[0:00] Yeah,

[0:03] yeah, yeah.

[0:11] sorry.

[0:23] we're on.

[0:26] man

[0:29] just made my day and then like three minutes later

[0:34] see I vote too.

[0:46] think it's working.

[0:54] yeah.

[1:05] choices there.

[1:12] » [laughter]

[1:21] [laughter]

[1:33] » for the twist

[1:48] don't you just take them down?

[1:52] all right. What's the real time? yeah.

[1:57] or not? or not? I said Okay, you're ready.

[2:00] Ready. Excellent. Great. So, I'm going to call

[2:05] the regular city council meeting of May 20th

[2:09] to order at 7:00. Will you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

[2:15] Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the

[2:19] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[2:25] justice for all. >> [clears throat]

[2:30] » Third, we take the roll. Mayor Smith. Here. [clears throat] Sarah

[2:34] Adams. >> Here. Lee Collins. Here. Aaron Hanson.

[2:38] » Here. Daisy Jacobson. Here. Mike Michelson.

[2:42] Here. Bonnie Rabin. Here. Dave Zastera. Here.

[2:46] All of council is present. Wow. Great.

[2:52] Thanks to everyone. Um, we've got the regular agenda before us. Are there any

[2:59] modifications to the agenda as presented?

[3:05] Hearing no objection, we'll consider the agenda

[3:09] approved. Disclosures of conflicts of interest and

[3:12] ex parte communication, anything to declare?

[3:16] Based on the primer of the clerk, that's been included, which is great.

[3:23] Okay, communications by and petitions from visitors. We

[3:27] don't have any scheduled guest speakers. Are there audience members who want to

[3:33] come and comment on agenda items? Yes, there are.

[3:42] Hello, my name is Chris Marino. I'm at the 10 Lake Avenue.

[3:46] Um, I came to make some comments on agenda

[3:49] item nine, uh, the discussion about raising the mill rate and school

[3:52] funding. Um, reading through the budget memo

[3:55] included with the agenda item nine in tonight's meeting packet, I can't help

[3:59] but have a strong feeling of frustration towards the city administration's

[4:03] attempt to use the school district funding request as a scapegoat to push

[4:07] through an unnecessary property tax hike.

[4:09] City administration has laid out a grim narrative. We're being told that Cordova

[4:13] is staring down a downward financial spiral. We're told our resources are

[4:17] bare-bones, our fishing forecast is poor, and funding ongoing requests is

[4:22] unsustainable without extracting more money from local citizens. To fix this,

[4:26] staff is recommending a mill rate hike to 12.07, forcing the average Cordova

[4:31] family to take a $404 a year hit to their household budgets.

[4:36] We're told this is a necessity to cover the Cordova School District's $181,000

[4:40] budget increase. I don't believe it's a necessity, and the provided budget memo

[4:44] clearly defends that point. It's time to stop pretending Cordova has an

[4:48] unavoidable revenue problem, when perhaps Cordova has a bad decision

[4:52] problem. Just a few meetings ago, revenue was quite literally knocking on

[4:56] the door of City Hall. This exact council had an offer on the table to

[5:01] sell city land for $171,000 in cash. The proposer was willing to make an upfront

[5:06] cash deal, which would have put that land onto our tax rolls permanently.

[5:09] Instead, this council voted to reject that upfront cash.

[5:13] They chose to hand the land over to a nonprofit with $0 to its name and zero

[5:17] obligation to ever pay a single penny in property taxes.

[5:20] The irony is impossible to ignore. You walked away from $171,000

[5:25] in cash, and after all the city fees and permitting attached to the development,

[5:29] that number would have drastically risen. Now, tonight, you're sitting here

[5:32] debating a recommendation of city administration to force a tax tax hike

[5:37] on local property owners to generate $181,000 for our schools. The math is

[5:42] very troubling, to say the least. You passed up nearly that amount of money a

[5:45] little over a month ago, and now you want local families to pay for your

[5:49] charity. And it gets worse. On top of that

[5:51] rejected revenue, the memo states that the governor just

[5:55] announced $610,749

[5:58] distribution in secure rural schools money. Even after fully funding the

[6:02] $124,000 Second Street grant match, the city's sitting on $486,613

[6:08] in unbudgeted cash. But instead of using that federal cushion to bail out

[6:12] taxpayers or fund the school, the city admin wants to pocket the entire half

[6:16] million dollars for a municipal capital project account while keeping our

[6:20] property tax hike locked in place. The recommendation provided by the city

[6:24] is double dipping on the backs of Cordova residents while using the school

[6:27] district as a scapegoat to build a cash cushion to cover up questionable policy

[6:32] choices. You cannot reject for sure revenue and

[6:36] then turn around and look Cordova families in the eye and say you have to

[6:39] raise your taxes to keep the schools funded.

[6:42] In addition to the secure rural schools money designated to aid municipalities

[6:46] in school funding, the city also has ordinance 1231 funds to cover unexpected

[6:51] cash flow needs that may arise, currently around 2.5 million.

[6:56] I'm asking that you protect Cordovans from a senseless tax hike.

[7:00] When the June 3rd meeting comes, reject the proposed 12.07 mill rate, use the

[7:04] federal secure rural schools money for its intended purpose, and start making

[7:08] decisions that value the taxpayers of this community.

[7:11] If an increase of the mill rate is to be approved, I want it to be made clear

[7:15] that that tax increase is not a consequence of the school district's

[7:18] funding request. It's a consequence of this council's decision to prioritize

[7:23] padding the city's bank accounts to the tune of $629,613

[7:29] over the affordability of the community. Thank you.

[7:33] Thank you.

[7:40] Are there audience comments? Oh.

[8:01] Great. Thanks.

[8:03] Any other audience comments about agenda items?

[8:08] I see staff and welcome to comment. Chairpersons and representatives of

[8:14] boards and commissions. I think

[8:19] votes. Oops. Okay, approval of consent

[8:22] calendar. We don't have that. We don't have minutes.

[8:26] We don't have bids. Proposals for contracts.

[8:31] Reports of officers.

[8:35] I had secure remote schools written in my report of officers.

[8:39] Imagine that. Um I did not include a written report. I'm sorry. I didn't get

[8:42] to it last week. And

[8:47] see.

[8:54] Um I just been trying to track what's

[8:58] happening with the state operating budget and I think most of you

[9:03] probably saw what happened with the legislation about the

[9:06] defined benefits uh legislation and that went down along with the

[9:13] uh or because of or um not because of the governor not getting

[9:18] the terms that he wanted for the natural gas pipeline. Anyway, that was um kind

[9:22] of a bummer. We're still I guess waiting to see

[9:25] uh how he approves and what form the governor approves the operating budget

[9:30] legis- legislation because he has line item veto

[9:33] power. So, we'll wait and see what what um

[9:37] comes through from that process. My comment about the

[9:41] whole budget process, which is apropos of what

[9:45] Chris was just talking about, was um

[9:50] I wanted to urge people who are listening and to people who are

[9:53] following this issue, especially here, to

[9:56] not to oversimplify what's happening with our decisions here tonight, because

[10:00] I think the whole issue around school funding is it's not just

[10:06] there's a gap locally and we may or may not raise property taxes to cover it. We

[10:11] know that funding coming from the federal level is a lot less than it has

[10:14] been in many forms, which means that the city is having to make up for a lot of

[10:18] different things. It's not just the school. We know the fuel costs are

[10:22] increasing. We know that I don't know if people saw the um

[10:26] opinion piece that Mayor LaFrance of Anchorage and Mayor Hopkins of Fairbanks

[10:31] uh had in the ADN a couple days ago talking about the fact that

[10:35] um if the local

[10:39] property tax valuation goes up, then the state contribution goes down. So,

[10:46] it's automatically built into the system that we're getting less funding from the

[10:49] state than we should than we should be able to keep up with inflation. Um so, I

[10:54] just wanted to encourage people who are following all this, like I said, not to

[10:57] oversimplify the whole um dynamic, because there are so many

[11:01] factors feeding into the fact that we have a lot less money to work with in

[11:06] general to do chip sealing on our roads, to pay our

[11:10] maintenance staff, to maintain our vehicles, to maintain our recreation

[11:12] facilities, to pay our staff, to support the school. So, there's a whole lot

[11:17] going on. Um

[11:20] yeah, and yeah, please just

[11:25] don't oversimplify, I guess is my message, because um

[11:29] there's really something So,

[11:32] that's my main report. I did want to also comment on a

[11:36] the Secure Rural Schools program is about to open up

[11:41] applications for seats on a committee to help with allocating the Title II money.

[11:48] That's more considered more discretionary, I would say. It's money

[11:51] that can go to fund projects that are on or adjacent to Forest Service lands, and

[11:55] it can be for things like um I know that the watershed project has

[12:00] applied for money for culvert replacements. There have been trail

[12:03] projects funded with that money, a bunch of different things.

[12:07] And it's really cool to sit on a body where you get to spend money and get to

[12:11] help make things happen. So, if anybody's interested in serving on that

[12:14] committee, uh I think the notice of applications

[12:17] will be coming out in the next few weeks, I would say. Yeah.

[12:21] So, um and it will be a Chugach region-wide committee. We used to have a

[12:27] Prince William Sound committee, and there was a committee over on the Kenai.

[12:30] They're going to combine those two because

[12:32] over on the Kenai, they couldn't field enough people to apply. We had really

[12:36] active um hard-working committed committee,

[12:40] have had for years, and have found lots of good ways to spend that money.

[12:45] Um but they have been unable to field enough people to fill those seats. So,

[12:51] now it's going to be one committee for both regions, but still spending two

[12:55] pots of money. We don't have to We're not combining our

[12:58] money with Kenai money. So. What are these 16 seats? Eight from Cordova,

[13:03] eight from the other side? Okay. Yeah. Great.

