City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening. Um, I'm going to call to order the January 20th, 2026 regular meeting of the Twitter City Council at 7:11 p.m. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. [snorts]

Okay, before we begin tonight's meeting, um please note that digital copies of the packet are available online at our website. A QR code is provided just outside the door or on the top left corner of the YouTube video. [snorts] You can scan that QR code and access the packet from there. U madame clerk, will you please um roll call, please? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. M Mrs. Fork here. Mr. Wagner absent. Mr. Malto here. Mr. Pinkush. Here.

Mr. Denmark absent. Mrs. Sloan here. Mayor Shen here. You have a quorum. Thank you. [snorts] Um, we have two absent members of our council, Mr. Peter Denmark and Tom Wagner. Is there a mo a motion and a second to excuse?

I'll make that motion. I'll second.

Yeah. Roll call, Madame Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Voting on the motion to excuse Tom Wagner and Peter Denmark from tonight's meeting. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mrs. Borg. Yes. Mayor Shen, yes. The motion passes and Tom Wagner and Peter Denmark are excused from tonight's meeting.

Thank you. Um, citizen comments is our next item. Citizen comments on any agenda item except those scheduled for public hearing are welcome at this time. Those who have signed in will be given the first opportunity to speak. Please note, this is a time this is not a time for dialogue. It is a time for you to speak in the council to listen. Madame clerk, is there anyone signed in for citizen comments? No one is signed in.

Is there anybody in the audience citizens in the audience who wish to speak at this time? Okay. The next item is our approval of agenda and consent agenda. Is there a motion and a second to approve tonight's agenda and consent agenda? I'll make that motion.

I'll second. I wish to make amendment um on um taking item number eight that is the uh local priorities resolution on local priorities off the agenda off consent agenda. Thank you. And just to clarify, it's not an amendment. Um you can just pull it off of consent and then it returns to the regular agenda.

Okay. If there's any any further discussion on the agenda. Okay. Um, Madam Clerk, will you please call the role? Voting on the motion to approve tonight's agenda and consent agenda. Mrs. Borg, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. Mccalto, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mayor Shen. Yes.

The motion passes and tonight's agenda and consent agenda are approved. On tonight's consent agenda is resolution 2026-001, a resolution establishing the city of Whittier's calendar year 2026 federal le leg legislative priorities. [snorts] Resolution 2026-002, a resolution establishing the city of Whittier's calendar year 2026 state legislative priorities. [snorts] Resolution 2026-00005, a resolution amending the 2026 budget to reappropriate unspent grant and project funds, retroactively amend the 2025 budget to reflect actual costs, and record other 2026 midcycle budget amendments and appropriating funds and approval of the December 16th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. At this time, does anyone wish to declare a substantial financial interest in a matter appearing on the agenda tonight?

Yeah, I do. And I'm not entirely sure if this fits, but I just wanted to make it known just looking through some of the ordinance and stuff this evening. Um, I did work part-time for Huna Totem as a guest services uh representative last summer and you know I I also own a tour business and I've helped some other businesses, excuse [clears throat] me, in the community and I'm also vice president of the chamber. So, I know that's a lot of different hats. So, I just wanted to make it known. Yeah. Thank you, Miss Loan. Um, which item would this pertain to?

I would think the anything would be I think I believe number five. If anything, [snorts] I just wanted to make it super clear my involvement. Mr. Mayor, if I may, please.

Uh, I probably should have pulled it up faster, but the definition of a substantial financial conflict of interest, um, it is Miss Sloan herself, so it meets that portion. Um, it also is uh a impact on finances of $5,000 one time or $10,000 over a 12-month period. So, just to inform the council as you move to vote on the question, does Mrs. Loan have a substantial financial conflict of interest in item five, ordinance 2026-001? Guess we have any discussion before we vote.

How much was your financial in [laughter] Well, I guess I would just say that um I it was for last summer, but I just wanted to be transparent with everyone. So, I believe yes, it's less than 10,000. Okay. Madam Cler, can we do a roll on the matter?

Yes. Thank you. So, voting on the question, does Mrs. Loan have a substantial financial conflict of interest in item five, ordinance 2026-001? Voting yes would mean yes, you believe that Miss Loan does have a substantial financial conflict of interest. Voting no would mean that you do not think that Mrs. Loan has a substantial financial conflict of interest. Mr. Pinkush. No. Mr. McCalto. No. Mrs. Borg. No. Mrs. Loan. No. [laughter] Mayor Shen. No.

