City Council - Regular Meeting

Back to the uh council. We're on approval agenda. What so wishes of the council? Move to approve. Second. Any discussion?

Uh yes. I would like to move action memorandum. uh 26-23 authorizing the city manager to remit payment of $30,80.50 cents to PNC strategies to new business clos this Thursday, March 26th. And the RFP for the Valley Trail subdivision pavement rehabilitation rehabilitation project is also posted and that closes on April 2nd, 2022nd or 2026. Interested parties are encouraged to submit a bid and the city is currently accepting passes are available for purchase. Rates were posted this Saturday for 2026 and you can call city hall to for your complete purchase and uh get an evaluation of those rates and take a look at those on our city website. As always, the shoulder season opening is weather dependent. So, please monitor those city's official pages for updates as information becomes available. And I'll now turn it over to our finance director, Gina, who will present the status of the Gulf um enterprise fund using audited financial data from 2015 through 2024. And please note that 2025 remains unawited. Now it is good evening Mr. Mayor and council members. Um what you have on the dis is a spreadsheet that has um the golf course enterprise fund um numbers. They have been extracted from our audited financial statements. And we went back just to 2015 just to get a

kind of a 20,000 foot view of the fund and income loss before depreciation. We have the depreciation expense and then we have the change in net position. We show the starting net position of the beginning of the year and then the change of the net position based on um the difference between revenue revenue operating expenses and the depreciation expense. So as you can see from 2015 the net position was reduced from 1.573 million to 1.493 million. Um so that brought us down to the net position. The net position is actually the equity in the account. And so the net investment in capital assets shows as the actual net book value of the assets as of year end 2015. And then that makes the unrestricted net position a negative number $450,15 to get to our year end net position. the um the unrestricted net position is actually um you know equity the um available for working capital and since it's a negative number we don't there wasn't any working capital available in 2015 additional negative number down there um where it says you're in cash short due the general fund Um at you we have a pulled cash system. All

the all the cash for all the funds are in one fund and they get allocated as needed and at the end of the year um if the fund has a negative cash balance we have to find cash to cover that. The fund cannot have a negative cash balance at year end. So, the general fund has to um move cash from the general fund to the golf course fund to cover the cash shortage. And it's not like even though in 2015 it says $490,946, it doesn't mean it was short that much cash. It was it's been accumulating since earlier earlier years. So, as you can see, um, 2016, 2017, 2018, um, the unrestricted neck position kept growing and so did the cash shortage. In 2019, we see a positive change in that position and thus there was no cash shortage that year. The numbers are evened and then slowly as the years progress and it's showing a positive net position, the unrestricted neck position keeps decreasing. by year end 2020 do a comprehensive compliance inspection and then the second tier is that we have to finish and uh evaluate the release process through the airport master plan.

Thank you.

Any other questions? Yes, sir. Uh for the city manager or not for Davis. Uh thank you madam city manager. Um, I wasn't going to ask this question until you brought up that we have no water in the building, but um, I did see uh, it's got nothing to do with what's on our agenda, but I did see numerous times more on Facebook neighborhood websites and things like that over the weekend when I was uh, attending a wedding and attending basketball games. So, I wasn't here to worry about it, but I saw several times people like they do when the power goes out. Hey, my power is out or your power out kind of thing. But there are I'd say a half a dozen people talking about their water being is that just all an individual home uh pipes are freezing type of thing. I mean

the only city main that has broken is on Arctic and we fixed that over the weekend. Alaska,

excuse me, Alaska Street. Yes, Alaska Street. Uh the rest are in residential areas that per code the residences are responsible for those lines going into their homes to contact a plumber and get defrosted. Thank you, ma'am. Moving on. My report. So, last week we had friends of the Palmer Public Library had a fun run and I see we have people in here to talk about that. So, I I I won't mention too much about it other than it was a great day. It was non windy. It was chilly, but it was not windy. Thank good Thank goodness. And so, as you probably know, I was dressed up as a leprechaun and um some of And thank you for the council members who showed up laughed at me, but that's okay. Um and yeah, so we will get a report a little bit later. So, also ceremony at the Global Credit Union which was you know their their second they called it that they've renovated the building. It's an amazing building. I've not been in there. It's u they have tables in there. You can actually sit and sit down and chat with with people and you know you're not enclosed offices. So it's it's really a nice nice building. um also had a mayor's manager meeting and uh it's you know that the manager and I went to over at the burrow and uh you know just discussed issues that were you know pertaining to typically most of the burough stuff but um they're talking about you know safe streets for all and some other projects that they're working on. Um that that's always a an interesting meeting to go

to. Uh attended the planning and zoning meeting. Uh we had a uh firm there that we talked about procedure, discuss procedures about planning and zoning, how things work, how things are supposed to work, how does planning and zoning, what what Alaska statutes, you know, are related to planning and zoning, uh what what code that we have that pertains to planning and zoning. That was another good meeting. I think it was a good uh uh and we will have some that discussion here um probably in May I believe that we're going to have the same presentation uh obviously related to the city council um here later in May. Um there was also Friday was a ribbon cutting ceremony for modern medicine woman and that's above where um Poppy Lane is alluded to coffee and on the same floor as that. Um and they're they do I guess acupuncture and massage therapy there. Uh Saturday was Alaska Family Services dinner where they had it was an auction um where they raised money. Their Alaska family services is uh renting facilities. Currently they're looking to buy their own facility so that they don't have to be subjected to to rent. Um and I think it was pretty successful uh dinner uh auction. Um the no uh municipal planning organization meeting is tomorrow. Um that's uh for a couple hours. Anybody's can come to that if they like. We're going to be discussing projects. The city of uh Palmer has four projects that are that are in uh there and then we also have I think there's um four or five others then in another project was 15 and the burough put in close to 60 I think. But um so we'll be discussing the projects and going through that

tomorrow. Um, and uh, Saturday is the uh, I guess the annual chamber auction on Saturday and um, I believe that the manager's assistant Kristen has tickets for those if people if anybody wants to attend that. Um, and that's all I have. Anybody have any questions? Okay, Madame Clerk. Um, first of all, I wanted to give everybody an update on our live streaming that we're striving towards doing our own live streaming. The city of Palmer does have our own YouTube channel now. While we're not ready to live stream yet, we have started posting already recorded public meetings and linking them to the city website. They can be found at palmerk.org. Go to government at the top. Click on agenda packets and minutes. You'll see under recent meetings where the videos have been attached. We have done quite a few council meetings linked and we also linked the most recent airport advisory meeting and the most recent planning and zoning meeting. So, we're going to try to get those up. Um Loretta and I are an office of two. So, it may take a day or two for us to get them up there, but we're striving to be um more accurate for everybody to see those public meetings. Um I also wanted to give the council an update. It's now going to be ordinance 26-002, the Matsu Burough Animal Control Ordinance. Probably find a better name. Um, the draft has been sent off to the attorney this afternoon. I just gave it to her, but my intent is to have it on the meeting for introduction on April 14th. So, we are working on that. And then, um, as more recent ordinance number 26-001, this is the ordinance that's on for tonight. And I just wanted to let

everybody know it's in the ordinance itself, but just to give you a heads up, um because ordinance and ordinances needed to change code, we went to the voters in October and they voted to change charter. So this basically is just to change the code to now marry it up with charter. So it's just a procedural thing and so it's on the agenda for tonight and that's it. Any questions? I'm not used to saying so much. I'm just so eager. Um Leslie needed city attorney. Short report tonight. Uh we continue to do work with different departments. Um department heads will send us information to review contracts, reports, um questions about policies. Um it's been nice to get to know each of the folks here at the city. um no pending litigation that's being handled by our office. I'm happy to report on that. And as the mayor mentioned, um uh the city clerk and I are going to try to find some time to do what my office likes to do as a standard parliamentary procedure training with new city councils that we're working with. We'll also talk about dreaded serial meeting adisements and some OMA uh guidelines. So, we'll hope to find some time to do that in the next couple of weeks. We like to do that pretty close to the start of our contract. So, look forward to that. And also, thanks for the heads up on the deadline for that ENL ordinance. I'll get right on that. Uh any questions for me? I'm happy to answer.

Yes, ma'am. So, I had a question. Uh we had um some people from the community concerned about conflict of interest with our city manager and I was wondering if you and then also her residency. Is that something that you can speak to that you guys are aware of? And is there a conflict of interest? And is her residency been approved by the the HR department?