[13:06] Yeah, so it's a really great opportunity for anybody who wants to

[13:10] um participate. The meetings happen at the most once every 2 years. It's not

[13:15] a um a committee that meets a lot. When it

[13:18] does meet, it's kind of an all-day thing or

[13:21] maybe 1 and 1/2 days, but um it's not a huge lift on an annual basis. So.

[13:30] Yeah, so we're happy to answer questions about anything that we or anything else

[13:36] that we've been talking about.

[13:43] Thanks. Great, then I will we can move on to the

[13:47] city manager's report. And also the city manager report

[13:53] continues this package. Um, do you have some

[13:58] pretty cool news that um the audit team is leaving early because

[14:04] we are so good. And I'm super proud of the finance team

[14:08] and how they pulled that together. I mean

[14:11] the auditors are like uh from last year to this year is just unbelievable.

[14:17] So I think we should be very grateful for our

[14:21] team finance director. Yep, and the team that works too. You know, they're

[14:25] pulling stuff at Mach 90 every morning when the auditors are doing stuff at

[14:30] 4:30 and it's just because they work together so well over the years.

[14:35] You know, worked out the craziness

[14:38] 24 and you know, we're doing the 25 on it.

[14:42] And it's just yeah, it's impressive. I mean the auditors and Gavin are just

[14:47] they pie cuz it's so nice. So I just want to say that they're doing

[14:51] a great job. Cheryl's got a great handle on it.

[14:54] Team is a great job burning the limits. Tammy Merritt and Pam also it's just

[15:00] it's incredible. So to hold that down, everybody gets hit

[15:03] by the audit. We all have get pulled something,

[15:06] but those guys took the brunt. Um

[15:11] So then we can talk more after we're having lunch.

[15:16] After their lunch? We celebrate a little bit, but yeah,

[15:20] it's good things. Um other than that, I've just been uh

[15:25] finalizing the lease truck. We're almost there. It's a lot of paper stuff back

[15:31] and forth. That truck should be here by mid-June,

[15:34] which will be really really nice. Well, well, I'll just say that's contingent on

[15:39] Alaska state lease schedule. But, that's good.

[15:44] I'll get them all good running vehicles in town or

[15:48] door to door delivery here. And then we'll figure out another vehicle in the

[15:52] future.

[15:55] And then we've been working on liability insurance a lot, learning a lot, working

[16:00] with our insurance brokers to to be talking about some of the

[16:05] deductibles and some of the other things that maybe we can look at to help us

[16:09] save a few bucks. Um, insurance medical insurance have been talking with

[16:15] that broker as well. Things are looking better. We are continually looking at

[16:20] where we're at. We're doing some alternatives where

[16:23] maybe we split from the hospital for some crazy reason. Smaller groups are

[16:27] getting better options than larger ones. So, we're we're investigating every

[16:32] route possible. Um, and we've also looked into the

[16:36] I don't know how to say this wrong, HSA. HSA, which is

[16:42] having a health savings account. And we are doing that this year, and so we

[16:46] continue to do that moving forward. And that has saved a lot

[16:50] of senior employees senior employees. So,

[16:53] we're trying to you know, figure out ways to make things a little

[16:58] a little less a little less expensive, but still good.

[17:02] So, that's all I got for the business side. If you have questions, certainly

[17:05] open.

[17:10] Thanks, Sam. Do you have any questions from the council members or um

[17:14] council member online or the managing members?

[17:27] Hey, let's move on to the city clerk's report.

[17:31] Um I've included in there the vacancy of the Pizwak board member that is a city

[17:37] rep. Uh the next meetings they have are in

[17:40] October, so it'd be great to get that filled before then.

[17:45] And those are in October. All the days.

[17:50] They like the first week of October. Um so please spread that around.

[17:56] Hopefully people are listening and looking at it. It's on the Facebook and

[18:00] the website and then this packet. Sent in dove delivery, so we'll see if

[18:06] we can get someone. It's kind of a unique individual because they can't

[18:10] they can't hold a permit or a permit. Because there's enough of them already

[18:16] on the board. Um I

[18:19] I see that last meeting though you guys filled the housing supply accelerator.

[18:25] And then you guys filled the one of the last trails members, so

[18:29] we're in good shape on boards and commissions minus this one.

[18:34] That's all in my report. Anyone have any questions?

[18:41] Thank you. Yeah, I

[18:44] I asked around a little bit last night to see if you knew anybody who

[18:47] knew anybody. Because it has to be somebody who's not

[18:51] a permit holder, not Um not a board and not related to a

[18:56] process, not doing Yes. affiliated or affiliated with a process. They're

[19:00] either or yeah, or I guess either or them.

[19:03] And or a processor. So somebody who runs a tender wouldn't

[19:07] be No, not eligible.

[19:11] Yeah. So no, I could ask. Depends who it is. funding their

[19:15] process. I mean, they would just naturally generally have a contract with

[19:18] the process servers. Right. >> So. But, right. So, I mean,

[19:22] that's what Yeah, right. That's what Yeah. But, then maybe if they're an

[19:25] owner, maybe if they're just at tender. Well, we can. I don't know. I I I

[19:32] haven't looked into it. Yeah. We have somebody in mind.

[19:35] Um I'm talking to Renschler to see.

[19:39] Um you know what? Yeah. It's Alaska season.

[19:45] Yeah. The Venn diagram is

[19:48] Yes, the little the one in the middle is pretty

[19:51] small. Okay.

[19:55] Um All right. So, we don't have correspondence in this

[20:00] packet, and that brings us to an board a resolution.

[20:06] Uh resolution 05-26-21.

[20:12] Entertain a motion. Move.

[20:17] Um who was that from? I think it was Mike Olson.

[20:22] Uh I move to approve resolution 05-26-21,

[20:26] adopting the city of Cordova 2026 local hazard mitigation plan. Second.

[20:35] Excellent. Resounding vote there.

[20:40] Did you hear me in the back? Zastro and second with Main. That was number

[20:45] Zastro. Yeah. Um Obviously, we needed that. When the last

[20:49] update was 2018, and we've been moving through a process

[20:53] with city staff as with public comments since 2004. And um

[20:59] and I I guess I didn't realize too that having this in place makes it able for

[21:04] us to have a a mitigation plan that's within 5 years allows us the opportunity

[21:10] to forget some federal dollars to throw on the side. We're missing out on those

[21:14] opportunities that might come up. Um

[21:17] I haven't looked it over with a fine-tooth comb, but it looks uh like

[21:21] it's very comprehensive and and move it forward.

[21:27] I remember reading I did look through with a fine-tooth comb but when it came

[21:30] out for public review in 2015 with the planning commission and put comments

[21:35] into them and so um yeah, and I could have checked it out online. So and they

[21:39] addressed everything I had a concern about. So I pretty comprehensive.

[21:44] Great.

[21:47] Any other council member comments or um yeah, council members

[21:53] at the table or online?

[22:03] Well, it's great that this puts us in a position to be eligible for grant money,

[22:07] not certainly.

[22:10] Good step. Great step to take. So

[22:14] Okay, all those in favor of adopting resolution 05-26-21

[22:20] to approve the local hazard mitigation plan

[22:24] please signify by saying I. I. I. That's everyone.

[22:32] Motion carries.

[22:35] Okay. So let's go

[22:42] the big issue right here once council discussion of Cordova School District

[22:46] funding other revenue shortfalls and setting the

[22:49] 2026 mill rate. So we have a memo

[22:54] in the packet from the city manager which

[22:57] follows up a little bit on the memo from the May 6th meeting where manager laid

[23:03] out some options. Um

[23:06] I think the one new piece of information in here is as was brought up in the

[23:10] agenda comments that we have learned about the second payment for

[23:14] uh forest service receipts where as the city manager points out we're we're

[23:18] booking them both in 2026, but they came in two

[23:23] payments because one was effectively four

[23:26] I don't know if you say it that one was for 2025 and one was for 2026 or one was

[23:30] for 2024 and one was for 2025, but effectively they are both showing up

[23:35] uh and being entered as revenue this year also.

[23:38] But so now we have the amount for the second one.

[23:42] Yeah. Um

[23:45] and did did you want to make any other comments, Jim?

[23:49] I No, I feel like a lot of things I'm kind

[23:53] of curious to see if there's any questions, what y'all want to talk

[23:56] through. Um You

[24:00] I'm just throwing down on the paperwork we're dealing with every day at the city

[24:05] so I'm more than happy to answer any

[24:08] questions we

[24:14] I guess just to recap when we I mean maybe people went back and looked

[24:18] at it also, but um at the May 6th meeting the options were

[24:22] uh in terms of the school's request for additional funding, lower or don't fund

[24:26] the request. We did lower it. Uh raise the mill rate. Take some portion or all

[24:31] of it from the 3 million that we borrowed from the permanent fund.

[24:36] And use at the time the unknown amount of forest

[24:40] service receipts. We now know what that number is.

[24:43] Um and those are I think still essentially

[24:49] the options in front of us. We We There's maybe I'm going to

[24:53] remake it on that. I I the important point that I'm trying to make

[24:59] is sustainability. The only sustainable way to have that

[25:04] revenue for the future for the school is to do it properly.

[25:09] We may never see commercial receipts again. I don't know. Nobody knows. I

[25:13] mean, we're not budgeting, they're not budgeting in '26. There's no anticipated

[25:18] to be budgeting them in '27 at the direction of

[25:22] council. So, it's not a

[25:26] guaranteed so the income. We do well above the minimum amount to the school.

[25:32] And you know, I'm not I think it's great. Like we can do it, we can do it,

[25:37] but we can't continue to cut the city's budget

[25:42] to fund it. And that is where we live right now.

[25:47] You take $181,000 and we don't decide how to fund it.

[25:51] And we don't have any money for the $192,000 that we spent on the oil

[25:58] and gas team taxes that we didn't know about, the pool 100 grand, $35,000 for a

[26:03] master plan.