The council does not find Mrs. Loan to have a substantial financial conflict of interest in item 5, ordinance 2026-001.

Thank you. Uh, next item, presentations and reports. We have a couple presentations today. We have a um, uh, years of service award. Yeah. Um, can I see that? You want me to read that off? Okay. We have a years of service award for Mr. Daniel Blair. Thank you for your years of service to the citizens of Whittier December 10th. No, sorry, December 2010 to October 2019 and for September 2020 to October 2025. Thank you again for your years of service and your dedication to our community. Um, is there any in the crowd to receive this?

We'll make sure it gets Okay, here it is. [applause] And we have another one, a city of Wier proclamation. Whereas strong communities depend not only on formal systems of care and emergency response, but also on the attentiveness, concern, and responsibility of their residents. And whereas in small communities especially, the simple act of noticing when somebody does not appear as usual or when daily patterns are interrupted can be a critical signal that help may be needed. And whereas Jesse Al demonstrated exemplary community viligence by recognizing that a fellow community member had not been seen as expected and by taking the initiative to contact emergency services to to request a welfare check. And whereas this timely and conscientious action directly led to emergency responders being dispatched and ultimately resulting in life-saving intervention. And whereas Jesse Al's actions reflected the care the values of care, responsibility, and mutual accountability that sustain a healthy and resilient community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the city of Wittier hereby recognizes and commends Jesse Alk for his attentiveness and sound judgment and deci decisive action in safeguarding the well-being of a fellow resident and for exemplifying the roles of each community member can play in protecting one another. Dated this 20th day of January, 2026. City of Woodier, Alaska. [applause]

Um, I do not have a mayor's report today. Vice Mayor's Oh, right. I'm sorry. I thought [laughter] I thought Mr. Pinkish was five. I'm sorry. City manager's report. Miss Wild, thank you. Um, I'd like to start my report off with having Don come up and give his report and then I'll move into mine.

Okay. I'm Don Stevens. I'm your Prince William Son agriculture representative. First, I'd like to mention a something that Dave brought up, and that is harbor use. When I did boat watch for god, off and on 30 years, I'd have as many as 90 boats on my list, and I was turning them away. You don't have 90 boats on harbor right now, I don't think. If you do, they're all small boats. So, you do have an effect. Your your price schedule has effect on how people use leave their boats. The idea that you're gonna gain consensus by being neutral and spending $50,000 on 10 phone calls is not going to work. You're not going to gain any uh uh faith from your your your clients because they're going to look at a $50,000 bill out of their out of their um out of the harbor fund as being absolutely ridiculous. expenditure. That's just I've dealt with a lot of your owners over the years. An awful lot of them. Like I said, I had between 60 and 90 boats almost every year when I was doing boat watch. And believe me, when that number shows up on a budget, they're not going to like it. Anyway, um Priswac, we had our annual meeting back in October. I've been out of state until middle of December, so I didn't get a chance to get in till then. Um budgets last year are we got our cost recovery last year. Um took a little work, but we got it. Um and we've got our egg take um at 100%. Uh maybe a little short up at Galcana, but the rest of the hatchery system has a full egg tank. So next

year's, you know, outflow should be uh good. Next year's run will be smaller, particularly in the the pinks because the odd evening cycle. So getting our our budget for next year is going to be a little bit tenuous. Um it involves a lot of moving parts. You know, PISWAC has no control out of the amount of fish that come back and they have no control over the price that they can sell their fish at. So it it's kind of a juggling match for them. big projects in line to start next year for the most part is um the Canary Creek Dam. That's a multi-million dollar project to replace that dam. It won't be done all at once. It's going to be over a few years. And uh so those are the that's the big item for next year. And you must remember that it's going to be a you know we started budgets last month, but it's going to be a around 20 million$21 million budget. They have five villages literally to maintain water, sewer, garbage, you know, provisions on top at each, you know, one at each hatchery. So, it's a pretty complex operation to keep going. And four remote sites, one here, one in Port Chamers, one in Cordova, and then one in Crosswinds Lake, which they have to fly everything into. So, um, it's a it's an evolved operation, but like I say, for for the most part, it's looking pretty good for next year. So, anybody got any questions?

