Last night, City Council discussed the ways that Unalaska can attract conferences and the degree of support the city can give to these events.

Council started the meeting with lively discussion of a request for financial support for the Regional Tribal Wellness & Governance Conference. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association asked the city to contribute $75,000 toward their conference, but council needed more information before it could consider committing any funds to the event.

The council was split on whether it was even the city’s place to dedicate money to a conference. Council did not contribute any money to the event when it was last held in 2003, and Councilor Dick Peck said that he could not recall any precedent for giving money to an event like this.

“I don’t recall in my tenure of eight years on the island that we’ve ever funded any activities of this nature,” said Peck.

He suggested putting on a dinner for conference attendees as an alternative. Councilor Zoya Johnson wanted to be able to see APIA’s budget for the event and to get a better sense of how the September conference would benefit the community before entertaining the request. Councilor Dave Gregory agreed that it was unfortunate that an APIA representative was not present at the meeting to answer questions, but that he could see an argument for providing the group with some money for the conference.

“I think that it’s unfortunate that nobody from APIA is here to give us some of that information. I wish they would have,” said Gregory. “I think think $75,000 is a bit much, but I’d be in favor of giving them $5,000 or $10,000. I think this is a pretty worthwhile conference. It’s open to everyone in the community to talk about wellness.”

Meanwhile, Councilor Dennis Robinson was hesitant to consider a resolution related to the request at present time, but he did think that it was worth looking at how a convention like this could benefit commerce in Unalaska. The request will be considered during a future work session.

The council then moved onto a discussion of city administrative policies. Minor changes to the employee travel policy and the purchasing card policy did not stimulate much debate. Council ultimately approved a resolution adopting the revised travel policy as part of the consent agenda later in the meeting.

Council also approved seven reappointments to city boards as part of their consent agenda. M. Lynn Crane, Irena Adams, and Mandy Anderson were reappointed to the Unalaska Public Library Committee; Kelly Stiles and Tracy Miller will remain on the Parks, Culture, and Recreation Advisory Committee; and Chris Bobbitt and Caroline Williams will continue to serve on the Unalaska Planning Commission and Platting Board.

Council passed a motion establishing their goals for the Fiscal Year 2013 budget during the new business portion of the meeting. The resolution passed four to one, with Peck dissenting. Peck had qualms with language concerning the operating expenses.

Mayor Shirley Marquardt and Councilor Zac Schasteen were not present at the meeting. Councilor Roger Rowland served as mayor pro tem.