Um, yeah, I'm happy to speak to that. Um, regarding the residency, um, I've been able to res to review the personnel information that was submitted by your city manager to, um, Miss Barry and confirmed that that complies with the current requirements in the code that, um, your city clerk was just describing. It's on the agenda tonight to formalize its incorporation into the code, but has been in effect, excuse me, has been in effect since that ballot measure passed. Um, so that has been handled appropriately and I'm I'm confident that that's correct and accurate. Uh, conflict of interest. Um, okay. So, for all city employees, um, same is true of course for the council. Uh, you're obligated to report if there's a conflict of interest uh, related to a matter that comes either before the council or if it's a member of the administration um, or an employee, a manager, director, mayor. Um similarly, if it's a matter that you're being asked to consider or take action on, um you have to review the conflict of interest section of the code. It mirrors state law. Um there's some sections that sort of overlap. Um in your code, and I have a really flagged binder here, but I think I can get it right. Um section 405 is the personnel conflict of interest provisions. And then for the city council rules, there's an overlap um 2.06 061 130 13C also applies to um employees. Um it's not just anything that feels like a conflict as a conflict. There's a statutory definition of what is a conflict that's incorporated into your code. It's a substantial financial interest. That's a term of art. Um we don't get to define that. That's defined. Um and we borrow in city code from the state statute uh 29 See if I wrote it down. 29201 on

conflicts. Um, and also look to the state fiscal disclosure laws who are figuring out what a substantial uh financial interest is or means. Um, in this instance, I have conferred with the city clerk in your code. She's the person that would process any sort of potential conflict. Um the issues that have been flagged by the public or that we have sort of reviewed in my office uh questions about your city manager are not conflicts of interest. I'm confident about that. Uh there is a definition. Um it's not anybody that you're possibly related to or any business that you interact with. There's a narrow scope there. Um so we're talking about household or family members, immediate family members, businesses that you own or have an interest in. Um and it can't be peripheral. Um, when we do our OMA trainings, I have some examples that might be helpful. But, um, the fact that you have a a family member, a cousin who is a owner of a business um, and that there's a matter related to that that comes before the council, that's not a conflict unless there's some other reason that you have a direct financial interest. So, um, there's a statutory definition. City code incorporates that. Our office does review those things and I'm confident that it's been handled appropriately. Um, if there are questions that do get raised, the city clerk feels like she uh is not certain about something, we're happy to help with that. Those those questions do come up from time to time with clients. Or maybe you didn't read your packet. I know none of you would ever do that, but you're sitting here on the D flipping through and notice something embedded in one of the documents. Um, if something pops up, we can help handle that on the fly, too, if it occurs at a meeting. But as it relates to your question with the city manager, that is something that we have looked into and I I feel confident the city's handling this appropriately.

Mr. Mayor, thank you.

Oh, sorry. Yes, sir. Um I was going to wait until ordinance 260001, but now it's kind of been brought up um regarding the residency piece. So, um the voters voted fairly overwhelmingly to allow the city manager to live within 5 miles of city limits October 7th. So really, we're still in that six-month window from that time frame um for the next couple of few weeks. Um but uh does it does the time is it a is it a moot point because you already live within 5 milesi of city limits anyway or do you have six more months after the action we take tonight to move here? I provided you and the rest of the council in October my proof of residency and that had been verified by HR

before uh the election was even certified. Okay. To change charter. So this is just a procedural thing to make sure charter and code align because the last thing you want to do is have something conflicting even though charter trumps code.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions of the attorney? Okay, moving on. Item G, audience participation. Council meeting rules protect your right to testify and be heard even if others in a room disagree with you. Council meeting rules also ensure that those attending can express their views if they do not interfere with the rights of others to see and hear the proceedings. At all times, order and decorum will be maintained in keeping with civility and dignity of the legislative process. Please be respectful during audience participation. No disruptions of city business or threats of any kind will be allowed. Individuals who cannot follow these guidelines will be removed. Any threats against others could result in criminal prosecution. Please sign in. State your name and three minutes per person.

I don't have the list of whoever the list. So, we will open. I'm trapped back here. Audience participation. Chuck and I'm not sure how to say your last name, sir. I'm sorry. Chuck Cass, we know we know who you we know who you are, sir. Good evening. U Independence Day 250.

For the record, please stay Chuck Cig, not Chuck Smith. Anyway, if you're from Slovenia, Couchage. Um Jim, city council members, I invite you uh to and city staff to step back in time to celebrate this year's 250th year anniversary of our country in an annual recclarification of the Declaration of Independence ceremony on Independence Day, 3 p.m. St. John's Lutheran Church on the Green where Colony Day's picnic is always held. It's a free family community red, white, and blue historic event. This is a live genuine American history event. Era flag history and pageantry. Official document readings and displays. Festa music and group patriotic songfest. Period displays and literature. Poem tribute recitation. Character personas in period attire. Black powder rifle pistol and cannon demonstrations and displays. Child appropriate activities. Barbecued hot dogs, chips, and water afterwards. This is sponsored by St. John's senior assistance ministry. So therefore, I urge the city and particularly parks and wreck and community development to join in supporting this event as Palmer's own Independence Day ceremony. Mark your calendar, put it in your phone, whatever your pleasure is. There's only one 250th. Thank you,

Chuck. I'm just wondering, you know, with with uh having cannons and stuff, I'm not sure that's so kid friendly. I don't I'm not sure it's kid-friendly to have cannons and stuff going off. Yeah, it's funny when I drafted that. This is children's event, but you know what? You'll probably be the most interested. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks,

Bert. Veryl, at some point, I have to stop complaining about the mishandling on the golf course. That is tonight. So, this will be my last comments on what has happened and how we got to the point why the golf community has lost faith and confidence in this body. Beginning in the spring of 2025, we begin heard rumblings of the golf course being in trouble. This coincided with the airport director being named the fourth city manager in the last 5 years. Upon the naming of the fifth city manager in the last 5 years, these rumors continued as she also has ties to aviation for her family livelihood. About this time, the airport manager told a contractor that works at both the airport and the golf course that the airport was taking over the golf course. Then the stories of the airport being out of compliance with the FFA started to materialize and we were told we were going to be forced to close the course. Dedicated members of the golf community searched for and found the truth. Turned out the FAA doesn't have a problem with the golf course and this might have turned out to be a smoke screen. Next problem that was created by the city was the contract renewal. At appearance, it seemed the city council was working to solve the problem. Two times they voted unanimously to task the city miss manager to extend the contract one more year. She was unable to do as instructed. On March 6th, the city miss manager announced the golf course would be cityrun. This was only a couple of days after they had failed to reach an agreement. This news caus caught most by surprise, but I first heard this rumor the night of the city council meeting in the depot. I was told an audit had been done by the city and it was projected the course could run with a city employee at the charge and 16 seasonal workers. Now, I heard this rumor and nobody with no inside information and nobody to talk to. I wonder how many of you on the council had heard it also. Put this under questions that will never be answered category. But Mr. Mayor, when was the first you heard of a plan for a city-run golf course? Council members, when did you first hear of this plan? How can someone in good faith bargain for a contract when they all along they have a pocket in their pocket

a a plan to run the golf course by the city and then two times you vote in public to do the old contract and I was I just wonder what the definition of fraud is. This shines a whole new light on the mayor saying many times there will be golf in Palmer this summer. Maybe he knew something we didn't. I reviewed the last council meetings and found words used like irregularities, accounting issues, and extortion used by the council members during comments about the running of the golf course, followed almost immediately by the mayor saying he hoped to hire back the existing contractor. How can the council speak out of both sides of your mouths, you disparage someone one night and then try to hire him the next? How are we supposed to have faith in your leadership with these uh contradictions? As I researched your comments, I came upon a short 14-minute video after you came out of executive session one evening. I had not seen this before. The mayor called the contractor up to this table and asked him if he would take the contract under these conditions and he replied yes. Later, the mayor mentioned he ought to have him for three more years. It was embarrassing to watch, embarrassing for this whole body. And please hold Miss Manager's feet to the fire regarding the release of obligation. We will That's okay.

