City Council - Regular Meeting

Alright. I'd like to call this regular meeting of the Valley City Council to order. Can we all rise for the pledge of allegiance, please? Alright. Madam City Clerk, if we could do a roll call, please.

All council members are present this evening with the exception of mayor Fleming, who is absent and excused.

Great. And we have council member Lally online this evening. Alright. Moving on to approval of the minutes. Do we have any corrections to the minutes from 04/07/2026?

Seeing no comments, call for the vote. But they pass they pass as they stand. That's it.

As presented.

Stand stand as presented. Thank you. Mhmm. Alright. Next up, we have public business from the floor. I think we have missus Slanoff from Head Start.

If you hit that little button right there,

that red light of color.

Okay. Cool.

My name is Sonia Ash Selenoff. I am the Head Start Center supervisor here for Valdes. I mostly, wanted to come to give a little bit of an update. We are over at the Royal Center, getting ready to open the Head Start Center. We have 32 slots available for students to enroll students. And currently, we have about 12 students waitlisted, and we are putting the bug out to anyone and everyone that's listening. If you would like to enroll your students from nineteen months to five years. And, it is a year round program, so we'll go through the summer. And hours, I think I think we have set the hours for 08:30 to 3PM each day. There are,

certain

eligibility. It's a point based system. So every application will be waitlisted, and then we'll go through an interview process, but we're still seeking students and even some staff. So I just wanna share that guys with you. Our target date actually was supposed to be May 11, and we are pushing it back another couple weeks for licensing and permitting. So any questions, thoughts, ideas? No?

No. Thank you for that update. Appreciate that information.

Appreciate it.

Great. And if there's anybody else in the public that wanted to speak on a nonagenda item, now is the time to do that. Otherwise, any agenda items, we'll get to those as they come. Alright. Moving on to the consent agenda. We have one item on the consent agenda, approval to go into executive session regarding discussion and implications for city revenues and litigation strategy regarding Trans Alaska pipeline system ad valorem tax issues.

Move to approve.

Second. It's been moved by council member Foster, second by council member

what's my second, please? One second. Council member Green, to approve, the item on the consent agenda. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed? We have six yeas, one absent. Mayor Fleming, motion carries.

And then, if it's alright with council, we have new business coming up next. It's alright if we might move number three, certification of election results of 05/05/2026 up to number one. Any opposition to that?

K.

Alright. So we'll take that one first. So certification of election results for the 05/05/2026 regular municipal election.

Thank you, council mayor Pro Tem. We we had a successful election. We had 422 ballots cast in the election. We had total registered voters of 3,103. So the percentage turnout was 13.6%, which is actually a little better than our last election.

So, with just actually one race, that's really not not about turnout. So we had 348 regular ballots cast, 52 absentee ballots, and 22 eligible question ballots. With our question ballots, we had two only two ballots that we could not count. One voter was registered in Kotzebu, and the other voter was not registered yet. They were 18, so probably just didn't get get on the rolls yet.

So I'll be sending letters to both of those voters to let them know, that we could not count their ballot. I'll be sending them a registration form so that we can get them registered in time for the upcoming primaries and state election. So the certificate my certificate of election, I'm gonna go ahead and let you know who actually are new council members. So city council member, for the three year term elected was our, Lester Green and James Jimmy Devins. For the council member, two year term, which is that's a term, completing the remainder of a term created by a vacancy.

Shannon Stites was elected to that office. And for school board, we had two vacancies to serve three year terms, and, our new school board members are, or incumbents were elected, Ryan Vincent and Carrie Wade. So, congratulations to our new council members and new school board members, and we will be swearing in council and school board or council at our meeting on May 26. So and that's when they will be taking their seat. So that's my report.

Is there any questions? K. And our Canvas board met today. They actually went through all of our absentee and all of our question ballots. So, that process happens so that we can make sure that, when we count absentee and questioned, that the Canvas board is present. So it's not just the clerk's office that actually does that. So thank you to all of our election workers. They are fabulous, and we appreciate all the work that they do.

Do do

we have a motion on the certification of the election results?

Move to approve. Second. Great.

It's been moved. Okay.

Go ahead.

Been moved by council member Foster, second by council member Witty to approve the or certify the results of the May fifth regular municipal election.

Any council further council discussion on the certification of the election? Council Merritt Foster.

Just wanna say thank you to everyone who, ran for office and for school board. It's really important what these boards and councils and committees do for our city. And congratulations to all the winners.

Anybody else? Yeah. I just wanted to say also thank you so much to the clerk's office for running another successful election. So appreciate all that work to make that happen. And also to all the workers that worked the polls last night, It made all that happen. So really, really fantastic work, and I got my sticker.

Looks great too. Good. So Yeah.

Thank you very And

my our our elections coordinator, Katie Carr, she did a fabulous job of, doing the sticker contest this year. So, and Katie just Katie does a great job, with elections. So I need to really point that out and thank Katie and, of course, all of my staff who does absentee voting up front and, of course, Elise that so everybody does a great job to make sure that our elections are flawless.

They are. We appreciate that. Alright. Call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed? We have six yeas, one absent, mayor Fleming. Motion carries.

Alright. Next item under new business. We're going to the approval of Captain Joe's gas 2026 unification grant project in the amount of $12,500.

Move to approve. Second.

I've moved by council member Foster, second by council member Green to approve captain Joe's 2026 beautification grant project in the amount of $12,500.

Great. Any council discussion? Councilor Woodie?

I do have one question. When I was reading over both, Captain Joe's and Valdes Brewing, it talked about how, the businesses were awarded funds the previous year, and that they weren't able to complete their projects. And so I was just curious, if they received those funds or how exactly that process works. Elise?

Through the mayor pro tem, council member Whitty. So the beautification matching grant program is reimbursement based. So, businesses can get reimbursed for up to 50% of the cost of a project with a maximum amount of $12,500. So both of these businesses had applied last year, and they did not end up seeking extensions before the deadline, which was and, basically, I think it was, like, December 2. So they reapplied. And so they were not awarded funds last year. They both have gotten grants in the past, but not in the past year.

And my second question is with these grants that are part of the beautification, how many grants do we have available, each year?

Through the mayor, council member Witty, it is dependent on how many applicants we get. So you all capitalize on the education reserve fund each year, and we try to aim for capitalizing it up to, I think I'm gonna get this wrong, 250,000.

Am I right? Okay. And

so we can do several of these. I I think my first year, staffing that commission was the only year that we were not able to fully fund all of the projects. So there's tier one projects who are folks who have never gotten funding before or who are outside of the downtown core or Richardson Highway Corridor. And then there's tier two folks, and that's most everybody now because a lot of folks have gotten funding in the past. So we probably could fund up to about 10 projects a year. We usually only get a handful of applications.

So it sounds like a great opportunity that businesses should come out for. Yes. Thank you.

Any further counsel? Comment on the motion? Any public comment on the motion? All right. I'll fill it up.

I I just like to point out, also and and thank Elise. Elise is the, staff liaison for the Beautification Commission. So, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye. Aye.

All those opposed? Six yeas. One absent. Mayor Fleming. Motion carries.

Alright. Next up under new business, we have approval for Valdi's Brewing 2026 Beautification Matching Grant project in the amount of $12,050. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve. Second.

Moved by council member Foster, second by council member Witty to approve Aldi's brewing 2026 beautification grant project in the amount of $12,050.

Do have any council discussion on the motion? Mayor Foster?

