City Council - Regular Meeting

Stand and, with me for the pledge of allegiance. I

Pledge of 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.

Hey. Sherry, you got a

roll call? Force. Yes, mayor. All members of the council are present this evening except for council member three who is absent and excused.

Is Esther? Are you doing?

Sherry.

You're here, Esther. Okay. I thought you weren't gonna be here.

I I finally did. I was able

to finally connect. Sorry for the delay.

Okay. I correction, mister mayor. All members of the council are present this evening.

K. We have one public appearance, tonight, and that's the, biannual report on t three alliance and, agriculture.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Tommy Sheridan. Can you all hear

me? Yes.

Great. I'm gonna go ahead and try to share my screen here, and I'll do that. Alrighty. I can no longer see you all. Can someone please confirm that you see a a blue slide before you?

Yes. We do.

Great. Thank you very much. I am calling in from Cordova, and so hopefully, the the Internet works for us tonight. My kids are all at wrestling practice, and so I won't be fighting them for bandwidth. So fingers crossed, it should go it should go well. Wish I was there with you all. My So name is Tommy Sheridan. I'm the director for the Alaska Blue Economy Center and to to give an annual report on what we've been up to and then opportunistically during the summer as we've been visiting as well. So this is our end of year report. I'll be giving a summary of what Alaska Blue Economy Center has been up to, and then Adam Lau is joining me, and he'll be giving a summary on teaching through technology or t three.

So there may be some new faces, among us here. I'll just give a a quick introduction to what ABEC is. Alaska Blue Economy Center was established at University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2019, and, really, it was established to be a small, nimble entity at UAF to connect capacities at the university with coastal industry opportunity and problems. And a big part of our funding has been in mariculture, which is the marine aquaculture of shellfish and kelp. My background is fisheries.

We're getting more involved in fisheries. We've been very involved in workforce development, which I'll talk about tonight, and we have an interest in getting more involved with visitor industry innovations. ABEC is now housed at the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, so that's a change that took place this past year. So this will be similar to previous reports. Really, we'll be focusing on a a couple key areas, one being advocacy, fund development, and project development.

I'll talk a little bit about the Valdes Mariculture Park, which is essentially a sampling program with Prince William Sound College students, faculty, and staff. And then Adam will present on t three alliance program activities. So this this slide breaks all the rules so far as PowerPoints are concerned, but, really, what I wanna drive home here is that, ABEC and I are very active in public outreach. And so, our interests in in Valdez and Prince William Sound with Mericulture are always part of these presentations, and, these take place from Alaska to Seattle. I was invited to a, large fisheries conference in San Antonio, Texas in the middle of the year.

But what we're doing here is always trying to present on the work that we're doing in Alaska with, colleagues and peers and potential partners on funding opportunities. And so, really, outreach for us is a means to try to develop funds to help leverage the investment that the city has made so that we can do more, with with the work that we're trying to do. I'll share here that, something I'll try to convey in this presentation with some of the materials that I'll share with Martha and with Nate, and hopefully, it'll be shared with you all. We are working more closely with an entity in Fairbanks called the Automated Construction and Advanced Materials Lab or ACAM, and a graduate student who graduated from Valdes High School, Jessica McKay. So Jessica is featured in some of these slides and has been a part of our work this past year.

Here, I include a website. Again, this will be provided via email. We'll provide a written report for Martha and Nate along with some hyperlinks for outreach that we did. In August, I presented at the AFS conference in San Antonio, and organizers there took an interest in the work that we're doing with mariculture workforce development, especially that which is taking place at Prince William Sound College. We we've also been working with middle school students through Science Olympiad and with high school students through teaching through technology.

And they featured us in a digital series that comes with a website and some videos that you all will have access to outside of this meeting. Here again, I'll break all the rules. I wanted to provide, a little bit of context on what fund development really means. And so we're we're always seeking out funding. ABAC is soft funded.

We're very grateful for the funding that we get from city of Aldis. It really serves as a catalyst and helps us to leverage additional funding. Here, I I provide essentially all of the relevant grant applications that we've put together, dating back to October 2021, to our most recent proposals this fall. The green ones are ones that were funded. The red ones weren't.

And we've had a few that are that are pretty key to our work. In 2022, the EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant program resulted in the Alaskan Mariculture cluster, which was a $49,000,000 grant for Alaskan Mariculture. A lot of ABEX funding was provided through a legislative appropriation in July 2022. And more recently, we are a funded entity as part of a National Science Foundation grant. So together, just kind of highlighting that, the NSF grant provides for about 36% of my time.

The legislative appropriation provides about 62% of my time. And our work with city of Valdez does not provide, a lot of funding for my time, but really gives us a ton of flexibility to work with our partners in Valdez and elsewhere. And so I just wanted to provide this review, and Nate and Martha and I can can review this and talk about this if there's interest. So I wanna go way back to September 2021. At that time, I was an independent consultant working for the city, and we identified the Southeast Conference meeting in Haines in September as an opportunity to represent our interests with Mariculture.

