City Council - Regular Meeting

OK, we'll call this council meeting to order. Everybody, please stand with me and pledge allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

OK, roll call. Approval of minutes. Approval of the minutes of regular council meeting for June 2nd, 2026. Do I see any objections? Okay, the meeting minutes will stand. We have public appearance tonight. We have the Alaska's Women's Business Center update. So if they'd please come to the front. Make sure your mic is on there. There you go.

OK. How's my volume? Good. I talk loudly. Great. Well, good evening. I may have Martha hang out nearby with me, because I'm going to be talking about this really incredible partnership that's three years long. And I will try to keep this brief. So good evening, mayor, council members, and city staff, and lovely business owners. For those that I haven't met, I'm Carrie Jean Shepherd, and I'm the director of the Alaska Women's Business Center at Business Impact Northwest. Business Impact Northwest is an SBA nonprofit partner that serves Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. And we're also a certified community development financial institution, which is called the CDFI, which means we provide lending and business support to entrepreneurs who may not qualify for traditional bank loans. And basically, any business under three years old does not qualify for traditional bank loans. I was born and raised here in Valdez, so it's especially meaningful to return in this role and support the entrepreneurs investing in the future of this community. Tonight, I'll share the results of the city's investment, what we're seeing in the business community, and where we see future opportunities. So our goal tonight is really simple, to report on the partnership outcomes, share business community observations, and discuss how we can continue strengthening Valdez's entrepreneurial ecosystem. So who we serve. First, it's a bit of a misnomer. The Alaska Women's Business Center serves more than just women. 25% of our clients are men. In fact, I'm working with several male-owned businesses in the community here. There's an SBA policy called No Closed Doors, so everybody's eligible. But as you'll see, in 2025, we got smart and started marketing more as business impact Northwest so that everybody felt like they could come and get served. But in terms of who we work with, in Valdez, it's primarily businesses across tourism, retail, trades, professional services, child care, food, maritime, the arts, and emerging entrepreneurship. And I should say this year, a lot more small craft manufacturing, like CNC routers and 3D printing. These businesses are an important part of Valdez's economic base. They create jobs, provide needed services, and help keep more economic activity local. And this partnership has grown in stages. So in 2023, after I joined the Alaska Women's Business Center, we reached out to the entire state and just said, who would like to work with us? And Valdez was one of the first to say yes. And so in 2023, the focus was engagement, listening, outreach, workshops, and introducing the Alaska Women's Business Center services to Valdez. And the Economic Development Department stepped right up, helping us get the word out and engaging both existing businesses, but also those that have not registered their businesses and maybe have a side hustle or a hobby business. In 2024, the focus was community, expanding workshops, business mixers, peer connections, and launching this meetup group that meets monthly called the Business Women at Valdez. You can see right there, this is when Valdez made a $10,000 partnership contribution, in part because of some of the SBA cuts, where you may have noticed SBDC, the Small Business Development Center, all travel across the state. So only those in near centers, like WASILA, JUNO, FAIRBANKS AND ANCHORAGE WERE GETTING SERVICES IN PERSON. IN 2025, THIS FOCUS SHIFTED TO GROWTH, CAPITAL ACCESS, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, STATEWIDE VISIBILITY FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND MAJOR EVENTS LIKE THE SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCE AND FALL BUSINESS BUILDER WORKSHOPS. IN 2026, OUR FOCUS HAS BEEN SUSTAINABILITY AND FUTURE READINESS. WE'RE ALSO FOCUSED ON PROFITABILITY, WORKFORCE PATHWAYS, BUSINESS SUCCESSION, IN OTHER WORDS, who's going to take over your business when you're ready to retire, digital fluency, and helping younger entrepreneurs from ideas into viable businesses. So why small businesses matter? Many of you in the room are small businesses, but I'm saying this just for the record. Small businesses matter because they create jobs, provide local ownership, support year-round services, and contribute to your community resilience. And in a community like Valdez, entrepreneurship is also about quality of life. These businesses help make Valdez a place where people can build careers, raise family, and stay long term. But I would say that they're also what gives our younger generations hope, hope that there is a future for them here, and that they can create this town to be a place that they want to stay and raise their own families. So the city's investment allows Valdez to receive dedicated support rather than only virtual statewide services. It supports quarterly visits, year-round follow-up, direct outreach, customized programming, and access to a proven entrepreneurship pathway. Prior to this partnership, what support looked like for over two decades was occasionally an SBA program would come to town, do a workshop, lucky to have five people in the room, and then although they would offer ongoing coaching, there wasn't continual follow-up. Long-term relationships were not really being built, and there was a lot of turnover at the SBDC, which means year to year you may have a very different advisor