The only thing I noticed on the grant application, I was really, I appreciated the Captain Joe's grant application because they they really put all of the the numbers into the application so I could do the math to figure out the amount that they're asking for and the total cost of the project. Whereas this one, I did the math, and it was about $4,100 worth of, you know, items that they showed us in the application. And, also, it said total matching grant requested was $24,100, which the the, greatest amount you can get is 12,500. So I was just noticing that on the application, and I do think it's it's nice to know where the public's money is being spent and how it's being spent. So the more detail that these applicants can provide in their applications would be helpful and useful for approving, their requests.

Any further council discussion? Any public discussion on

the motion? Hearing none.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed? We have six yeas, one absent. Mayor Fleming, motion carries.

Moving on from new business up to ordinances. The first ordinance we have on tonight is 26 dash o three, amending chapter 3.24 of the Valleys municipal code titled public accommodation tax. First reading, public hearing. Do I have a motion?

Motion to approve 26 dash zero three.

Second. Moved by council member Devon, second by council member Foster. Miss Foster? Mhmm. Uh-huh. To approve ordinance twenty six zero three at first reading for the purpose of public hearing.

Great. And since this is first reading, we'll go to the public first. So, anybody that has public comment, just come on up to the dais and say your name, please. And you have five minutes for public comment. So

Jeff Sachs here. And I I you guys probably already know what I'm thinking on this. You guys keep your hands out of the business people's pockets. This RV tax is bad. I mean, people come to the state. They go to Fairbanks. They go to Homer. And when they spend two months, they get back to that tee in the road at Glen Elle. It's tough to get them to turn right to do a a 230 mile down and back. And yes, I don't know what you guys are thinking on this.

I mean, where does the money gonna go? And are you gonna tax yourself? Is Allison Point is Glacier Campground? There's a boat harbor. They're they're got beds down there too.

You got to answer? This is this is time for public testimony, so we're just listen we're just listening in this.

Yeah. But, you know, I don't know. We've got a $72,000,000 budget for three thirty one hundred people. I don't think you guys need any more money. I really don't. And if you really think they need money, Austin or James, why don't you give 6% of your salary to the city for this, whatever you think it needs it for? But this is treading on thin ice with the people. Word gets out. I mean, we just fought last year with the boondocking thing, and you just let it go. They're boondocking, and you're gonna chase more people out there.

You trust me. You will. And if you don't it doesn't seem like you care about the business as it values. It just doesn't show on our business. And years ago, Lester might remember, but nobody else, Sherry, probably does. I think it was Girdwood or Whittier wanting incorporate us in a borough. I mean, we threw a whole bunch of lawyers and tried to get them to so we could save our own money. And that's all that we're trying to do. We're trying to protect our businesses in this. I we shouldn't have to be up here fighting for our businesses. That's all I have.

Thank you, mister Sachs.

Hi. Mary, manager of the Eagles Rest.

I back What was your last name, Mary?

Rome. Thank you.

I'm with Jeff on this. The city wants to continue to hurt our businesses but not take from themselves. So unless the harbor, Allison Point, the campground out the road, all those are included, shouldn't be a thing. You're gonna ruin our recreation in town. Are you gonna justify people boondocking and not paying that tax? It's already starting to affect Mineral Creek. I try to go back there all the time with my family, and it is getting destroyed. People have dogs everywhere. You can't make it through. They're having tents.

There's nails. There's and it's only gonna make the problem get worse. So, again, I support Jeff, and it's not, I don't think it's fair or right. And as a city, you've never included yourself with us.

Thank you, miss Biera.

Yeah. Hello. Rick Ballou is my name, and I'm a local business owner here in in town. And there's nobody on the face of this earth that believes in taxation more than I do when it's needed, when it's absolutely needed. You can take cities like New York City and some of them are other cities that have taxed and taxed and taxed until their people move to Florida. So what I'm saying is it won't only affect the trailer parks if if you taxize more. It's gonna affect the outfitters. It's gonna affect my business. It's affect the grocery business and the whole shot because people will say, I'm not going to Valdez. They charge a med tax or a a taxation.

And and a lot of people in this day and age are not liking taxes. I'm one of them. And, Lace, we need them to make our schools good, to make our roads good, and the whole shot. And I'm a believer in it. But now this I I I can't understand why this little bit with a budget like we have that would make any difference to you folks or to the city of Valdez where it might run off business people coming here to shop in our businesses. So I strongly oppose this. I really do. But I thank you for your time.

Thanks, mister Gilbert.

My name is Edward Bartlett, and I have Chino RV Park. Few years back, there was an organization out of Fairbanks called Valdez Harbor Users Association. In that association, there was a 130 boats coming into this harbor. Out of that 130 boats, there's a large majority of those people had RVs also. And those people fought back because they thought their rates on the harbor was going up too much.

The city suspended it for a while, and then they increased it. Obviously, you have to keep up. What you're failing to see in this town is we've got a three month period to make our businesses provide. We just lost another motel. If you continue it's expensive to live here. You continue to tax people. There's a chain reaction. Everything goes up. We're all fighting it. There's no reason for it.

Like Rick said, if you needed it, I'd give it to you, but this city doesn't need it. This city's got a budget three times what the nation average is. You gotta wake up and try to bring people in here. Canada just dropped their federal tax on fuel to support tourism. That's about, 30¢ a gallon.

That's what this town needs to be doing, showing the people out here. We're not trying to take your money. Come here. Support these businesses because these businesses here are struggling. In the years that I've been here, what we got for restaurants, we're now supporting food stands on the streets because they're the only ones who can make it because they cannot charge enough to pay the taxes.

In the last meeting, there's a term that come up fair and equitable. I'm gonna tell you about fair and equitable. The value of my land is valued at $5.50 a square foot, and the guy next to me is $2 a square foot. That's what you call fair and equitable. You don't need to tax me 6% on my customers that come here for the season. That's $60 a month. You may not think it's much, but it continues to add up. This town has the tendency to wanna reach out there and take reach out there and take and not give. Think about this. Think about these businesses you're trying to survive before you start taxing.

It just keeps going. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Bartlett.

Hey, guys. You want to make my first is it activated now?

Red's on. You got it.

Okay. A two's on here. I was actually coming here tonight to support these guys, and I'm having a hard time with what's going on here as far as this taxing issue. You know, with with with the city's budget the way it is. And, you know, you're looking for initial rev more revenue and so forth. This is the wrong place to look. You know? To me, it's the wrong place. You're talking about bad taxing or bad taxing campers. Is that correct?

Is that kinda what I read in that thing? You know, people in campgrounds and so forth. That's ridiculous. The other thing is is is this money that you collect, is it gonna go to the Valdez Visitors Borough for them to to oversee it, or who's who's gonna regulate the money that's that you're gonna get off this tax? If I'm not mistaken, the Valdez Convention and Visitors Bureau, their their budget is already if I'm not mistaken, it's, what, over $60,000. Is that correct? Am I Sherry, can you help me out there? Is it, like, $65,000 or something? I tried to pull those numbers up today on the web.

This is your opportunity just to share your thoughts with the council. And then one what? This is your opportunity just to share your thoughts with council. We're not gonna answer questions, but we'll have a discussion afterwards. So just share your comments with us moving.

The other thing is is before you start throwing taxes out like this, I think I think you guys need to start pulling in the reins a little bit on on what what you're spending things on here because all you have to do is look around town and so forth. I mean, I you guys may not notice it, but I don't know how many post office boxes you have at that post office. But it seems like every time I go in there, there's a city rig going in there checking their mail. That's ridiculous. You know, that's that's just someone's just thinking that they're above everybody else when they're bringing city rigs in that post office.

