language on the table, to read that the trailer must be “in the lowest possible position” when driven on all city roads to protect pavement. Council passed that amendment 5-0 and approved the amended law by the same margin.
The updated fifth-wheel law now moves to a second hearing and public reading at council’s November 12 meeting. In the meantime, mayor Shirley Marquardt encouraged representatives from the shipping industry to send additional information about fifth-wheel modifications to the citt clerk's office. It will go to council for their consideration, Marquardt said.
In other business, council approved a resolution to let the city manager enter into a contract for three waste heat converters, to be installed at the Dutch Harbor powerhouse. The equipment will be purchased from McKinley Service and Equipment, and the city is authorized to spend $714,000, along with grants from the state.
The city approved the first reading of a budget amendment to spend $1.4 million on high mast lights and LED fixtures at city docks. Also in that package: $561,000 for upgraded control systems at the city powerhouse, which could limit the length and frequency of power outages.
Marquardt and councilors Alejandro "Bong" Tongul and Roger Rowland all took an oath of office at the beginning of the meeting after winning reelection earlier this month. Councilor Dave Gregory was also reelected, but he was excused from Tuesday's meeting and will take the oath at a later date.
winter driver on Friday, October 25 2013:
How about the semi trucks use those stud less snow tires? Take a look at the City of Unalaska graders/snow blowers. They use to chain up every winter now they use the stud less snow tires.
<<Stud Alternative - Approved
The stud-less tire has over 3,200 sipes* to help grip the winter roadways.>>
bewildered on Thursday, October 24 2013:
I just think that all of these laws and amendments about the semi trucks are ridiculous. Why are only the semis not allowed to have chains on their trucks? Why allow the fuel trucks, dump trucks, city road vehicles to all have chains? How can anyone prove that ONLY the semi trucks are causing road damage? I know that this coming winter I am not going to feel comfortable knowing that the semis are not going to have chains. Do people honestly think that a semi truck coming down the clinic hill is going to be able to safely navigate the corners without chains? Ed Hammond showed during the council meeting that the 5th wheel block does not change the weight distribution on the truck. No one even took his comments into account. So what's the point of even speaking up at a council meeting when everyone already has their mind made? And you'd think that as a Horizon Lines mechanic, Dennis Robinson would know exactly what the block does and that it does not affect the roads. Or, how about instead of making all of these laws about trucks and the roads we actually use the money to get someone to pave our roads that can do a good job. The roads were bad a year after being paved and it had nothing to do with trucks.
local resident on Thursday, October 24 2013:
City Council;
How about a priority on finishing paving our roads. Knix will be here next year. Pave Steward Road, Downtown Unalaska, Captain Bay Road, Gilman St. as much as possible. We still have a dusty, muddy island. Try walking, running, bicycling, or going outside on the usual day...dust and grit in your eyes.
""The city approved the first reading of a budget amendment to spend $1.4 million on high mast lights and LED fixtures at city docks.""