Council addressed a full house on Tuesday night. At the high-turnout meeting, council discussed the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, revised the rental rates for city housing, appointed a new councilor, and remembered a long-time member of the community.

The meeting opened with a remembrance of Emil Berikoff, who passed away in December. An “in memoriam” citation had been presented on the floor of the state legislature earlier this spring.

Council then moved to appoint Tom Enlow to the body, filling a vacancy left by 5-year member Dick Peck earlier this month. Councilor Dennis Robinson expressed support for Enlow and said that his experience working with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council would be valuable to the city.

“Tom brings an intimate knowledge of our main industry, which is fishing,” said Robinson. “That is something that we currently do not have on the council.”

Former Councilor Katherine McGlashan was also considered for the position. Enlow will serve until the October 2 election.

During the work session, school district administrators offered a presentation on their budget and made a request for $4.2 million dollars in local funding. That amount makes up about half of the district’s budget, and it was granted in full by the council later in the meeting.

That presentation was then followed by heated discussion of the lease rates at city-owned housing. Because the actual costs of running the new 8-plex were higher than expected, the city proposed bringing up the base rent of the units to $1 per square foot and then charging for the actual cost of utilities and building incidentals rather than an estimate. The consensus was that this would bring the building in line with other city housing units.

However, a majority of the council was persuaded that the mid-year rent increase would be unfair to current tenants. Councilor Enlow proposed an amendment allowing the city to bringing up the rents to match costs, all while grandfathering in current tenants through January 1st. The final motion passed four to one, with Council David Gregory dissenting because he did not believe a rates increase was necessary.

During the meeting, the council also briefly discussed the coming year’s budget, and they unanimously approved the Capital and Major Maintenance plan. Resolutions accepting a $5 million loan from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation for development on the water treatment plant, a $75,000 grant from DEC for an emergency mooring buoy, and a $250,000 grant from the Denali Commission for that same project all passed unanimously. The city also unanimously approved resolutions updating the regulations over tidelands leasing. Council wrapped up with a unanimous vote allowing for mayor and council travel to Alaska Municipal League events and a scouting trip to Louisiana to learn more about infrastructure projects related to the oil industry.

Councilor Zac Schasteen was excused from the meeting due to travel.