So this is just a picture from that. And, really, that that trip and that outreach led to the $49,000,000 grant. This wouldn't have happened without city of Valdi's leadership and support. I've I've shared that previously, but I'll share that with anyone who will listen as long as I can. That grant ends May 2027, and I still think there's potential for Valdez for Valdez interest and for Prince William Sound.

So what this has meant so far, the total funding was $49,000,000. The reality is be careful what you wish for. $49,000,000 with EDA is, is difficult to manage. And so the Alaska Mariculture cluster has struggled a bit with with spending that down. Depending upon the audience, they are about halfway through with not a whole lot of time to go.

And so I just wanted to highlight that about $1,600,000 has gone directly to Prince William Sound College, to the marine natural resource technician program, and the marine services technology program. About 2,300,000,000.0 to proposals in the region, $2,000,000 for statewide collaborations, or just under $6,000,000 to Prince William Sound interests. We are lagging behind other regions in the state, and I'm hoping to to really address that. And then, otherwise, I'll just say that there is funding out there. There is an RFP right now, and we're really hoping for opportunities to to be able to lean into some of the work that we're doing in Valdes and elsewhere.

The EPSCoR interface of change grant, I've presented on this $20,000,000 grant win in 2024. You'll see more of us in Valdes this year. The the project is pivoting towards Valdez. Valdez is now a community of focus. It was added to this initiative in 2024 with the city support and has resulted in funding for myself, ABEC, Prince Williamstown College, and t three.

And here, NSF EPSCOR had their annual meeting last week in in Fairbanks. On the left is Hannah Bogdan, who is an undergraduate student at Prince Williamstown College, is now at UAS in Juneau, and on the right is doctor Amanda Glaser. They are funded through this grant. And then here's a picture of Hannah giving a presentation on Friday of last week in Fairbanks, just speaking to some of the work that the college is doing with funding from the city, from ABEC, from the Alaska Mariculture cluster, and through this grant to provide, unique experiences for undergraduate students such as Hannah. One thing that we've talked a little bit about, certainly Martha and I, Alaska Science Olympiad is a funded initiative through this grant.

It is a middle school workforce readiness program, really focusing on 18 competitive events, including mariculture. We established Cordova team in 2024, and Valdez is starting up a team in 2025. Blair Bailey and Josh Bryan will be taking that on in Valdez, and I'll be assisting with their Fairbanks tour in 2026. Quickly, I wanna give Adam enough time. I'll talk a little bit about the Mariculture Park.

That began in 2023 and 2024 as a sampling effort to identify promising Mariculture farm sites in the vicinity of Valdez For a variety of reasons based on our experience in that program, we opted to work with Prince Williamstown College to identify a research farm site in the port to try to help give us a a platform for Prince William Sound College students to engage in this space. On the left is a picture from our last sampling effort in April 2024, and on the right is the Prince William Sound College Environmental Science Symposium, which featured a whole lot of mariculture presentations, due largely to the support and encouragement that the city council has provided and that ABAC and the NSFF score grant have also provided. So looking forward, this is the exact same slide I provided last year. This is really a focus of our interest. Alaska is pivoting towards large volume applications for kelp.

That has always been in Valdez's interest given its infrastructure and some of its assets. Food markets are just not enough to sustain industry at this time. So we're looking at agricultural applications and have had some success getting grant funding to Prince William Sound College and others. And more recently, we've been working with construction materials similar to what Jesse and ACAM are working on. So we'll continue to to look into funding for development of the research farm, and we'll be continuing to to look to develop workforce development programs at the college with t three and Science Olympiad.

So I'll end here just to say that I've had really a great time working with the city on these initiatives. This has been a a really interesting part of my career, which started in Alaska in 2002. My family started in 2007. We've been in Cordova since 2010. And when I was in Valdez with my son for a swim meet in September, there was a football game. There was a volleyball tournament. There was a swim tournament. There were two cruise ships in town, a block party downtown for Oktoberfest. And my 14 year old son said, dad, why don't why don't we live here? And I'll just say that that that was a great question, and we're looking to relocate to Valdes in 2026.

So that's it for me. That's a lot, but it has to be done fast because I wanna give Adam some time. So I'll yield the floor here. Adam, I'll go ahead and cancel and see if you can share your screen.

Alright. Thank you, Tommy. Hopefully, everyone can hear me. My name is Adam Lau. I am so excited about that last little announcement there, Tommy, of of of you becoming a part of Valdes. Yeah. I'm I'm really looking forward to to just sharing with everybody, what we're talking about. I'm gonna figure out how to share my screen here, and I'll share screen. And, yeah, here we go. I just have a few quick slides here, to talk through.

The the the first key thing is just remind everybody what is this thing, t three, teaching through technology. First backing out. I I used to teach high school science in in Cordova, but now I work for University of Alaska Fairbanks. And we have sites around around Alaska that that basically are are are are clubs and teachers who are trained and and and do deliver programming, that fall into this kind of major mindset of, you know, first growth mindset and find those tech skills and then figure out ways to get engaged in in community opportunities. What's inaccurate about this map right now is that just this year, we received, one more grant that includes Cheniga to Titlik and and some of the other small communities and and and Whittier into our our network here.