Okay. Uh, good evening, Mayor Cooper, Deputy Mayor Alcandra, and council members. My name is Janelle Ganon. I live in Palmer, and I'm a proud member of the Friends of the Palmer Public Library. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to report back to the council and to the community members both in this room and those listening to tonight's meeting on Big Cabbage Radio about the results of the fundraising campaign kickoff about which we shared with you at the February 24th city council meeting. We kicked it off at the February 11th Palmer Chamber lunchon informing business members about the campaign and inviting them to participate if they wished by having a visible donation catcher provided by the friends of the Palmer Public Library February 14th through March 17th. In total, 27 of the of these donation boxes were housed in Palmer businesses. The culminating event for this campaign kickoff was Palmer's Dash for the Gold, a St. Patrick's Day themed event staged inside and outside the Palmer Depot. co-hosted by Active Souls and the Friends of the Palmer Public Library. It included a community onem children's fund run, a 5K, and a 10K. The proceeds from these races Active Souls donated to our Little Engine That Could fundraiser. There were 102 registered racers. The races were kicked off by a short threeb block community parade in which a leprechaun appeared and gave a proclamation about the library. Blueie showed up to the parade to parade with children, teenagers, and adults alike. Some playing instruments, all supported by our local Palmer police, and we thank them very much. Entrance into the depot was free, and once inside, St. Patrick's Day revelers were treated to traditional live Irish folk music by two bands and Irish dance. The Palmer Arts Council and the Palmer Public Library had tables running arts and crafts. The friends were selling merchandise with our new logo. A local baker donated 20 loaves of Irish soda bread. Leer Coffee donated

coffee. 203 Kombucha donated kombucha and Three Bears uh Grocery donated $100 worth of bottled water. All food and drinks were by donation only to the public. Donations were largely captured that day by a large black cauldron that served as our quote unquote pot of gold created by Steve and Sherry Carrington. Thank you very much. who in leprechaun hats greeted parade goers and race finishers with gold beaded necklaces. I could go on and on with all of the little details and I'm sure I'm leaving out someone who did something wonderful for this event. All largely for free. The people who came and helped was all largely for free including those uh performers and by donation for our library. It was simply a very well- attended joyful event. All told, with the donation catchers, the financial support of our event sponsors, donations the day of the March 14th, March 15th event, and the t-shirt sales came to a grand total of $16,287.86. I think the thing that feels the most wonderful about this is that these funds were not from a fancy gayla type fundraiser. The results came from large donations from our sponsors, but a lot of small donations, including a lot of coins, which we will be ceremoniously dumping into that pot of gold at tomorrow's chamber lunchon. Join us. Thank you.

Ann Thomas. Um, good evening. It's Ann Thomas from Active Souls and I just wanted to um add to Janelle's thanks for a wonderful event. Um I wanted to thank specifically the the city for issuing a permit so that we could do our Palmer's Dash for Gold and thank you to Jude and his crew at the public works for clearing the sidewalks and helping with signage. It's so helpful to have a city that we can work with for putting on events. So really my my words were just a quick thank you very much. Julie.

My name is Julie Real and I am a longtime resident of Palmer, a registered independent super voter and a golfer. Six years ago, my family moved to Rocky Point to take advantage of all that Palmer has to offer, specifically to be near the golf course and to be able to bike to the Friday fling. Unfortunately, I have been disheartened in recent years to see my hometown fall into decline. This has been in part due to the policies put in place by its governing board. First, many businesses have closed or have struggled to open because of lack of support from city hall. The blight of empty buildings and no library really makes our town seem undesirable. Recently, and most importantly, activities that bring people and spending dollars have been reduced and or mismanaged. For instance, the Friday fling was at one time a thriving destination for visitors and locals. It is now a touristy afterthought for many. Our beloved Midsummer's Garden Fair was decimated and relegated to a small patch of land near next to the Palmer Garden. And now the same governing body seems to have set its eyes on destroying one of the gems of the Matsu, the Palmer Golf Course. I cannot fathom what you are thinking. Is it really this council's intent to make the golf course great again? And by that I mean to take something that is working and thriving and destroy it. Is it arrogance we can manage it all? Or is there some other nefarious reason, some personal gain? As you can plainly tell, I have very little confidence in this governing body. I do not like the fact that the massive public outcry has meant little to you. As if you are not beholden to us, you are. We the people have given you the job of representing our interests. A healthy, thriving golf course is Palmer's best interest. Since you have decided to manage the golf course this year, I have some questions, some of which are apparently going to be on the website, but are not currently on the

website. I want to know who exactly is going to manage the golf course. I want to know when they're going to be available for questions and concerns, how many hours a day they're planning on on managing the golf course. This was a year round full-time job. looks like you're going to turn it into one. Um, I want to know what experience they are going to have and how they're going to be qualified to run the a successful course. Uh, I want to know if this person knows and understands ground maintenance. I want to know if they understand the game. I want to know if they understand the rules or the business, the tournaments, and the retail. You've addressed that in potentially hiring somebody that understands that. Uh, I want to know when the annual passes will be available. They are currently not on the website as you stated earlier. I want to know if gift certificates that were bought last Christmas are going to be honored. I want to know when the golf course is going to be open. And I want to know why people are currently ice skating on the second tea. As has been said many times, the Palmer Golf Course has brought recreation, opportunity, and money to the people and businesses in Palmer. It helps keep our property values high and gives the old and the young a reason to get out and play. It may be useless to ask you to reconsider the actions of your recent closed door motions, but I will try and I beg you to do everything you can to save the Palmer Golf Course. Thank you.

My name is Gail Dodie. At the end of the last council meeting, council person Collins said, quote, "Are we as a community going to let this golf course fail? This community has a responsibility to make it a success." End quote. There was some in between I left out, but those words were your exact words. That is rich considering how this community has shown up in mass. We every two weeks for months and basically we've been ignored and what we've had to say has just basically been unheeded by the mayor and the council. It sounds to me like what you're doing is laying the groundwork to blame the community when the Palmer Golf Course fails under city management. I am one of the 50 employees who lost their summer job thanks to your decision. Up until yesterday, two jobs had been posted for the golf course. It's almost the first of April, which makes it a bit late to be searching for that summer job so that I can afford to golf on a limited income now that I'm retired. I can't speak for the other employees, but I dusted off my resume about a month ago, and I've been actively applying and interviewing for summer employment. Other golf courses have already posted and closed their summer positions, and they're now in the interviewing and hiring stage. I would say you're a little late to the party. I've worked I loved working in the pro shop for George. I found community and family, which I am truly going to miss. I also feel confident in saying that this aspect of employment at the Palmer Golf Course is not going to exist under

the city's guidance. I observed how you guys have treated George after 18 years of service. I want to work where I am treated with respect, loyalty, trust, and appreciation by my employer. You as a group have made it evident that none of those qualities will exist under Cedar City leadership. Hello, my name is Joseph Mazoot and uh I'm talking about citations. Um a cop can't walk up to anybody on the street, point at them and say, "I want to see you in court on Monday." But that is exactly what has happened with every citation. Black side diction dictionary says a citation is a writed out of a court. Every citation either state troopers, city cops, fishing game is 100% fraudulent and fabricated. The citation bait and switch fraud. A ticket that you get two of them when you get pulled over by a police officer. The ticket shows the police officer in two lines down here on the ticket. Well, I was trying to find out what's going on. So, I subpoenaed. This is 2024. Four days after Donald Trump got fined $110,000 for not showing up in court after he was subpoenaed. Four days later in 2024

in May 20th, I subpoenaed everybody in the city council, that's not you guys, and the chief of police. I had questions. I wanted to know why I was being denied public records since 2014. So, what I found out when I went to the court to check what was in the public in the record, I came across this little piece of work. This is the This is the bait and switch. This ticket that you get is filled with threatened, arrest, coercion, fines, fees, penalties, interest, collection fees, but you get the one from the court that the judge is supposed to sign. And this ticket was never supposed to see the light of day because the ticket on your ticket where the cop has his name, that's where the judge has to sign in. That's why it's blank. Okay. As soon as he signs that, the judge just commits fraud, securities fraud, false swearing, and perjury because his statement that he's signing to, I quote, I have probable cause to believe defendant committed the above offense. I certify under penalties of perjury that the above information is true and that I serve the citation on this date by personally handing it to defendant. The judge was never there. Okay. Oops. Oh no. Okay. So what's going on here is these subpoenas. Trump got 110,000. What are these worth? That's a federal question that I have six years to bring to federal court. Okay. This this is uh

the city needs to pay all money on all traffic tickets ever they've ever sent out and I would suggest that you all resign before the next ticket. The city and the cops and the courts are fabricating all judgments. They are fraudulent and void. Anyone needing a copy? I've got more of it of the judge's tickets that he did sign.