And, anyway, I I I think you need to look start looking at your brains, maybe pulling them in a little bit before you start throwing different tax issues out to the public, especially the business. Thanks.

Thanks, mister.

Hi. I'm Judy Bartlett,

the other

half of Chena RV. This would increase our monthly rate $60. I've never raised our rates in one year, $60, and the whole time we've had the RV park since 2009. That wouldn't even cover my time to take care of filing those taxes. That would just be money out of our pocket.

And if any of you have ever had your taxes raised on your paychecks, 6% in one hit, I think you'd be up here talking too. That's a lot of money for a small business to eat. I can't raise my rates that quick on my monthly customers that majority of them are Alaska residents. A lot of them retirees that come back down here to spend the summers. It just isn't possible.

People right now, I'm asking for extra $50 because of the increase on our electric bills because of diesel prices being up. I can't ask them for another $60 a month just because you decided 6% more out of our income is now the city's income. So please think long and hard about how it would affect your family and your paycheck if 6% got laid on you tomorrow.

Thank you.

Thank you, miss Bartlett. Any further public comments on that first reading of the ordinance? Alright. Open up for council discussion. Mister Green. Council member Green.

Thank you for your input. I appreciate

that from

all of you. At this time, I don't think this tax would benefit the community overall. I don't think it's needed at this time for this specific instance, and I don't I don't think there'd be a a benefit to the city with this tax at this time. I think it would impact us, you know, in a more negative fashion if we were to impose this tax. You know, in my bit of RV traveling myself, I know that when I travel to a town, community, whatever, I'm spending money in that location, whether it's fuel, food, recreation, etcetera.

And so I think there's a bigger benefit to spending that money and attracting people to come here to LDs and enjoy their time, enjoy the recreation here that we have to offer. And I think that far outweighs this tax. So I'm personally not for it. Thank you.

Further council discussion? Council member Woodie?

Just so that everyone knows, have that long and hard, and I have listened to several people's comments, that have reached out, with their emails. I'm not in support of this either. I think that we should be supporting our small businesses. You know, at first, I was thinking equality, but then I started thinking about what is the rush. We don't need to rush into this.

We need to address concerns like the boondocking, which is something that I brought up over a year ago. That that us not enforcing, putting up signs, all of these different concerns have not been addressed yet, and therefore, these small businesses are being impacted. We don't need to hit them twice with our inefficiencies. We need to focus on what we do well. And right now, we are getting tax, money to be able to support our visitor center, and it's more than enough in my opinion. So I'm not in support of this whatsoever, and I'd like to see our small businesses succeed.

Further council comments?

Next question. Council member Lally has his hand raised online.

Great. Thank you. Council member Lally?

Yeah. I concur with councilmember Witty and Green. I don't think that we should be implementing new taxes, this new accommodation tax on the RV parks. Anything that's going to in any way, even potentially, let's say, disincentivize people coming to Valvese and then the cascading impacts of that being damaging small businesses that are here that depend on those. I am strongly opposed to the to the tax.

Councilor Evans?

I'd like to offer an amendment to the, to to the section. It'd be section three twenty four zero one zero definitions, to to remove recreational vehicle parking campground. It would otherwise be the same ordinance. It just would not apply to recreational vehicle parks or campgrounds.

There's a motion on the floor. Is there a second? The motion was to remove the language or recreational vehicle park or campground from section three dot two four dot zero ten. Correct?

Correct. Page two of the ordinance.

Are we is it is is council understanding the proposed amendment? It'd be striking the language that includes RV parks or campgrounds. Be excluded for RV. Correct. Everything else Everything.

Okay. Everything else would stay the same.

So everything that council member Green and Woody and Lally, what what you just said would be excluded from the, ordinance under that amendment. Did I understand it? Correct. Is there a second on the amendment? Go ahead. That's it.

Do you

have any

If

I can interject. So as council member Devins is saying, I just wanna make sure that everybody understands this. The majority of the remainder of this ordinance is basically just if you've read through it, it's basically some housekeeping issues associated with public accommodation taxes that we, you know, have always had for our hotel motels, whatever. So the the the remainder of this ordinance just has to do with how we administer the existing bed access, which administration has went through. So by with council member Devin's amendment, it would take away the taxes on all as he said in his amendment, it would take away the taxes on RVs and campgrounds.

Okay.

So it would just remove it would effectively remove that section from from this ordinance. Everything else, all the other amendments in the ordinance would remain. So that's that's just an explanation.

So with that, is there a second to the motion? Second.

K. The amendment currently on the floor, is council member Devins, second by council member Green to, amend section 3.2401 o under definitions, public accommodation by striking the words recreational vehicle park or campground. That is the amendment. Now

for discussion.

So now we are just discussion discussing the amendment, which is to strike RV park or campground. Any discussion on the amendment? Councilmember.

I think that the amendment effectively addresses the public concerns that were brought to us by the owners of the campgrounds. And otherwise, I think that the changes to the title are all needed and unnecessary. They're they're like the clerk's explained, it's it's just a a matter of housekeeping, keeping up to date with the changing landscape without having to impose any new tax.

Any further counsel discussion on the amendment? Go ahead. City manager.

Just assuming the other piece of housekeeping that would be relevant is in section two of the ordinance that has the effective date. If you were to get in your amendment

Oh, yeah.

Correct. Applicable as well.

Yeah. In in section two, it says that the effective date for recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds that reservations imposed by this ordinance shall apply only on reservations made after the effective date. We can strike that entire section, I suppose, also as part of the amendment.

Is that okay if that the effective date is included in the amendments to the leak to RV and campground? Yes. Does that work?

Yes.

Is that agreeable to the second?

Yes. Okay.

Well, good. Okay. So that's included in the amendment. So further discussion thank you, city manager. You all. Further discussion on the, amendment. Councilmember Fossing?

I have a question that I'm hoping that city manager Duvall can shed some light on this for me. As far as these businesses, our RV parks that we have in town, is there any difference on the amount of trash that is accumulated that we send to our bailer? Is there any additional cost to these businesses for the amount of water that's used for the hookups and the RVs, for the different services that they use in our town? Are there I guess I'm I'm curious why we would tax the hotels or why we wouldn't tax the RVs for utilizing city services. So I'm just curious if you have can shed some light on on the usage of those city services.

Mhmm. Sure. So the for the water and sewer perspective, they have a there's a specific section of utility rates that is applicable to RV parks. It's essentially based on camp days, for lack of a better term, for however many days a site is occupied, they they have prorated rate of the of a unit of water. For for trash services, they typically have a commercial dumpster service that so they're paying their monthly dumpster service.

So it's outside of the your standard residential trash rate. So to that extent, they're they're paying for their use of the services as it relates to hotels. It's kind of a mix on the hotels. Some of them have metered water where they're paying a metered rate. Some of them have a unit rate. But, it I would say it's apples to apples comparison for what they're paying for those services to what hotels are paying.

K. Thank you for that.

Councilor Lalli, did you have anything on the amendment?

Nothing additional, Austin.

Well, I I just had a few comments. You know, I think just in terms of why the public accommodation tax and including RV parks and campgrounds makes sense to me, you know, some people talked about what the goal of the money is, and the goal of the money is economic development. That's at the end of the ordinance is economic development. And so that's that's the goal of the money is to increase our businesses and tourism here in town. And, that's what the the purpose of of a tax like this is. So that that's where I start.