[26:06] We're kind of hurting ourselves. Like we're we're hurting our own purse by

[26:10] doing We need to have a sustainable way to continue to fund the school. We're

[26:15] hurting the school, we're hurting ourselves.

[26:18] That's just my take home point. Like

[26:21] how are we going to keep moving forward? We don't know what's going to happen

[26:24] between now and end of the year. The money that is in

[26:29] the 2.5 million, we've already eaten

[26:32] $500,000 of that out. It's gone. This keeps us from running from June

[26:39] in at our lowest revenue point when we're paying a lot of money out, but

[26:44] we're not getting any revenue. This for cash flow, that was the intention of

[26:48] that. So, I think we really have to be cuz

[26:53] consider it. That's fine. We're better off

[26:55] of how much they need and what and what we're spending it on.

[26:59] And how we're going to sustain if this were something that comes

[27:03] over and over and again. Can't hire an employee.

[27:07] Can't hire an employee. You don't know how to sustain that

[27:11] ability. Yeah. It's It's important

[27:14] to really think this past right now.

[27:20] Thanks. Council member Council member Cummings.

[27:23] I want to see who who was first.

[27:27] I don't have it over there. How the hell did I get over there? Council member

[27:31] Vincent. So, I I do want to start off with that

[27:35] last sales topic failed city out in my opinion.

[27:39] Um there are too many >> [clears throat]

[27:42] » things uh working against us um as far as the budget goes.

[27:46] Um I do appreciate

[27:50] you know, the community member coming in

[27:53] saying what he did and um

[27:56] being here and adding his opinion.

[27:59] But, we are in a very really bad spot. Um

[28:02] and I will beat this to death every meeting that we had completely stripped

[28:06] our maintenance budget for every department.

[28:10] Our facilities are aging. Our equipment is aging. That requires more attention

[28:15] and more costs. Our facilities are aging. The cost of gas is up raised.

[28:20] Utilities The the overall [clears throat] cost of

[28:23] utilities were raised. Um

[28:27] the schools are We're not just going to sixth grade graduation. The class eight

[28:31] kids This [snorts] uh swipe

[28:35] young families are coming back because of school in Cordova.

[28:40] We don't have a huge revenue gain in my opinion that is

[28:46] right now. There's we we need to continue on the

[28:50] road that we are with extending the housing to have more sustainable room

[28:56] and growth for the community to to continue to flourish.

[29:00] We are about to guess a uh

[29:05] can we decide to operate this kind of local

[29:08] our general revenue? So,

[29:11] by the way, then, if we want to maintain things that we

[29:15] have, want to maintain the school and the amenities that we have, it's going

[29:20] to take more money. So, it brings us to raise taxes.

[29:27] Which only goes so far, and then you have to ask your question of what

[29:34] At what point in the city's budget when we can't pay for the things that are

[29:39] necessary, can you keep the workforce busy? They can't afford the tools, and

[29:43] they can't afford the

[29:47] the items that are necessary to complete their job.

[29:50] That when we're we're up against raising taxes and

[29:54] cutting employees. I don't understand I I there's no other way that I can run it

[30:00] through my mind knowing that even though that we're

[30:03] balanced, we are behind. So,

[30:08] that's that's my two cents.

[30:13] Thank you. You all set with me?

[30:17] Um the word sustainable though,

[30:20] I don't think is a good word to use because

[30:23] sustainability also applies to the mill rate.

[30:28] We are on a very steep curve here and a teetering

[30:34] piece of wood, and you can only tax the community members to a certain point,

[30:38] and then people are going to leave. I think we've reached that point.

[30:43] Fuel alone the sales tax we're going to get from

[30:46] fuel is going to be, I believe, more than we budgeted. But, just as an

[30:50] example, 2025 my sales tax for 1 month

[30:56] in April for last year doubled this year for fuel.

[31:02] So, I went from 875 bucks to 1750. And that is 1 month, and that's across

[31:08] the board. We get the tax from the fuel dock, we get

[31:13] sales tax online. Those prices are increasing, and that the tax is

[31:17] increasing. So, I think that we will see more than we budgeted for that, but we

[31:20] cannot continue to solve our problems by taxing the property holders of the

[31:26] community. We cannot. That is not sustainable. That may be sustainable in

[31:31] the definition of where the money's going to come from, but it's not

[31:34] sustainable for the people who are carrying the burden.

[31:37] Taxpayers cannot afford it. We cannot afford more taxes.

[31:42] I think the 436,000 that's coming in off those

[31:47] secure world schools will take care of that extra money we wanted to bring to

[31:51] the school district. And no, it may not be here next year, but

[31:56] the answer is not to raise the mill rate. The answer is not to put more

[31:59] burden on the community at this point. Everything is going up, and we did just

[32:06] raise the mill rate again. We can't We can't continue to

[32:12] suck dry the folks that are that are sustaining the community that we have.

[32:22] Any Any Are there other Assembly members

[32:27] Member Adams, do you Just one [clears throat] point I'd like

[32:31] to bring up is that, um, things

[32:34] might change for the better in Juno with this the November election.

[32:40] And the attitude towards funding schools might change. I mean, right now we have

[32:47] a pretty um

[32:49] unsupportive funding source

[32:53] government leader in Juno um who seems to be hostile towards

[32:57] schools. And I

[32:59] I'm hoping that that changes. And um

[33:04] that the base student allocation will will not point go up.

[33:10] And so yeah, there are some grim

[33:14] future outlooks here, but I'm hopeful that something's going to change in

[33:19] Juno.

[33:23] Yeah, I mean, but I'm hopeful for in the near term is that the money they've

[33:26] allocated an extra 144 million for schools for this year, so

[33:32] we're hoping some of that comes to bear, but we'll see. Uh guarantee and we won't

[33:37] know for another I don't know, 6 weeks.

[33:40] Yeah, Council member Saster. Um well, a couple of thoughts going back

[33:44] to a few things that have been said already.

[33:46] I actually what Council member Adam said earlier

[33:49] resonates with me. We're in a very unusual time right now.

[33:53] Fuel prices are going through the roof because of what's going on

[33:56] geopolitically right now. I mean, there's just a weird bubble we're in

[33:59] with tariffs and oil prices just going through the roof

[34:03] over things that may change here in the next year or so. Let's hope they do.

[34:08] Let's hope they do with with changes of of leadership. Um

[34:12] I also want to go back to uh mayor's comments about um

[34:17] in general what we're facing isn't just about what what we approved for

[34:21] additional funds to the school. It's it's so much more complicated. I just

[34:24] want to reiterate that for folks that are listening that it's not just about

[34:28] the school. It's a million things we've been dealing with for the last several

[34:31] years when it comes to the budget and they've getting gloomier and gloomier.

[34:34] So, I think it's it gives me genuine to say any decision we make on mill rate is

[34:39] specifically because of school costs. That's just not the case.

[34:43] Um I I

[34:47] And again, I think I again I just want to recognize that

[34:51] what our council member Randy just said Um

[34:55] you know, the mill rate you raised it last year cost of living gone up for

[34:59] community members for a variety of things, food costs, fuel costs. And

[35:03] there is truly a point at which people won't be able to continue to pay higher

[35:08] rates. What that means for this year's mill

[35:11] rate, I'm not exactly sure yet. But that is something we have to consider because

[35:16] it's it's Yeah, it's certainly not

[35:19] um a stat- status quo from where we were last year. We raised the mill rate.

[35:25] Things are vastly different they are a year from that time or where we are

[35:28] today. So, I mean it's it's Yeah, I it's dramatically different to where we were

[35:34] a year ago. So, lots to consider there.

[35:44] Callen's online. So, I make sure everybody gets a chance to chime in if

[35:48] they want or anyone else wants to. I I definitely have comments here.

[35:54] Can you hear me okay? We got you.

[35:57] Well, uh I I think the way that I comment on this is you know, fuel tax

[36:02] has certainly got brought up. And if you consider

[36:06] there's there's 400 boats in the gillnet fleet.

[36:09] When I was only gillnetting, I burned about 5,000 gallons of gas a year.

[36:13] So, if if you say that the whole fleet burns about that much,

[36:18] that's uh that's 2 million gallons of gas.

[36:22] And I've I've heard it from multiple members of the fleet, from our our

[36:27] Russian community, from people that live here, from people that are coming here,

[36:30] that they're planning on not coming to town nearly as often. So,

[36:35] that's going to that's people are going to camp out, and

[36:38] that's going to reflect in local businesses. I mean, you know, after this

[36:42] winter where we're we're seeing very few businesses open, it's not going to help

[36:47] the ones that we have. And so, I think if there was ever a year

[36:50] to throw the community a bone, it's this year, and don't raise the mill rate, and

[36:55] you know, I understand that that we shouldn't be

[36:59] budgeting for forest receipts, and and and I I'm glad that we're not, but in my

[37:03] mind, it makes sense to pull that um

[37:07] request from the school district out of that

[37:09] forest receipts, and use the rest of it for uh

[37:13] un- unforeseen fuel costs, um maintenance. Uh I I think it's not going

[37:18] to be hard to absorb that, um just with with cost overruns from a variety of

[37:24] factors. I I just ordered some stuff from AML, and there was a 30% uh fuel

[37:29] shipping surcharge. So, that's going to have a big effect on our community as

[37:33] well. Um

[37:35] I think the other thing in terms of the mill rate is, you know, when when we're

[37:38] looking at processors that have other locations in Prince William Sound,

[37:43] there's sort of a balance to strike here because

[37:47] you know, the number of of cannery workers that it takes to operate one of

[37:51] those plants, you know, they have a lot of money in in

[37:54] facilities down there. And so, the mill rate affects them a lot more than it's

[37:58] going to pick affect the average person. And so, I I think

[38:02] we need to at least discuss that when we're making our decision. And, you

[38:06] know, $400 for a household doesn't sound like that much, but,

[38:09] you know, there's a big segment of our community that doesn't have a regular

[38:13] job where you get annual raises or or raises every once in a while. I mean,

[38:18] fish prices are lower or similar to what they were 10

[38:23] years ago. And when you add inflation in, they're generally less across the

[38:27] board. And so I I just want to be conscious of that before anybody starts

[38:32] making decisions here because um

[38:35] you know, there's These are not simple simple issues and

[38:40] it's been been brought up and and and there is nuance to this, but in in my

[38:44] mind it's really clear that we need to use those forest receipts to pay for the

[38:48] school and the and the rest for maintenance and cost overruns

[38:52] related to fuel.

