City council breezed through a full agenda last night.
The city’s annual liquor license review generated the most discussion. Councilor Dave Gregory noted that Public Safety responds to calls at the Harbor View Bar almost eight times more often than any other establishment in town with a liquor license. Public Safety Director Jamie Sunderland said he didn’t think it was a reflection on how the business is managed and recommended that council take no action.
City council has a packed agenda for this evening’s meeting.
It will open with public hearing of an ordinance that ensures city employees don’t take pay cuts with promotions. Then council will move into work session.
First up will be some major budget housekeeping. A proposed ordinance moves $4.5 million dollars from the general fund to specific projects – the landfill waste storage tank and the Summer Bay road realignment – and accepts a $716,800 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for the new water treatment plant. The ordinance covers several smaller allocations and adjustments as well.
At first light this morning, the F/V Cynosure pulled into its new home. The 58-foot longliner was the first boat to occupy a slip at the new Carl E. Moses small boat harbor.
On Thursday night, the city’s planning commission met to get feedback on a few potential changes to Unalaska’s building requirements. City staff was looking forward to discussing a proposal that could reduce the minimum lot size requirement and open up more land for development. However, little of the public testimony focused on that.
The commission instead got an earful about a proposed change that would create a 10-foot easement along the perimeter of all new lots. That space would then allow the city to make utility upgrades and perform maintenance work with greater ease. But it would also require property owners to keep a substantial portion of their lots clear and prevent them from developing that space out.
If you want to build a house in Unalaska, you need to have a decent amount of land to work on. That could change soon, since the city is considering a rule change that would allow for smaller lots.
Planning Director Erin Reinders says that smaller lots could mean more housing for the community.
“Let’s just pretend that you had a pretty simple lot that was 12,000 square feet that was zoned to allow for single family or duplex residential,” says Reinders. “Now, you would be able to subdivide, sell off half of that property, and develop that for another single family unit or a duplex.”
At last week’s meeting, Council voted to give City Manager Chris Hladick a one-time, 5 percent bonus. He oversaw numerous major projects last year and by all accounts did a good job. So, it would seem like a relatively uncontroversial move to reward him for his good work.
But it turns out that for at least one Councilor, it isn’t.
Zac Schasteen was elected to City Council two years ago. He isn’t known for taking a hard-line on any particular issue. But during the last two meetings, he’s been outspoken about what he sees as Council violations of proper procedure.
Twenty-four of the Carl E Moses small boat harbor’s 56 slips are currently reserved, according to Ports Director Alvin Osterback. But that number may increase after last night’s decision by City Council to let owners with multiple vessels reserve multiple permanent slips.
After a short discussion about how to manage a hypothetical waitlist, Councilors agreed to postpone that decision until after the harbor is full. For the time being, vessel owners can lease more than one slip, but if they choose not to, their additional boats will be charged at the higher, transient rate.
Fees for the Carl E. Moses small boat harbor top the City Council agenda again tonight.
How to deal with multiple vessels under the same ownership is one of the last unresolved issues. The current wording allows a single vessel owner to have only one reserved slip, unless there’s no waitlist. As the ordinance stands, only one vessel can be registered to that slip, with the option to switch vessels once during the year.
City Council barely met quorum last night, with three Councilors and the Mayor absent from the meeting, but those who were there had lively discussions about the fee schedule for the Carl E Moses Small Boat Harbor and the Council’s Travel Policy.
Although Councilors didn’t vote on the Harbor fee schedule last night, they did agree to make several changes to the current policy. Most of the discussion focused on fees for use of the drive down dock and crane.