You know, what

what are we supposed to be using this money on? It's it's that. It's for economic development and tourism. And for years and years, we've been using that money for economic development and tourism. For the past ten plus years, most of that's been going to the Valdes visitor center and bureau to try to promote tourism and business in our town.

And, you know, to some of the questions, that's the tune of roughly half $1,000,000 a year going to try to promote businesses in our town, whether it's, RV parks, the campgrounds, our small businesses, the prospect or our our marina, etcetera. Just try to promote every business in town to try to attract more tourists here, more business here, etcetera. So the goal of the the use of that money is that, is they actually try to increase traffic to RV parks, to try to increase traffic to campgrounds, to try to increase traffic to prospect or you name it. That's the goal of this money. Now I think we all recognize that, you know, we're currently under a process to try to improve how that money is used, and I think we have some great small businesses that are engaged in that.

And I would hope that more small businesses would engage in the use of those funds because I think that that's been a major problem in the past as you how how can we best use this half $1,000,000 to attract more businesses and tourists here? That's a lot of money to get more people at the grocery store, at the fish and tackle store, all that kind of stuff. But if you don't invest in that, you're not gonna see those returns. And I know that some of our small businesses, including some of those folks who testified here tonight, put some of their own skin in that game, and they've they've talked to that point. But, you know, collectively, a 500 thou you know, 500,000 plus a year can get a lot more done collectively, and I believe in that strongly.

And I think that the new, VCBB or whatever that's gonna be is gonna be hopefully something that promotes more of those things. So that's that's the purpose of the money. And to me, going back to what the BED tax is trying to do, it's it's trying to increase those small businesses and tourism in our town. And the a big hole in that is we have brick and mortar folks, the hotels, the motels, the inns, the lodges, the short term rentals. They're they're currently carrying that burden.

Forever and ever, it was the hotels, motels, and and lodges carrying all of that burden. We recently added short term rentals. Apparently, we're okay with rental cabins moving forward, but I really haven't heard, a good argument why RVs and campgrounds not not now. I see them in the same vein. You know, people are spending the night here.

They're, they're tourists. They're generating business here. I do appreciate the impact that it would have on those businesses, and I understand that. It about understanding the weight that that carries for increasing those rates. But the hotels, motels, and Zambales are carrying that burden already, and the short term rentals are carrying that burden already.

And they're bringing tourists into our town. And those same tourists are going to our harbors. The same tourists are spending money in our grocery stores, spending money here. And they they're they're having they're subject to the tax, which is hopefully being turned into generating more of those folks. So that's that's what gets to the equity part of this whole discussion for me, which is that we're excluding a group of of of tourists who are coming here, spending the night here.

It might be different. It's not it's a mobile, you know, RV, but they're still doing the same thing to the people in the hotel. Some of them are work you know, short term workers here. I know that some of the short term workers stay at the campgrounds and they go work, but some of those same workers are are packing the hotels as well. You know, some of those folks are tourists. You know, I I get it. But I think that, you know, imposing this is important because one of our priorities for one of our top priorities is tourism and business development. So I think it aligns with our priorities that we came up with this year. I understand, you know, the economic look of it. You know, we're seeing a big influx of money, but that wasn't certain until just recently, and that future is not certain right now as we all know.

And we've all discussed, I think, to a person on this council that we need to diversify our revenue sources. And I understand this is just a small bit in the overall values, you know, revenue scheme, but at the same time, you know, I want to have equity in our codes, and I also really want to have a focus on our business development and tourism development. And I think that money spent this way is important, and I think that, you know, I I think it would be a benefit to our community. But that's so that that's where I stand on this amendments to the motion or to the the ordinance. So council member Lally, saw his hand go up first.

Mayor mayor pro tem love. I just have an analogy to kinda throw out. You know, we all know that costs are rising, fuel costs. We're sort of on that edge to where people are making a decision. Are they gonna come to Valdez, or are they not gonna come to Valdez? And I equate it to just the, let's say, the dolphin issue with the cruise ships. Right? So we had an an impediment there that could possibly cause a cruise ship to have to ferry passengers in, cost, things like that. And we were worried about that. I think it's sort of in the same sort of vein.

You know, if we are are, you know, I guess, portraying ourselves as sort of tax say, we're gonna keep imposing taxes. I think that that disincentivizes potentially disincentivizes people to come here. And so that's my opinion on this additional tax.

Council member Davis?

Yeah. I want to, be on the record to say that I do agree with, mayor Pro Tem Love in regards to equitability. I do think that in a completely equitable environment, all types of accommodations would pay an equivalent tax. I also think that the RV park, administrators should recognize and understand that this is a dollar amount that it that it's equal to about 2 to $3 per stay, for an for an overnight stay for for a guest. And I I understand your argument about getting them to come here in the first place is very challenging.

I can tell you 2 to $3 has never made a difference in my travel plans in the history of my entire life. But I will also say that the reason that I proposed the amendment is specifically in regards to the recent increase in gas prices. There are macroeconomic factors that can absolutely affect visitorship, especially over road tourism. And I don't want there to be any additional reason for people to be disincentivized to come here, but I do agree with councilman love in regards to equitability. I think that disincluding recreational vehicles and campgrounds is not equitable to the people that are paying this accommodation tax.

And and I also agree that the services that are afforded to our city by this accommodation tax are very important to the success of your businesses. If you guys go outside of Google Valdez, the first page that you're gonna find is the one that is run by the Valdez Convention of Visitors Bureau. And that that's paid for by this accommodation tax. So I I just want everybody to keep in mind that equitability is absolutely our responsibility as a city council. And I think it's your guys' responsibility as business owners to be thinking about these things going into the future.

But because this year, there's been an unprecedented increase in fuel prices, I do think that that will impact the the visitation of your businesses. I don't want there to be any additional strain. So so that's why I proposed the amendment.

Councilor Reid?

I too also agree with mayor pro tem regarding the equivability, and I also agree with what Jimmy Devins, sorry, council member Devins was talking about. Ultimately, a lot of other municipalities already do have RVs included with everything. I don't think it's necessary for us to do it right now. I would actually like to see us use the money that, is currently allotted to the visitor center and is doing the job of reaching out for tourism, and I would like to see that be successful before we start talking about increasing services for economic diversification. Diversification.

So I still maintain that, I'm not in support of the original. I think that with those adjustments, I'm in support. But, not saying that it won't eventually happen, you know, oil money could run dry and then everybody's gotta chip in. But for now, I don't see a purpose,

for this whatsoever. Thank you.

Casper Foster?

Thank you for everyone's discussion. I think it's been really good going back and forth about this. And I I am not against small business. I would just like to go on the record and say that that I I think our RV parks are a really important asset to Valdez, and, typically, they are full. They are chocked full of visitors.

Every time I drive by them, I don't see an empty slot in them. My issue is that the hotels have been carrying this burden for a long time. And whether the RV parks realize it or not, you've been benefiting from Valdez visitor and convention bureau going out and I'm sorry. I didn't say that correctly, but our visitor center going out and marketing for our community. So you have absolutely benefited from that whether you realize that or not.

And I do believe that this burden, if we wanna call it that, it's it's something that everyone who is in this game of providing beds and that type of service to our visitors and tourists and workers that come here and work for a temporary amount of time, I think that everyone should be responsible to put into that system so that that system can flourish. And, you know, I think the Valdes task force for tourism is they're very understanding of what needs to happen moving forward. And I I'm excited to see what's gonna come from our tourism experts and people who have skin in the game in this community and want these marketing objectives to succeed. And so for me, I still think that there should be the people who are in this industry of providing beds, whether it's an RV or whether it's brick and mortar, they they need to be subjected to the same taxation because they are all benefiting from that taxation. So I'm opposed to the amendment.