Thanks, Don. So, I'd like to start out my um report with my wild recognition and this year month it is going to Aniva Turi. So, if she could come up, I'm going to present her with a certificate and then also read why I'm giving her this certificate. So, can you come up? Good to stay. [clears throat] So over the past several months, Anva has helped the harbor update the harbor's department systems. She has led and moved the mo from old desktop programs to modern cloud-based tools. During the change, she made sure that information stayed accurate and consistent. At the same time, she sent out several mortgage agreements for 2026. She worked closely with Harris Sand and Gravel, sharing information on more than a 100 vessel movements. This helped the Harbor Phase 3 construction finish at least one month early. Her steady work, strong customer service, and quiet leadership has made a huge difference in the harbor during this time of change. And her commitment reflects the standards that we as a city and a community aim to meet for the years forward. So, thank you for what you've done. [applause]

[applause]

And then mayor, I just want to point to our our actual report and if there's any questions from council regarding any of those things. Um, I do want to give a brief update on the railroad uh land purchase. The railroad did have one of their meetings last week. There was positive outcome from that where uh multiple board members agreed with moving this forward through the legislation. as um we progress and move forward, the next steps are sitting down with the railroad even this week to um talk to them about you know possible permits and things for the other lands and so we'll keep moving that forward. It has been um some small amendments have been given for the house bill. Uh it just verbiage to be able to help the the parcels that are listed on it. And we are looking forward to um visiting the legislature in Juno and hopefully getting this passed in 2026. So that's really I mean it was really a positive meeting to be able to be part of with the railroad last week and it just shows that the commitment of us trying to work together and move forward in a positive direction is really starting to pay off. So I appreciate that. And then um I don't have anything else to report unless

to speak. Oh, and our public works director offered to speak because he didn't provide a written report and I should have called him out at the very beginning of it.

Good [clears throat] evening, council. Um, it's been a very busy, wet, slickery um season already. If you haven't noticed, there is a new motor. It got delivered early. It got delivered late December. Uh, it's currently in operation. It's working phenomenally. Uh, Cam Bender is in love with his new machine. So, we're going to have to pry him out of it. Uh things are getting better. Uh just would like to remind everybody in the general public that uh machines take room room room to move. Uh don't sneak up on them and be be safe out there. Allow appropriate stopping distance. And if we leave some snow on the road when it's raining, it's for traction. It's better than slicking it off and uh getting real ice skat out there. We also appreciate the uh what are your community school taking advantage of a huge ice skating rink out in the parking lot. Uh that's the first time in about since Brad Swarington was here that that was going on. So uh if you're down driving in the parking lot, pay attention to kids on ice skates. Thank you.

I just want to get get everybody up to speed a couple things going on the harbor. Um, I put it in the report, but I just wanted to follow up. BMI was here. Uh, Bellham Marine uh was here to uh check on the floats that uh we had some concerns on. Um, they hire, they had an engineering company come in, took some core samples of the of the concrete. Um, the good stuff, couple of good spots and then uh six or so in the areas that are affected by some I I call them dimples. It's more like spalling. There's some cracks that have showed up. So, they're being very uh very attentive to the situation. They're not happy. We're not happy. So, uh hopefully uh within the next four to six weeks, we have a report from the engineering company that came and did it. And uh we'll have a little bit more information there. I don't want to pull I don't want to get knee-jerkked right now. I just I'm just glad that everybody's coming to the table and we're taking a look at what's going on. Um I know in my last packet I had reported that uh when they were doing some pile work uh they had dropped a pile or it slid out of the a sling and it hit the east boat ramp launch ramp float and uh they took that and repaired it. Um they brought it back, put it in place. Um and then the other one right in front of it failed. They came and got that yesterday, put it on a trailer. They're taking it back to Valdis. They'll repair that and bring it in. So there is a if somebody says, "Hey, we're missing a piece of float on the east ramp, launch ramp, float, Harris has it. It's okay." Um, [clears throat] the lighting is on, the power is on. Um, I don't know on G&H Float, uh, they got the lighting up on Hloat as well. Looks really great down there. It's kind of like having a beautiful new car with a big scratch down the hood. Um, but, you know, I'm I'm I'm confident that Bellingham will do the right thing. So, if you have any questions, please give me a call. Um, also the Coast Guard's in town. Um, we had a significant um, sheen in the harbor u Friday, Saturday. Of course, we had had a ton of rain and whenever we