[38:57] Thanks, Councilmember Nicholson. Um Councilmember Kinchen, are you

[39:02] Yeah, and again, I'm just [clears throat]

[39:05] coming from different communities. Um I've always seen a mill rate or anything

[39:09] associated with that's is tied to the school district.

[39:13] So, if we're saying we have one mill or a percentage, generally it's a

[39:16] percentage I mean a mill, whatever you want to say, a percentage

[39:19] of this for the school, a percentage. If we're raising property tax 100% whatever

[39:24] 1%, then then we're going to say 0.25 of that is

[39:28] going to the school, 0.25 is going to prevent the maintenance, 0.25 is going

[39:33] to these out. So, we don't have that accountability. So, that's what ties a

[39:36] mill increase to sustainability. Is we have all of those mills accounted to

[39:41] something. And so I I think that's probably what we

[39:46] need to get a handle on is where are our current mills going today?

[39:52] And where do we want them to go in the future?

[39:55] Okay, as I say, mills, the money. We have the money that's there. Where is it

[39:59] going? Where do we want it to go? Where as a community do we want it to go? Do

[40:03] you want it to go to the school? Do you want it to go to Darke County? Do you

[40:06] want it to go to EMS? Do we want it to go to our roads that are

[40:11] freaking atrocious right now to drive on? And

[40:15] I think this is a good broader conversation of what do we want as a

[40:20] community? What do we want with our new monies that we currently have? No one

[40:23] wants to pay more taxes, great. Then what are you willing to give up?

[40:27] I mean that's what it is. What are you willing to give up? This is where we're

[40:30] at. And what service, what amenity who which one of I mean

[40:37] to Councilman point, which one of your neighbors do you want them to lose their

[40:40] job? I mean that that as we go through and

[40:44] look at and break down the cost of us as a community

[40:49] fast and well over 50% is tied to personnel.

[40:54] And that that's where the funding and that's for any organization. And that's

[40:58] not just the city, that's you know we can talk to school, we can talk the

[41:01] business I work for, we can talk to any any place. If you're going to attract

[41:05] people, you want them to be here, you're going to pay them.

[41:09] And so that I think this is just a much broader conversation. So if

[41:17] No, if the appetite is and I can actually agree with some sentiment from

[41:22] uh Councilman Nicholson and the state of our community today and relation to uh

[41:31] and relation to the raising not raising the mill rate, but that as a community

[41:36] that's fine. We don't have to raise the mill rate.

[41:39] Yeah. Everything still costs money.

[41:44] And I don't think people understand that our opportunity to raise that revenue is

[41:49] today and then in 6 months we're going to have our budget.

[41:53] So we don't really know how we're going to end our year.

[41:57] And here's here we are today and that's just how

[42:01] old and how we handle our finances and I don't know if we need to shift that or

[42:05] change that. I don't know that process. And I don't know that if we have a way

[42:11] to allocate mills to certain

[42:15] pockets of money, to certain budget codes, to certain departments, certain

[42:19] things that we as a community want to spend our money on. But I have that's

[42:23] how I have my own personal budget. I mean, I know where my money comes from

[42:27] and I know which percentages go to things.

[42:30] So.

[42:35] My vision of how we get to the sustainability.

[42:39] And if we are raising the mill rate, then we can go to the community and this

[42:43] is what we're raising it for, not abstractly to

[42:46] we need more cash flow, which is great, but where where needs more cash flow?

[42:52] And we could be more accountable for that.

[42:56] I think that's a good discussion point because yeah, we can take the money out

[43:01] of the forest or seas for this year. So there's 180 out of that. I'm going to

[43:05] forward to that. We don't know what our fuel costs are going to be. We pumped

[43:08] the lake for months. On diesel fuel.

[43:13] And just it wasn't at its highest a week, but during part of that time it

[43:17] was. We don't know what we're moving forward to.

[43:21] I know that the fire truck engine has a mechanical issue that we need to deal

[43:27] with. We can't have We have a fire truck that's 24 years old

[43:32] and a back up that's 32 years old. I remember a council member saying, "I

[43:38] want the fire truck to come to my house."

[43:40] Well, these are things that we have to deal with and

[43:45] We we have to think about this. Maybe we spend $300,000 of that

[43:51] $400,000 to just get through 26. What are we

[43:56] going to do in 27?

[44:00] And what what what is it that we're going to give up because

[44:06] and I mean every person who works in the city,

[44:11] lives in the city, pays taxes in the city

[44:15] and I feel like it always comes back to the city

[44:18] budget. Right? There's

[44:21] you know, it always comes back to the city budget getting cut.

[44:25] Every cut, every cut. I mean, how many positions could go away every time it's

[44:29] in the memo? How many times have you read that list?

[44:32] I just I don't know what I I I guess I just don't know what

[44:38] we need to do. And like how

[44:43] I mean, you use it how do you use revenue?

[44:46] Unfortunately, this generated from taxes. I mean, I didn't create this

[44:49] rule. Right? This is how it works. Yeah. And

[44:55] I want kids to go to school. I want kids to have a great education, but I also

[44:59] also want my streets plowed. I want the people work here to feel

[45:03] secure in their jobs. They work hard. Look at what we've done

[45:07] in finance in a year. I mean,

[45:11] I I just I mean, nobody is saying this isn't

[45:14] hard. I know, but I'm just trying to see the other side of it, right? Right. I

[45:18] mean, I I think people get that. >> Yeah. I know it's hard for everybody,

[45:22] but I still feel like Right. it always comes back to the city taking the

[45:27] biggest hit. Well, that's it.

[45:29] » And so >> Well, I I think the thing that you we

[45:32] also need to consider is, you know, this year

[45:36] one of the gillnet sources, which is the main bay hatchery, is basically going to

[45:43] be a run failure. Um is is what what's happening. There was

[45:47] there was a big die-off that happened. Um the some of the some of the fish got

[45:51] a disease. Um It's a naturally occurring disease

[45:55] that's in all sockeye populations. So, there's already going to be less revenue

[45:59] from that. Um just there's there's a few different

[46:03] factors that are happening, but the good news is is that

[46:07] the prices across the board are getting better. They're substantially better.

[46:12] Um, I mean, people are getting paid really

[46:14] well for halibut right now, but you know,

[46:19] that that's sort of the thing is that we're we're likely to have a pretty good

[46:23] year next year and we're we're likely to have a lot more fish coming through

[46:27] town. Um, processors are going to be gearing up with with with more more

[46:33] people. There's going to be there's just going to be a lot more

[46:36] money in town next year just in general. I mean, you can never say with

[46:40] certainty, but there's the likelihood is very good. This year

[46:44] the outlook is poor kind of across the board.

[46:47] Um,

[46:50] there's there's also been some news today that the Board of Fisheries, which

[46:54] has a pretty great sway over our community, has just uh

[47:01] basically had their hand slapped and said that they need to follow their

[47:03] ethical um

[47:06] obligations. And that's really good because, you know,

[47:09] one of the reasons we're looking at what we're looking at is, you know, there was

[47:14] a few different things that went into moving the gillnet fishery back

[47:18] um 7 days. And you look at fishermen coming

[47:21] here that much later and that usually that's a big boost for our community.

[47:26] That's a bunch of money that comes in. And so, you know, there's just a lot of

[47:29] factors why this is a is a challenging year. That's that's that's more

[47:32] challenging, frankly, than a lot of the other years that we've had. And

[47:37] I do think that the future is brighter. I don't think that the decisions that

[47:41] we're making this year are going to be nearly as drastic when we're looking at

[47:46] what happens in the future, but we just need to be aware when we do have these

[47:49] better years

[47:53] we we still need to be really cautious and conservative is my my thought here.

[48:02] And so, we can [clears throat] we're basically kind of hashing through the

[48:06] options. We're not um scheduled to make a decision tonight. I

[48:11] think people know that. Yeah, they'll know that this is discussion item. But

[48:14] we are going to have to make that decision at the next meeting, so.

[48:17] And I appreciate we're having this discussion now before the next meeting.

[48:21] » Yeah. And thank you for uh to the clerk for putting that summary page together.

[48:25] Cuz that definitely helps with Yeah. Looking at the different scenarios. I

[48:28] know for me the last 2 years when we got to this point, having this in front of

[48:31] us we might have to make a decision was very

[48:33] very helpful to have nice thoughts about it first.

[48:36] Um Uh

[48:38] and I guess yes but as everybody's been speaking, uh you have the all the

[48:42] unknowns and everything. Um I I guess that our our one comment earlier today

[48:47] from the public about uh padding the budget, which I I just don't disagree. I

[48:51] don't agree with that because you do what you can. You put money away for a

[48:55] rainy day. You know, we have to put money away for what we know we're going

[48:59] to need in the future. As our manager just has uh mentioned, we've got

[49:03] incredibly aging um emergency medical or emergency fire

[49:07] uh equipment with our with our engines. And medical.

[49:11] Sorry? And medical. And there Yeah, we

[49:14] we've got so many things that could fail at any moment. We just don't know when

[49:18] it's going to happen. So, and again to uh key in on um what uh Councilmember

[49:23] Kimble said, you know, what are we going to choose? What are the choices we're

[49:26] going to make? If if we get to a point we can't fund everything, what do we

[49:29] decide not to fund? And what we don't want to happen is being in an emergency

[49:34] situation where we have to make that decision. We want to be a little more

[49:36] proactive, I would think, to make that decision before the emergency.

