City Council is continuing to weigh its options for covering the cost of utility upgrades.

The city has to overhaul its water, sewer and solid waste facilities by 2016, at a cost of roughly $40 million. At a meeting Tuesday night, Public Utilities Director Dan Winters explained that rates will have to rise dramatically to cover those costs and recommended that City Council start incremental increases of 10 percent or more as soon as January.

The proposal was met with skepticism by city councilors, who said they don’t have enough information to start making decisions.

City Council will discuss a pay increase for some city employees tonight. The proposal would boost Title III employees' wages by 3 percent to cover increased cost of living. Council last adjusted for cost of living in 2009. Since then, it’s estimated to have increased by more than 8 percent. Thirty-four full-time employees and 16 part-time employees would benefit from the adjustment. City staff couldn’t immediately comment on how much the increase would cost.

At a meeting Thursday night, city council started to sift through its options for paying off massive upgrades of Unalaska’s utilities.

The city will overhaul its water, sewer, and solid waste facilities by 2016. Mike Hubbard from Financial Engineering Company presented the results of a study on those projects, and how the city will cover the cost of building and running them.

City council will meet tonight to hear a presentation on the city’s utilities upgrades, and their cost to consumers.

Unalaska’s water, sewer, and solid waste facilities are all scheduled for construction and improvements over the next few years. The city contracted the Financial Engineering Company to study the ways Unalaska can pay for the work without substantial rate increases. The Financial Engineering Company considered several approaches, which include increasing sales and property taxes. Mike Hubbard will present the study’s findings to council, and they’ll start discussing the city’s options.

For the past year, the city planning department has been trying to find ways to encourage development. They came up with a plan that would lower minimum lot sizes, so more people could subdivide land they already own. But the city also wanted to make sure they left room for utilities — power and cable lines, sewer runoff, drainage.

Unalaska already requires that landowners set aside a piece of their plots for utilities. That portion of land is called an easement. It can’t be built upon, and the city can access it as needed. The planning department always negotiates the exact size and location of the easements with landowners. 

City council will meet tonight to discuss two sets of changes to the Unalaska city code.

First, council will discuss new tideland regulations that would increase typical maximum lease terms to 30 years, from the current standard of 20 years. Council will also vote on a 30-year tideland lease near Coastal Transportation’s dock. Strong Holdings would take on the lease, and sublease the property to Coastal Transportation. 

When Unalaskans go to vote in October’s municipal election, their options will be limited. None of the incumbents running for city council or school board face any competition.

Councilors Zac Schasteen and Tom Enlow are running in uncontested races for Seats F and G, while School Board Member Melanie Magnusen has no opponents for Seat A. The filing deadline to run for public office was Thursday.

The lack of competition makes this an unusual race according to City Clerk Elizabeth Masoni.

The state has signed off on a proposal from the City of Akutan to annex nearby lands. The new city boundaries encompass an additional 130 square miles, including the new airport on Akun Island and the city’s geothermal project. In a press release, the Department of Commerce noted that the annexation gives the city greater authority over administration of those projects.

There were no objections to the annexation from the public. The Local Boundary Commission voted 5-0 to approve the petition.

Unalaska’s finance director is one of five finalists for the Soldotna city manager job. Tonya Miller has been finance director since 2007.  She relocated to Unalaska from Georgia, where she worked as a county-level finance director. A press release from the city of Soldotna says she’ll be the first to be interviewed for the job next Monday. Miller is on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.