City council will meet tonight to discuss two sets of changes to the Unalaska city code.

First, council will discuss new tideland regulations that would increase typical maximum lease terms to 30 years, from the current standard of 20 years. Council will also vote on a 30-year tideland lease near Coastal Transportation’s dock. Strong Holdings would take on the lease, and sublease the property to Coastal Transportation. 

Council will also consider revisions to the city code on subdivision and platting requirements. The new code would cut minimum lot sizes to encourage subdivision, and establish a baseline standard for no-cost utility easements.

The city planning commission approved these changes at a meeting last month, after some heated public testimony. About a dozen landowners spoke against the new 10-foot easement requirement, saying they would cut into yard space and discourage subdivision. Erin Reinders, Unalaska’s planning director, will give a special presentation on the platting and subdivision code during city council’s work session tonight.

Council will also vote on a $65,000 contract with Fox Lawson and Associates, a Phoenix-based consulting firm. The city department of administration wants the firm to perform a study of the pay scale and classification ranks for all city employees. Unalaska ordered similar studies in 2001 and 2005, but council didn’t ratify those findings or adopt any of their recommendations. That means the classification system hasn't changed since it was adopted, in 1994. The pay scale has increased over time, through negotiations for new union contracts.

If approved, this new study would consider pay and classification scales for all of the city’s employees, whether they belong to a union or not. Right now, the city employs 143 people, and 29 aren’t union members.

Council will also vote on spending for a reception to welcome the Arctic Imperative Summit tour group when they visit Unalaska on August 31. And the city will swear in two new police officers, Sean Perry and Charles Lee, at the beginning of the meeting.

City council convenes tonight at 7 p.m. in City Hall.