who needs to learn your business all over again. At the end of the day, Valdez businesses were trying to figure it out on their own. So what this changed was what the pathway looks like. It includes startup education, business advising, and then expert sessions in areas like legal, HR, finance, marketing, and management, which are typically really expensive if you've ever had to pay for those services out of pocket, and also access to capital. In other words, lending and lines of credit through business impacts lending programs. The key difference is that we combine training, long-term advising, connections, and lending readiness into one model. Okay, so here's our year-to-date impact. And at the end of the quarter, in my next report, you'll see year over year. But right now, it's right before the end of the quarter, so I'm just giving you year-to-date. Through June 9th, we've served 43 businesses in Valdez, supported over 50 jobs created and maintained, helped businesses access $21,000 in capital, supported two capital infusions, which means a business getting private or private their own personal money invested, and also recorded one business start. And then June, like I said, is the end of our reporting quarter. So those numbers you're going to see significantly increase as summer advising demands continue, because everybody's just really busy right now. And actually tonight, after this meeting, I have two more coaching appointments. So the numbers matter, but they don't tell the whole story. So one example is Sam Spot. Has anybody eaten there yet? In the Eagles Hall? Okay, so good. Biscuits and gravy is what she's most proud of. But we worked with Sam during the startup phase as the business moved from concept to launch. And today, Sam Spot employs eight local residents, four full-time and four part-time, and continues to innovate around the needs of values customers. So one practical example of the kind of work that we do with them is this insulated lunch bag. It's got her cool Ulu design and her logo on the back. And what we were talking about together was how to increase her sales but also meet the needs of those who do shift work or going out on boats during the day, either as a hobby or as a charter captain. And this insulated lunch bag actually allows and encourages customers to buy multiple meals at once and take them to work or on fishing trips. And she's just really proud to also have her brand on that. Just this last month, I also helped three new entrepreneurs form their LLCs and obtain business licenses. And the three businesses were a housekeeping business, a professional photography business, and a construction management company. So this is the day-to-day work behind the metrics, helping people move from idea to action and from action to sustainable operations. OK, so this is where the work gets pretty fun. Our role goes beyond workshops. We also serve as coach, connector, convener, and catalyst. And sometimes that means helping a business owner access the right expert, lender, partner, opportunity at the right time. Sometimes it means helping them make the most of a local moment, like the 125th anniversary of Valdez, through marketing, storytelling, and collaboration with Valdez gems, like the Valdez Museum. So one thing that's really easy to overlook is that most businesses in Valdez are what we call micro businesses. That means they're solopreneurs or owner operated. For many entrepreneurs, especially business women entrepreneurs, there may not be another person in town that they can confidentially talk with about hiring decisions, pricing, cash flow, growth opportunities, or difficult customers. Anybody who's been on the Valdez bulletin board knows this all too well. And so being their trusted sounding board is maybe one of the most valuable parts of this work. So in terms of what this means to build the Valdez ecosystem, basically, we intentionally put Valdez businesses at the center and connect them to resources, including city programs. I mean, everything from a beautification grant to government contracting. Business Impact, because we're a team of 50 strong and have specialized programs, we also have a food and farm center that they have access to, as well as lenders, the colleges, statewide innovation programs, and then industry experts. For example, if anybody's recently purchased the fish fry at Port Betty's, that was a connection we made with them to the Alaska Manufacturing Association so that they could get into Three Bear stores and actually have SKU codes. So economic development, we found, is most effective when organizations coordinate around the entrepreneurs instead of expecting business owners to navigate everything alone. So bringing expertise to Valdez. Did I miss anything? OK, business success stories, I was going to say. Forgot the most fun part of this. So these are three business success stories of businesses that we worked with this last quarter, and they show the diversity of entrepreneurship we're seeing in buildings. So Skyskin at Coastal Bronze is one example, and in March I worked with a 21-year-old owner, Lucy Solanoff, on her grand opening strategy and to book out the first two months of clients. Today, her business is growing steadily. She is reinvesting in inventory and merchandise. And she's especially proud of having 16 reviews, all five stars on Google. And alongside businesses like Sam Spot and Stam Homes, these examples show local owners investing time, capital, and energy into building something here in Valdez. So when it comes to bringing expertise to Valdez, one strength that I'm bringing to this work comes from my own background as an entrepreneur. Before joining Business Impact, I founded and built Alaska's largest conference and event planning company called Toast of the Town. And that experience helps us identify speakers who bring practical