City council whipped through a condensed agenda last night, at their first meeting in a month.

The council was supposed to take up a proposed 30-year tideland lease with Bering Shai Marine. But business owner Bill Shaishnikoff asked to have the item removed from the agenda before the meeting.

According to a draft lease, Bering Shai Marine would have developed the 2.7-acre tract in Captains Bay to create moorage space. Over the next 30 years, the company would have paid $140,000 in rent. Shaishnikoff already owns the tract of land just above the tidelands plot.

Instead, council spent a good portion of the meeting discussing funding for a promotional book from the state of Alaska which spotlights different communities around the state. 

Mayor Shirley Marquardt and city manager Chris Hladick were out of town, so councilor Roger Rowland served as mayor pro tem.

Rowland led discussion on a proposal to buy space for a chapter on Unalaska in an upcoming edition of "Alaska: North to the Future." The city has purchased that space in the past. This time, though, council would have had to spend $19,360 from their discretionary fund to participate -- draining all but $640 from their account.

Councilors Dave Gregory and Dennis Robinson raised the possibility of funding the book project from the bed tax fund, which is designed to promote tourism in Unalaska. None of the councilors supported the resolution as written, though, and the measure failed.

Far less controversial was a budget amendment, which the councilors passed unanimously. They approved a $151,000 contract with Tyler Technologies of Dallas for a new software suite. It will include a digital system for retaining city records, along with an online bill pay interface for utility bills and other fees.

Before adjourning, council signed off on several appointments under their consent agenda. They set up the canvass committee for the local election on October 1. The committee will include a Tagalog interpreter, as it has in recent years. Heather Ley was formally appointed to the Parks, Culture, and Recreation advisory committee, and Eileen Conlon Scott was appointed to the Museum of the Aleutians board of directors.