I'm Cindy Heel Harsh, a resident of Greater Palmer. Um, I'm going to read this so I don't get off topic. Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm asking you to please write this down. There's a Facebook page called Palmer City Watch. I don't know who the the person is that's in charge of it, but I'm finding some interesting stuff there that I think you guys should be reading. Um, there was a post dated March 16th that outlines an account of the January 12th post meeting executive session. It raises serious concerns and deserves examination by everyone. I'm not going to review the details. You can review it yourselves. If that account is accurate, discussions may have taken place outside of public view that call into question whether or not there ever was genuine intent for KBY to successfully negotiate a contract for the golf course to be operated by anyone besides the city. According to that account, in my words, uh she discussed at this meeting uh plan B for the city to run the golf course. Um that was back in January. If any of you council members were there and heard this as described, I have a question for you. Um, why was she allowed to continue leading negotiations? Why was there no intervention? Realizing this isn't the way you guys are meant to do business with us. If this account is true, the public has been misled. That's not acceptable. So, I am wondering whether or not you guys have taken into account the contents of that meeting. Um, it is a very detailed account. I can't imagine a scenario where anyone made it up, but under Alaska law, actions taken in violation of the Open Meetings Act may be declared void. If decisions were made in in an executive dis executive session

that should have occurred in open session, these may not be legally valid. This situation warrants immediate review. The public diver deserves transparency. We deserve answers. My understanding is that for you guys to make that recording public requires two council members to ask for it. Um if it didn't happen, great. If it did happen, we should know. If discussion was that negotiation can happen with George or maybe what if the city can run the golf course, I feel like every negotiation attempt that was made with him was in bad faith. And I fully understand that contracts are contracts that if you guys didn't take him, that's fine. But to then say, oh, the city can do it. Um, last night I spent an hour and 15 minutes doing a budget by hand for 40 employees and I came up with 490 grand in payroll. Then I thought about the fact that the city has to pay social security and Medicare wages, which is 7.5% on top of each employee. The golf course is going to cost a lot of money to run without a contract in place with city employees. Wes Wesley Arts. Um, we got to remember our community is made from the individuals that live within it. Um, and it's something got to think about all the time. Um, it seems like the council has spurned a lot of local people uh with the whole golf course. some of the questions I have. It's great that you guys did an audit of past years on the golf course. What's the proposed

2026 budget for it? When is it going to close in the fall? Um because I'm haven't purchased a pass because we don't know how long it's going to go. Are you guys going to call it on September 15th and when we still have two months left to play? Um, these are all questions that we're all curious. Um, you also have to prepare for the huge revenue loss you're going to have this year. Uh, I've had other businesses actually call me and say they don't want to do business in Palmer because of the whole golf course thing. We're going to take huge financial hits. As I was looking at my numbers, it's probably 30 to $50,000 loss for my business without the golf course sales of people coming eating after they play golf. So, we're going to see ripple effects through the through the whole community with this. Um, and can we keep the golf course and the airport completely separate on as we're moving towards the release obligation? And I think you guys should pursue it very quickly and to make sure it doesn't get stalled out kind of like the contract negotiations because we all on this side think that you guys are trying to stall all this out. um and that we're going to lose the golf course and you guys can say one thing, but you guys have been speaking out both sides of your mouth. So, unless we actually see any action on the release of obligation with any sort of time, we're all worried about it. So, just let you know what our worries are. Thank you.

Good evening. Yeah, my pipes uh froze the other night, too. I know a good contract if you need one. Um, Mr. Mayor, Council, Kobe, Attorney, um Joel Stfansky, been here before. Um, tonight I'm going to do something unusual because it's usually just uh four uh people in position, but I'm going to take a different turn here. I'm going to do a citizens proclamation for George. While our hearts are broken from George being removed from the operation of Palmer Golf Course, we are deeply grateful for the almost 20 years George operated the Palmer Golf Course. George created unfor unforgettable moments and memories for all of us golfers at Palmer Golf Course. George's love and support to the 50 employees and thousands of golfers who walked and rode the Palmer Golf Course. We are truly thankful for it. The city of Palmer and the state of Alaska lost a great golf ambassador, a problem solver, a unifier, and most of all, a great friend to all that played golf at Palmer Golf Course. Thank you, George. Now, the really good stuff. The community will not forget the mis misinformation that was spread by city staff during the last year. Out of compliance, DOJ FA is going to take over the golf course. $850,000 fine was mostly the golf courses fault. Nesting Eagles on the golf course,

liquor license issues, labor laws violations, embezzlement. Not one time did any on the council say that they were sorry or that they challenged the information which is just appalling. What is more appalling is that this council and staff has failed to act in the best interest of the community. You had many times to act in good faith with George's contract and you failed time and time again. The council didn't ask the tough questions, didn't show the clarity in a public process. Instead, the council chose to be sheep instead of leaders in this community. Most of you should go home and ask yourself, are you really a good person or not? Most of this council and staff should be ashamed of itself on how it has failed this community and we all lo have lost trust in you. These are you know you're you're hearing this from a guy that's only been here once in 43 years and now I've been here six times and I know a lot of you people on the council here this is your first time. You love this place. but you're not showing it and what you did to George is a travesty. Thank you very much. That's been 30 minutes. So, we will close uh item participation at this time. Bring it back to the council. We have public hearing ordinance number 2600 00001 amending Palmer Municipal Code 4.15.060 residency. Um, anybody wishing to come and speak to this public hearing, please come forward.

Seeing no one, we'll close public hearing. Bring it back to the council. Um, our proceedings follow Robert's rules of order as set forth in Palmer Municipal Code 2.06.010 010 to promote to promote an orderly and respectful meeting. I respectfully ask the council to observe the following rules. Please seek recognition before speaking. No member shall speak more than twice or for more than 10 minutes to anyone question. These guidelines help ensure fairness, efficiency, and mutual respect during our discussion. Is there a motion to adopt ordinance 26-001?

I move to adopt. Is there a second? Second. It's been been moved by council member Oer and seconded by council member

Collins to adopt this this resolution or this ordinance. Is there any discussion? Yes, sir. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just for the record, um to make sure everybody understands, we're just basically uh making a code and charter uh you know, join join up. And I was trying to think of why um why it's taken this long for us to do this. But um is that I mean I know we had the resolution 2530 and then is there a reason that we took till March to to bring these two things together and join them together?

It's totally my office. This is responsibility to bring this forward. I could certainly go through the chronological of time that we've that's happened over that the six months, but it is it is because of just my office has been overwhelmed. No, I don't think you need to go through the timeline, but it's it's just be um it's rare that we have code changes. I mean, I think that's the thing I wanted to kind of get across is that this last time this happened was when can you

Well, and even more rare for charter, right? I mean, yeah. So, I mean, we have little code changes here and there, but this is a pretty substantial one and yeah, and then it coincides with the charter change. So, yeah. Okay. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Any other discussion? Madam Clerk. Council member Allen. Yes. Council member Collins. Yes. Council member Carrington, yes. Council member Graham, yes. Deputy Mayor Alcantra, yes. Council member Moer, yes. And Mayor Cooper, yes.

It is unanimous and approved. Thank you. Moving on. Action memoranda 26031. Authorizing city manager to enter in a contract with BBG Real Estate Services in amount not to exceed $30,000 for appraisal services for selected lots at the Warren Bud Bud Woods Palmer Municipal Airport. Motion to approve. Move to approve.

Second. Again, it's been moved by council member Moer and approve and seconded by council member Collins to approve this action memorandum. Any discussion on this? Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, I just I had a question. Um, when I looked at the packet, I was trying to review the map and um I'm not the best at uh analyzing maps. Um, is it mostly hanger space we're looking to appraise here? Can can you tell us a little bit more about which parts of the airport are being increased?

Sure. John, do you want to come on up and give the detailed map, but it is these select lots, but we use a definition and it'd be a lot easier if it said which land it is and what it is than the actual definition of track. A Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Council. Uh the question was um sorry um which parts which parts of the airport specifically I was just having trouble looking at the map trying to determine exactly where they were you know uh the justosition of the parts that are going to be appraised.

Yes sir. There were there's four lots that that selected I selected um the two lots that composed the golf course. There's 13 acre 13 acres of vacant lots that are adjacent um copindustrial way next to the fire training center. And then the fourth lot is a um it's a it's a parking apron next to Forestry off of Airport Road. The idea was to grab the four corners of the airport so we can get an idea of what all of the airport land is worth rather than just picking one specific point of it. Okay. Thank you. Yes sir. Yes ma'am.

Um question. So my understanding is this um action is necessary to bring the airport in to compliance for um as far as the release of obligation. Uh is that a step that needs to be taken as far as preparing for FAA to come in and do the inspection that they're doing or is this not at all related?

It it does a bunch of different things for the airport. It's what it does is we haven't had an appraisal at the airport for 15 years. Our last our last um appraisal was 2010 by Fallen Associates and that was as a result of a compliance action by the FAA. So what we're doing the idea is is that we do an appraisal every 5 to 10 years to get to gather the value of the land at the airport. The airport's primary income is based on lease rates and lease rates are based on the value of the land. So, it's in order to have a uh a good faith negotiation with the tenant on the airport, we need to have the underlying information on what the land is worth. And that's what what this in front of you asks for. It it asks for the value, the ultimate uh the purchase price of the land and then goes one step further and asks for what a market lease rate is on that land. So, and to further answer your question, it also has the the side effect of giving you a budget number on what a release of obligation would cost the city.

Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, thank you, M. DMnt. Um, so there's a $30,000 amount that's uh not budgeted, not coming out of the airport's budget. Just comes out of the general fund, I suppose. That's where the $30,000 to pay for this comes from. It does come from the airport's budget. It was budgeted in the 2024 budget, but um it's what happened the first um the first iteration of the RFP went unanswered. So it it's bleeding over now into into 2026. Mr. Mayor, yes.

Uh thank you, Mr. Demente. You're kind of answering my second question, I think. So, um, BBG was the only, uh, real estate service company that, um, that replied, so to speak. I mean, normally the work that you've done in the past and also public works did in the past, you get three, we'd see what three bids were, and we'd see that they bid 30 and somebody else bid 35 and somebody else bid 40. So, you chose them. But, were they the only ones that bid on to do this work? No, sir. There was another another company that uh that had bid on it and the the bid amount was was $40,000 and they didn't have the requisite airport experience that BBG has. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir.

Any other questions, discussions? Madam clerk. Council member Carrington. Yes. Council member Graham, yes. Council member Allen, yes. Deputy Mayor Cantra, yes. Council member Collins, yes. Council member Moer, yes. Mayor Cooper, yes. It is unanimous and approved.

Thank you. Moving on. Action memorandum 26034. Authorize the amendment to the no cost land lease agreement contract number DTF AAL-07-L-000050 between the Federal Aviation Administration and the city of Palmer. Wishes of the council. Move to approve. Second. Been moved by Councilwoman Graham and seconded by Councilwoman Moer. Discussion on this questions? Seeing none, Madam Clerk. Council member Moer.

Yes. Council member Carrington. Yes. Council member Collins. Yes. Deputy Mayor Alcantra. Yes. Council member Graham. Yes. Council member Allen. Yes. Mayor Cooper. Yes. approved. Unanimous. Thank you.

Moving on to um new business. We'll take item number one first. Resolution of the city of Palmer authorizing an amendment to the city of Palmer employee plan pay plan to add the positions of golf course manager and facilities operation pro shop lead. Wishes of the council. Move to approve. Second. Been moved by Councilwoman Collins and seconded by Councilwoman Moer. Um, questions, comments, discussion. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um, I just want to make sure that this is for the two full-time positions. Correct.

That's correct. And then do we have an expected um timeline for the seasonal positions or are those tied into like another seasonal positions were posted already? Um they go to our Palmer website and apply there. And what we've done is uh open and continuous. So we can fill them as people apply and we can continue. If we need more we can keep our running list going and those are specific to the golf course. That's correct. and they're also a seasonal groundskeeper for public works if people want to do that. Thank you. I think that was posted today.

Those ones were posted today. The golf course manager and the facilities one were posted last week uh with a um stipulation that is pending city council approval. So all all the applicants so far are aware of that hinged on your approval tonight.

Yes, sir. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, Madam City Manager, is the is the band for the jobs um for the yourself or for the uh human resources manager, do do you have a cap that you put on incoming employees? So, like it the ban for the golf course uh superintendent looks like it's going to be between uh level one and level six, but are you um I guess hamstrung by things that we've done in the past or is that just a decision made by HR that this and is it the same for director of human resources and police sergeants and and other people that we try to recruit?

So, it's not necessarily anything that the city council has done. This is HR is welcome to come up and and explain it more, but it's more of also a negotiation tactic. When people see a large range, say it's 50,000 to 150,000, people want the 150,000, but then if you give them the 150,000, you have to raise the entire city staff up to meet that if there's an equity issue.

True. And am I asking Char? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, a lot of what the city manager just said. So, uh if you found somebody that you thought was fantastic and uh he or she needed more money than the level six or the u I'm sorry, level nine, step six, they had to have, you know, step nine or 10 in order to take the job. You would be able to to go that far if Yes. possible.

Yes. Um per code, when people get hired into a position, they start at a step There's a policy in place that um anyone that is hired has to be between a one and a six range based off of um the scale goes to a 15. So they will go between a one and a six as a new hire. They do have um you know it's a special position that is very needed like fire, you know, police chief like that. Anyone that has um substantial experience or exceeds far exceeds the job expectations or descriptions then yes. that can be made.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to make sure I'm totally understanding. So, so it's between a one and six when a new person comes on board. That's where you guys like to keep it strategically. But there is there is a chance that if you find a great person, whether it's a fire chief, a police chief, a golf superintendent, whatever, there's a chance you can offer more money beyond um step six. Yes. Okay. Approvals. Yes, I understand now. Thank you. Yes, it has to come from the department directors have to put in writing to HR and city manager and it has to be approved. Very good. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, I had a question about the seasonal workers. is the um is the plan to sort of do what we've done in recent years where the golf course stays open as long as mother nature allows it. So if if there's not snow on the ground in November, we're still playing golf in November or is there a plan to have a a firm cut off date with those seasonal workers this year?

No, there is no plan to have a firm cut off date. It will be as long as the weather allows. The positions um that are seasonal and the vacancies, they're going to be continuously open. So, the groundskeepers and the facility assistants for the pro shop, we're leaving those as a continuous. Um there's four vacancies for each of them, but um leaving it open as needed to fill the positions as long as the golf course um can remain open for the season. Do Great. Thank you very much. Any other discussion? Madame clerk.

Deputy Mayor Alcantra. Yes. Council member Collins. Yes. Council member Allen. Yes. Council member Moer. Yes. Council member Carrington. Yes. Mayor Cooper, yes. And council member Graham, yes. It is passed and unanimous.

Thank you. Moving on to the new item, action memorandum 26023, authorizing city manager to payment of $30,80.50 to PCN strategies for services related to GTA cloud and enterprise services that directly support bodywn and video vehicle for the Palmer Police Department. Wishes the council. Move to approve. Second. Moved and seconded. Madame Moer, if you would like to speak to this, please. Um, can

I have a question for the fire or the police chief? So, uh, my question to you is I noticed that in the, uh, write up here, it goes through November. Was this budgeted for and did why does it not go through December through the end of the fiscal year?

A great question I had as well. Uh so this this is pending from originally received a grant for the purchase and uh maintenance and storage of of these devices. Once that grant expired uh it expired in November. So that put the billing cycle starting in November. When we originally received the bill it was a 19month bill which it's not normal for business to stop right that way. So we were able to break it up and pay for last December's in last year's budget in this portion of it just so it's definitely an not a normal thing not how we would have set it up but it just the way the grant worked and receiving the funds that's just how they they set the building. Is it is it possible to go to them and ask them if they would extend it for that month?

I'm sorry. Is it possible for them to extend it for a month to to go through? Yes, absolutely. Um the PCN's been great to work with. Um whether they want to change the way we we um you know do it quarterly or that one they've been great to work with. I'm sure they would look at doing that as well. But I don't want to tie ourselves to it um too tight because we want to make sure our options are open if we want to move to a different system. Um you know like there's axon there's other other vendors out there for cameras themselves and we want to you know make sure that we're not tying ourselves to them but one extra month is not significant. So absolutely I can do that. Thank you. Yes ma'am.

Yes ma'am. Yes you I got nothing. No. Oh that's right. Sorry. I saw your name. Supposed to change the court. Yes, sir. Thank you. Um I'm just I'll preface this by saying I'm a big fan of uh this trend of body cams and and dash cams and stuff. I think when I was a prosecutor, I thought it was a great idea. As a defense, I thought it was a great idea. Just, you know, it's good to have that stuff. Um I wanted to know um how what's been your impression of this vendor? Are you satisfied with the services you've received from this vendor? Um I I heard you hedge a little bit that maybe we might want to look at other vendors. I just wanted to get your take on this vendor.

Yeah, I I overall I think they they've done well for us. Um I think some of our issues that we've experienced have not been related to directly with them. Some of it's been our um just IT issues with inhouse uh which the vicinity the new IT um I don't know what you call them the person who's doing our IT stuff now um have been trying to remedy and work through which has increased the ability to we were having some buffering issues some some issues like just watching the videos or downloading the videos or uploading the videos um and so having that IT issues corrected has helped a lot um they in my communication ations are pretty responsive overall. Now PCN is so they're they're kind of the the middle person if you will. GTAC is is who actually supplies the the service of the cloud storage. Um they they give us the camera or they sell us the cameras and the equipment everything and PCN is just kind of the person that they utilize for the sales portion of it and the and the billing and things like that. So it's it enables them to have lower overheads is the way it was explained to me. You know, they don't have a giant warehouse. they build stuff as the orders come in. Um, MPCN is the one that's out soliciting trying to get new customers and find find those people that want the cameras. But overall, I mean, it's a it's a good product. Um, but, you know, with with technology is always improving. Axon's a huge one. Um, I I've used it in my previous life. Um, and it was solid as well. So, they're all pretty similar. Um, just what they can offer. So,

Chief, I have a question. You you had brought it up. as technology improves, um, how often do we go back on the street and look for something new? I mean, we got we have new stuff right now and I mean, are we looking at like next year or I mean, do we have an idea of how that works?