have a lot of rain, that's not uncommon to get a little bit of a sheen. We made a report to the National Response Center. Coast Guard came down today. Um, they are looking in a couple of different areas in the harbor, reaching out to a couple of boat owners, but we had six or eight of them in in town today. So if you get any phone calls that, hey, what's the Coast Guard doing down in the harbor? Have people call me. I'm available. I'll answer all their questions. So, um, it's about it for me. Thank you. Any questions from the council here? Um I do have a uh more of a statement and just appreciation of our administration doing an outstanding job. Um if you haven't if you've looked at the packet and looked at some like the financials for example our fund balance about a year ago for general fund was sitting at about eight something months of operating revenue and currently a year later we're sitting at about five around five months. And so we've um our fund balance has been on a downward trend. That's because we made some decisions between transferring fees from the city, the general fund to the harbor and then also um delaying the onset of our ground passenger transportation fee. Um and so we we lost or went a year without a major source of revenue for our community. And I just want to commend our administration, financial financial finance director and all everyone else here because you guys all have a partner for um I we only lost three months. I mean still not good but it's a whole that damage control I would

say is like was pretty phenomenal. So thank you for doing that for all the good work you do. Next, we have ordinances for introduction. We have an ordinance 2026-00001, an ordinance amending chapter 10.3 of the Wier Municipal Code to clarify reporting procedures and timelines for the business registered and subject to the commercial ground transportation fee. We have a motion and a second to introduce ordinance 2026-001 and set a public hearing for the February 17th regular meeting.

I'll make that motion.

I'll second. Is there a staff report? Yes, mayor. Um, I can give a brief one, but if you would like a further detail, then I will call in the uh finance director. This is uh two amendments to the original ordinance. Um, after hearing that there were possibly some procedure that we could change to make it a little easier for the businesses that would be implementing this fee. One of them was um instead of having it be a monthly fee, we're changing it to be the reporting uh quarterly, so every three months. The other is us instead of requiring a manifest with those reportings, the manifest would only be required if an audit were were brought forward. Uh, you know, those are options that we have the ability to um hear and be able to help possibly fill it out and um help people in the future be able to um do the reporting properly.

Thank you, Miss Wild. Are there any questions? Mr. Wagner. Oh, right. He's not here. [clears throat] Thank you. Okay. Hearing no no further discussion. Um, madame clerk, will you please call the role? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Voting on the motion to introduce ordinance 2026-001, an ordinance amending chapter 10.30 of the Whittier Municipal Code to clarify reporting procedures and timelines for businesses registered and subject to the commercial ground passenger fee and set a public hearing for the February 17th, 2026 regular meeting. Mrs. Borg. Yes, Mr. Pinush. Yes,

Mrs. Loan. Yes, Mr. Mccalto. Yes, Mayor Shen. Yes, the motion passes and ordinance 2026-001 is introduced with a public hearing set for the February 17th, 2026 regular meeting.

Okay. Thank you. Next item we're moving on to is resolutions. And that would be resolution 2026-003, a resolution establishing the city of Whittier's calendar year 2026 local legislative priorities. Can I have a motion or a second? I'll make that motion. I will second.

Thank you. And I had this taken off the consent agenda because I wanted to bring up um something when we were discussing this our local priorities here. Something I wanted to speak to here is we have 12 items here on our local priorities list and um something I I like the council to consider adding to a resolution is like under probably under the comprehensive plan where I see it making most sense is something on community um health as a priority for our local priorities and stuff. We have lots of um things dealing with economics, our repair, construction, um economic development and um whatnot. However, we are I feel that there's been a a gap and that's addressing um that community health in Whittier and the well-being of our citizens um physical uh social emotional mental health. Um yeah, would this having a discussion or making I guess I would like to say have a discussion that's before making um an amendment to this.

I don't have any issues with that at all. I think it's great. But I but I guess I would question how it how it's a legislative priority because usually when you're talking legislative priority, you're talking about funding. So, how what would we do we need specifics for that now or later or we can just deal with it later?

Well, that's an excellent question. Uh, I talked with Miss Wild a few days ago and we talked about um how it could possibly fall under a comprehensive plan. Under a comprehensive plan right now, we um we have other plans in process now. We have a transportation plan. We have um a waterfront economic development plan. Um, please forgive me, I don't remember. The traffic plan and I felt maybe including a um community health plan within that would be appropriate.

Okay. Have you any other questions or comments from others? Um, I guess I would echo that. I agree. Um, it's important to me personally and you know I I think it's necessary. [snorts] Um, I would think are you just thinking about adding like an item number 13 just community health or on on the list?

