Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/14/1997 08:01 AM House CRA
| Audio | Topic |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 14, 1997
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ivan Ivan, Chairman
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative Scott Ogan
Representative Joe Ryan
Representative Jerry Sanders
Representative Al Kookesh
Representative Reggie Joule
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Presentation: Local Boundary Commission's Annual
Report to the Legislature
* HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 17
Disapproving Local Boundary Commission recommendation number two
regarding the annexation of the territory to the City and Borough
of Yakutat.
- FAILED TO MOVE HJR 17 OUT OF COMMITTEE
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HJR 17
SHORT TITLE: DISAPPROVE YAKUTAT BOUNDARY CHANGES
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) KUBINA
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/29/97 163 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/29/97 164 (H) CRA
02/14/97 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
DARROLL HARGRAVES, Chair Person
Local Boundary Commission
Department of Community and
Regional Affairs
333 West Fourth Avenue, Suite 220
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2341
Telephone: (907) 269-4560
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Commission's Annual Report
Testified on HJR 17.
REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA
Alaska State Legislature
Capital Building, Room 404
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-4859
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HJR 17.
SENATOR JERRY MACKIE
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 427
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-4925
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HJR 17.
JOHN CHRISTENSEN, Chairman
Chugach Alaska Corporation
560 East 34th Avenue
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Telephone: (907) 563-8966
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HJR 17.
SCOTT JANKE, City Manager
City of Cordova
Box 1210
Cordova, Alaska 99574
Telephone: (907) 563-8966
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HJR 17.
JAMES BRENNAN, Borough Attorney
City and Borough of Yakutat
Hedland, Fleischer, Friedman,
Brennan and Cooke, P.C.
1227 West Ninth Avenue, Suite 300
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Telephone: (907) 279-5528
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified against HJR 17.
DARYL JAMES, Mayor
City and Borough of Yakutat
P.O. Box 160
Yakutat, Alaska 99689
Telephone: (907) 784-3323
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified against HJR 17.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 97-8, SIDE A
Number 014
CHAIRMAN IVAN IVAN called the House Community and Regional Affairs
Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Members present
at the call to order were Representatives Dyson, Ogan, Sanders,
Ryan and Kookesh. Representative Joule arrived at 8:05 a.m.
Number 127
DARROLL HARGRAVES, Chair Person, Local Boundary Commission (LBC),
Department of Community and Regional Affairs, came forward to
present the commission's annual report to the committee and to
comment on HJR 17. This annual report encompasses the commission's
activities for the past year. The members of this commission
represent various judicial districts across the state of Alaska.
He then listed each of the board members which were present at the
meeting.
MR. HARGRAVES highlighted the activities enumerated in the report
disseminated to the committee. The Local Boundary Commission filed
its annual report with the legislature on January 22, 1997, and
copies of it were provided to all members of the House and Senate.
The roles and duties of the Local Boundary Commission were
established to ensure that proposals to create and alter cities,
boroughs, and unified municipalities would be considered
objectively and from a broad perspective. Of the 130 or so state
boards and commissions, it's only the Local Boundary Commission,
along with four others, which have origins in Alaska's
Constitution. The matters which have come before the Local
Boundary Commission this past year in the domain of their
responsibilities have included such things as incorporation,
annexation, detachment, dissolution, mergers, consolidation and
reclassification.
MR. HARGRAVES stated that the commission itself consists of the
five members introduced, one is appointed from each of Alaska's
four judicial districts. The fifth, the chair person is appointed
at large. The Local Boundary Commission members serve at the
pleasure of the governor. They are appointed for overlapping five
year terms. These commission members are volunteers serving and
providing a public service. They are not compensated. The staff
which supports the commission comes from the Department of
Community and Regional Affairs.
MR. HARGRAVES outlined the activities they undertook after 17
meetings to include the following: They approved a petition by the
City and Borough of Yakutat for annexation of the Gulf of Alaska
coastal region from the one hundred and forty-first meridian to
Cape Suckling. They rejected a petition for detachment of 5,400
square miles from the Fairbanks North Star Borough. They rejected
a Petition for Incorporation of a 10,000 square mile, home rule,
North Pole Borough. They approved a petition by the Fairbanks
North Star Borough for detachment of 13 acres from the City of
Fairbanks and they approved the petition for the dissolution for
the City of Akiak.
Number 437
MR. HARGRAVES stated that two of their actions are subject to the
review of this legislature. These two actions includes the
detachment of territory from the city of Fairbanks and the Yakutat
annexation. Article 10, Section 12 of Alaska's Constitution
provides the legislature with 45 days to review these actions. The
45 day review period begun with the filing of the commission's
report on January 22. The time period runs until March 8. Under
the Constitution, legislative approval is automatic unless the
House and Senate adopt a joint resolution rejecting the action.
