Author: kfskadmin

Petersburg’s school board opened up their meeting Tuesday listening to the works of some budding young poets from Rae C. Stedman Elementary School.

Petersburg is moving ahead with detailed plans for a new fire hall. The City Council agreed to spend just over 250 thousand dollars on design and engineering for the building after getting an update on the project Tuesday night. The building site work is finished according to local officials who are hopeful that completion of the design will improve chances for construction funding.

Elected officials from Wrangell and Petersburg hope to visit Angoon to discuss proposed hydro-electric power development in Thomas Bay north of Petersburg. The three communities all sought the same federal permit for a power plant at Ruth Lake one of three proposed hydro sites in the remote mainland bay. Wrangell’s borough assembly and Petersburg’s city council met last week in Petersburg and discussed the possibility of a collaboration between the communities on building Ruth Lake, if Angoon leaders can be convinced to give up the permit for the site.

The Alaska Mental Health Trust is taking a major land exchange proposal to Forest Service and Congressional officials in Washington DC later this month. The plan is aimed at resolving conflicts between the trust mandate to make money off its lands and the concerns of neighboring residents in Southeast Alaska. However, as Matt Lichtenstein reports, the uneven acreage in the latest version of the exchange could make it a tough sell.

The former city manager of Cordova could be Petersburg’s next city manager. The Petersburg City Council Friday voted to offer the job to Scott Hahn of Salida, Colorado. He was one of two finalists, along with Bob Prunella, former city manager in Wrangell and Petersburg’s current interim manager. The city council met in closed-door executive session for well over an hour Friday, discussing the two finalists. After recovening in open session, city councilors had no discussion about the two candidates. They did cast written ballots, keeping their preferences private. The vote was four votes in favor of Hahn and three who wanted to hire Prunella.
The 51-year-old Hahn was Cordova’s manager for six years and left that job in 2009. He also worked as manager in Salida for five years and was town manager in Hayden and Erie Colorado in the 1990s. He has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado. Hahn is still negotiating the details of his contract with Petersburg’s mayor and two council members and expects to be on the job within the next two weeks. Joe Viechnicki spoke by phone with Hahn Monday.