Author: kfskadmin

Petersburg’s draft budget for next year attracted little debate among council members during a special meeting this week. That’s largely because the Council’s finance committee has already reviewed the spending plan. The rest of the council agreed to most of their recommended changes Tuesday night.
One exception was a proposal to spend 800 thousand dollars of the city’s federal education funds for energy conservation improvements at the school district. School officials didn’t object to the capital project itself, but they did have a problem with the funding source.
As a result, voters may see a bond issue on the ballot this fall.

This season was a bit of a let-down for herring gillnetters at Seymour canal off southern Admiralty Island. Catches dropped off dramatically after the first day of the fishery in late April and the opportunity for a second opening never panned out early this month. Fish and game decided to close the 2009 season last Thursday (may7th) after waiting several days for more fish to show up. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with Fish and Game about how things went.

Municipal spending is on the agenda tonight during a special meeting of the Petersburg city council.
The Council will go through the draft budget for the next fiscal year. City-wide, the budget totals just under 46 million dollars, about 10 million more than last year. But the increase is the result of one-time project expenditures, many of which are paid for by grant money.
The actual operating expenses for city departments is about 18 million dollars, less than half the overall budget. At the request of the City Council, staff cut those operating expenses four percent from last year. At the same time, the property tax rate is projected to drop a little.
City manager Richard Underkofler credits the work of the staff and the City Finance Committee for taking a new approach to the draft budget this year. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with Underkofler and Finance Director Jody Tow.

The City of Petersburg claims it’s the only applicant that should receive a municipal preference for an exclusive permit to study the feasibility of a hydroelectric plant at a nearby mountain lake. Petersburg, Wrangell, Angoon and the private company Cascade Creek LLC are all competing for the preliminary permit to explore Ruth Lake in Thomas Bay. The area is is about 15 miles from Petersburg, 40 miles from Wrangell, and 70 miles from Angoon. Wrangell and Angoon have chosen to work on energy development in collaboration with the private sector, while Petersburg has not.
Matt Lichtenstein has a look at Petersburg's most recent filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission:

The Forest Service is planning to close some of its old logging roads on the Petersburg Ranger District as it implements a 2005 rule called “Access and Travel Management.” In the face of declining road maintenance money, Forest Service officials say they are trying to reduce costs by closing down roads. The closures would also allow the removal of problem culverts and other structures that cause environmental damage.
The 2005 rule basically prohibited motor vehicle use on forest service roads and off-road areas nationwide, unless they are specifically designated as open for such use.
The Petersburg Ranger District is asking for input on its local proposal to designate which Tongass roads will remain open for motorized vehicle use as well as which types of vehicles may use those roads.
Petersburg District Ranger Chris Savage spoke with KFSK's Matt Lichtenstein about the issue.