Mayor, could I clarify something?

Yeah. The public comment, we already had that. Sorry,

mister Sachs.

On this? Okay.

You have to

Okay. Sorry. After we're done with our discussion here, then they will call for public comment on the on the amendment. Thank you. Thanks, miss. Any further council comments on the amendment? Alright? Any public comment on the amendment? Zach?

Jeff Sachs here again. I just wanna clarify something. Between Eagle's Rest, RV, and the the Valdes RV Park in Bear Creek out the road in Chena, if I had to guess, when we had the Eagle's Rest, we probably spent a $100,000 a year on advertising to bring people down. So it's not all on the visitor center. Between all of us, I'll bet it's pushing $500,000 to promote Valdez with all the small businesses.

And to get back, like, the what you were saying, the water they this RV parks pay for water and sewer just like everybody else. They pay for dumpsters, and they also pay a pretty hefty property tax. And we had that place over there, I think it was, like, $27,000 a year is what we paid. So the RV parks ain't getting a free ride. I'll guarantee you that. So I just wanna clarify that. Thank you, guys.

Thanks, mister Sachs. Any further public comment on the amendment?

John Witty, resident. I have no skin in the game on this. But one thing that hasn't been mentioned is it doesn't sound like it's gonna pass tonight. But if if you diversify this eventually, why not lower the tax to 4 and a half or 5% versus 6%? You're collecting it for more groups of people. Lower the tax.

Here's my thought. Thank you. Thanks, mister Witty.

Again. So I like to kind of hinder on the thing where she said providing a bed. RVers bring their own bed. Now I am not providing a bed. I'm providing a parking spot. So they're not parked all over the place. And then, again, bringing people here. Every show I go to, everything is not just promoting my park. It is bringing them to do the glacier tours, the kayaking, the fishing trips, the trails, the everything they'll do. So not only is a visitor center getting that money, they're getting the free marketing out of me everywhere.

I market this town already. And then also wanting to charge people a tax to sleep in a tent on the ground. So that's a little that's a little much. Is would you wanna pay a tax to sleep on the ground?

Thanks, mister Farrell. Any further public comments on the amendment?

The city has a full of homes full of homes, full of beds, full of people.

So that includes all of you in the city too. You've gotta tax every bed, not just pick ours. What about the cruise ships? They all have beds too. So you can't just pick and choose who you're going to tax this with. Every boat down there, majority of them have a bunk in them. So is the city exempt from this? That's something to think about too. And like I said, Allison Point and all your people boondocking, you're go around and collect from them. So it isn't just us.

It's the city too. Now you gotta hit a tax on every bed in that harbor, both harbors. That's only fair and equitable if we're talking about fair and equitable. It's all or nothing then if that's the way you're gonna

Any Any further further comments on the amendment? And just to remind people, it's on the amendment, which is to delete the language. So, you know, saying, like, I support the amendment or I don't support the amendment, that's kind of along the lines that we're looking for in this case. Any further comments on the amendment? Right. Seeing no further comment, call for the vote on the amendment, please.

This is to to

remove the language. So I Declare, go ahead. Okay.

So I will reread I will read the amendment into the record again so everyone understands what they're voting for. So it was moved by council member Devon, second by council member Green to amend section 3.2401 o definitions, public accommodation by striking the words recreational vehicle park or campground, and to also delete section two of the ordinance, which reads the effective date of this ordinance is 01/01/2026. The public accommodation tax on recreational vehicle park and campground reservations imposed by this ordinance shall apply only to reservations made on or after the effective date. So that is to remove that language, strike that language from the ordinance.

So with that, are we all clear? Mhmm. Call for the vote. Okay.

Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Nay. Nay. Okay. We have four yeas, two nays. The nays are council member Love, council member Foster. One absent, mayor Fleming. Motion carries on the amendment.

So that's the motion on the amendment. Now we're going back to the main motion, which is just on what remains everything else that was in the ordinance here. So Further discussion on the main motion?

As amended.

As amended? Alright. Call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed? K. We have six yeas, one absent. Mayor Fleming, motion carries. Alright.

Thank you for that. Thank you for the public comment. So moving on to the next ordinances 26 dash o four, repealing and reenacting title 16 of the Valdes municipal code titled subdivisions. First reading, public hearing.

Move to approve.

Second. Moved

by council member Foster, second by council member Green to approve ordinance twenty six zero four, first reading for public hearing.

Is there any council discussion on the updated title 16? You wanna just give a little brief overview?

Yeah. Thank you. I'll need the policy manager. The agenda statement's pretty thorough and outlines some of the conversation discussion that was had with the Planning and Zoning Commission. There's been a fair amount of background work that's been done by R and M and development staff in con consultation with various other departments that are may be impacted.

So I think the draft is presented as it's it's good. It's received some additional public comment that's been effective. There there is one piece of differing opinion perhaps as it relates to snow lots. As presented, as written in the ordinance, it does not necessarily match the recommendation of the planning commission. And part of the reason for that is it's our recommendation to if we have snow lots and they're to be used for public purpose and for public snow storage, they should be owned by the public.

Right now, have a number of leased snow lots around the city. Those may be problematic in the future should we need them and not be able to to access them. Additionally, there's a lot of there's a number of properties in town that have been conveyed as dedicated public stores, no storage. It's unclear as to who owns them. There's been varying degrees of people paying taxes on land that they frankly have no no access or ability to use, which is is pretty unfair situation.

So our recommendation is that if a subdivision is created and it's going to receive it's the sub and the utilities and right of ways are accepted by the city and services are gonna be rendered, that the snow storage should be conveyed to the city. It doesn't necessarily mean it's without compensation. That's certainly not the case, that that could be arranged, as necessary. But that is one pretty significant difference, between the recommendation from the planning commission and staff's recommendation.

Thanks for that overview, especially on that point regarding this new lots. Is everybody kind of clear on that point or have questions on that?

I guess I would add that, we do have representatives from community development and representatives from R and M for any other technical questions. Again, that's that's one point. Everything else is pretty well agreed to, but we can certainly provide context on any other parts of the entire section.

Councilmember Foster?

I was, curious if director Huber wanted to shed more light on anything else, any of the other changes, please.

Thank you. I I don't have a whole lot to add. I think the agenda statement lays out the project goals. And generally speaking, just like with the zoning code update and the other code updates that we're doing to implement the comprehensive plan, the overall goal was really to make the code easy to understand and easy to administrate so that we can have more efficiencies in the cross all of the processes around subdivisions, plotting land, and just trying to make development more easy for the public. One area where we did add some more detail and kind of flushed out the different processes within title 16 in the subdivision code is around variances.

We didn't really have a process for that before. So you see added language with specific criteria that the Planning and Zoning Commission will consider when they are considering any variances requested from the the code itself. And the other really significant change is we have, just like we did in title 17 with the zoning code, we've added some layers for administrative approvals. So whereas, under the current title 16, all plots go through the same process, whether it's simply removing a lot line and making two lots one lot or it's doing a major subdivision like we've, you know, saw in the Saint Patrick's Subdivision. So, we're trying to make things more efficient for more simple processes.