Could I have you answer that one? Yeah, I would recommend that um instead of adding a number 13, adding a subsection under your comprehensive plan, sort of like you already have for the park, playground, park, and trail infrastructure improvements. Then you break it down by the parks and the different things. So, you know, I was talking to Mayor Shen about what that could look like in your local priorities if you did comprehensive plan update subsection adding a health community health plan. And then you could also go as far as moving number eight and number eight up into a subsection of the comprehensive plan. because those are all going to be something that should be in that plan. and um you know power. No. Okay. [laughter] Yeah, there's a weird buzzing. Um but I I would make the recommendation for you to amend number three, adding a subsection that says community health and then adding a se a subsection B as transportation plan. And I'd also add a section C as a strategic plan because those are the things that you know you as a council have really pushed for the last couple years, but it's not something that has been in your local priorities

for this. I'll move and make that amendment and then and obviously we would be eliminating eight. So do we need to move the other ones up to 8 9 10 11 or no? That'd just be administrative. Okay.

Yes, I I'll second that. So the amendment that is being proposed is to amend item number three to read comprehensive plan update with a subsection A to introduce a community health plan. Section B would be your transportation master plan and section C would be a strategic plan. I think um discussion on these on this proposed amendments Mark Miss Lone.

Yeah, I guess just um only because I'm curious what were you thinking for community health? Were you thinking along the lines of you know like the yoga class and um you know like counseling services with Gerwood Health Clinic or

No, thank you Miss for the question. So something I went to. So, I went to the Alaska Municipal League um conference back in December December and there was a seminar um that AARP put on and it talked about um just health and it direct they directed one thing that they directed me to was uh um this website it said healthy Alaskans and it's a 2030 and it's an um not entirely sure how it works, but it's basically a roadmap to improving Alaskans health um through 2030. And there is a whole website on it's healthy alaskans.org and you can look it up and they have all these initiatives that you can do. There's big things, small things and I thought that was great. They have drawn a road map for communities to utilize um for their community um health plans and you should check it out. It's the that website there

or you can just Google Healthy Alaskans 2030.

Any questions, comments? Hearing no further discussion. Um, madame clerk, will you please call the role? Voting on the emotion to amend resolution 2026- 003, item number three. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mr. Shen, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mrs. Borg, yes. The motion passes and resolution 2026-003 is amended. Returning again to the motion to approve resolution 2026-003 as amended. Any further questions or comments?

Okay. Thank you. Um Madame Clerk, will you please call the role? Voting on the motion to approve resolution 2026-00003, a resolution establishing the city of Whittier's calendar year 2026 local legislative priorities as amended. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mrs. Borg, yes. Mayor Shen, yes. The motion passes and resolution 2026-003 is approved as amended.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Our next resolution we have is resolution 2026-004, a resolution authorizing a sole source contract with Sage Mechanical to replace boilers at the public safety building in an amount not to exceed $57,612 and appropriating funds. We have a motion and a second to approve resolution 2026-004. Move to adopt resolution 2026004. I will second. [laughter] Um, do we have a staff report?

Mayor, I'm going to go ahead and let my public works director give you the background on this.

Good evening, council. Uh last meeting uh you guys were notified that our boilers were having severe issues here. Um we discovered um at the time we we called in a professional to come in, Sage Mechanical. They've been doing all our work on our boilers uh ever since the warranty ran out uh with the people who built this building. With that being said, upon taking down the offending boiler, the heat exchanger was completely gone out of it. Um, at that time, we decided not to take the second boiler down and inspect it [snorts] because that potentially could leave us without any heat in this building. We've gone through some extreme weather here the last four weeks from chilly temperatures and 60 knot winds. Um, and our one little boiler just wasn't cutting it. We went through a variety of options with uh Sage Mechanical uh from replacing the heat exchangers at $26,000 for one uh additional 22,000 for the second for a total of 48,000. Um, at that time we at the same time we also asking let's get away from the low quality what is a good mid-level quality boiler. uh they recommended a a company called IBC. Uh we looked at because we were not able to maintain adequate heat in this facility with just on one boiler. Uh during extreme weather conditions, they recommended stepping up to the 700 uh,000 BTU series um which is 100,000 more than what we got um to kind of bridge the gap a little bit. They came in at the purchase price of 57,000. Um the lead time is uh we we got it on a a rush and it should be here in the next