So I'm really excited that we've got a a strong Prince William sound overarching thing. Just for reminder on t three network structure, we work with administrators and educators, get them fired up, excited about about, having some tech skills and community engagement opportunities, and they move through this process of doing local projects, activities, programming. We have staff members who reach out and do weekly meetings, biweekly meetings, connect with teachers around the state so that we're all talking about, hey. Here's ways that we're utilizing, curriculum and and doing innovative kind of opportunities and projects. And then we have students who are engaged.

So Valdes has, 13 active students in the teacher program. They are earning badges. They're involved. Valdes has a a what I would call the best maker space across the Alaska network. The UAF maker space is is is got a similar level of equipment and technology, but I was just there with coach Dave Cronk last week and and just looking at seeing what all the students were doing and the kind of projects that are coming out of there.

It was pretty exciting. This past year, we had our our first Valtese t three steam fest where we invited students from lots of different sites around Alaska. We had Fairbanks kids, Seward kids, Cordova kids, students from Western Alaska, and spent time doing everything from learning about drones, building things in the makerspace, then paying attention to maritime, aspects of things. Yep. I I can share that this is me and one of the students, Fox, last week in in the makerspace looking at some of the cool projects.

He's sharing some of the things. And here I am, last week talking to Spencer Heston, over at the shop where they're doing millwright kinds of, activities. And and and and what I can, you know, just say on an overall level, and and maybe I I stopped sharing my screen right now. If I can figure out how to pull back into this. Escape.

Escape. Yep. Here we are. Is that is that much as Tommy shared as we develop and grow opportunities to bring students to Valdez, to make sure that the Valdez students have a chance to be a part of programming that's happening across the state, we're really excited about that. We have an upcoming event in February that will be bringing students from Valdez up to Fairbanks for a a three day engineer week event, and we've identified students for that.

And we are working closely with with Tommy and the other grant funders that are out there to bring another event to Valdez this coming spring. I'd highlight one other partnership that Tommy didn't mention. We we're are working closely with the Department of Transportation public facilities this year to add other career pathways beyond just, you know, things like maritime and mariculture there. There are things like getting your CDLs, construction, and and and learning to utilize drones and GIS and figure out how to do transportation planning aspects. So I I as any good teacher thinks, we know a ninth grade student, a middle school student, one who is fired up about doing something meaningful in their community with with their their their time and effort and finding the teachers and coaches and administration that's supportive of that, is is is huge.

As this next year unfolds, Valdez will become the first non Fairbanks based site that will be delivering, an engineering 100 class, which is tied to, which is tied to the base kind of programming that that any student in engineering would take. So, again, pathways, opportunities, leveraging the network, and it has been a pleasure working with everybody I've met in Valdez and then throughout the state network. So I'll pause there so we have time if you guys have any questions for us. But we are eager to thank you. And

Do we have any questions? Go ahead.

Thanks, Tommy. Thanks, Adam. This is just this is Austin Love. I think, Tommy, you mentioned that that, some of the the the $49,000,000, I think, went to towards, like, the MRNT students and the MST students at at Prince William Sound College. Is that correct?

That's correct. $1,600,000 altogether.

Yeah. So I guess With I guess, Chris, just like a follow-up question to that is, you know, is is that, you know it seems like those two programs have been really successful at the college. I I I saw a lot of those MR and T students and the MST students seem to be, really a great, program there. Is it is it I guess, like, is the goal to get maybe some more of that money going towards those specific projects to try to burn up some of that, I guess, remaining $25,000,000?

I'd love to go beyond that. Those are the two most, obvious programs, but, really, Spencer's program is highly relevant as well. So I think I think all of the the programs at the college, prepare students for success in in that field, in any field. But, generally, what we've seen is that the Southeast Conference who is administrating this grant, they've been most comfortable going with the problem program similar to the marine natural resource technician program and the marine service technology program. So those are the two that we're focusing on.

And we have until May that those funds can be spent, and I'd really like to do a better job of just continuing to articulate to Southeast Conference what a good investment it would be to invest in the college and in Valdez. And with my email, there will be all kinds of outreach and videos that we've been developing, in part so that we can help to convince these folks, some of whom may not have been to Valdez, just to help them understand what a special place it is.

Yeah. Let let them know that it takes machinists and the people taking care of boats to run any kind of aquaculture. So Absolutely. At least I totally understand what you guys are trying to do, and I I think that's a creative way to do that. And I know every boat captain here in Valdez is also an engineer and a machinist too, typically. So

Right.

You should try to chase those funds. And then it's also just great to hear about all the Valdez students, those 13 active students, and then I've gone to the space there at the high school and, really, a lot of gratitude towards the local, teachers who are stepping up to facilitate all that work with the students, and hopefully, they're engaged in finding opportunities in the in the class in the past or in the in the future for them. And that's also really cool, Adam, to hear about the, engineering 100 level class coming to Valdez. I think that's, a great opportunity for students here. So thanks thanks for mentioning that. And, yeah. Hope hopefully, you can find a house here, Tommy.

Yep. Easier said than done, but we're gonna give it a shot, and we're starting early. So we'll see how it goes.

Good. Joe?