knowledge, not just theory, and who understand the realities of operating businesses in small communities with big ambitions. This year's small business conference welcomed approximately 50 attendees and featured 14 presenters and subject matter experts, including local expertise like Seed Media. One thing that was really cool was that on day two, we also held a power hour featuring all of the departments of the city so that businesses who don't read the emails that are sent or maybe don't pay attention to the reports and updates were able to interface in real time in the same room what the opportunities were, and what to expect for their business in the coming year. The goal was really putting practical tools business owners could immediately apply to marketing operations, finance, technology, leadership, and growth. And here's a picture of the conference. One of the things that I think was really cool is that the city was able to leverage local investment, and the RO was 3x. Basically, the conference delivered approximately $28,500 in expert value to participants. And one of the strongest outcomes was that in addition to the one-time education, some of those experts, again, were local. BUT IT CREATED COMMITMENTS, LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS FOR THESE EXPERTS TO STAY ENGAGED BEYOND THE CONFERENCE WITH THE LOCALS. ANOTHER STRONG OUTCOME WAS THE FACILITATED SUMMER PLANNING SESSION. SO ON DAY ONE PARTICIPANTS BROKE INTO INDUSTRY GROUPS TO DISCUSS OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, PARTNERSHIPS AND SEASONAL PRIORITIES. AND LOCAL WOODWORKER SHARED THAT HE ESPECIALLY APPRECIATED THIS TIME. Because business owners were exchanging resources, making introductions, identifying collaboration opportunities, and then getting some accountability by committing to very specific actions. And before this, there was no regular forum for these conversations to happen. So one immediate example came after the AI marketing session taught by SparkStory, who really are leaders in AI marketing in our state. Poor Betty's owners pulled out their laptop right after the session and implemented the website improvements that they learned in that workshop. Three hours later, Jess texted me to say that they're already seeing improvements in online search visibility and were ranked number one on Google. That is without spending months on thousands of dollars on SEO. No websites, it's search engine optimization. My God, it gets so expensive, especially as platforms like Facebook have become pay to play. So that is exactly the kind of practical outcome we want to create. And in fact, I'm meeting with two young business owners tomorrow at 11 at the library to review exactly what that training covered so that they can also be optimized in their categories for Alaska. So the conference resulted in action plans, new statewide connections, new partnerships, and the launch of the Valdez Meetup, business meetup, scheduled for August 5 at the Wheelhouse Meeting Room. Just putting that on the record, August 5, Wheelhouse Meeting Room. And I'm very excited about this because this is the first time in over 20 years that there has been a local business-led group of established businesses, not just like young upstarts with energy. since the Chamber of Commerce dissolved. So this to me is a huge signal that people are stepping up and they really want to work together to do more in the community. So another benefit of this partnership between us is connecting Valdez entrepreneurs to opportunities that are often concentrated in Anchorage or Fairbanks. Examples include startup support programs, capital access resources, mariculture opportunities, economy initiatives, university innovation programs, and statewide partnerships. Last fall, you might have seen this in one of my earlier reports, but last fall at Alaska Startup Weekend, three out of the four winning teams were led by Valdezians. It was a blowout. It was amazing. And Tommy Sheridan of the Alaska Blue Economy Center was so excited by those results that he's bringing a mini startup sprint which will be held at the college. And this is based on something I piloted in Cordova last summer to Valdez. So this means that those Valdezians that don't just want to build a local business but want to take this amazing high-speed internet that Copper Valley provides and blow up a huge company but continue to live here can do so. This means Valdez entrepreneurs are gaining access to opportunities that might be otherwise difficult to reach. So what we're seeing now, after nearly three years of engagement, the trends are clear. Primary thing that I'm seeing right now is that there are more full-time businesses and fewer hobby businesses. We're seeing more business owners step into leadership roles within the community. When I was giving a report to my own board of directors, the number one word that kept coming up was confidence. What I'm seeing is a growing confidence in the business owners that we're engaging with. Three years ago, many of the conversations centered around starting a business. And today, the conversations are increasingly about hiring, financing, profitability, operations, and long-term sustainability, which shows the maturity of the businesses. Now, of course, I think in this town, people have never been shy to tell the city what they need. And so I'm just going to report back what businesses are saying they need help with. The most common needs we hear are workforce, housing, capital access, marketing, technology adoption, and financial literacy. And the majority of our monthly curriculum covers that. However, things like housing continues to affect workforce recruitment and retention. BUSINESS OWNERS NEED EMPLOYEES AND OF COURSE EMPLOYEES NEED PLACES TO LIVE. SO WHAT ENCOURAGING TREND IN 2026 IS THAT SEVERAL LOCAL BUSINESSES ARE CONSIDERING RENOVATIONS OR EXPANSIONS OF EXISTING BUILDINGS. AND IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS I'VE ENCOURAGED OWNERS TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER HOUSING WORKFORCE UNIT OR MIXED BASED UNITS COULD BE INCORPORATED WHERE FEASIBLE. So capital also remains a challenge, especially for younger entrepreneurs with limited collateral, credit history, or lending experience. So I'll talk in a minute about how we're thinking about addressing that. So one advantage of the city's investment that's really great is that we can be really nimble and create programming tailored specifically to Valdez with what it needs now. So last fall during Alaska Entrepreneurship Week, I hosted the Next Generation event at Valdez Brewing. 