two or three days. Um we do have contingency plans. If it goes down, we would rent um maxi heaters and then sweat everybody on the front first floor and blow a bunch of hot air into the building to maintain it. But uh from public works's recommendation, this is an emergency. We proceeded under the emergency clause and we're letting you know that this is a necessity and we are stepping up to better quality and hopefully we definitely will get more than what are we seven years into this building. By stepping up to quality, we hope that we can at least get life expectancy of 20. Any questions? I guess a question. I'm just reading the all the documentation here. So, we're not just replacing components. Whole entire units are

they're go they're going out. uh they're tying in uh some modified plumbing that will go in there. Uh they're able to adapt into our control system here, which is universal. Um and we'll be able to take advantage of some I don't want to say advanced features, but efficiency features as far as lead and lag. Uh so one boiler just doesn't get hit all the time or you're not running both boilers at at full tilt all the time. They cycle up, cycle off. When more heat's needed, the other one ramps up. So, it's more of a balancing of the system.

Thank you. Okay. Hearing no further um discussion here. Um Madame Clerk, will you please call the role? Putting on the motion to approve resolution 2026-004, a resolution authorizing a sole source contract with Sage Mechanical to replace boilers at the public safety building in an amount not to exceed $57,612 and appropriating funds. Mr. Pinush, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mrs. Bourke, yes. Mayor Shen. Yes.

The motion passes and resolution 2026-004 is approved.

All right. Next order of business. We have council comments. Miss Bor, I just wanted to throw a kudos out there to public works. Um, the streets look awesome. It's so nice to have the snow off of them. I know you guys are working early mornings, late nights, and it does not go unnoticed. So, thank you very much.

[clears throat] I got um question and this would be kind of related to where the replacement um it would be a question for our finance director Mrs. Do we have we have a MURF for our harbor and we have MURFs for our water wastewater um department and the the dong dock. Do we have like a major replacement and repair plan for um like city infrastructure such as this building that we're in um our roads and storm sewers.

Mr. Mayor, we do have um the general fund MURF. So, we have MURF is major repair and replacement fund. So, we do have a general fund MURF for the general fund. Uh we have one for the harbor and we have one for water sewer. We don't have one for the Dong Dock. And the general fund MURF um we try to put money into that every year when we have basically surplus um monies uh in the budget process. So, if you look in the budget at the transfers out section, which is the summary page for the general fund, it itemizes what transfers are going to the MURF. And you'll see that, you know, we don't have a lot of money going there because we haven't historically had any surpluses to put there, but we we do factor that into our budget every year and we try to put something aside. Ultimately, you know, part of the capital improvement plan, um, part of the goal of the capital improvement plan, identifying all of our capital needs, will be to kind of build out for the, uh, prioritizing the capital improvement plan and prioritizing the replacement of the items that are in there. and the general general government or general fund infrastructure would be um included under the general fund MURF. So you'll see the details of how we plan to spend money out of there and what monies have gone into that um in the budget. what would be ideal. And this is something that should come out of our long-range financial plan in the same way that we did for the harbor where we identified, you know, a really pressing need for the future stability of the harbor and the harbor rates was to identify a particular source of revenue to be used to replace harbor capital assets. And in fact, that that was the

result of creating the waterborne passenger fee is 100% of that money goes into the harbor murf um to allow us to repair and replace existing harbor infrastructure and assets without having to do that just on the backs of the rates themselves. And likewise, um it would be great to be able to identify a particular source of money that gets dedicated toward replacing um general government infrastructure. I think that's probably one of the biggest challenges cities face is they don't they don't do that. They don't identify a particular revenue source and so it becomes an afterthought and when if there's any money left over that's the money that gets put in the MURF and I think that's you know ideally we would be more proactive and longer uh perspective thinking about how do we sustainably replace our existing infrastructure.

Yes, I agree. I mean like we're for example these boilers we're kind of we're almost in a way we're relying on chance to fund our you know the eventual um the the depreciation and and the wear and tear of our infrastructure and equipment. And that just at least for me that doesn't sit very well with me um espec especially like when it comes to having so many things on on the line for that. So I'm looking forward to that. Thank you. Um [clears throat] any other council comments before I move on? All right. Thank you. We'll move on to citizens discussion and time is limited to 5 minutes per speaker on any subject over which the council has control. Again, this is not a time for the um dialogue is a time for the council to um for citizens to speak and the council to listen and if madame clerk is there anybody signed in for citizens discussion? [clears throat]

Mr. Vorsagul, if I said that right, I apologize. All right. Well, please remember to push that button there, make sure the red light's on, and then D is yours. Hi, folks. How you doing? Uh, I just wanted to let you know that we have the the money for the printing of the sign for Whittier Historic District for the head of the bay. I just need to find out what the labor cost would be for the city uh so we can supplement that to put in with the unit and the other uh skeleton backing. So

thank you. Is anyone else signed in? Madame clerk, no one else has signed in.