[49:41] So, um having a little bit of money on hand, we're not talking about a huge

[49:46] amount of money here that's that's being held for potential needs in the future.

[49:50] So, um I I just take exception with that that thought about somehow that

[49:55] the city's adding their budget of ships on the base.

[50:02] Yeah, thank you for that perspective. Right. I mean, I that's um

[50:07] As I was saying earlier, I'm urging people not to over simplify because we

[50:11] have all heard about the capital needs here on the water distribution system,

[50:14] the water treatment plants.

[50:17] Yeah. We

[50:20] We are banking on it all continuing to function as it always has. Right. No

[50:24] guarantee. Right. No guarantee. Yes. Along I mean, since we're talking

[50:29] mill rate, then I understand we're discussing Well, we're going to really

[50:33] set for next week. I There's been some conversations. Been

[50:38] things that other municipalities have done, and that is really tying a mill

[50:42] rate to a local business, local resident.

[50:46] And we can That can be done through One, you have You set your mill rate. 20 20

[50:52] mills are I mean, it's just simple math. But if you can prove or you can claim

[50:56] similar to a sales or a veteran or any of these

[51:00] things. If you can prove that you're a resident, this is where you live. You

[51:03] live in Cordova year-round. Okay. Your mill rate you get a discount

[51:07] on your mill rate. We can say you have You can't say you have a different mill

[51:10] rate, but you can offer a discount. I believe that's how I've seen it in other

[51:13] communities or a reduced mill rate. I think it's just off the assessed value

[51:18] you can do. So, then it's off of So, it's the same mill, but then you have

[51:23] less of an assessed value or it or a credited

[51:26] » a homeowner's exemption. I don't think it can be to 75,000.

[51:32] And based off of what specifically? Well, it would be onerous to administer

[51:37] that program because it would be similar to the senior exemption except tenfold

[51:44] because everybody's going to claim that they live here year round kind of thing

[51:48] and that would be doable but

[51:53] onerous. And

[51:58] And it's not a conversation to have for next meeting. I hope everyone knows I'm

[52:02] really just trying to get you know just poking around I think

[52:05] Susan and I have had conversations about what Valdez does for their mill rates.

[52:10] Obviously they have a much different pot of money but also then maybe even more

[52:14] important for us and our limited pot of money of

[52:19] There there are people who live in our community

[52:22] who have homes in our community who do not live in our

[52:25] and have no intention of living in our community.

[52:29] So I just the thing is you can look forward to the future and obviously fit

[52:33] the the piece there is a threshold there too

[52:37] where the ownership is yes us administering this is not we're going to

[52:41] pay us more and we're going to have to go with outside consultation or insert

[52:47] all these additional costs and then it's not worth it. You're right at that point

[52:50] it's not.

[52:53] It'd be a calculation to undertake. Come up with some kind of scenarios for

[52:58] that. But there is the conversation that does

[53:01] happen why can we not tax them more well this is a a way

[53:07] is it worth it? I don't know. Um

[53:11] Yeah definitely nice. Someone brought up to me today a

[53:15] suggestion along the same lines of if

[53:18] ownership and living in Cordova and the senior exemption all kind of tied

[53:22] together and just putting this out on the table as well I thought it was an

[53:26] interesting suggestion is that um the senior exemption and there are

[53:32] seniors who have two homes. They have a home in Cordova and they

[53:37] have a home elsewhere and snowbird

[53:42] and this community members

[53:45] take was if you can afford two homes, then perhaps you don't need the senior

[53:49] exemption.

[53:52] Uh Pardon me?

[53:55] I'm just thinking the administration on that. Well, I think it's a state it's a

[53:58] state law. State statute. We don't have we can't already clear. Okay, we can

[54:02] again. Right. I was on you know, this is something brought to my attention today

[54:06] and I said well, yeah, crazy. Um

[54:09] I know but I'm thinking

[54:11] so maybe that applies to maybe 20 people and what what does that gain us? I mean,

[54:16] that would be the question is Mhm. >> 150,000 * 20 you times the mill, right?

[54:21] Yeah. And taxes, so that's something. Something. But it's it might be more

[54:26] than 20. There's like 250 seniors on the list. Right. But how many of them have

[54:30] second homes is what I was thinking. Well, but how many

[54:35] are truly here? Mhm. for the income record of time, right? And who just

[54:39] signs the newspaper that says they are. Mhm.

[54:41] Yeah. I just don't know what it would net us

[54:45] enough to Well, there would be Maybe the statute

[54:49] doesn't allow us to do it. It's a new point anyway. Yeah, you could

[54:52] raise changing that statute, which nobody

[54:56] would like, but a lot of other states have it that the senior exemption is

[55:00] need based. So, you don't just get it cuz you're 65,

[55:04] you get it if you fall below certain income levels

[55:09] and are 65. But that's not the case for Alaska.

[55:13] But a lot of other states do have that in mind. You know, one thing that was

[55:16] talked about in the past that uh we still wouldn't be probably with um

[55:20] is a real property tax a personal property tax because there are a lot of

[55:24] people who fish here who don't live here who have their boats here.

[55:27] And those are not taxed. And

[55:30] and you know how that conversation goes every time we have it. Yeah, I do. But I

[55:33] was saying I mean, if if you know, if people are upset enough, this is you

[55:36] know, this is where we're at. This is, you know, where You can't tax You can't

[55:41] tax people who don't live here. You can't tax just people who don't live

[55:43] here. No, so no, but it has the potential to do something where you

[55:47] that is somehow you offset that. Like, does that enable you to lower, if you

[55:51] get some property tax some um personal property tax revenue, does

[55:56] that enable you to lower the mill rate a certain amount to give the people who do

[55:59] live here a break? Yeah.

[56:02] Does that offset some of the tax burden for other folks? Well, I can I can speak

[56:08] to that personal property tax to some extent. There's There's places where

[56:11] they do it, like Crystal Bay, where there's basically one fishery

[56:15] that's happening. Um

[56:17] they there's it's a fairly simple fishery. It's a short time of year.

[56:21] Really makes sense out there, but you know, like I have 14 gillnets. I think

[56:26] the average person that participates in this fishery has somewhere between 10

[56:31] and 12. And then you're you're you're looking

[56:35] at, well, what's a gillnet worth? Like, because a new gillnet's like 7,500

[56:40] bucks, you know, and a trash gillnet's maybe $500. So, so

[56:46] how do you evaluate that? And how much staff time is it going to take

[56:50] for the fleet? And there's a lot of fleet that just like is going to leave

[56:53] more of their stuff other places, spend less time here if you do that.

[56:57] I think it's going to be really hard to administer. There's going to be people

[57:00] that have lockers and gear. It It just really It's It's not going to

[57:05] be easy to implement that, and it It's, you know,

[57:10] my my take on all this is how how do we get people to spend more time and spend

[57:14] more money here? And so, when you're looking at things

[57:17] like raising the mill rate, like let's say you have a load of halibut.

[57:22] The processors the reason they have survived is because

[57:26] they're really paying attention to their bottom line. So, every every single cost

[57:30] that they have kind of gets passed on to some extent when someone delivers

[57:34] halibut and so it reflects with a lower price. So,

[57:37] you know, if fuel is more expensive here because we tax

[57:40] we tax that at a higher rate or so on and so forth and so

[57:46] you know, there's there's a real conversation, you know,

[57:49] when you're looking at mill rate and looking at senior

[57:53] exemptions, like that's a little bit of money, but you know, every gillnetter

[57:57] that's here on average from a lot of people that I

[58:00] talk to looking at the my receipts, they're they're spending 40 grand a year

[58:03] on their on their going operation. Like that's a significant amount of money.

[58:07] That's a lot more than you're getting from

[58:09] changing someone's house assessment to get $5,000 a year versus $4,000 a year.

[58:15] You know, we want we want to be making it so that

[58:19] those people that that are coming here to fish want to continue to fish here,

[58:23] want to keep their gear here because they spend money here. That's just the

[58:26] bottom line. And so I think

[58:30] if you put a personal property tax, you're just going to drive people away

[58:34] and you know, it

[58:37] if you ever get a chance as we're taking a field trip to Yakutat because their

[58:40] their fisheries have really declined. Um

[58:44] for a variety of reasons, but it it it kind of reminds me of of Cordova in the

[58:48] '90s after the oil spill when when things were really going poorly and

[58:51] there was a national

[58:54] salmon fishing depression and and you know, you know,

[58:58] we're headed that direction the way we're going right now and and

[59:03] I I understand that we need to generate money, but but we just need to be really

[59:08] cautious about what the unintended consequences are

[59:11] going to be of some of these things that sound great on the surface.

[59:16] That just makes me think if we had a state income tax, would people not come

[59:19] here and work around that? Yeah, I just got to say I mean I I totally I think

[59:25] Representative is so knowledgeable about the fishery

[59:28] and everything he just described, but the one thing I do kind of hear often

[59:32] when we're talking about raising any kind of fee in court, well, we'll do it,

[59:35] we're just going to go somewhere else. That's not necessarily always the case,

[59:39] and that's what you're getting at, you know, you have to be a balance, right?

[59:42] You have to make it worth their while and worth worth the city's while or be

[59:46] able to have a functioning community here.