Just a question, Tommy and Adam. Just, with regards to the 49,000,000 and the the the slow spend down, I guess, are there impediments, that are in place that are, you know, preventing that spend down from happening faster, I guess?

Or is

is there any barriers to or restrictions on the use of the funding?

Oh, I think, I'll speak to that. I think $49,000,000 with EDA, that's a that's a big undertaking. And I think there have been a lot of lessons learned. I think maybe there would be some things that would be designed differently. A lot of the RFPs, for example, have been pretty small, you know, nine to twelve months in length, $100,000 ish or less.

And, administering a big grant is as onerous as in administering a little grant and vice versa. And so I think they've I think they've struggled with that. But everybody's getting better at it. Things appear to be picking up, and we've really done a lot to to really advocate for Valdez, Prince William Sound College, regional interests. And I think I hope that will pay off as as they're looking for partners who can help them to to really implement their program.

That's great news. Thank you.

Go ahead, Jimmy. Thanks.

You you mentioned in regards to trying to steer more toward the bulk use of Mariculture products rather than, you know, for for food purposes. I was curious, do you guys have information on what the most optimistic usages for the Mariculture products for our region would be?

Sure. For for kelp, you know, the I I love kelp pickles. For those who were at the environmental science symposium, you probably had some of my kelp pickle soup, best in the world. But, you know, it's expensive to do anything in Alaska, and you really have to hit things with scale. And so early on, I think a lot of the interest was, can we build five to 20 acre farms and and make it work that way with relatively low volume, high value products, food products, etcetera.

And there's opportunity there, but a rising tide lifts all ships and you really need those big large volume applications. And so agricultural applications, livestock feed, soil applications, you know, we didn't have in 2021 any faculty that were looking at that, and it takes a while to develop that. We now have, a faculty member working with kelp and livestock feeds. And just this past week, a soil specialist was hired on. Unfortunately, that's just it takes a while for these things to happen.

Around the same time, 2021 is when doctor Nemefrezodhnia with ACAM, that's Jesse's major professor, developed their labs, and they're absolutely taking off. And so on that fund development kind of slide that I provided, I was a part of a $30,000,000 grant that Nima and their team put together, to integrate KELP into, concrete alternatives. And so, I think ACAM has a lot of potential. Right now, they have a three d printer that's three d printing houses in Nome, and they envision a future where, you have three d printers in all of these coastal communities using locally available, resources, including glacial flower, kelp, seafood industry waste, other waste streams. And it sounds pretty crazy, but it's not.

They're they're working towards that. And if we get the $30,000,000 grant, that'll go a long way to help us continue to go down that. But this is a a long haul. It took the salmon hatcheries quite some time to get up and running, and we're only, you know, a few years into this Alaska Mariculture cluster grant. It's gonna take a little while before we can get things, really up to speed. Hope that answers your question.

K. Do we have any other questions? Lester, do you have, any questions, Olivia?

This is, Lester Green. Just a a comment there. Very encouraging to hear more about this t three program. And I'm glad to see and hear that you're reaching out to some of the locals here, whether it's Spencer, mister Cronk. We got mister Deaton there as well.

I mean, there is a a source of talent here that is ready. I mean, now they're already engaged, but this is, incredible news just to keep moving forward with the different programs, you know, new programs, expanding programs, whether it's a millwright program, marine technology. Very encouraging, and, good news. Thank you. Look forward to working with you guys.

I'll jump on that train, Lester. Thank you very much for your presentation tonight, gentlemen. I I always appreciate when you share the amazing, empowering work that you're doing for kids across Alaska. Adam, you have an enthusiasm. It's just your smile that I can tell you are amazing at teaching, and you inspire a ton of kids around the state.

And that's that's remarkable, and I love it. And then I just wanna know from you guys is as we go to Juneau and we talk to legislative folks, is there anything we can do for you guys to encourage these programs to continue across our state?

Oh, Tommy, you wanna take that one first? Or

Sure. I'll just say that, you know, just continuing to advocate for Valdez, for the college, for the Prince William Sound region with with regards to the Alaska Mariculture Grant, for example, Alaska Mariculture cluster. That is being administered by Southeast Conference based in Juneau, and the goal there is for that to have statewide impact to include Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and then, Alaska Peninsula and the the Aleutians. And so, that ground is being administered by Southeast Conference with the regional ardors in all of those regions. Just continuing to drive home, you know, all that you know about Valdez, what, a unique place it is for these and other blue economy opportunities, I think, would go a long way.

And, just know that, we're we're right there with you.

And and I'd I'd add first, thank you for the the comments. It is my honor and passion to be able to spread what I learned in Cordova that that that it's all about community and the willingness of of, you know, a community to come together to say, own or we are responsible for educating our students and really helping them find the pathways that they have a future in this community. And the the the the the big, you know, state level narrative or the big larger net narrative of let's not lose our students to the lower 48 or not let them have jobs here, growing our own, making sure that they've got a space here. I'd say I'd say we have received an incredible amount of support from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. They recognize that we're we're an effective mechanism for helping.