30 participants identified themselves as prospective business buyers or sellers and discussed succession, acquisition, and startup opportunities. Really, the idea was, what if businesses that are ready to retire could find a buyer rather than letting the value of that business die and or that service completely disappearing from town? This spring I hosted a young innovator young innovators meet up at the stamp mill It was intended for people under 40 and yet all the RSVPs were for people over 40 who just wanted to be in the room But 15 participants under the age of 40 did come to discuss business ideas community initiatives and opportunities for Valdez's future and the biggest takeaway was that Valdez does not lack ideas or initiative the gaps are really access to financing and business education, mentorship, and professional networks. Many of the young people that are here that are ambitious and want to start businesses were not born and raised in Valdez. So they don't have these longstanding relationships. They don't know who owns these businesses or that land. So this is the gap that we're hoping to bridge through our meetups and mixers. Looking ahead, one major opportunity is preparing Valdez businesses for the AI-powered economy. Many local businesses spend significant time now on marketing, scheduling, customer communications, administration, and other tasks that take them away from serving customers and growing. Through AI marketing workshops and virtual assistant training, we are helping business owners understand practical uses of these tools without feeling overwhelmed by them. And rather than go deeply into that topic tonight, I'm preparing a separate AI opportunity briefing to share with Martha Barberio later this month for council's consideration. I understand you have a retreat coming up, so I'd love to get it in your hands before then, just to kind of share with you what we're talking about statewide that I think would allow Valdez to kind of leapfrog into this new era. So as we look ahead at the work on the ground here, the main focus is on what we call North Star goals. Profitability, sustainability, workforce pathways, and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs versus just counting activity. So really what we want to do is make a shift to measuring progress, not just activity. So not only how many people attend a workshop, but whether businesses are actually creating jobs. Are they improving their profitability? Are they accessing capital and how much? And are these businesses becoming more sustainable? Statewide, the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs engaging with our programs is between the ages of 25 and 35. So I think that's called Gen Z, from what we learned from our keynote speaker, Jeff Conroy. And that aligns with what I'm seeing in Valdez as well. I'm also seeing this interesting group of older Gen X clients that are about to retire from their regular jobs, their careers, and who are ready for business ownership. And so the baby boomers tend to own most of the businesses, and they're ready to sell, it seems. And so that is another thing. GROWING SEGMENT IN VALDIES. SO THIS KIND OF CREATES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP FUTURE BUSINESS OWNERS, EMPLOYERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS WHILE ALSO SUPPORTING SUCCESSION AND CONTINUITY IN OUR LOCAL ECONOMY. SO BEFORE CLOSING, I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE CITY MANAGER NATE DUVALL, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR MARTHA BARBERIO, EXECUTIVE OFFICE MANAGER BRIANNE SKILBRED, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER SARAH JORGENSEN-OWEN AND THE BROADER CITY TEAM. THROUGHOUT THIS PARTNERSHIP THEY'VE CONSISTENTLY LOOKED FOR WAYS TO MAXIMIZE RESOURCES AND CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES. OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS WE'VE SEEN INCREASED PARTICIPATION, STRONGER BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT, GROWING INTEREST IN CAPITAL ACCESS AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW BUSINESS LEADERSHIP. IT'S VERY ENCOURAGING. The city's investment has allowed us to provide dedicated support to Valdez while leveraging federal SBA resources. We're also leveraging statewide expertise, our Business Impact Northwest advising capacity, and access to capital. We really appreciate the partnership and look forward to continuing the work. So I'd be happy to answer any questions. And I'll leave you with this. One simple way that council and any community listening can support this work is by referring anyone in business or who's thinking about a business to our services. They are free of charge, they are confidential, and they are available on demand. Clients are encouraged to text or email 24-7, and we'll get back to them at an appropriate hour. But it's really exciting that we're able to provide this to the locals here. They can register at businessimpactnorthwest.org or text me at 907-531-2215. That will be in the notes. It's a business cell phone number, so you can give it out freely. And with that, thank you very much.