Um, well, I I would say that the technology itself where with the cameras and whatnot is has been pretty stable. Um, of course they get better resolution cameras and things like that and and when those come out like we just re-uped uh with 20 cameras um and so we'll get the next model, the next generation. Uh I wouldn't say there's been just such a vast change in that aspect of it that that's going to cause us to run out and look at other stuff. But there are things that are operating inside of like the department of law with the state um the attorney's office there. they've moved to Axon and it's made finding that bridge for GTA and Axon to communicate is because they're competing vendors um has been difficult. Uh Miss Hillary, bless her heart, she's working herself to death trying to figure out a solution to it. And and so that that's kind of one of the things we're looking at and it's not so much the change or advancement in the technology. It's just the what our uh partners in in business are going to that help dictate some of that. So, all right. Thank you. Any other questions of the chief?

Thank you, madam clerk.

Council member Allen. Yes. Council member Collins. Yes. Deputy Mayor Alcantra. Yes. Council member Carrington. Yes. Council member Moer. Yes. Council member Graham. Yes. Mayor Cooper. Yes. Unanimous and approved.

Thank you. Moving on to audience participation. Council meeting rules protect your right to testify and be heard even if others in the room disagree with you. Council meeting rules also ensure that those attending can express their views if they do not interfere with the rights of others to see and hear the proceedings at all times. Order and decorum will be maintained in keeping with civility and dignity of the legislative process. Please be respectful during audience participation. No disruptions to city business or threats of any kind will be allowed. Individuals who cannot follow these guidelines will be removed. Any threats against others could result in criminal prosecution. Please come forward, sign in, state your name, and three minutes per person.

I don't have anybody on the list, so whoever would like to speak.

Wes, um, I have to say thank you for doing the countdown timer. I don't know how many years I actually asked for that. Um, no, thank you. I saw it once over uh I think it was I don't can't remember. Oh, it was a planning and zoning meeting. But thank you so much for having the countdown timer. Um the other thing is one of the things that the public's going to be interested in talking about the golf course is those that push to have it cityrun um and all that. The community wants to know who you going to hold res responsible if the golf course fails hugely this summer. Um it's one of those questions that I'm throwing out that you got to think about the future. Um and this is one thing to think about. So thank you. Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Mike Lefki and I live here in beautiful downtown Palmer. So, I'm going to ask I'm going to look back here and ask how many people here if you know this person, raise your hand. Sally Quinn, how about up there? We have a winner in the middle. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. because Sally Quinn was the first certified paid librarian in the city of Palmer. More importantly, she was a librarian here because that's where the library was. That's something to perhaps keep in mind. There is a history associated with this whole business. She was also one of

the proponents for the building of the library which subsequently was destroyed uh back in ' 86. She retired in '89. I also want to point out that we have a couple things coming up here this weekend. On Saturday, Melinda Mitchell will be at the Farside Books and she'll be signing because she has written a book and will be there to sign. But more importantly, um she's the daughter of Sarah Welton. Sarah Welton, a longtime u community activist, I have to say she served on the school board for many years. She also uh was ordained minister uh and had a thriving counseling practice. I I knew Sarah throughout all of those things. And there's going to be an event at the Palmer Depot starting at 2 on Sunday um to honor her. And if any of you ever had any connection with Sarah, uh I think uh her daughter and all the rest of the family that will be there would be be appreciative of your attendance and sharing uh and the remembrance of someone who was a uh community member in so many different ways. I just wanted to make sure people were aware of that. Thank you. Joel Stfansky. I guess the sun's shining on the table here. That's a good thing. Um, well, we got two positions on the way. 48 to go. Um, you know, my kids went to academy charter. One of the things that they

required was uh parental participation, 40 hours um intern whatever it was coaching. I coached track and cross country for 5 years. Um I highly recommend that the council um at least uh since I think you guys got free golf uh at least put in 40 hours um during this summer at the golf course because you're going to need it. Um, Kobe, this is for you. So, I don't just assume that you know what's going to happen here. Um, you have a snack shack out there. You need three or four people on a schedule there to keep that going. They got to keep the food supply and the beer out there or else people going to bring their own stuff in. Uh, you need cooks, you need mechanics, you need plumbers. uh got to keep all that. You need people that know how to cut grass uh both on the greens. You have herbicides, pesticides. Um you need to cook meals. Sometimes you're going to have 120 people at a tournament. They're all going to expect things are going to be going to have barbecues there. You know, there's a lot. 48 people you need to hire. Now, I'm putting it back on you. Can you do it? You want us to show up? You want us to buy a membership? You want us to hit range balls? Let's see. See if you can follow through. You got a lot of work to do, man. You're behind the behind the curve right now. It was totally unnecessary. Boy, did you guys cause a mess.

But I'm I'm hoping I'm hoping that uh we can, you know, come out shining and that this golf course can relive the the care and love that it was given for 18 plus years. Thank you very much,

Julie Real. I have two questions. Um, I would like to know what guarantees are if somebody buys a long uh an annual pass, what are the guarantees? Is it written on there that it's good until the snow flies or I mean because we don't we won't have a guarantee. You might change your mind and decide to shut down early. Uh, and then the other question I this might be for HR is I'd like to know what the expertise is of the people who are hiring. This is a very specific skill and so in order to hire somebody with a specific skill, I really appreciate when people look at me. Thank you, Jim, because I feel like some people are just ignoring me and like not listening to me and I don't appreciate that. So, thank you. I appreciate you looking at me. Um, so that's a valid question. I'd like to know who is doing the hiring and what is their experience and expertise with hiring a golf course manager. So, maybe HR can answer that question. Bert Verl, no prepared remarks. So, I'm just going to bullet point the things that pop into my head. Um, you know, like a like the stages of grief that when this whole mess started, I asked my wife, I said, "You pick a state and we'll get a house on a golf course. We'll move right now." Now, I'm fourth generation Alaskan. And luckily the next stage came and it's like well what are we gonna do? I play golf every morning with a 83 year old a 75year-old and a younger 68-year-old and we walk that course in 2 hours and 45 minutes. That's really fast. They take some liberties. They take some awful long u gimme putts. But those older guys love being out there. So, their first reaction, and they're even more stubborn than me, was we're not going to spend a nickel at Palmer, you nailed it when you

talked about we need to support the golf course and and then, okay, we're going to play three days a week at Sleepy Hollow. We're going to do that so we can still get our walks in and our camaraderie to, hey, when can I give you the money for a pass? So, people are softening and I'm softening. I'm softening to the point where I thought I want this thing to succeed and I don't want to feel like you're driving it into the ground on purpose. I'm going to make it as hard as I can. But there are so many different groups out there that play whenever they play. There's a Wednesday night group. The ladies from Anchorage come out on Monday morning. There's the men's club who play twice a week. And they the men's club held a vote because we didn't know the status of the golf course. And there was about 40 of us and 28 responded and it was 14 to 14. Move it to Moose Run and keep it at Palmer. So, but that was earlier in in in our trouble. So, hopefully they've softened and they realize if they want to play golf, they can't cut off their nose despite their face. Um, I got a punch card for Christmas, you know, just like that young lady. I don't know if it's going to be any good, you know. Who knows? We'll see. I might have just thrown it into the wind and let it blow away. Uh I've seen a figure, you know, the people who are doing the Save the Golf Course come up with all these figures and I saw a $649,000 lease figure which is 10 times higher than it was ever. And that I'm like, well, they're right there. They're building automatic failure of the golf course into this lease rate. So, um I saw a $72 fee for out of sters. I hope it's out of sters and not out of cities, but that's like, hey, welcome to Palmer $72 and everybody else is playing paying

50 and my senior pass went up $200 and and we don't know the conditions that we're going to have. So, um I hope people soften I hope we continue to support it as much as we have in the past. Um but uh you know, hope and planning are two different things. So, thank you. Uh, my name is Peter Morgan. Um, almost everybody got an email from me today about what's happening here. I didn't expect any I didn't expect any of you to respond and I wasn't sure if anybody was going to read it, but council member Graham did and she gave me a response that the city council has always uh been wanting to support the golf course. Well, I've been to a couple of these meetings. I've been to the airport advisory council and I'm not feeling it. And if you can see tonight people that took the time to come here and tell you that they don't believe that you are really supporting the golf course. And I think that part of that is the lack of transparency. You know when you talk about something under the table which is going through a lot of people's minds behind closed doors also comes to that same conclusion under the table. I don't believe any of you are under under the table people, but there might be. There might be. And again, that clarity, that transparency in front of everyone would solve a lot of problems.