So that's where the administrative plat option is laid out. And so that is a that's a significant change, whereas the director, I will have the authority to approve administrative plats. And then they can be appealed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. And then ultimately, they could be appealed to city council. So just like with title 17 and zoning, we tried to add three layers, and make more simple processes faster and more efficient for the applicants.

Councilman Foster?

Great. I'm loving the consistency in the approach, to all of the revisions and, everything that you're doing with all of our titles and codes. It's a lot of work, and I really appreciate all that the planning and zoning commission does as well as the community development department. I know it's a tremendous lift, you keep you keep at it. You've this is the second title that I've been with you through, so I really appreciate your hard work and your team's hard work on this.

Thank you. Yeah. It's definitely a team effort, and the other community development staff who worked on the project are here tonight as well.

Councilor Evans? I'm curious about the snow storage section 1624060. Nate mentioned that there was some potential disagreement as to the the intent of that section, and I was curious why because as it's written makes perfect sense to me. I was wondering, did somebody make, like, a really compelling point as to why that's not the best practice?

I can certainly try to summarize some of the conversation that happened during the planning and zoning commission meeting. And as you saw in the agenda statement, so, the commission did vote to, recommend that you all modify the ordinance with the language around how snow storage is dedicated. It was a a split vote, and that is in in the agenda statement. But ultimately, for planning and zoning, commissioners supported that change. And I think, ultimately, what the conversation came down to was just seeking more flexibility in the methods of dedicating.

So, what staff was looking for was because the process has been a bit bit vague in the past and happened inconsistently for different subdivisions and different developers, staff went into the draft looking to add that clarity and just have a really clear process so we know what we're doing, and there aren't questions about if the developer is paid property tax when we know that that property is dedicated for snow storage. But the planning and zoning commissioners who supported that amendment discussed wanting to have some flexibility. And and I think it it wasn't discussed at length during the meeting, but my understanding is that that really comes down to looking at the underlying ownership for the property. And where the change really could come into play is if the snow storage is ever vacated. If it's deeded to the city, then it becomes city owned land.

And if it was dedicated through a different mechanism on the plat, the underlying ownership might be different. I would ask Jack, might be able to weigh in on that specifically. But I think ultimately, it boils down to the underlying ownership. And so staff were seeking that clarity. We know that this is required for snow storage. It's specific to those public right of ways that are established through the planning process, and it's for new right of way that's established, making sure we have that snow storage moving forward. But there there was the the commission was seeking more flexibility.

I was I was curious what because because because the language that they specifically asked to change was to to change deeded to dedicated in this case. I was wondering what why why that has a different implication to that different legal implication.

Well, do you wanna go ahead?

Yeah. So if if it's deeded to us, we are the owner. If it's dedicated, they maintain ownership. And so so there's there's some value there. I mean, there's some summertime potential uses for the property. They may at some point decide to do something else with it other than snow storage. And so if I'm developing a subdivision and I've dedicated the the land for this purpose, I then have the ability to change that in the future. There's obviously a process that goes with it. From the city's perspective, that ability to change increases the risk. And so there there are certainly situations where we have dedicated snow storage to the city that if we're

if we're to go

through the process to be changed in use, we would be we would not have control over that use, for example. And so that again, there's two perspectives on it, and it's it all boils down to ownership. Deed is that the city owns it. Dedicated means the city has right to use it. I I do wanna clarify, though, that with this change to title 16

is it it's

not an automatic. The city now owns every dedicated piece of land for snow storage. That's that's not the case. We have systematically tried to reach out to various parcels that we lease, and we would like to own them, for these exact reasons. And and, we have tried to go through and clarify ownership of some of these orphaned parcels that it's really unclear who owns what piece of land.

And so it it's more of a cleanup effort, but just for clarity's sake, this would be as it relates to new subdivision, new development from this point forward. And it has the the clarity that it's only for subdivisions that are maintained public right of ways, etcetera, etcetera. You, in theory, could develop a private subdivision to which this piece of the code is not applicable.

Further council discussion on the motion? Councilmember Lalli, did you have anything, or is he still there? He he

He's on.

Oh, it's 08:00. He dropped off. Further council discussion on the motion? I just had a, just overall question maybe for director Hoover, senior manager, but just, I saw that you guys got some good comments from folks on the revision. Like, who were giving the comments, and then who else kinda was involved, in terms of, like, revamping and getting it to us, the consultants? Were some surveyors kind of involved? Like, who who kinda helped get us to the finish line outside of the the commission and everything like that for oversight?

Yeah. Absolutely. So I'll just kinda start at the beginning. So community development staff, we worked with r and m consultants out of Anchorage. Dave Whitfield and Beth McKibbin are on the line, but they had a bigger team at r and m.

So we have planners and a surveyor working on the project. So technical experts helping guide us. And and they really started looking at codes around the state and how our current code compared and did a lot of analysis for us and then helped us as staff and actually write the code. Then we had a public comment period started around the end of February that lasted formally two weeks, but we accepted comments longer than that. We didn't get any general public comments off the street, but we did send the draft to a large number of surveyors and engineers who have done work in Valdez, have submitted Platts, or work with us regularly or registered with the city to do that type of work.

And so we received extensive comments from Alan Minish at Wrangle Mountain Technical Services, which was really beneficial. He has done a lot of the subdivisions in Valdez over the years. So he provided really detailed comments, especially on some of the technical aspects and our monumentation requirements, things like that. And so we took a little bit more time to bring this draft forward because we did make some extensive changes working with the survey team at r and m consultants also to implement those. And then we also received comments from another surveyor who regularly does work in the city as well that were helpful. So we got a wide variety of expert input on this draft.

Great. Thanks for that, doctor Giroir. Yeah. I was, I'm glad that you're able to take the time and listen to those those experts, and I'm glad that those folks, like mister Minish weighed in to help because they're the ones using this as a tool. So I think that's really awesome. And, also, mister Whitfield and the rest of the r m r and m consultants folks, thank you so much for, getting us to this point in the planning and zoning commission and community development staff. Thanks for getting this, saying you're gonna do it and getting it here. So I really appreciate all that too. So thank you. Alright.

Public comments on ordinance 24 26 dash o four. I apologize for not having that first. That's my fault. Alright. Got out of that one. Sorry. Alright. No public comment. The first, reading of the ordinance, call for the vote, please.

Okay. All those in favor, please say

aye. Aye.

All those opposed? And council member Lally is left the meeting, so he will register now as absent. So we have five yeas, two absent, mayor Fleming and council member Lally. Motion carries.

Great. Thank you. So next on ordinances, we have 26 dash o five, amending chapter 2.52 of Valdes Municipal Code titled Planning and Zoning Commission. First reading, public hearing. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve. Second.

Great. Now I'm gonna do it right, and we're gonna go to the public first for this first reading of this change to our code. Yeah.

Just to set the table for those who may not have read it or or the reason we need to change title two or

yeah.

Because we're giving some authority with title 16 to the community development director, for these minor subdivisions, it's explicit in code that the Commission has planning authority. And so to clarify that, that's why this change is necessary.

Madam City Clerk?

Also, I'd like to mention to just as a sort of a housekeeping issue, we do we we have omitted in this ordinance the the the terms of the Planning and Zoning Commission. And so administration would would kindly request that council add the terms back into the ordinance

if possible.

Alright. Thank you. Hold on. Just we'll we'll move on that in a second, but thank you for that. So just public comments on the first reading of the ordinance? Alright. Council comment on the first reading of the ordinance.