Anybody got any questions? Go ahead.

Not so much a question as I've actually been to one of these, not this last one, but the year before. I was unavailable this year, but it was fantastic. I love the information that I gained as a small business owner. The AI information was actually incredible. I was able to apply it right away. So I was able to take what I learned and apply it and see the outcome, and it was fantastic. So I love that other businesses are seeing that same impact. And I actually just spoke today to someone on LinkedIn who is looking to move to Valdez and start a business, and I did recommend that he reach out to you guys and talk to you guys. So hopefully he does, because we can use lots of new businesses in this town. So thank you. Thank you. Thanks for attending.

All right. See you then. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you very much. So we'll go with public appearances. This is anybody that would wish to speak for five minutes on non-agenda items. OK, seeing none, we'll go on to the consent agenda. Approval to go into executive session regarding discussion of implications for city revenues and litigation strategy regarding Trans-Alaska Pipeline System ad valorem tax issues. Please, call for a vote.

Council Member Long is seconded by Council Member Devin to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Ayes have it. Motion carries.

Moving on to new business, approval of the city of Valdez's annual property and casual insurance renewal for the period beginning July 1st, 2026 in the amount of $932,844 and authorizing the city manager to execute related renewal documents. Do I have a second? Or do I have a motion?

Move to approve. Second.

uh casualty insurance renewal for the period beginning july 1 2026 in the amount of 932 thousand eight hundred and forty four dollars and authorizing the city manager to execute related renewal documents Do we have any discussion on this? Okay All those in favor please say aye aye all those opposed We have six yeas one absent councilmember foster the motion carries. I

Approval of professional service agreement with HDR engineering for the city of Valdez Baylor replacement project in the amount of three hundred and twenty six thousand four hundred and sixty six dollars Move to approve second Move by councilmember Green and Shannon

And second by council member to approve a professional services agreement with HDR engineering for the city of Valdez bailer replacement project in the amount of $326,466. Any discussion on this?

Seeing none, call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? We have six yays, one absent. Councilmember Foster, motion carries.

Approval of contract amendment number one with Alaska Scrap and Recycling LLC in the amount of $700,000 for the 2026 scrap metal processing project.

Move to approve.

Second. Who's second?

Joy?

Joy. Moved by Councilmember Lowlies, Second by Councilmember Wade to approve contract amendment number one with Alaska Scrap and Recycling LLC in the amount of $700,000 for the 2026 scrap metal processing project.

Any discussion? We've seen none. Call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? There's six yays, one absent. Councilmember Foster, motion carries.

Moving on to resolutions, number one at 2633, supporting a constitutional amendment to restructure the Alaska Permanent Fund and stabilize the annual draw for state services. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve.