Okay. Is there anybody in the audience um who would like to speak uh for citizens discussion discussion? Okay. Okay. Let's move on to um council and administration response to citizen comments. We'll follow up with you on on what that looks like for the sign. I'll make sure that our public works director also reaches out to you. So, we'll sit down and talk about it. Oh, thank you, Miss Wild.

Okay. Our next item on the agenda is executive session. Um, mayor We have Yeah. Can I um state that I don't see that there's a reason at this time to go into executive session for the Alaska Railroad land purchase discussion? We talked about it earlier. Uh but we do need to go into executive session for the second item. Okay. So that first item we can have in we don't need to have anything on it. You can just not go into that executive session. Okay. Well, for the second,

I apologize. I should have asked you just to take it off the during the agenda portion. Well, let's um move into the second one and then uh let's guess. Is there a motion to enter? Oh, nope. That's for Alaska Road. What's What's the second one we're doing? It's the same one. It's the same one. Yeah, you just say the same thing.

We get that buzzing again. Well, is there a motion and second to enter into the executive session to discuss Alaska Road Corporation land purchase and discuss financial implications? Oh, sorry. Delete the Alaska Road. Sorry, sorry, I was looking for two sections on there. Is there a motion and second to enter into executive session to discuss um financial implications matters of which immediately disclosed would tend to adversely affect the finances of the city of Whittier. I'll make that motion. I will second.

Mayor, if I can ask that um our finance director, our harbor master, our public works director, and myself, and I don't believe we need to keep the attorney on the line, but can he just stand by for the first part of it? Yes. Yes. Um, roll call, madame clerk. Oh, I'm sorry. I also need [clears throat] to include the the clerk and the assistant city manager, please. Sounds good.

Voting on the motion to enter into executive session to discuss financial implications, matter of which, if immediately disclosed, would tend to adversely affect the finances of the city. Would your municipal code 2.08.041 04 B1. Mr. Mccalto, yes. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mrs. Borg, yes. Mayor Shen, yes. The motion passes and council enters into executive session at 8:05 p.m.

Good. Yeah, we have a motion to exe exit executive session. I'll make the motion. Second. Madam clerk, will you please call the role? Voting on the motion to exit executive session. Mrs. Loan, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mrs. Borg, yes. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mayor Shen,

yes. The motion passes and council exits executive session at 9:37 p.m. The motion that was discussed in executive session reads uh motion to direct administration to thank Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for the $50,000 donation intended for the community school and city benches and to return the funds as the city has elected to decline acceptance of the contribution. We have a motion, a second. I'll make that motion.

Second. Okay. Any discussion hearing? None. Madame clerk, will you please make the call roll call? Voting on the motion to direct administration to thank Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for the $50,000 donation intended for the community school and city benches and to return the funds as the city has elected to decline acceptance of the contribution. Mr. McCalto, yes. Mr. Pinkush, yes. Mrs. alone. Yes. Mrs. Borg, yes. Mayor Shen, yes. The motion passes and administration is so directed.

Mr. Mayor, at this time, if I may, uh, there was a letter that was submitted to the city clerk and requested to be read into the record at tonight's meeting. And so I would like to take the an opportunity to fix my mistake and read that into the record. Yes, of course. Please do.

Mayor Shen and Whittier City Council members, for those new to the council, my name is Renee. Oh, I'm so sorry. Limoge Reev, vice president of governmental affairs for Cruise Lines International Association, CLEA, located here in Alaska. CLEA is a global trade association representing nearly all oceangoing cruise lines that visit Alaska. Our member cruise lines that have ex historically operated in Whittier include Holland America Line and Princess Cruises. And beginning in 2025, Norwegian Cruise Lines Oceanana and Regent 7C's now dock in Whittier. In 2026, approximately 342,000 cruise visitors will enjoy the sites of Prince William Sound, supporting local small businesses, tour operators, and stakeholders. This is less than half of summer visitors to Whittier. While the number is significant, the vast majority of cruise passengers board motor coaches or the train and leave immediately. Clea and our member lines are deeply concerned by remarks made during your December 16th, 2025 council meeting. Respectfully, I would like to set the record straight regarding the groundbased transportation fee, GBTF, and what we believe to be an inaccurate and disingenuous representation of interactions with the city. There were a number of comments by members about lastm minute stall tactics or please and staff remarked that outre out outreach had been made to various entities to no avail. It was also stated that clea did not object to the fee as long as there was a one-year delay in implementation. I would like to call your attention to the outreach made to the city of Woodier including legal and constitutional concerns below. I have included copies of the written communications for your convenience. This is likely an underrepresentation of feedback offered