Can I make a motion to include the, omitted language regarding the length of terms in section 26 or 2.6 dot zero one zero section a where it reads, the city planning and zoning commission consists of seven members appointed by the city council? Immediately following that, I I would like to include the words for a staggered three year term.

That read the letter of what you

need? Yes.

So second on the amendment by council member Evans.

Second.

I think it was council member Woody. I'm gonna give it to council member Woody in a second.

Okay. So, the amendment, council member Evans moved, second by council member Woody to amend section 2.6001, my glasses on, by inserting the words for staggered three year terms at the end of, that sentence. So the section now will read, the city planning and zoning commission consists of seven members appointed by the city council for staggered three year terms.

Council discussion on the amendment? Public discussion on the amendment. Call for the vote on the amendment.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? We have five yeas, two absent. Council member Lawley, council member or mayor Cleming. Motion carries on the amendment. Thank you.

Alright. Moving on to the main motion as amended. Any further council discussion on the main motion as amended? Seeing none, call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

All

those opposed? Five yeas. Two absent. Council member Mulholly and mayor Fleming. Motion carries. Thank you.

Alright. Moving on to resolution section of the agenda. We have three. The first is '26 dash two eight, establishing the 2026 rate of real property tax and designating the number of mills for each dollar of real property to be levied for municipal and school purposes. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve.

Second.

Moved by council member Foster, second by council member Green to approve resolution 26 Dash28.

Do we have any counsel discussion on the motion the resolution? My only comment was when I was reading it, I didn't understand, you know, with the over the cap revenue. We got that 8,400,000 over cap revenue. We got, $6,500,000 that we're gonna go towards our scheduled debt payments for 2026, and then the additional $1,900,000 is going to g o '22. I didn't know that that was the the sewer force main.

I don't know if anybody else I just didn't know that's what that meant. But so we're paying down our our debts on that bond for this year at First Maine as well as other scheduled debt payments for this year with that additional over the cap monies. And I think we're all well aware of the discussion we're gonna need to have in this in strategic planning about future projects for bonding. That's gonna be a big important discussion to have as we roll into strategic planning in the future because we're gonna have to have some things on deck given the the new fiscal realities that we're seeing with the revenues from oil and gas. So just have those comments.

Any public discussion on the resolution? Alright. Seeing none.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Five days. Two absent council member Lally, mayor Fleming. Motion carries.

Right. Next up, we have resolution 26 dash dash two nine, naming rates and fees for use of facilities in the Valley's harbors and repealing resolution 24 dash 51, formally naming such rates and fees. Do I have a motion? Move to approve. Second.

Move by council member Foster, second by council member Green to approve resolution 26 dash 29.

With council discussion on the resolution. Councilor Foster?

Another beefy read this evening. I did just notice in section two, a blend storage and parking. Right underneath that in a, it says stand Stevens. I don't know. I get what it's saying, but it should say stand Stevens instead of stand. That's the only thing I noticed. Otherwise, I don't have any other questions about this resolution.

Do have city clerk's all over that?

Council member Faster, I'm sorry. What page? Is there a page number associated?

Page six.

Six. Thank you. Yeah.

Any other council discussion? I just had a question perhaps for the, ports harbor director. Sarah, I'm sorry.

You're Harbor master.

Official type, Harbor master.

Yeah.

Just curious, about just the kind of financial forecast that might have gotten run with under these, like, new rates and fees, what we're looking at in terms of net revenue and building out the harbor reserve fund.

Ultimately sorry, serve on bargain, harbor master. Again, are all estimates because we never know from one year to the

next what the usage is going to

be, but we were projecting about $138,000 in additional revenue. Hopefully, this will get us closer to staying in the black instead of being in

the red, which we have kind of swayed back and

forth with the last four to five years since the new harbor opened.

So you're anticipating 138 ks just in additional revenue. Did you forecast did you have an idea in that forecast of, like, what that net revenue might look like in that in that scenario?

How do you mean exactly?

Like, Like, what like,

revenues or expenses? Probably at least get us to almost a $100,000 additional

Oh, okay.

On top of, like, the expenses. So, yeah, we'd be we would be in the black, essentially.

So the net revenue would be about 100 k a year, hopefully, with the increases in rates. Gotcha. And that with is that, I saw the built in, you know, following the Anchorage CPI plus one on a lot of it. With that built in CPI plus one, is that kind of what's keeping that hopefully 100 k year over year? That was kind of the the justification behind that

Yeah. Instead of keep

that net revenue.

Instead of us saying, okay. It's it's gonna be a cap at 10% each year so that somebody could forecast that into their budget. It could be 1%, 2%, 3%. But the recommendation between the city manager who's at the meeting as well as the commission based off the increased CPI plus 1% was a more valid option to go.

Great. Yeah. No. That that's all. Thanks for that information about what you're seeing. Hopefully, you're see in that revenue. Hope you you gain that. I thought that, you know, that approach is really a great one to keep keep things going and predictable. Great. Thank you. Alright. Any public discussion on the resolution? Seeing none, I'll turn it up.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? If five gays, two absent, council member Lally and mayor Fleming. Motion carries.

Alright. Next up, we have resolution 26 dash three o amending the twenty twenty six c budget by transferring $23,000 from budget variance reserve to the fire slash EMS department for professional fees and services budget. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve.

Second.

Moved by council member Foster, second by council member Green to approve resolution 26 dash 30.

Council discussion on the resolution?

Motion.

Council member Woody?

I just had a question about what the added scope of work for the contractor was.

My understanding is that this is related to the Medicare reimbursement, that we received at the last council meeting. So the contractor has part of their agreement to collect the ongoing ambulance fees, but they did, this extra scope to go and receive that med the Medicare supplemental reimbursement. They tracked that down, quantified it, and applied on our behalf.

Thank you.

So I guess to to the prior comment, it was about a 100 I think it $158,000 at a $23,000 expense.

And just to kind of piggyback on director or council member Whitti's comment, so the the $23,000 is just related to that supplementary Medicare money, but then the contractor other has other scope of work for collections as well beyond that 155 k.

So the $1.55 was what was collected. So their their contract is a fraction of of that. Well, takes it back. Their their collection of regular and standard ambulance fees is included, but the cost of that contract is $50 a year. It's not it's not very much. But this piece was for that specific Medicare, collection. Just for

that 155 k? Correct. Yeah.

Gotcha. Okay.

Thank you. Any further counsel discussion on motion? Public discussion on the motion. Seeing none, call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye. All

those opposed? We have five yeas, two absent. Council member Wally and mayor Fleming. Motion carries.

Alright. Next section is reports. If you have any questions on the report, we only have one. We have the monthly treasury report, March 2026. No questions on that? Moving on to reports. First up, we have

city manager report. City manager Duvall.

Yeah. Thank you.

There's a couple things from the or case from my written report is the tourism task force met on Wednesday. They're having an open house at the Visitor Center at noon on the fourteenth for any businesses or citizens that have any questions about what's going on, where are we at, what's gonna happen. So from noon to one on the fourteenth at Visitor Center, there's an open house. The chair of the task force, Colleen Stevens, will also be presenting at the small business conference, and she'll provide some some of that update within her presentation as it relates to tourism in Valdez. Again, to pile on with the kudos to the election workers, I guess it never dawned on me, but some of those folks are working a fourteen hour day.