I think this last nine months, we got 36 students across our our our our our coastal communities with their MMC and TWIC cards so that they can go and work on the ferry. And they recognize it's a big barrier for why the ferry sometimes isn't able to operate in things. So we're moving into new spaces there. Anytime, you know, we can we can put the good word out about workforce development programs that that that are are getting students to stay in their community, that's that's that's great. I have intentionally oftentimes hosted our events next to conferences because the students from from Valdez or Cordova or any other of our sites that really are proud of the work that they've done on a project that's local, when they have a chance to go and present or share, then they gain from that experience of being an advocate, and and understand that full circle of what you guys are all doing, that public service right now of giving back and making making things a little bit better.

So, if I I will I will, you know, keep noodling on that and say, how can we orchestrate something, so that we can bring students to to to to Juno with with with you guys and or orchestrate an event that can bring students there so they can both learn about some of the opportunities that Juno and, you know, the the opportunities around there. And then also meet with legislators to to share about the experience that they've been having as as students. So just thank you, and I continue to appreciate all the support that we've been receiving. You guys, I really truly think, are the hub of Prince William Sound. And even though, you know, some of my Cordova colleagues might might might say differently, we intend to host more, training events that can be based out of Prince William Sound College there.

And I I'd like to bring students, from some of our other sites. I think the the number of things that you guys have right at your accessibility and the willingness of your, community partners, you know, whether it's Mariculture, whether it's Millwright, whether it's just, you know, outdoor science, you know, environmental monitoring, you have a lot of resources there, and and it is a clear pathway, for for a student to to go deeper. So thank you.

Thank you, Tommy and Adam. It's gonna be a pleasure to continue to work with you guys, and, I'm sure that we're gonna hear more from Nate as time goes on. Thanks for tonight.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, guys.

Okay. Moving on to public business from the floor. Is there any public business from the floor on non agenda items? Okay. Moving on to consent agenda. We have one item on the consent agenda, and that is to approval to go into executive session. We will be scratching the number one item, from the consent agenda and going on to do, two, three, four, there on the consent agenda. Move to motion.

I move to approve to the one item on

the consent agenda to go into executive session.

Second.

It's been moved by council member Loe, second by council member Loe to approve, the consent agenda this evening. Okay. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed?

Aye.

All those opposed? We have seven yeas. Motion carries.

K. Moving on to resolutions. We have 2564 authorizing a lease amendment and extension to the, lease e and management agreement with the Valdes Museum and Historical Archive Association for the Valdes muse for the museum and museum manics. Move to approve.

Second.

Olivia.

Olivia. It's moved by council member Love, seconded by council member Foster to approve resolution number 20 564.

Hey. Do we have any council discussion on this? This? K. Public. Do we have any public discussion on this? Okay. Please call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Seven yeas. Motion carries.

And the second item on resolutions is 2565 amending the 2025 city budget by reallocating $171,100 in previously approved funds.

Move to approve.

Second.

Moved by council member Lolly, second by council member Love to approve resolution twenty five sixty five.

Council discussion. K. Question. Go. Okay. Go ahead.

I said one question. I I think I understand just the the one major line item for $150,000 for the short the administration. Just with with all the changes in city manager and, you know, having multiple kind of interim city managers and things like that. That's just why that kind of ballooned and then, you know, specifically the shortfall caused by ACM contract. Explain that in a little bit more depth.

Yes. Native office manager. So the assistant manager structure has kind of evolved over a while. So when there was a dedicated position for assistant manager, it was in the administration department. Then when it was by assignment, it was within various department budgets.

Wasn't necessarily budgeted or calculated in a specific manner, but the the method that we think makes the most sense is to have the ACM portion, even if it is by assignment, the ACM portion of the salary should come out of administration budget because that's where the duties and functions live. So that's that's where it's budgeted, presently. And again, the the dollar figures is somewhat the result of mister Douglas' departure, chief Hinkle's, you know, stepping in interim, etcetera. So that's the that's the main shuffling of

And then that'd we're just putting things in the right the more appropriate bucket.

Yeah. So moving forward, I think '26 budget is all accounted for appropriately, but this this somewhat covers what wasn't anticipated in '25.

Thank you.

Any other council questions? K. Any public questions? Seeing none, call for the vote.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

All those opposed? We have seven yeas. Motion carries.

K. Moving on to reports. Alaska Woman Business third quarter report. Anybody wish to talk about that? K. Twenty twenty five Valdez by the numbers. Anybody wish to talk about that? Both reports were really good. Thank you, Mark, putting that together for us. Really appreciate it. Moving on to city manager, city clerk, city attorney, and mayor's report. City manager report.

Thank you, mayor. So as maybe know, we had AML last week. I also had the the manager's conference as well. It was a good good opportunity to get some insights. I I know in the past, there's been somewhat of a challenge on the level of staff because team manager goes to a conference, they come back with a lot of great ideas and then tell staff to go do a bunch of things that weren't necessarily on the work plan.

So my my public statement to them is that's not my intention. There was some good information and good ideas, but, our work plan was established. We passed the budget of the work plan, and we're gonna roll on with that, path forward. But there are some things that, we may look to implement or look look into a little bit further as a result of that conference. Since I got to go first, that means I'm gonna be the guy to congratulate miss Sherry Pierce, for being the recipient of the Vic Fisher award for leadership in public service. So Sherry is well deserving of that award, and, it was cool to see her receive that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nate.