Second. Moved by Councilmember Green, second by Councilmember Stites to approve resolution 2633. Any

Conversations? Seeing none, all for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Six yays, one absent. Council Member Foster, motion carries.

Moving on to number 2634, amending the 2026 city budget by accepting a Rasmussen Tier 1 grant for the Valdez Voices and Visions Placemaking Project in the amount of $25,000.

Move to approve.

Second. Moved by Council Member Green, second by Council Member Whitty, to approve Resolution 2634.

Any discussion on this item? Seeing none, call for a vote.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed? Six yays, one absent. Council Member Foster, motion carries.

Okay, then we have reports. Does anybody PULL OUT ANY OF THE REPORTS AND DISCUSS. SEEING NONE, MOVE ON TO CITY CLERK, CITY MANAGER, CITY ATTORNEY AND MAYOR'S REPORT. START WITH CITY MANAGER.

Thank you, Mayor Fleming. I just want to thank you all in the community for coming out for the 125th festivities. Certainly a lot of businesses got involved with sponsorships and their own little events, so it was pretty great to see. We're all taking bets to see who all would show up for the picture, and I think a lot more people showed up on a Thursday evening than we expected, so that was great. Just kind of along with that same theme, we did a community city staff cleanup day on Monday. We went out and cleaned up on the park strip a little bit. Winter was long and hard, and the park strip felt it. So we're just trying to do a little bit there to help out with that. I know Council Member Bowie was out doing a lot of her own as well. We had some folks go out along the bike path. Just wanna acknowledge the staff who put a little bit of time into helping make Valdez continue to be a great place to live. We have our department head, I don't wanna call it a retreat, because it's like the opposite of whatever retreat is, but we're having our annual department head meeting up at the Civic Center. It's yet to rain while we do one of these, so we're definitely testing our mental fortitude. But it's been a good experience so far. We're going to get a preview of what Jordan and Finance will be presenting to you all during your retreat here later this week. But so far it's been pretty valuable. I'll leave the rest of my written report, but I do want to acknowledge that at the end of this month, since we won't have another meeting between now and then, Mike Weber of the Fire Department will be retiring. and honoring him, but I do want to kind of give a preliminary thanks to Captain Weber and for his service to the community and to the fire department. Oh, I guess another big one that happened between now and the last council meeting was Head Start opened on the 10th. So that was notable. So they are operation and fully functioning and operational at this point in time. So that's huge. milestone for the community at this point. So if you have any questions or anything else from the written report, I'll stand for any of those.

Any questions for the city manager? I just, one, I was reached out today by an individual who said that the state fire marshal for Sugar Bear Daycare, they've been waiting for quite a while, and maybe you could give them a call and see if they can come down and do the inspection or something.

Yeah, we know how to make that happen.

All right. Okay, moving on to the city clerk report.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

We don't have anything this week, do we?

Yes, yes, you do. The council does have strategic planning. Theirs starts on, will go on Thursday and Friday, and you all should have the schedule for that. And we'll be happy to see all of your smiling faces. Also, I just want to mention that we are still receiving applications for the Citizens Academy. And the deadline for people to apply for that will be the 19th. So that's coming up at the end of the week. And then our first Citizens Academy is going to be, our first date is going to be on the next Thursday, which will be the 25th. And so that will be the start. And so Nate and I will be welcoming people that have signed up for that. And we look forward to doing that. It will be every Thursday from 6 o'clock to 8. We've dedicated at least a couple hours to that. I don't think we have anything else. Elise, you have anything? Not that I can think of, Sherry.

I think you got it.

That's it for us.

All right. City Attorney Report.

Good evening. Glad to be with you this evening. Eric Possum from our office is in the back. We brought him down to start working some new faces into the rotation. But he and I attended the director's retreat today and tomorrow, and then Robin and Jake intend to attend at least portions of your retreat on Thursday and Friday. In terms of an update, Jake and I didn't have enough to update the written report, but I have a brief update in the executive session. Thank you.

Any questions for the city attorney? All right. He's off the hook. Yeah. All right. We'll save mine for last. We'll go ahead and go down to Shannon down there. You got anything?

I have nothing. I just want to thank the city employees for cleaning up. It was nice to see everybody out there. I do have to say that we should at least invest in some garbage pickers so they're not bending down all the time. Every time I drove back, I think I saw Lisa and Nate, like, hovering over garbage bags. But I appreciate it. It makes a difference. And, yeah, it's nice that you dedicate time for your employees to do that.