by stakeholders, but provides a representative sample in a timely fashion. CLEA July 15, 2024 in-person meeting. Clea letter dated May 17, 2024. Clea letter dated November 12th, 2024. Huna Totem Corporation letter dated May 17, 2024. Testimony December 16, 2025. Premier Alaska Tours. Letter email dated November 18, 2024. Phone conversation, April 1, 2025. Letter email dated December 16th, 2025. Greater Whittier Chamber of Commerce letter dated April 14, 2024. Letter dated May 17, 2024. Letter dated November 2024. Chamber resolution in opposition dated November 19, 2024. Public testimony and comments provided on numerous occasions. Philip Cruz's public testimony November 19, 2024. Holland America Princess Cruises May 15, 2024 inerson meeting. May 21, 2024, public testimony. November 19, 2024, public testimony. January 24, 2025, in-person meeting. January 30th, 2025 inerson meeting. Alaska Department of Transportation letter dated November 7, 2024. Alaska Railroad letter dated December 3rd, 2025. Additionally, you are likely aware a number of statewide trade organizations also sent a letter to the state of Alaska dated March 12, 2025, outlining their concerns with the groundbased transportation fee and the implications it has to set precedent across the state. One of CLEA's member cruise lines has met with city staff and former council members several times objecting to the fee as well as provided public testimony

in opposition to the fee. Another member line had recent conversations with city staff raising concerns the type of fee and the reason for its collection were misre misrepresented. This line does not support a ground transportation fee structure. Staff also repeated comments at the December 16 meeting that the ordinance allows flexibility for the collection agent. This may have been the staff's intent, but the council heard directly from the Whittier Chamber director that it is administratively burdensome, will raise costs in excess of the fee, and is already harming local businesses, which in turn hurts the city's tax base. CLEA, our member lines, our partners, and other industries across the state have raised objections about this fee for nearly a year and a half. It isn't Clea's opinion. It is the law. For more than 150 years, the core principle has remained consistent. Fees imposed on vessels may only be used for services provided to the vessel itself, not for general governmental operations, public amenities, or broader community improvements. I am also enclosing communication that highlights the constitutional and legal requirements of fees collected from maritime vessels. The bottom line is that any fee despite the naming of the fee or tax imposed on vessels or their passengers must closely align with the cost of providing a service to the vessel itself. Uses that extend into broader municipal functions, however worthwhile, fall outside the scope allowed by the constitution. Even the city's legal council commented that there is litigation exposure with this ordinance. City council meeting November 19, 2024. With the increase in passengers in 2026, Whittier will receive additional passenger fees and additional lease payments. We empathize with the budget concerns you face. However, we believe the city has a responsibility to come up with lawful solutions to its budget shortfall. It is not up to the stakeholders to do

this. The groundbased transportation fee is not the answer, nor is it legal. As far as solutions for infrastructure and services related to the vessel, which are paid for by cruise passengers, state commercial passenger fee funds, uh, sorry, uh, vessel funds are intended for this purpose. The city manager and finance director stated that conversations with cruise line agencies, CLEA, did not gain any traction with the memorandum of agreement. KLEA met with city administration on July 15, 2024, and no subsequent meetings have taken place to discuss an MOA. Entering into an MOA requires open, honest conversations where the entities come together from a place of agreement and mutual respect. The misrepresentation [snorts] of CLEA and our position by city staff does not provide us with faith that an MOA negotiation would be fruitful at this time. Thank you for your attention to this matter. In addition to the electronic copies enclosed with this letter, physical copies have also been sent to the city for distribution to council members and we request that this letter be read into the record at the next city council meeting. Respectfully, Renee, vice president of governmental relations, Cruise Line International Association. Thank you, madam clerk. Seeing no further business needs to be attended to. Um I'd like to come adjourn this meeting at 9:47. [clears throat]