And so that's, you know, thank you to them. That's that's a big deal. Another piece of information that we received recently is that, AML put together a major equipment request statewide, and they'd asked us for a submission. We included the travel lift in that request. Our submission was included with the AML submission for an earmark request for senator Murkowski's office. So it's included. It's going through the appropriations process. So as we get more information, we'll let you know what that looks like. We have a couple of upcoming work sessions in working with the hospital advisory council. They'll be coming and have a presentation for you all and, you know, kind of q and a.

One question that they did ask is if there's any requests, I suppose. If there's any specific topic or questions that you have, if you could send that to me so I could send it to them so that they're prepared. Roughly, from what I understand with their outline, it's gonna entail kind of the history of of that organization and what it means with the city and the relationship between the city and Providence and the the health advisory council, a couple of topics as it relates to projects and recruitment and retention, etcetera. If you have any specific questions, you know, let me know. I can pass along to them, and they can see how they can weave it into their presentation and discussion with you all.

Guess just one final point that's not in the notes is, you know, I just wanted to give a a big thank you to John Woody. He's he's gonna be moving on to do some, hopefully, fun new adventures, but I wanna express my gratitude for for all that he's done. He's been a great part of the team.

Gonna miss him. But, thank you, John. And so if you

have any questions, I'll stand for any of those as well.

Any questions for the city manager? I

just had a question, regarding H H B 13. Is that just with the

primary residence exemption? Is that what that's talking about? That's related to all the, yes, primary residence, but majority of the optional exemptions as well. Okay. That was the that was the first bill that passed through the house and is in the senate. So I did not I haven't had the chance to look at or listen to the hearing that they had any public comment at this point. I know that it was it was supposed to have been held on Saturday.

K. So more to come. Let's see. Thank you. Alright. City clerk report.

Thank you. I wanna point out that the two ordinances this evening that were amended, both of those ordinance will come back to you at the next meeting for first reading again because we made major changes to them and for the public still here and for you, Shannon, who's gonna be seated at the next meeting and take this on. Those two ordinances will come back to council for first reading again. So we as I pointed out, we had a successful election. And, again, I wanna thank all of our election workers.

And, yes, they do put in very, very long days, and then some of them return the next day as a Canvas board and put in another hour or two hours with us. So, just a reminder that the next regular meeting of council will be held on Tuesday, May 26. So we're gonna go an extra go out an extra week. So put that on your calendar. The myself, the deputy city clerk, and our records manager and my elections official, Katie, we will be attending the International Association of Municipal Clerks Conference.

What are that dates? So these what are dates about? I have my calendar on me. Sometime in that week. So it's the week before.

And so Yeah. It's the seventeenth through the twenty first. Yeah.

So we will be attending that conference. I will be available during that time if counsel needs me. So, you can still contact me by by email, and I will be available. I'll also be available, of course, to my office as well. So we won't be attending that, and so your meeting will be the next the next, Tuesday.

And that is when we'll do the newly elected, council members will be sworn in at that meeting. Reminder that, BOE is next week, Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, and that will begin at 06:00PM. That's board of equalization. Council member Green, you did not participate in that last year, BOE. And so prior to that, we will try to get with you and legal and try to get you up to speed as to the process.

We did not do training this year as we normally normally do. So we will get with council member Green before BOE, make sure that he is comfortable with the process.

Appreciate that. Thank you. That's great.

And that's all I have. Thank you.

Alright. Next up, city attorney report. Mister Wakelin.

Yes. Good evening. My report this evening will be entirely about the TAPS valuation appeals that are going to hearing next week, so I'll reserve those for executive session. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Any council questions other than that topic? Alright. Thanks, Jack. Next up, city mayor report. I feel remiss, but the city clerk reminded me today's nurses day, and we do have a nurse on our city council. My brother's a nurse.

A lot

of good friends are nurses. So happy nurses day. Really appreciate all the nurses in our community. So So thank you. Thank you. Tomorrow, Prince Williamstown or CAC is having their annual meeting here in Valdez, and, I was invited just to give some opening comments at that. So I'm gonna attend that meeting tomorrow morning. It's part of my mayor pro tem duties. Today or over the weekend and today and yesterday was the service official congressional training here in the port. So I really appreciate all the work by Aliasca serves to do all that training and our mayor, mister Fleming.

I know he's the head of all that, so I think he's pretty retired after a few months of doing that on all the ports. But, just appreciate all the work that Aleska Serves does to, prevent spills, which is the most important thing, but also to respond to spills. And, yeah, I've been through that training, a a long time now, and it continues to be a good, training for folks in that fishing vessel program, vessel of opportunity program. And hopefully hopefully, we never have to use, those assets, for a major oil spill. But it was nice being on the water and getting refreshed with all the equipment.

So there's that. And then, also, just wanna express thanks to director Witty for his service to our our town as the director, and, appreciate, him for all he's done and wish him the best in his future endeavors as well. So that's all I have for my report. Councilmember Foster, we'll start with you.

Oh my gosh. Because I'm a nurse. Yeah. Happy Nurses Week to all the other nurses out there. I too want to express my gratitude for director Witty for all you've done for our public works department. I think these director level positions are really time consuming, and they require a lot of your personal time and energy. And so I do appreciate everything that you do and all of our directors do for our city. So thank you, and I wish you the best in your future endeavors. I guess I was out in Prince William Sound yesterday, I saw the a training going on, and I had never actually seen it. So it it's a really big deal for our community.

I understand why we do it, but I had never seen it. So I just wanna say thanks to all the people who participated in that training and keeping us safe and our ecosystem safe. And thanks to all the election workers and our city clerk's office for doing such a phenomenal job every year. And city manager Duvall staying on top of all the house bills and senate bills. Thank you.

Council member Foster, thank you. National Nurses Day. We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication. Very much appreciate it. And definitely, more kudos to the election, process, the staff. Sherry, you and your team did an incredible job. It's also very nice to see the kids voting right there. It was nice for, you had Tommy the tortoise, Sammy the seal, etcetera. So and very nice stickers there. So job well done. Thank you.

So we were, so the kids voting

You might Oh. Yeah.

So for kids voting, so for for council, it was, do you remember it was

Oh, it was Wally the whale.

Wally the whale and Sherry the seahorse.

Seahorse school board.

I'm trying to remember. Uh-huh. Oh, man. We'll we'll have it in our next clerks report.

We'll have it in the

next week.

I wanna cert I wanna certify this. And we didn't certify that election. Sorry.

You know,

the fact that you guys didn't memorize the candidates is concerning to me

as a citizen. Oh, but the kid the kids like it. They love it, and we love doing it. And so we're just gonna continue to we're gonna continue to do that, of course. But, yeah, that's fun. And it gets them involved at an early age.

I attended the CBEA annual meeting. It was great to see such a turnout and get some great info. I did not win a prize, but Lester did. So I was very jealous from across the room. Anyway, congrats to all the candidates. Thank you to everybody who ran, and thank you so much for our poll workers. You guys rocked it. You did

a great job. So thank you so much.

That's all I got.

Yeah. I don't I don't have anything specific, other than obviously same as everybody else. So thank you to everybody that helped to administer the election, and congratulations to all those elected. And, And, of course, a thank you to everybody who participated as a candidate.

Alright. Any do overs? Redo's?

Come back.

K. Alright. So this, will close the meeting for now to go into executive session. We'll do a five minute ish recess and then go into our executive session. So that concludes our regular meeting for now. Thank you. And we're out of executive session now. We discussed our implications for Citi revenues and litigation strategy regarding perhaps ad valorem tax issues with our attorney, and that was it. This is the end of the regular meeting. We're done.

What's the time?

The time is 08:54PM. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. Take care. Thank you.