Go ahead, Jim.

Go ahead.

I just also wanted to talk a little bit about the Valdez 125. I think that that was a really fantastic event, and I think it's important to celebrate the history of our community. I think that the time capsule was a wonderful idea, and I hope that someday people look in there and they remember the time that we're living in now. During the presentation of the flag, an eagle flew over our heads, and I can't tell you... I very rarely feel literally overwhelmed by patriotism. And in that moment, I did. Somebody asked me about the town photos if I thought that maybe if my mother or grandmother had been in all of them because they were in that one, and I think there is a chance that they are. We talked a little bit about, you know, P.S. Hunt taking 45-minute glass plate photos with a shutter. I don't think that either of them were in those ones, but I can ask.

Yeah, the 125th was absolutely astounding. Thank you so much to city staff that all pulled that together. You guys did a great job. I saw so many smiling faces. People were just so proud to be a part of this town. So hats off to all of you. So I very much am so grateful for all city staff that participated in cleanup day. It was so great to see so many of the departments out there cleaning up our town. So valuable and wonderful to see all that. So I'm so grateful for that. And thank you so much. I know that we always do shout outs to all the city staff for different departments for different things. I also want to do a shout out for Nate Duvall because he does such an outstanding job coordinating so many things. I don't know how you do it. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU DO.

NEW SPEAKER I ALSO WANTED TO THANK THE CITY, EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF ALL THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS. I ATTENDED AS MANY AS I COULD AND THEY WERE ALL REALLY WELL DONE. I ALSO AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. And I wanted to thank the group that came in and presented on the Valdez Lighthouse Project, as well as the Alaska Women's Business Center update that we received. So thanks for all of that.

Definitely agree on the 125 celebration. It was fantastic to have a town photo once again. Nate, excellent job on your assistance to Uncle Salmon in the opening of the pinata. Good strength, man. It came off well. Added entertainment. And then I appreciate the folks that came up here and spoke about the Lighthouse project there. A lot of courage and commitment. My hat's off to them. Thank you.

All right. Very busy week for me. I know it was for all of you, but the city photo was incredible out there on the dock. I thought the city staff did an excellent job putting it all together. Again, a lot of praise there. The eagle that Nate had paid for to have fly over our heads. Spectacular. Good job, Nate. All that. I also want to thank the theater conference. They were here that week and finished up. So, and from my understanding, talking to a few of them, it was a great time. Everybody had some good, they filled two of the boats up. I think we had 60 people. people on either boat for the crews out there. It was really nice. It went really well. And again, thanks to the city employees for picking up the trash and everything. It's really nice to see that we're caring about our community and getting it done just besides the normal work that we do. So I really appreciate that a lot. One other thing, we did go to the terminal with some of our guests over this weekend and did a tour there. Everybody was quite impressed. We got back, and I think Roger was with us on all those events, and he was really pleased that he came down to Valdez. So that was really nice to see him here. With that, that's all I got. Oh, the cake. My God. How much cake did we go through? All of it.

We're estimating about 600 plus servings of cake before we cut into the special cake. And then we had multiple cakes.

Yeah, and they weren't small pieces by any means. There were kids running everywhere after having Kate.

So it was awesome.

So awesome.

We'll go into it. I just want to mention that just prior to the council meeting this evening, I Dave Tushinoff dropped off some signatures from people that are interested in raising the senior citizen property tax exemption. I know he's come and spoke to council. And so I do know that if you're interested in looking at this, he did go out and get signatures. About 214 people actually signed in favor of what he is requesting. This is not an official petition at all. I do know that we're still waiting on House Bill 13 to see where that's going, and that is still on the governor's desk. So I'll let Dave know that as well. If you're interested, I do have it here for you if you want to take a look tonight.

All right. Well, with that, we're going to go into executive session, and I'll pass the gavel over to Mr. Green, and he'll have it from that point on. So regular meetings adjourned.

Oh, there's ice cream in the freezer.

No cake?

No, there's no cake.

The cake was gone.

Received a legal update from our council in regards to the TAPS system ad valorem tax issue, and we are coming out of executive session. Thank you.