You guys need to get some positive something behind you because this this is not this is not going to go away. And like they said about the people are going to come and still use the golf course. That's going to just continue to raise. Now I don't know if you are just thinking stall sit it out. It'll be okay. We'll get what we want. But I've heard people say you want to do this and you'll make it fail and then you will do whatever the plan is to get what you want. Again, transparency above board, not under the table. And I think you guys can do more. And we we deserve more. We deserve more. Now, I drive by that golf course every day. And it is so beautiful. It is so beautiful. You look to the north. My goodness. When my parents used to come here and drive down that road, my dad played golf there. My mom thought, "Geez, that beautiful." And if you turn around the other way, it's gorgeous, too. If you start building airport hangers and so forth down that down that side, the beauty is going to be gone. It's going to be gone and it's going to be lost. And I don't know if there's really a demand for that kind of thing. Anyway, thank you,

Joseph Mazoo. And I believe the decline of the Palmer Golf Course is but is by design. you need to ruin it because what I've heard from Gravine, from someone I respect and know, a lot of information has come from him that the Springer Road along the golf course and that green along the Springer Road is going to be part of an extension of the airport all the way to Tiny Moose Farm. That's what I was told. I'm just putting it out there. I believe it's by design and you all know it. almost Cindy Heel Harsh. Um, there's something I kind of forgot about until we mentioned passes. Um, I am wondering when you guys came up with the prices for this year, did you by chance get them from another state? We actually have golf tournaments that take place here that encourage out of state professionals to come play golf. Um, if you have a visitor, why the heck do we want to charge anybody extra to play golf as a non-resident? They just won't come. But my the big thing I noticed when I was reading the prices was the corporate pass with a card is more than double and it's $7,500 a year. That is designed for employers to get their employees to come out and do something fun. The golf course does nothing but make money on those people. So, the corporate pass more than doubling. We typically have one, but there's no way we're buying a $7,500 corporate pass for maybe golfing, maybe not. Not knowing the season, but I would ask that you guys just compare last year's prices. I don't know who set the prices. Um, or we don't know who sets those kind of things because it's not discussed. But the corporate passes, especially senior passes, I don't have the chance to play golf

tons, but having spent a lot of time at the Palmer Golf Course as a non-golfer, um, we have a lot of 80-year-olds. Palmer is not a young city. Palmer is a retirement town. We should be encouraging at this point with the way things are moving so slowly. The more people that come, the better for next year's planning. There needs to be a plan in place to make a little cash this summer so that things do work out. The past prices are really high. And I just wanted to say that Gail Dodie. So Joel kind of took the wind out of my sales because he started listing the you know food and beverage workers and the other folks that aren't on these four um job listings. Um but he did forget or he he didn't forget he failed to mention the court kids which are young high school age kids who sometimes most of the time it's their first job and so one of the things you have four what's the matter you have four job listings and I heard you say that there some of them are multiple hires But they're they're all sort of written as if they're I can't tell if they're full-time during the seasonal portion or what. But one of the things I'd like to mention to you is that the people who run the golf course are well not run it but the people who keep it going and are the worker bees. The majority of them are there's three categories that I really come to mind for me is it's the retirees. They don't

want to work full-time jobs. They want to work a day or two. It's the high school kids. And it's the um the educators that have summers off. And these four job descriptions are not lending themselves to that. And that's how That's how you make it afford. That's how you keep your budget in line. You're not going to um have full-time people during the summer. I don't want to go out there and work a full-time just just in the um in the pro shop alone, you know, during the during the um full season when we start at 7 and end at 10:30. That's two full-time people. That's backtoback eight hour days. So you're looking at, you know, 16 hours a day times seven, you've got almost three full-time workers. If you're going to have just split it up, you know, full-time workers somehow are going to cover th those shifts. That's not going to happen for you. People don't want that. People looking for a job at the golf course are looking for something part-time, few hours so they can go golf a little bit and they can get out and have community and enjoy the social aspect of it. So, I really think you're off base here. Um, not to mention that you're missing a whole bunch of people that aren't even mentioned. People aren't going to show up and not want to be able to get a sandwich and a beer or a soda or something. and somebody needs to clean those carts and put gas in them. I just think this is not well thought out. I forgot to mention one thing. There's the thing you just passed for the

Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. Peter Morgan. No, we you you spoke once during this time. If there's anybody else, we have to have them speak. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Megan Dand. I've lived in Palmer for the majority of the last 22 years. The Palmer Golf Course has been a huge part of my family's life. Every summer at youth camps, golf lessons, kids days, local charity golf tournaments, and youth tournaments especially. The support the family feel we always get in the clubhouse. They're some of our most cherished family memories. Those summers and rounds on the course even turned into a division 2 college golf experience for our oldest daughter, Kira. Most people know who she is that are in the room. That all started at the Palmer Golf Course. And we're not the only ones with these stories and memories. In fact, you've heard from so many of these people at these council meetings. I won't spend the time going into the negative impacts that will come from the golf course restructuring as you've all heard them. The uncertainty saddens me. And what is most disheartening is that this all was preventable. For whatever reason it is, the community was not heard. And now we are where we are now. To the point that council members are pointing fingers at their own community telling us that it's our job to support this new course restructuring. And it's honestly insulting. I tell my kids over and over, never trust a man who doesn't live his word. How is the community to trust most to trust those of you who say one thing to the community and do just the opposite? The Palmer Golf Course is what it is because of the people. It's more than just a golf course. It's where people and friends of all ages can get together, where teens can play the same sport as senior citizens. A course is full of life lessons, friendships, mentorships. All of those things need to continue. And it's not too late to do the right thing and to make the right choice. Nor normally only allow one time speak, but

there's been other people speak. Not at the same not in the same public hearing. Okay. Sorry. Anybody else? See no, we're going to close that. Bring it back to the council for council member comments. Mr. Allen, I have any comments. Thanks. Miss Hollywood moving this.

The sun is shining so I'm wearing my glasses so I can see the audience talk. Um, I had a prepared speech for this evening, but uh, over the past couple of months, I've encouraged I've been very encouraged by our community coming together. The theme, the little engine that could reflects Palmer right now. St. Patrick's Day at the depot showed what happens when we lean into that spirit. the Palmer Library, Palmer Arts Council, Friends of the Library, Active Souls, uh the bakery, musicians, the businesses and volunteers along with everyone who participated uh created an afternoon full of joy, fun, and genuine connection. What began as an effort to support the Palmer Library grew into a celebration of positive energy, resiliency, and generosity that define our city. these groups step forward to for Palmer and I'm grateful for their creativity and commitment. I enjoyed the St. Patrick's Day event um very much, but I'm also very concerned with the dialogue surrounding the Palmer Golf Course. I've respectfully listened to the concerns, hopes, and frustrations you have shared. Many community members have been actively engaged while others have remained on the sidelines offering commentary much like armchair quarterbacks making accusations, calling people names, scolding and directing council members to do something rather than working together to build real solutions. At times the tone and language have been disrespectful to everyone in this room and online. Tonight, I want to challenge all of us to turn that negative energy into something positive that the community

can be proud of. If the goal is to truly support the golf course, your neighbors, and your visitors who enjoy it, then collaboration and constructive engagement will take us much further than criticism alone. When we choose to focus on the good, draw from the positive energy we saw at the depot, and work together, we can transform a difficult chapter into an opportunity of growth and unity. And lastly, I wish everyone a happy spring and joyful Easter. Thank you, Councilwoman Graham. Just left it on.

Real short tonight. Um, I just wanted to say thank you to the city staff here, the the clerk's office, the manager's office who have been thoroughly embracing upgrades to technology. Hopefully me and Council Member Moer have separate mics next meeting. Um, and I also really appreciate the countdown timer. I know that was something that came up just a couple of of weeks, months. Time is an illusion. Anyway, uh, I remember it happening. I think it was Wes that brought that up and uh um I appreciate them getting that worked out. Um the other thing that I want to express my appreciation for is the communications from the city manager's office and uh other city staff regarding the release of obligation. And I know that at this point we are moving along as quickly as the federal government can move along um as far as getting the fair market value uh with that action memorandum that we passed tonight in order to get that rolling. Um ideally I know that everybody would like to see the golf course and the airport divorced as soon as possible. Um unfortunately that is not possible until we can get a release of obligation. They have to stay they're they're married until we get that release. So, um it's clear that we're we're moving along the right path with the FAA, uh inspections that are coming up as well as getting that for market value so we can get all that taken care of as soon as possible. Um I also want to wish everybody a happy spring. I know it doesn't really feel like it out there. Um but we have passed the equilux, which is actually shortly before the equinox, which means that we have more sunlight than night time. And I think that is always the best part of spring. So, um, also just on a personal note with that aside, uh, this time of year, for one reason or another, uh, is extremely difficult on people's mental

health. Please check in on your friends, on your family. Um, something about the sun coming back, but it's still sucking outside just really puts people kind of in a in a funk. Um, and we do in public safety see a significant increase in suicides this time of year. So, please reach out to your friends, reach out to your family, talk to your neighbors, uh, check in on each other, be neighbors. So, thank you guys. Carrington.