[59:48] Um, obviously, you wouldn't just go wild with any kind of personal tax, but you

[59:52] figure out what that balance point is. And um, just to say that, oh, you're

[59:57] just going to run people elsewhere, that's that's I think that's just too

[1:00:02] um, black and white, Councilman. I I wanted to be clear, too, when I

[1:00:06] talked about a personal property tax, the way it was being discussed earlier,

[1:00:10] which I remember from maybe 15 years ago, was

[1:00:14] um, I I never heard it applied to um, fishing nets, Councilman Erickson. Maybe

[1:00:20] that's what they do in Bristol Bay, but I was thinking mostly boats and planes

[1:00:23] is what I remember hearing. But that doesn't I'm just I was just saying that

[1:00:27] that is something that has been discussed, and I'm not and advocating

[1:00:31] for it, but I'm just saying that And that's something you can determine

[1:00:34] easily through registrations. Right. Yeah. Right. And you can do it based on

[1:00:38] value, or you can do it we were considering doing it just flat rate

[1:00:42] based on the number of feet of the boat.

[1:00:46] So, literally 100 bucks for a skiff, right? But 150 for a bow netter and 300

[1:00:53] for a seiner or something. Yeah, like that.

[1:00:56] Yeah, food for thought. And Bristol Bay is based on value and it's boats only.

[1:01:01] Mhm. Pretty sure. Okay. So. That's everything

[1:01:05] I've known in other states I've lived. Everything when you register your

[1:01:09] vehicle, you're paying your tax on your vehicle every single year. I'm not

[1:01:14] saying that's what we need to do here, I'm just saying that's

[1:01:17] very common source of revenue for everywhere else.

[1:01:21] I mean, that would just be one way of everybody says, how do we how do we tax

[1:01:25] the people who come here because we have a harbor, because we have a fishery?

[1:01:29] They call and they do it every single year.

[1:01:30] » Yeah, they do. Not every every year. So, yeah, it it it yeah, it's very much

[1:01:36] a balance, you know, and and I am not suggesting that we

[1:01:40] completely load on new revenue and not offset it somehow or another way because

[1:01:45] you don't want to >> [clears throat]

[1:01:47] » keep increasing the burden on the people who live here, obviously, than us. The

[1:01:50] point but it is to distribute it among the you know, to have more hands in the

[1:01:54] pot. So, yeah, I mean, this has been a topic over

[1:01:58] and over again is we're all reaching into the same pocket

[1:02:03] to try and pull more money. The goal

[1:02:07] is to find that outside revenue to

[1:02:11] to add into the pot, not just hand it from so-and-so or so-and-so.

[1:02:16] And I mean, we've had many great

[1:02:20] discussions adding homes to this community to add to

[1:02:26] the tax base, to add to the workforce.

[1:02:31] All great discussions. Problem that we have

[1:02:35] is right now, it's in our face. How do we fund it?

[1:02:45] I mean, too, that um the same question becomes the other way,

[1:02:50] when do we stop spending money?

[1:02:54] Right? I mean, if we and as Mr. Wilson said, you know, if we

[1:03:00] are pushing people away, then maybe we need to

[1:03:04] stop spending some money. And we have to give up

[1:03:09] But I I'll have to suggest that we're not chasing people away. I mean, look at

[1:03:14] the population of our schools. There are growing families here.

[1:03:19] You know, um the grade school cannot it's just about at capacity

[1:03:25] um with um classrooms and the number of

[1:03:29] people in classrooms. Um classrooms are not big enough for 36

[1:03:33] children. Um so I I don't feel like we are

[1:03:38] pushing people away. In fact, people are staying in

[1:03:43] my experience just based on the other school.

[1:03:46] Um I might be wrong, but um that's the evidence that in our school

[1:03:51] population. But I I guess I was going to throw one

[1:03:55] other question out and to explore and that is

[1:03:58] the interest on our permanent fund money.

[1:04:02] Um where does that go? Where does it stay? Is it something that can be

[1:04:07] um considered

[1:04:11] um in an

[1:04:13] emergency budget shortfall? Not the permanent fund principle itself, but its

[1:04:17] interest. Currently, it's reinvested into the

[1:04:22] permanent fund. Um

[1:04:26] No, I I think the end goal is not to

[1:04:31] pull and take and pull and take out of permanent fund cuz you're selling

[1:04:35] you could be selling at the worst possible time. And so you're you're not

[1:04:39] only taking that money out, but you're losing

[1:04:43] money. We're just talking about the interest.

[1:04:45] » I'm just talking about the interest. I'm not I'm not pulling funds out. Just like

[1:04:48] But you're not reinvesting any money into the Well, I think that you just So

[1:04:51] the answer is at at this point it's getting reinvested. I think that was

[1:04:55] approved by The laws of the income. Uh I don't know about the laws of the

[1:05:00] income. >> We would have to look at that.

[1:05:01] » Well, we had I mean the when we did two three years ago when we changed who

[1:05:06] was investing our permanent fund and how they're doing I mean great presentation.

[1:05:11] And his recommendation was and I would have to look back the dollar amount.

[1:05:15] He's like, "Before you start using your interest

[1:05:20] as part of your budget, you should be at this amount. When you're at this amount,

[1:05:25] then it makes sense for you to take a portion of that interest, and you can

[1:05:29] include that into your budget." And there were different projections on that

[1:05:34] of when we could reach that point, but the whole idea was I mean, we were what?

[1:05:39] Well, million in there.

[1:05:44] Whatever you were at, $5 million in there, yeah.

[1:05:47] I was thinking of where our budget Yeah, but Yeah, I mean, we can look into

[1:05:53] that, and we can also have Blake come here, and and he has been asking to

[1:05:56] come. I think he wanted to come today. No, no. Good. Blake is the um

[1:06:03] Alaska permanent capital management. Who's From Alaska.

[1:06:07] Sounds like a construction company. Like it's uh United States of America,

[1:06:11] something like that. But um yeah. I mean, and I'll throw this out on the

[1:06:15] table cuz we have this discussion every year, so we might as well get it out

[1:06:18] there now. We're at 6% um

[1:06:21] net tax and a lot.

[1:06:26] April April accommodation at Pop Store in downtown.

[1:06:32] Revenue in your own >> [laughter]

[1:06:35] » They will pay. They got no other building to put at least their buildings

[1:06:37] in there. They will pay. They They They got um Is it a modular?

[1:06:42] I mean, that's all they got in site prep. Yeah, they today uh a man who went

[1:06:46] checked out their foundations to make sure they were there um

[1:06:50] The backs. Thank you. And so Yeah, they're moving. Cool.

[1:06:56] A good company. I mean, that is a until revenue source.

[1:07:01] Well, I mean, it'd be interesting to know so what is that figure? What's what

[1:07:04] what if we if we bump it up to seven, what's the 1%? I'm just going to bring

[1:07:08] the budget in here, do you know? >> Yeah, yeah. I mean, but that might be

[1:07:11] » we've talked it like about Gerald. Take the amount in the budget for that and

[1:07:16] add a percent. I think it was like we did that.

[1:07:20] But we don't know what the map We don't know what the marijuana tax is going to

[1:07:24] be. >> Right, but even though we just do one

[1:07:26] one. No, it should be better than what we

[1:07:30] have. We had We had that figured.

[1:07:33] » It was like 80 grand. Yeah, it was like 80 grand.

[1:07:36] » It was proposed, yeah. I don't know about weed. It's an unknown amount from

[1:07:41] a marijuana. Right, but uh wasn't the issue that

[1:07:47] the bed tax is 7%, but the other one is at six? The bed tax is six. Everything

[1:07:53] is at six. Our taxes are six. >> Okay.

[1:07:55] » Sales tax is six. >> So that's Oh, oh, oh, that's what I

[1:07:58] heard. Do we have a head tax for the tourists

[1:08:03] who um um cruise ships? Yes. It's very minimal.

[1:08:08] It's a Only takes it. Pardon me? That's the harbor enterprise.

[1:08:12] There are rules about where you can put that head tax. It is also very minimal.

[1:08:17] We put and we don't meet the threshold for state funding. state funding. Yeah,

[1:08:24] what is that called? The cruise passenger vessel tax. I don't I don't

[1:08:27] know. Right, that would be a share. Where you get a share from. We don't

[1:08:34] Did we have any cruise ships? We only had one sailing

[1:08:37] this year, right? Yesterday. Yeah, one cruise was here this week.

[1:08:42] Yeah, like You think we had I think we had five people. I think it was five or

[1:08:46] six here. Five or six this year. Yeah, I think it was like 30 people.

[1:08:49] Okay. I know we did.

[1:08:52] Well, >> So, I would say are there are there

[1:08:55] specific things that we want to ask the manager or the finance director to

[1:08:59] prepare, like if you're looking for figures for

[1:09:02] sake that you'd like to have for the next

[1:09:05] meeting. Is there anything that

[1:09:09] or perhaps you could we couldn't get that

[1:09:14] information if you if you come away with I mean with the next meeting is June

[1:09:18] 3rd, so the deadline for that packet is next Wednesday.

[1:09:21] So if you have ideas for things that you would like to see in the packet that

[1:09:25] would help with the discussion for June 3rd.

[1:09:29] Um can we get that to the manager by I'm already done. Do you already have

[1:09:34] anything? Yeah, I know. Well, I mean sometimes you think about it a couple

[1:09:38] days later, so I'm just saying what Monday?

[1:09:42] Um get it to Sam or learn anything by

[1:09:44] Monday? No. Monday is Memorial Day. Oh.

[1:09:49] Yeah, maybe Friday I mean we're off Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is the

[1:09:53] packet. We have to be able to pull together. I mean depending on what the

[1:09:56] question is. Hard to know if you don't know what

[1:09:58] the question is. I mean we could do the math tax season.

[1:10:03] I mean I mean we kind of have a rough guess

[1:10:05] right now. It increased

[1:10:07] from last year. I don't foresee our sales tax going up next year

[1:10:11] for fiscal year '27 other than we will have marijuana tax.

[1:10:18] Yeah, so our math should increase even though we don't

[1:10:23] I I will say though we lost uh huge work forces with these type of

[1:10:30] grants that are not downtown. Uh

[1:10:34] Aren't we going to have a lot of work starting this fall?

