A thorny debate broke out in City Hall on Tuesday night. City council was divided on how it should handle a museum funding request, and whether it created a conflict of interest. The funding advanced — and council revisited tough procedural questions that came up along the way.

City council will hold an early meeting tonight, convening at 6 pm for the first reading of a contentious funding proposal from the Museum of the Aleutians. After input from the community, city councilor and museum director Zoya Johnson says she’ll ask to be recused from voting.

At the last council meeting, Johnson requested $202,000 to fund an extensive museum redesign. The museum is planning a new permanent exhibit, called "Aleutian Islands: Crossroads of the North Pacific." The design is meant to tell the story of the Unangan people before and after their interactions with outsiders from Russia and the United States.

(J. Stephen Conn/Flickr)

For eight years, the Museum of the Aleutians has been planning an extensive redesign. But after winning more than half a million in outside grants, the museum is still short. Now, they're looking to the city to fill the gap.

On Tuesday, museum director and city councilor Zoya Johnson gave a presentation to her fellow councilors on the renovation project. She asked them to fill the museum’s $200,000 budget shortfall. Otherwise, the museum risks losing $370,000 in unspent grants.

"So we would have to return the money that we've already raised and as I've said, these grants are very competitive," said Johnson. "I will reiterate that again, I'm very proud to have been awarded those grants. And that would be sad – to return the money."

Voter turnout dropped sharply in this year’s municipal election.

A total of 110 ballots were cast yesterday. In 2011, 475 people came out to vote in the municipal election, and over 500 ballots were submitted the year before that.

City Clerk Elizabeth Masoni says it’s the smallest voter turnout she’s seen in her dozen years working at City Hall.

"This concerns me," says Masoni. "I feel very strongly that we have a responsibility to vote."

One of Unalaska’s old ambulances is up for grabs.

City Council voted unanimously at Tuesday night’s meeting to donate the 1993 Chevy ambulance to any nearby community that can make use of it. The original proposal had been to auction off the vehicle to the highest bidder, but several councilors objected, saying Public Safety should try to gift it first.  Councilor Dennis Robinson introduced an amendment to that effect, which passed 6-0.

Melanie Magnusen’s approach to serving on the school board is this: if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. The two-term veteran says Unalaska is a great school district and her main goal is making sure it stays that way.

She points out that Unalaska has two of the best schools in the state and that one of them won a Blue Ribbon award this year. She wants to make sure the schools maintain those standards - both as a school board member and the parent of two high schoolers.

Employee pay is at the top of this evening’s City Council agenda.

An ordinance granting certain city employees a cost of living increase is up for public hearing and second reading. Then, in work session, Lori Messer of the Minneapolis-based consulting group Fox Lawson and Associates, will present a roadmap for updating the city’s classification and compensation plan.

The plan hasn’t been updated since 1994, despite multiple attempts. Previous studies have either been incomplete or compared Unalaska to the lower 48. Changes to the classification plan could shift some city employees’ job descriptions or compensation.

(Courtesy of Zac Schasteen)

Zac Schasteen measures Unalaska city council’s success in public trust.

Since Schasteen was elected to council in 2009, he’s found himself at the center of multiple debates over government transparency. He’s pointed out instances when he felt like council was cutting corners, and stepping around its bylaws.

In the middle of one of the busiest construction seasons ever, Unalaska’s city engineer has stepped down. Tyler Zimmerman tendered his resignation on September 4. He held the post for three years, overseeing projects like the construction of the small boat harbor and the design of the landfill's new leachate tank.

Zimmerman wouldn’t comment on the reasons for his departure, saying only that it was, “time to go.” He says he’ll stay in Unalaska, to complete work on some freelance projects. According to public records, Zimmerman was working for ten outside clients as recently as July. Those include Delta Western, Kloosterboer, American Seafoods, Pacific Stevedoring and Western Pioneer.