At tonight's meeting, city council will consider a proposal to tighten up a trucking regulation that drivers have found their way around.

Unalaska has prohibited tractor-trailer drivers from operating their vehicles with the fifth wheel in the "raised" position by code, since July 2012. The law was meant to prevent the city's roads from getting chewed up.

Since then, public safety has issued eight citations -- and plenty of verbal warnings -- to drivers.  And police officers have seen more trucks with new welding in place to prevent their fifth wheel from going down all the way, to circumvent the code.

Tonight, council will consider new language that makes clear that modifications to prevent the even distribution of cargo weight along a chassis are prohibited, too.

The updated language also says that the law will only apply to vehicles traveling with a container -- regardless of whether it's empty or full. 

Council will consider a request for $714,000 to purchase three waste heat converters for the powerhouse from McKinley Services and Equipment Incorporated of Soldotna.

The total cost for the waste heat project, which has been in the works for more than five years, is expected to be around $1.9 million. The Alaska Energy Authority contributed $1.3 million in grant funding, and according to a memo from city manager Chris Hladick, the city is required to contribute the balance in matching funds.

Once the converters are in place, Hladick writes that the city will save the equivalent of $200,000 a year on fuel.

Council will also consider a proposal from fire chief Abner Hoage to change the way the city bills for ambulance service -- and bring in extra money at the same time.

The Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic is supposed to handle ambulance billing for the department, but they have decided to stop providing that service. In a memo to council, Hoage writes that he asked a third-party billing company to help devise a new billing plan.

According to their findings, Unalaska’s fire department should raise its rates. The proposed updates could bring in revenue equal to 47% of the fire department's operating budget, Hoage writes.

Also on the agenda: Mayor Shirley Marquardt and city councilors Roger Rowland and Alejandro "Bong" Tungul will take an oath of office after being reelected earlier this month.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.