[1:10:40] And so the you mean for Odiak? So Odiak Do we have Yeah, Odiak might be in South

[1:10:45] Hadley, but I mean we're talking like the approval of what? Five people at the

[1:10:48] And not I thought maybe White Church Road or what I mean that's the spring of

[1:10:52] '27. And the same with Second Street. I wouldn't see those projects bringing in

[1:10:56] like exponential sales tax savings. They're going to bring all their

[1:11:00] supplies. And then yeah, you're going to have a

[1:11:02] crew here that's going to be spending a lot of money. But like

[1:11:05] » Again, we're not talking hundreds of people coming for this project.

[1:11:08] » Yeah. Yeah. But some we do have a group of

[1:11:13] people staying at the school starting next week.

[1:11:17] And I don't know if that's National Guard or CERT or RT. The red the

[1:11:20] readiness team, the NDE. Are they paying rent to the school?

[1:11:25] The National Guard is? Yes. I suppose so. I don't know for sure. Um

[1:11:31] Okay, I Additional revenue? I don't know. I I can't answer definitively.

[1:11:36] Sorry. Yeah.

[1:11:38] Well, I'm just suggesting that if folks think of

[1:11:41] things they would like a little bit more information on to help with this

[1:11:44] discussion, it'd be good to get that to the manager. Let's just say

[1:11:48] maybe by the end of the day on Friday. Ideally.

[1:11:57] Yeah, are there other considerations, other things? I'm just

[1:12:02] trying to think of a couple other information we might want or other ways

[1:12:06] we can make this as constructive as possible.

[1:12:10] Um I mean, it seems like the main the the

[1:12:14] most immediate levers we have are I don't know.

[1:12:18] Property tax, the map tax.

[1:12:23] Um I see employees. Yeah, cutting staff. Well, we don't

[1:12:28] have to do that now, but if we don't if we do certain things, then it will

[1:12:33] become I'm just saying. I mean Okay. It's just services. It's cutting

[1:12:37] services, which equates to work staff. It does, but that one is what the

[1:12:42] community needs to hear is what service are we cutting?

[1:12:48] Which is in turn going to mean letting people

[1:12:52] go. Hiring people. Because we can't afford

[1:12:55] this service in our community.

[1:13:00] Yeah, and I also think the thing that we were made very aware of by the manager

[1:13:04] last meeting when we made a decision to approve the 181 for the school district

[1:13:09] for South Colonie at 26. So, that's it's urgent. That's happening

[1:13:14] this year. We need to be able to cover that.

[1:13:20] And I don't I also I hope everybody understands that

[1:13:24] doesn't relieve you our school payments. That just keeps it from increasing until

[1:13:29] we sign. That's all it's doing. It's not taking away.

[1:13:35] So, we still have large payments in 2027.

[1:13:39] Payments in 2027. I mean, you're probably making

[1:13:43] Making this huge less huge. Right. It's not offsetting though. It's just

[1:13:48] beneficial to both the school and the city.

[1:13:54] Okay, well, are there any other points folks want to make tonight?

[1:14:01] I don't want to cut anybody off. I also want to be asked.

[1:14:09] I think this discussion is possible then.

[1:14:15] Okay, why don't we take a quick look if we have anything

[1:14:22] else I mean pending agenda. This is a huge pending agenda item, but is there

[1:14:26] anything else we feel like we need to put on

[1:14:29] pending agenda or the calendar? Next meeting is June 3rd.

[1:14:36] There will be a public hearing also with the one Saturday version 1 fee when we

[1:14:41] went to the school of public hearing and now ready is a break.

[1:14:45] Mhm. Okay.

[1:14:49] Yeah. maybe just I think

[1:14:53] some of us are here, but moving our

[1:14:57] um annual I'm going to have an annual but

[1:15:00] our uh state of the finance where we're at. I

[1:15:05] know there's been I I think I'm going to go down here on quarterly basis, but

[1:15:10] that's not sustainable but in the near future we can get a year to be able to

[1:15:14] where our finance I know it's wildly productive.

[1:15:18] Last year to be able to just have a and ended up being about a mid-year as of

[1:15:22] end of June and our first of July meeting audit is done.

[1:15:28] Um I just want to throw that out there

[1:15:31] sometime in the next month finance can get that to us.

[1:15:37] Just and hopefully that helps us all come budget cycle because we're seeing

[1:15:41] where we're at today. We >> [clears throat]

[1:15:46] » You can do anything. >> I mean

[1:15:49] um all we have right now is the first

[1:15:52] quarter's figures, right? And we won't have additional figures till the end of

[1:15:58] till June 30th or What if the lag time is after that?

[1:16:01] That's what it'll be. Yeah, so potentially we could get uh a budget

[1:16:06] versus actual report maybe in mid-July. Yeah.

[1:16:10] Seems like that would be um and with the audit would we get an

[1:16:16] audit presentation from the auditors in June? Are they No, when do they

[1:16:23] And we're not that good. Even though like this week we gotten

[1:16:28] through that part of the process. Sorry, I just invited Yeah, no, you're good. Um

[1:16:33] it audit isn't over. Yeah, yeah, I know I know. There's still follow-up back and

[1:16:37] forth. Um so that's a process and then the reports to be written. We do

[1:16:42] anticipate that it will be sooner than the past couple years it's been like

[1:16:46] September 28th when it's due to the state by the 30th. We're hoping for

[1:16:51] sooner than that. Yeah. Okay.

[1:16:55] Well, good. So, okay. So, we should maybe just look for the budget versus

[1:16:58] actual for this year by the middle of July and

[1:17:03] after July 31st would be better cuz then you'd have after second quarter sales

[1:17:07] tax. Oh, cuz it's not due until July 31st.

[1:17:12] Okay. There's always updated information. Like

[1:17:15] at some point we just need to pick a date and say let's do it today.

[1:17:20] Um not today. I think the little bit of bills we can

[1:17:23] see in the first of July is what the impact to the

[1:17:27] to the city was for electric fuel.

[1:17:30] » Yes. And we can see where that's trending

[1:17:33] even without I mean it's revenue is one thing, but it's still

[1:17:36] Sure. And expenses never stop going. That.

[1:17:40] Like in June. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Last year we had a work session. It was a I

[1:17:46] don't know, probably 30 45-minute work session or something like that. But it

[1:17:50] was we were able to just ask what I can ask and dialogue. Where are we trending?

[1:17:54] What do we need to start thinking about for our actual budget cycle. It's It was

[1:17:59] just really nice instead of October when we really started the budget and then

[1:18:03] with past administrations, this Okay. Oh, shoot. We're Everything's on fire. I

[1:18:08] wish we would have known this in June, which we could have seen this in May.

[1:18:13] And this is where So, So, maybe meeting or maybe first

[1:18:18] July meeting. I had work session previous to one of

[1:18:21] those two. Um like energy costs.

[1:18:25] Contingency. This is June to December. So, you're okay.

[1:18:28] Okay. Okay. No.

[1:18:30] We don't show the fuel. We'll show the electricity.

[1:18:34] Yeah, we We won't have revenue. It's not going to

[1:18:38] be a very good shot.

[1:18:41] Yeah, we won't really have an idea on that yet just cuz our largest revenue

[1:18:46] orders are second and third. Right. Okay.

[1:18:50] Thank you.

[1:18:53] All right. So then let's go to audience participation.

[1:19:01] Do you audience people want to participate? Why not?

[1:19:07] Okay. Then we'll go to council comments. We're

[1:19:11] going to start on this side with council member Kintz.

[1:19:16] Uh I would just right up the bat thank you Cheryl and Brenda and Tammy and Pam

[1:19:21] for a great audit this year. And really it's fantastic to see year over year. We

[1:19:26] know where we were at last year and how much we added to.

[1:19:29] And I'm excited to see when they actually finish their audit and can get

[1:19:33] back to us cuz I'll I'll go and track and see when they did their presentation

[1:19:37] last year and we can skip. But anyways, great that they're leaving

[1:19:42] um because they feel confident and what

[1:19:46] they're seeing is why they're leaving. It's great. I I think that's that's

[1:19:50] really um something I want to highlight as

[1:19:54] we're talking about all these all these cuts, all these things. That's great,

[1:19:57] but this is an accomplishment. This is what gives our city credibility. This is

[1:20:03] what um really hopefully makes everyone just

[1:20:08] listening feel better about the money you're spending.

[1:20:11] It's all accounted. We don't have I mean it's and it's being accounted for based

[1:20:16] off of financial principles and guidelines and

[1:20:20] guidance that's all set at even a national level. Um so it's a great

[1:20:25] accomplishment pointing to us finally having a financial director. So uh

[1:20:30] position we've and had been vacant for

[1:20:35] a long time. And having someone here

[1:20:39] and I know we've gone back and forth with um having some

[1:20:43] outside services to fill some of that position. Um so,

[1:20:48] thank you for that. That was great news, actually, to just highlight what what we

[1:20:52] do in the city. Um

[1:20:57] I the answer some comment public comment.

[1:21:01] We There's a public hearing next week about the mill rate. Love to hear some

[1:21:06] suggestions on well, what you would like to see us do

[1:21:10] besides just don't raise the mill rate. It's not productive.

[1:21:14] It's not. It's not productive for anyone. It's not a conversation piece.

[1:21:18] Um really isn't.

[1:21:20] I'm the people here from us and generally you see us around in the

[1:21:25] community or all of our emails are posted online or whatever whatever you

[1:21:30] feel like you need to do, you have a message, you get it out, get it out. Let

[1:21:34] us know. This is our community.

[1:21:38] It's our community. And at least I'm I'm I feel very

[1:21:42] fortunate. Yeah. Very nice little plan on looking at her, so.

[1:21:46] Um I know property taxes I've paid in a lot of

[1:21:51] other communities are far more expensive than the property

[1:21:55] taxes here. Some other cost of living items here. That's

[1:21:59] That's happening. There is also a price to live in

[1:22:02] paradise. And the amenities that we have here

[1:22:07] um uh

[1:22:11] are the amenities that you truly want. And how do we want to pay for them?