MR. HARGRAVES noted that the two items which the legislature would
be responsible for considering would be the detachment of territory
from the City of Fairbanks. In this particular case it was
relatively straight forward. It involved the proposal from the
Fairbanks North Star Borough for detachment of approximately 13
acres from the city. There were no respondents which gave any
testimony or documentation against this transaction. The proposal
was endorsed by the City of Fairbanks. The detachment was proposed
to allow the Fairbanks North Star Borough to use bond funds for the
construction of a solid waste transfer site.
MR. HARGRAVES stated that in contrast to this situation, the
Yakutat annexation proposal was complex and it involved a number of
fundamental public policy matters. The City and Borough of Yakutat
sought annexation of territory extending the western boundary of
the city and borough further west to Cape Suckling. The annexation
petition has its origins in the unsuccessful attempt to include the
territory in question within the original 1990 boundaries of the
City and Borough of Yakutat. In February of last year, the City
and Borough of Yakutat petitioned the LBC for annexation of this
territory. The City and Borough of Yakutat contended that approval
of the annexation would enhance the ability of that city and
borough to extend its jurisdiction over an area where they
contended that Yakutat residents have demonstrated important
personal interests affecting their lives. There is a history of
significant land use of this area and of resource management
conflicts in this area which requires greater government planning.
There is a need for other local government services as well. These
were the arguments they heard from the City and Borough of Yakutat.
Number 618
MR. HARGRAVES said that throughout the proceedings there was an
alternative position given by various Prince William Sound
community bodies, organizations and individuals who vigorously
opposed the annexation proposal. The Local Boundary Commission
conducted public hearings on December 14 and 15, 1996, in Cordova
and Yakutat with 12 teleconference sites to allow many others to
participate. The commission received some 15 1/2 hours of
testimony concerning the annexation proposal. Following two hours
of deliberation on December 16, 1996, the commission amended the
Yakutat annexation petition to include approximately 184 square
miles lying within the model borough boundaries of the Copper River
Region. The commission then unanimously approved the amended
petition.
MR. HARGRAVES continued that on December 19, the Local Boundary
Commission adopted an 18 page decisional statement explaining the
basis of its decision in this matter, to amend and approve the
Yakutat Annexation Petition. A copy of the decisional statement
was provided on the same day to the petitioner, respondents and to
other concerned entities, thus rendering the LBC's action in the
matter final. At this point it has also been included in their
January 22 report to the legislature beginning at page 35. The
parties had until January 8, 1997, to seek reconsideration of the
decision.
Number 790
MR. HARGRAVES stated that the Local Boundary Commission conducted
a meeting by teleconference on January 14, 1997, at 10:00 a.m. to
address four such requests for reconsideration. On January 14, the
Local Boundary Commission unanimously rejected all four requests
for reconsideration of its decision. On January 22, the Local
Boundary Commission's decision was presented to the first session
of the 20th Legislature for review. Legislative approval of the
matter will be automatic unless both houses of the Legislature
rejects the LBC's recommendation within 45 days of the date it is
filed. Annexation would take effect after legislative approval and
the receipt of documentation that Yakutat has complied with the
federal Voting Rights Act.
Number 843
CHAIRMAN IVAN noticed for the record that Representative Gene
Kubina and Senator Jerry Mackie had joined the proceedings.
Number 890
REPRESENTATIVE AL KOOKESH stated that the importance of public
hearings is that everyone has had an opportunity of adequate time
before a body such as the Boundary Commission for questions and
debate. He noted that, obviously, the House Community and Regional
Affairs Committee doesn't have time for the kind of public
testimony which the commission was able to take in relation to this
issue. He said it appeared to him that there were about 50 hours
of hearings and about 4,000 pages of testimony taken. He asked Mr.
Hargraves if he thought this was adequate to support the decision
which the commission made.
MR. HARGRAVES answered, yes, that this has been a very extensive
hearing process taking into account the original petition to create
a city and borough in this area. He stated this testimony, written
and otherwise, was adequate to support the decision which the
commission has made, especially since the presenters on both sides
of the issue directed their testimony toward specific standards.
It was his personal opinion that in the case of the City and
Borough of Yakutat that there was tremendous amounts of information
presented by both sides.
Number 1074
MR. HARGRAVES added that in this City and Borough of Yakutat
petition the decision of the commission was unanimous.