K. Actually, if I guess two more things real quick while I'm thinking about it. I sent you all an update about some legislative activities in your email, related to the vessel opportunity as well as the, receipt of force of receipts to secure rural schools funding that has been, approved. We expect to see a check-in the next six weeks or so for that. And then just a heads up for your awareness, on behalf of a couple of requests from the mayor and some other council folks, we are contributing to the Coast Guard Christmas party by providing them with, some movie tickets and popcorn.

Just wanna give you all a awareness of that. So if someone says thanks to city council, that's that's why, you you all supported that endeavor. And then lastly, our Christmas party will be, this Friday, and you all are certainly welcome and invited to attend and be a good good time ahead by all. So if there are any questions on my written report or anything from AML, Sanfuranos.

Go ahead.

Thanks, senior manager.

Man, cheery. That's awesome. Congratulations. Thank That's

a huge, huge honor. So cool. Thanks for sharing that news, Nate. I saw it, you know, in there, the remodel of the schools. Everything's going good. Remind me when that's supposed to get wrapped up for the because you said, you know, hopefully administration have a plan to get moved into there. But when it

why is it supposed to get done? So the initial target was this Christmas break. Their schedule that they provided was closer towards spring break. Right now, I would say we're on track for a late January, early February transition time. In talking to the schools, we're not gonna force them to move out, and so we're gonna kinda let it happen at at their convenience. By the same token, we do want to be an organized move out so that we can get access to the district office in a somewhat timely and complete manner.

And then, I saw, you know, you said, the cookies of the city manager sound like that turned out good. Was, were there any kind of key topics that kinda came to the forefront during that? There were,

you know, of note for counsel to I I would say there's there's a general sentiment or concern in the community. You know, folks are folks are mindful of how we spend tax dollars and, you know, ensuring we got the highest and best use of of tax dollars, think, is is a topic certain I think there's there's a general desire from the business community for us to be, communicative with them and not be an impediment. There's there's a lot of support of some things that's going on. You know, lots of good comments and high praise for various staff members. Yeah.

I think those are some of the the bigger picture topics that were discussed or or themes, I guess you could say.

I'm people showed up and

voice There weren't a lot of people.

I believe

there were

few people, but the opinions were were good and valid.

Great. Yeah. Thanks for doing that outreach. Appreciate it.

Any other questions for the city manager? K. Moving on to city clerk report.

Thank you, mister mayor. First of I'd like to say that, it was just the greatest greatest honor to receive, the Vic Fisher award. For those people who who know or know of Vic Fisher, he was just a a phenomenal man. And, I the first time I ever met Vic was, years ago. The very first Alaska Gaslight Port Authority meeting was held at the Captain Cook up on, like, the 18th Floor, and, Vic helped chair that meeting.

And so I was the clerk for that and did the minutes for that particular meeting. So, and I was just I was in awe of listening to him to him speak, and of the things that he did for Alaska. So, again, that was just the greatest honor to to in that I could ever get to get that award. So thank you very, very, very much for helping to facilitate that. And I I was was honored to meet his wife, to meet Jane, and to talk with her as well. So I'll be writing her nice little note. So thank you. Okay. Moving on. Merry Christmas to everybody, and happy holidays.

Just a reminder that our Christmas party is on Friday. So if you have tickets, don't forget to come. We'll see you there. We we did have had the pleasure of donating movie tickets to the coast guard for their family Christmas celebration this year. So so so we did that, and we were just so happy to do that. We contacted them and said, what do we do? What do we do? I'd like to help. So so it took a bit in order to be able to do that, but we we did, and it's all great. And, Mara, I'll let you talk about upcoming Juno, and, that's how I help. So thank you.

K. Any questions for Sherry? K. Moving on to, city attorney's report.

Okay. Thank you, mayor Fleming. Before I start, I too want to congratulate Sherry. Sherry, there's really no better recipient for that award than you. It's very well deserved, and, I had the pleasure of being at the ceremony. And it was just great. Dennis gave a wonderful speech. Sherry, you gave a wonderful acceptance speech. It was really a pleasure to be there. I appreciate the hospitality on behalf of me and and Robin and Jack as well for attendance.

So it was just, you know, really great thing to be a part of. Just a brief update for you this evening, and then we do have an executive session. First, BMTC plan, regarding the secondary containment system issues. We have a a conferral meeting. It's been called a conferral meeting with a DEC tomorrow at 03:00 and city manager Duvall, city clerk Pierce, council member Whitty, and council member Lally will be in attendance, and I'll be giving a presentation.

The agency sent a letter kind of clarifying what the expect the scope of this meeting to be and really the expected presentation from the parties and not, back and forth or or q and a session. So we'll give a presentation. As I discussed at our last meeting, we provided detailed comments on December 1, and this will really be to highlight some of those comments and drive the main points home. Escape property, judge Zeeman issued a final judgment for the 2019 through 2023 tax years, since our last meeting. So that means his order is right for appeal officially, and, it also, triggers the timeline for us to file for attorney's fees and costs, which we're presently working on.