[1:22:18] Thank you. Member Reading. Uh congratulations, Cheryl and finance

[1:22:23] team. That's great work. Um I appreciate

[1:22:29] every comment that's brought in to the table.

[1:22:32] Um Comments brought to us helpful.

[1:22:36] festivals on Facebook not helpful. So, if you have something to say,

[1:22:41] bring it to us and say it on the record and have the discussion.

[1:22:46] Um

[1:22:49] That's about all we got.

[1:22:52] Assembly Adams. Um

[1:22:57] Echo the congratulations to Sheryl and the department for um

[1:23:00] successful audit. I know that when we had it at the

[1:23:03] school, it's a successful time for that department as well. So, um

[1:23:08] congratulations on that. Um

[1:23:11] just uh hopeful wish for the fleet um for good fishing and safe fishing. Um

[1:23:18] And I have one thing I wanted to share that I

[1:23:22] thought was appropriate tonight and uh Councilman Kinsman you brought up the

[1:23:25] the privilege of living here. Um

[1:23:28] Gabe Jacko wrote today on Facebook and I think it's we'll just end on a

[1:23:34] high high note here. I recently hosted a couple of friends

[1:23:37] from Anchorage for Shorebird Festival. Showing them around Cordova reminded me

[1:23:41] of what a wonderful place this is, filled with amazing people and so much

[1:23:45] going for us here. And he has a list. State Ferry, Alaska

[1:23:49] Airlines, US Coast Guard, Fish and Game, US Forest Service, Native Village of

[1:23:54] Eyak, Prince William Sound Science Center, Copper River Watershed Project,

[1:23:59] Community Medical Center, Ilanka Health Center, Cordova Center, Library and

[1:24:03] Museum, Bidarki Rec Center, Cordova Community Foundation, Ilanka Cultural

[1:24:08] Center, Volunteer Fire Department, Pioneers

[1:24:12] and Moose, Modern Small Boat Harbor, operating fish processors, world-class

[1:24:17] commercial and sport fishing, oysters and kelp, trails, diverse, caring, and

[1:24:22] involved and talented population, volunteers to help with our long list of

[1:24:26] festivals, special events, and times of need. Good schools with great teachers,

[1:24:31] dance, music, and theater, charters and outfitters, significant power source

[1:24:36] from hydro. So many great small businesses, Net

[1:24:40] Loft, Copper River Brewery, Baja Taco, Orca Adventure Lodge, Whale's Tail,

[1:24:45] Reluctant Fisherman, Little Bakery, Jen's Pizzeria, Pet Projects, Cordova

[1:24:50] Gear, Seafood Sales, two grocery stores, Napa, Ace Hardware, LFS, Sue's knives,

[1:24:56] Powerhouse, and so much more. Envy of any small town and surrounded by

[1:25:02] nature's wilderness, beauty and bounty. Remember, no place

[1:25:06] anywhere ever stays the same.

[1:25:10] Oh, I just I think we all need to hear that.

[1:25:14] Great. Wonderful tribute.

[1:25:16] Um, I want to go online to you, Council Member Mickelson.

[1:25:22] Your council comments? Yeah, I Well, first uh

[1:25:27] wish uh congratulations to the graduating

[1:25:30] seniors. That's super exciting. Um And uh yeah, thanks. It's It's nice to

[1:25:36] hear some some good stuff on the on the audit and and I appreciate all

[1:25:40] the hard work that's happened there. Um I'm I'm glad we're starting this

[1:25:45] discussion early and yeah, I hope I hope our community comes out. It and that

[1:25:49] sort of brings me to another thing that has been brought up in the past is

[1:25:53] how how are people that are out on the fishing grounds? Have we Have we come up

[1:25:57] with a way that they can call in the meetings and comment

[1:26:01] because, you know, uh I'm leaving here in a

[1:26:04] couple hours for this first opener. And if we get back on our Monday and

[1:26:09] Thursday schedule, which hopefully we will, there's going to be a lot of

[1:26:12] people that are going to be anchored up in their spots Wednesday night. So I I

[1:26:16] like to put in another plug for having um a way

[1:26:21] for those those of us that are community members that would like to participate

[1:26:25] in our local government to call in. So, thank you.

[1:26:31] Thank you, Councilmember Nicholson. Um Councilmember Aspen. I'm just thinking

[1:26:35] about what Councilmember Nicholson said. I'm I'm sure there's a way for people to

[1:26:38] do written comments that could be brought here in during sessions that are

[1:26:41] not that are not here more. So, hopefully there's some way they can

[1:26:43] provide those. Yeah. It's a It's a good point.

[1:26:47] Um Yeah, congratulations to our finance

[1:26:51] team as as well. And I love seeing our our manager with that bright, cheery

[1:26:55] look on her face when she was telling us about it. A very bright spot, I'm sure,

[1:26:58] for staff, which is fantastic. Um Um I too am really thankful to have this

[1:27:03] discussion tonight before we actually have the hard decisions we need to make

[1:27:07] next week. And I know for myself, I'm going to spend quite a bit of time

[1:27:11] thinking and ruminating and asking questions of staff before the next

[1:27:14] meeting. So, that um I'm as prepared as I can be for any decisions that we make

[1:27:19] on how we're going to deal with this problem.

[1:27:21] Um I'd also like to thank Councilmember

[1:27:26] Aspen for bringing up Dave Janka's um description of why Cordova is so

[1:27:30] special. And coming from uh Dave Janka, that's huge. I just recently had the

[1:27:34] pleasure over at um Councilmember Rainey's uh lodge to meet a couple of

[1:27:39] people that I had worked with over 30 years ago here in Cordova through an uh

[1:27:44] um international program called uh uh

[1:27:47] um Raleigh International. And uh this person that I met there was only here

[1:27:52] for a short couple of months, and they had the opportunity to take advantage of

[1:27:56] Dave Janka's uh um uh

[1:27:59] boat to get transported to different work sites. She remembered how amazing

[1:28:04] he was, how friendly, how how welcoming he was to our community. And that's

[1:28:08] something I think that people will spend a a couple months here, a couple days

[1:28:14] here, and they feel so welcomed in our community, and they remember that, and

[1:28:18] they talk about how special Cordova is, even if they've only been here once for

[1:28:21] a short period of time. Literally, 30 years later, she had said that it was

[1:28:24] the one of the most formative times in her life being here in Cordova.

[1:28:29] So, that's a testament to how amazing this place Cordova is.

[1:28:35] It's an awesome place. Thanks. Thank you to City staff and all

[1:28:39] the hard workers. You guys voted and everything.

[1:28:42] Awesome. Just doing our

[1:28:45] another tough situation, once again. Um

[1:28:49] and I hope to never be in the situation

[1:28:54] where we were last year where Anne Marie came and sat down with her

[1:28:58] kids after she was terminated. And

[1:29:03] I apologize for you to make that happen to me by calling and doing that.

[1:29:08] And that still sits with me today. So,

[1:29:12] I don't say those things lightly. Um Cordova is an amazing place.

[1:29:17] I mean, I I showed up here, and I never left.

[1:29:20] Um I've grown up in a

[1:29:23] commercial fishing family, and commercial fishing was my whole

[1:29:27] life, and uh growing up,

[1:29:33] the ebb and flow of finding We lived high, we lived low.

[1:29:38] That's how it always was. Um and for this community,

[1:29:42] uh it's it's seen some lows, and it's seen some highs, and it's going to

[1:29:46] continue to ebb and flow. And I'm glad that we're here to make these

[1:29:51] decisions and have conversations to to move forward.

[1:29:55] And uh thank you everybody at [clears throat]

[1:29:58] the table for all their comments.

[1:30:02] Thank you. Awesome comments.

[1:30:08] I guess I really appreciated on top of the session I heard from

[1:30:14] other council. I think I didn't interview much to it and thanks to them

[1:30:19] for starting process. So staff and council as well as staff is going to be

[1:30:23] a little better understanding going to next meeting. So

[1:30:29] we appreciate everyone's different perspectives on

[1:30:35] I wanted to share too. I got a thank you card from the Alaska Democratic Party

[1:30:40] after the convention in April and their comments were a little bit briefer than

[1:30:44] Dave's but echoed um Let's see. Cordova reminded me of home

[1:30:50] and I'll never forget it. That was one comment. There were like four people who

[1:30:53] wrote on this card. And let's see. Your city is stunning,

[1:30:57] warm, and friendly and such a great community. Thank you for please don't

[1:31:01] hesitate to let us know how we can support you.

[1:31:04] um 600,000

[1:31:07] people

[1:31:11] On behalf of the Alaska Democratic Party, we send our sincere thanks and

[1:31:14] appreciation to you and the people of Cordova, all of whom were warm and

[1:31:17] welcoming. um The event was an overall success and

[1:31:20] provides great momentum. And with gratitude Alaska

[1:31:24] [clears throat] Democrats, but anyway, they also felt like it was welcoming and

[1:31:28] friendly and a great place to have a meeting. Everybody raved about this

[1:31:31] building. I think I said that already but

[1:31:34] super um impressed. So yeah, again, just echoing reinforcing all the

[1:31:38] comments that people have already made about

[1:31:41] the special community. So

[1:31:45] Yeah, thank you. All right. Well, then we will

[1:31:50] I guess there's one more motion.

[1:31:54] Move to adjourn. Second. Okay. Yeah, third.

[1:32:00] 8:31 by the phones. Want to give me that card? I'll put it over next packet of

[1:32:04] the mail. Then that comes to you right away. It's

[1:32:08] for me. Yeah. Yeah, but as mayor or as Yeah, so I'll put it in the next packet.

[1:32:16] Well, you don't want me to? I mean I Yeah.

[1:32:24] I understand.

May 20, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting

Transcript