Author: kfskadmin

Last Fourth of July weekend had a special significance for Alaskans. A little over 50 years ago, on January 3, 1959 Alaska officially became the 49th state. And like communities across the last frontier, Petersburg’s celebration had an eye on that milestone.

Petersburg’s city council approved new policies for use of the parking area behind the community cold storage. The ordinance sets fees and time limits for long term parking in that lot.

The first phase of work to repair the city of Petersburg’s water pipeline to Cabin Creek is nearly complete. That work, costing more than three-quarters of a million dollars, has included repairing, upgrading and cleaning the existing water line to the Cabin Creek reservoir. It aims to improve the performance of the pipeline and increase the flow of water from the reservoir to town.
Assistant public works director Chris Cotta told the city council Monday that the contractor doing the repairs found the pipeline, at its highest point, was 7-8 feet higher than it was supposed to be. Fixing the elevation meant blasting 400 feet of trench through bedrock.
The elevation of the pipeline may be a factor in negative pressure problems along the pipeline. The city has not yet seen a bill for the blasting work but that change and some other smaller changes could add close to $50,000 to the price tag for phase one. Cotta said all the work on phase one should be done around July 14th. That’s two weeks behind schedule but it still should have water flowing to town in time for the peak salmon canning season.
The city is using water off its smaller reservoir at City Creek, until Cabin Creek is back online.
Meanwhile, a second phase of work at cabin creek is still planned for later this year, after the salmon season. The state has given its approval for the city’s plan to install another pipeline intake through one of the drainage culverts that runs underneath the Cabin Creek dam.
At Monday's council meeting Mayor Al Dwyer questioned Cotta more about the pipeline’s height.

Petersburg city councilor Sara Stoner says she’s resigning.
Stoner recorded a commentary over the phone with KFSK Tuesday morning, and in it she said she would no longer be on the council. Stoner is one of two councilors subject to a recall effort by local residents this summer. Recall supporters say she and other council members met in private, in violation of a state law on open meetings. In her commentary, stoner says she has not broken the law. She points out that she was at a winter legislative meeting of the Alaska Municipal League in Juneau during the time that one of the alleged private meetings took place.
Allegations of private meetings, and counter-charges of spying to prove the allegations have spawned a lawsuit between one city councilor and the city’s harbor master. The accusations were also a factor in the council’s decision to part ways with the city manager.
Stoner was the top vote getter in a four-person race for two seats on council last October. At the age of 24, the commercial fisher was the youngest person elected to the city council in recent memory and she campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility in local government. She garnered statewide attention last year after starting a petition drive to seek governmental aid for the high cost of commercial fishing fuel. She is most of the way through her first year of a three-year council term.
The vacancy will be filled by a majority vote of the remaining city council members…and that appointee will serve until the october election.

Petersburg’s city council Monday approved new five-year contracts with two city department heads, postponed a vote on another contract and voted down yet another. The council will try again at their next meeting to approve contracts for the city’s parks and recreation director and harbormaster.