And that's really all I wanted to highlight for you this evening. Again, we do have an executive session. We'll talk about PAP's matters. We'll be happy to stand for any questions.

Any questions for Jake? Olivia, Lester?

We lost Lester, but he is trying to reconnect. He's trying to reconnect. He's having some connectivity issues.

Alright. Hey. Send them.

Alright. Well, thank you all. And I won't won't see most of you. Well, we'll talk after this, but Merry Christmas to everybody.

Thanks. Alright. City of Mayors report. I will say unbeknownst to a lot of people, I had Elise had one hell of a great speech ready to go for me. She printed it out, and it was really good. I got the first paragraph out of that speech out before everybody started clapping and Sherry came up. So Short and sweet. And I will also say that it was a total surprise for Sherry. I do have a video that I've shared with Elise that Jennifer just had on Sherry while all this was going on, and you can see the complete surprise. So it was pretty good.

So it was awesome. And, this award, you know, that Sherry received, it it is a very special honor. I mean, it is I think there's only been, what, four of those awards given out?

I think so.

Yeah. I think that's what it was, and, she received it. And so it was, it was something, momentous and very honorable to be at and to observe. So I I really, would like to thank Sherry too. She did a great job, and, I think the city would be lost without her. And by the way, my speech up there in the front that was so good is that during the conference, we heard that there were these mayors that were talking and some city managers, and they were saying, you know, I'm a weak mayor. And, the other one was like, well, no. I'm a strong mayor. And the other one was like, well, we're a strong city management, you know, type group going on. And I said, to be honest with you, sat back and laughed because Valdez is a strong city clerk form of government.

Then I got to introduce Sherry. So it was really nice. With that being said, I I did, take back, some pieces of information, but, you know, this conference to me, it seemed like there was a lot of focus on, the devastation that happened in Western Alaska. So there wasn't it wasn't like other conferences. It was more geared towards that a little bit. So, but it it was still worthwhile and great to go to. So I really appreciate and, the opportunity to go to that, and it was, very good. I will tell you that doom and gloom speech was out pretty prevalent through the whole time even in the, mayor's meeting. The state's out of money. They're gonna dig into their savings.

People are, you know, city of Anchorage. We have, actually, the economists from UAA get up and, say that, you know, the economy doesn't look like it's going good. People are leaving Alaska, and they're kind of coming back in the summertime, but leaving in the but more people are leaving. But there was a little bit uptick in the, overall population of Valdez or Alaska. So it looks kinda somewhat good, but they even with the new split with the the oil companies and stuff for revenue for the state, the price is gonna stay down low.

They predict and so it's not really gonna help the state out. So there's there's a lot of communities in Alaska that are in a lot worse shape than than we are. You know, I think we're in great shape. And so, you know, listening to their problems and hearing some of the things that they might be instituting, sales tax, state sales tax possibly, all kinds of stuff. So it was really interesting.

The economist for UAA said that he is going to be leaving Alaska at the end of his speech because they closed down the day care in South Anchorage. And so now he said, you know, there is ample opportunity to come to Alaska and work, but he says the services that facilities provide, you know, day care being one of them, if you can't provide those, it's hard to retain people in Alaska. So it was a really kind of an eye opener, you know, at the whole event. But, you know, without the doom and gloom, Valdez is looking pretty good, and, that's due to all you here on the council and the people that work for us. So I really appreciate that.

And other than that, getting ready for Juno. It's kind of a goal specific, group, that we're gonna put together to go. And if, you're interested, please let me know real quick because we gotta make sure that we have hotel rooms and stuff. This is gonna happen in February the second week.

No. Last week.

February. I've asked that, Joe be a part of the group because we're gonna be trying to talk to the coast guard and, some other people there that are dealing with the, dealing with, us possibly, hopefully, trying to push for that coast guard base. There's not a lot of money, a lot of requests for schools and stuff like that going in. And then I've asked, miss Witty to come, as far as, just because she hasn't had that experience, and I thought that would be a good time to get her and then myself. Is there anybody else in the council that really needs to go for this? Jimmy?

I would like to.

Okay. We'll we'll work it and see what we got. I was trying to keep it as small as possible. And but, yeah. We'll I'll get back with you as soon as we're ready to go. So and, Lester, Olivia, any of you?

I think if you're trying to keep it small, then looks like you found a group to go with you. So thank you.

Lesser?

Only as needed, Dennis.

Okay. Alright.

That's the twenty third through the twenty seventh.

Twenty third through the twenty seventh. If you guys change your mind for any reason whatsoever, please give me a call, and let me know. But, we'll plan for that group to go to Juno. Other than that, that's, all I got. I'm looking forward to the Christmas party. It should be really fun, so I'm glad to see all you there. And also, Merry Christmas to everybody. And I'll pass it now to lots of business from the floor starting with Olivia. I pointed that way, but I said Yeah.

I'm I'm there in spirit. I just wanted to say congratulations to Sherry. What an honor. Oh my goodness. That's really special that you were awarded at, AML. So I'm just really proud of you as always and inspired. Great job. Well deserved.