Um, again, we thank people who come and participate. Um, and we do listen. Um, this last week I was able to go to the Palmer, our new Palmer Food Bank and is really a great facility. Um, it's an amazing resource for our community to get a chance to go by there. Hopefully, uh, we'll have an opportunity for them to come in and share what they've got going on and, uh, ways to get involved. Um, I appreciate the lawyer speaking to some of the concerns. We do listen. I had already talked to a lawyer about some of the concerns and um I am not a person that likes change. Ask my husband. I like I always go kicking and screaming and fighting and uh I I mentioned last time that I felt like we missed it. The way to do a contract is through an RFP and we missed that opportunity. And so I'm hoping that that we can um make the best out of a very hard situation. I'm hoping we can have a good year. I'll take I'll take the challenge and do my 40 hours. I'll even drag my husband down there. I don't golf. I know what it looks like. I've seen I've seen pictures. I took my son when he's 21. And I think when he was about seven, they had a free, you know, sample golf thing and he went out there and they gave him a hat and he had a blast. But uh but it's not something I've done. But but I'll take your challenge on because I mean I can't speak for everybody, but I think mostly we we really do want it to succeed and we want to be a part of that. And um I do want to on a personal note I I did

make the cauldron for the library thing. The picture of me had the back of the paper and my husband that's not my husband. And so uh I don't have to. I just have the one. Mine had a big green hat on. That guy didn't. And he looks similar in the beard and you know a lot of guys look like that and they're not my husband. I just have the one. So, just anybody was concerned, I just wanted to clarify that. And uh and I'm looking forward forward to spring and no wind and and going and checking out the golf course because I do I do want to see it succeed and um have a great spring and no more wind.

Council and Collins,

thank you. Um just a comment on the St. Patrick's Day celebration for the benefit of the new Palmer Public Library. I went to that event as well and uh it was a really good time. It was neat to see the number of people that support uh the Palmer Library. There's of course the monetary donations, but also just the number of people that showed up and donated time, talents, energy. Um I don't think Palmer's had a lot of like St. Patrick's Day stuff going on other than maybe some of the bars and things. But so it was just a really fun event and I hope it's maybe something that um might become like an annual type thing. I um particular shout out to Active Souls that did a lot of work on that and there are a number of other sponsors as well that have been mentioned, but um there was just a lot of positive energy there and um it was definitely I saw the community I know and love uh there at that event. So I appreciate everyone that was a part of that. Um, on the golf course, I did I do um, of course listen to everything here, but also read emails. Um, also took a few phone calls this week about the golf course um, particularly the contract. And I just want to state or the lack of a contract. It is state and local law that we cannot discuss contract negotiations outside of an executive session. So, I will not be discussing those things outside of an executive session. Um, if any of us do, we can be held liable for doing so. So, that's not something that I'll be doing. Um, I do also support the Palmer Golf Course. Um, it's less than ideal obviously as far as how, um, things have turned out this year. Um but as um Council Member Carrington stated, hope we can make the best of it and come out on the other

side. Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank everyone who came out tonight. Thank everybody who's been coming out for months um to try to save the Palmer Golf Course, to try to get us to a place um that I and dozens if not hundreds of citizens thought we were at in December and in January where we were going to have one more year at a minimum with Eagle Golf Course Management, take the time, do an RFP, then figure out the future. um the move to uh bring it in house. I hope it's successful, but it's been tried before. Um don't if you know the definition of insanity, but uh I hope I hope it'll be a success. But uh I just know from a lifetime of being in Palmer how things have worked out. This is a 36-y old golf course that took years to develop before it opened in 1990. I mean, it wasn't just say, "Hey, let's go uh plow the fields and turn it into a golf course." I mean, it was a multi multi-year effort with a lot of people involved. So, I'd like to associate myself with the remarks of Miss Harsh, Miss Dodie, Mr. Burrow, Mr. Gorman, who's not here tonight, Mr. Arts, Mr. Stefonsky, and many, many, many others who have testified that um we blew it as a council. We've blown this thing in my opinion as a second senior member in this council. We've blown it uh very very badly. Not the gentleman to my far right. He wasn't here for it. But um I'm I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed at the way we treated the public. I'm definitely the way ashamed of the way we treated George column after his uh not just 18 years of service as Eagle Golf Course Management, but his years of service that predate that. Uh with Mr. Barnhart who's no longer with us. Um so it's been a a

rough situation, but um to go back to some of the comments that were made, I'm embarrassed that we have 14 to 14 votes on whether to uh have uh men's leagues and other groups move themselves from Palmer Golf Course, the jewel of uh golf in Alaska, to to different uh courses. Um, so to myself, the remarks, Mr. Morgan, one of the things that we're way too quick to do is have executive sessions. We should be doing so much more outside in the public. And I understand about the contract negotiation part. We can't do that part, but we don't let the citizens know. I talk about the rates. Um, in the past, we at least got to rubber stamp as a council the rate increases that were going on and George raised the rates $2 for green fees and $2 for carts and that revenue comes back to the city. So, that's great, but things like a $72 non-resident rate, that that shouldn't fly. I mean, we want people we want people to come enjoy it. I was gone this week uh this Saturday to a wedding um in uh California and um one of my buddies um can't get out and golf anymore. He's got medical issues and I showed him a picture of the golf course and he was like, "Wow, that is phenomenal." He's like, "Is that is that Denali in the background?" I said, "No, it's just Pioneer Peak." I said, but it looks so gorgeous and big that uh people sometimes confuse it even though it's a third the size. But u I'm going to remind people that um next middle of next week it's going to be in the 40s according to the according to the weather people. So hopefully it's not an April Fool's Day joke, but uh when it gets in the 40s in Palmer, things dry out quickly. Golf courses dry out quickly. Um, as I mentioned many times,

my son and I golfed March 30th of 2025. I'd expect people to be on that golf course the, you know, first at the latest the second week of April because historically pal, one of the beauties of Palmer Golf Course is first to open, last to close. And hopefully that's still going to be the case this year as we continue to keep it open into late October, early November if uh, mother nature allows. So, um, it's been a lesson, but one of the comments, Kaka nose, despite your face, one of the things is if you decide, I'm just not going to participate in executive sessions, then you're not allowed to try to convince, at least attempt to convince and educate other members of what your points are. I obviously haven't been very successful at that, but at least you're given that opportunity. So, I don't think taking your marbles and going home or saying I'm just not going to participate in executive sessions is the way to go because they're called um by the mayor and with three other votes, they exist. So, I think you have to participate and as was stated earlier, you can't say what happened in those executive sessions. So, you're not even supposed to say what happened in them after you uh resigned, retired, no longer exist in them. You're not supposed to say what happened in those. So anyway folks, I you know I the die has been cast. I think we're going to move forward. I'm hoping it can be successful. I'm not uh generally pretty much glass half full person. A lot of people call me Pauliana sometimes and I'm definitely just like hey everything's everything's great. Everything's great. Kind of like a Lego guy. But this is one time where I think I hope everything can at least be okay because I don't think it's it's not going to be 2025 unless somebody some miracle. And I hope a year from now folks at the side of this can look me in the face and say we

told you so golf course is great. It wasn't Eagle Golf Course Management. It was just Palmer Golf Course drawing people in. I don't think that's the case. But um we'll see. My apologies to George Colum. My apologies to the folks that have been coming for months and u I hope as we go forward um Palmer Golf Course can still be a success and I hope you have a great evening and a great uh couple of three weeks before you have see us again. Thank you.

Thank you. In case you haven't noticed there Mike put we have three new cameras here that Cabbage Radio put up for us. So, so when you roll your eyes, you're you're online. So,

yeah, George, uh, I mean, Chuck Hosik brought up the 250th anniversary that we have. April 29th of this year is Palmer's 75th anniversary, and I know there's some people out there that are working up some kind of a presentation, and, you know, whether it's going to be another parade or whatever else is going to happen. So, don't forget that as well. And our next uh Oh, yeah. So, so Janelle brought up that there were 102 runners. There were over 300 people that actually showed up um in in and around the depot, which was really kind of amazing. Um, so it does show you the amount of support, young to old, um that support the the new library. Um our next meeting is April 14th. Um, and so Easter comes in before then. So I wish everybody a happy Easter. Um, and if we have nothing else, we're ajourned.