Thank you, Olivia.

Lester?

Yes. Sherry, congratulations. That's an incredible honor and a well deserved one for you. Congratulations.

Yes.

Also, I'd like to just say, thanks for allowing me to attend the AML, training there last week. I found it valuable. Not only the the different training, whether it was on, you know, the lobbying, title 29, opens meetings act, you know, procedures, which Sherry did a great job on. But, also, it was nice to make connections and talk with other people from other areas, whether it's Dillingham, Houston, Kenai, you know, you name it. And there are definitely a lot of similarities there and the challenges that we each see.

But as Dennis mentioned, I think, overall, we're in pretty good shape, you know, just for my takeaway with those discussions with other members and other communities throughout the state. The other item I'd like to mention is, part of that was a, a discussion about with AFN a couple of AFN representatives, and the Arctic project is forthcoming. A lot of that or it is underway. And a lot of that dealt with workforce development that we just heard from Tommy and Adam earlier this evening. And that t three alliance there, I mean, that really falls right in line with that about training and developing, you know, people in our communities so that we are prepared to support the economies and development in our areas.

And I think there's something that we could probably make make sure that those different groups are working together for that common goal. Thank you. Merry Christmas to all.

It was really neat to get to go to AML. I had a lot of opportunities to connect with other communities and learn about similar challenges that they have to have all these. I also got to hear about some innovative ideas of how they're doing with their challenges, which it was kind of amazing because every time that they talked about new ways or new directions that the cities are trying to deal with these challenges, In almost every time, Valdez had already hit that one on the head. So to everyone that's listening, it was really neat, and you have such a great team that's supporting the city, that is just coming up with these ideas, leaps and bounds before other municipalities. So that was really neat to see that we had already had some tried and true tested, things that our city had put in place.

So that was excellent. I also wanted to pass along to council that I spoke with a couple individuals with the Cordova Council Members, and they wanted to, again, relay their gratefulness for use of our trash truck for their community. They said that we have no idea how grateful everyone was, so I told them that I would pass that along next time that I was in front of council. Again, congratulations, Sherry. We are so incredibly lucky to have you. Happy holidays to everyone listening. Merry Christmas.

So, yes, as everybody said, we did just do Alaska Municipal League. It was the seventy fifth, and the mayor hit the nail on the head. It did have a different tone than some of the past ones because of all the devastation that happened in Western Alaska. But, I do want to give people a little bit of optimism in in in my feelings about the conversations that we had, although they were a little bit doom and gloom, is, I did a little scrubbing through the records all the way back to the fourteenth Alaska Municipal League where one of their primary topics that they discussed was the devastation in South Central Alaska from the nineteen sixty four earthquake. And, our community was very successful at building back and growing, and, I hope that we can lend some of the same goodwill to all the communities that are struggling now.

Also, of course, everybody has taken a chance to mention it because we're all so proud. At this event, one of

our one

of our staff or or one of our most important staff, Sherry, was given a very, very big honor that she very much deserved. I was there when they first announced that the Vic Fisher award was going to be created, and I remember making knowing eye contact with people across the table because we all knew that we we should nominate Sherry for the award because she she fit the criteria so well. And so I'm really proud to see that you've now been honored in the way that we all knew that you deserved the whole time. And and I I hope that everybody recognizes how big an honor it really is.

Thank you.

I I wanted to thank the city for sending me up to the Alaska Municipal League. I got a lot out of it. It was, very valuable. Learned a lot from all the different sessions that I went to. Great networking opportunities, and it was an honor to be there for Sherry's award. Fantastic. I was surprised, really, that that she was as surprised as she was. I figured there would be some leaker, you know, that that would have leaked it to her, but, she could not have been more surprised. So it was an honor to be there for that and well deserved. Sherry, congratulations, And merry Christmas to everyone, and I look forward to seeing everybody at the Christmas

party. I

just wanted to just with all the wind events that we've been living through here in Valdez, I just wanted to say thank you to, know, the city of Valdez public safety kinda communications team, you know, letting people know when the the things are getting bad and going out in the community and helping people out, dumpsters in the middle of the streets, stuff flying, windows breaking. Just thanks to all the city staff that have been helping pick things up in the boatyard and deal with all that. I I don't know who else involved, but I know the city is involved because I see things getting done. So just appreciate all the city staff doing that to help our community through this really trying weather and also just making sure that they're taking care of themselves too and not putting themselves in harm way, which I have no doubt they're not doing that. And, yeah.

So just thanks for taking care

of us during this pretty trying time. Or there's more coming.

More come.

K.

With that, we will adjourn the meeting and go into executive session where the mayor pro temp will take control.

Thumbs up. Alright. So, we had a good concession regarding the tax ad valorem, and we are our city attorney is to proceed as directed in executive session. So mister Stacer, mister Brenna, mister Wakeman, proceed, please. K. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Night. We'll we'll chat with some of you tomorrow, and the rest of you, Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Robin.

Merry Christmas.

Yeah. And congratulations, Sherry. What a tremendous award.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good night.

Bye.