Number 1100
REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON noted that on page 42, second paragraph
of the commission's report, it makes reference to the fact that the
Local Boundary Commission approved the amended petition by a vote
of four to one.
Number 1136
MR. HARGRAVES pointed out that the date on this notation was 1992,
and this would have been the original incorporation of the City and
Borough of Yakutat. There was a four to one vote in this instance
and he didn't know what the minority opinion was expressed in the
corresponding decisional statement. He confirmed that the record
of this person's position could be found by referring to the
decisional statement of the original action.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said he would enjoy seeing this documentation.
Number 1196
REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN asked Mr. Hargraves to explain the action
of the recent Lake Louise case.
MR. HARGRAVES responded, that in this instance, they approved the
decisional statement yesterday. He said he'd make this information
available to the committee. The decision in that instance was a
two/two vote which defeated the motion to allow the incorporation.
In that instance, one member of the commission had declared a
conflict of interest because of a prior contractor/employment
relationship with the Mat-Su Borough. This two/two decision has
been an interesting point to deal with. What this means and the
implications of it is something the commission is having to deal
with at this time. Again, they did approve the decisional
statement and that gives the position of both sides in that vote.
Number 1274
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said he was interested as to why the commission
disallowed the incorporation of the city when it was a
recommendation incorporated earlier by the commission. He asked
why the change of heart.
MR. HARGRAVES stated that he could only speak as one vote in this
instance and guessed that this was a lingering question that
concerns him somewhat. "It perhaps will cause me to think more
through on the point of giving the - any kind of approval of
anything that carries with it certain stipulations that the Local
Boundary Commission continues to hold the controls on at a later
date. I'm going to have to rethink that. It was a two/two vote
and both sides are pretty well presented in our decisional
statement. I wouldn't want to try to speak for the opposing side
on that."
Number 1327
CHAIRMAN IVAN announced that there were teleconference sites set up
for participation in Anchorage, Glennallen, Cordova, Petersburg,
and Valdez. He mentioned specifically Mr. Dan Billman from Lake
Louise and Ms. Mona Swanson from Yakutat.
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN stated for the record, "I think it's
unfortunate that these people, my perception, have been ragged
around by the commission. They were told they wanted to secede
from the borough - they asked to secede from the borough, they were
told 'you can do it under two conditions, you can do it if you form
a second class city or join another borough.' There was not
another borough to organize. These people went through tremendous
effort for several years and a lot of heartburn to jump through the
hoops to form as a second class city and then you say, you can't be
a second class city." He said that his sympathies go to his
constituents in this area who have labored terribly over this
situation. He thought it was a grave inconsistency of the
commission to do this.
HJR 17 - DISAPPROVE YAKUTAT BOUNDARY CHANGES
Number 1551
REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA, Sponsor of HJR 17, came forward to
testify. He referred to a sponsor statement and map which was
provided to the committee. He then read the sponsor statement into
the record.
"HJR 17 disapproves the Local Boundary Commissions recommendation
to annex an additional 2,800 square miles of territory to the
existing 4,898 square miles that is already in the City and Borough
of Yakutat. The Local Boundary Commission presented this
recommendation to the Legislature on January 22, 1997. Under
Article X, Section 12, of the Constitution of the State of Alaska,
a recommendation of the LBC presented to the Legislature becomes
effective 45 days after presentation, unless disapproved by a
resolution concurred in by the majority of the members of each
house. The 45th day is March 8, 1997."
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA stated, for background purposes, that the
petition before the committee comes on the heels of a 1992 Supreme
Court decision to exclude this very same area from the City and
Borough of Yakutat. The recent recommendation by the LBC is a 180
degree change in its prior position on the appropriateness of this
area going to Yakutat. This recent decision was made in spite of
no change in the facts or the criteria applied to the merits of the
original annexation petition which was voted on in 1992. He urged
the committee to take these points into consideration when making
their decision.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA noted that the Prince William Sound
communities with 8,000 residents were looking into the possibility
of forming their own borough. This isn't just discussion, each
village and communities have put forward $10,000 apiece to conduct
an appropriate study to determine whether forming a borough in
their area is in their best interest. To successfully do this,
they need the proposed area of annexation for their own municipal
land entitlement. He referred to a map and its regions, virtually
all of the other publicly owned land in the Prince William Sound
area is owned by the U.S. Forest Services, therefore, if this
annexation takes place the lack of these valuable municipal
entitlement lands will severely impede the goals of the Prince
William Sound communities to create new income for funding
essential services such as education, emergency and medical
services, transportation, land use planning, police protection and
refuse and sanitation control.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA continued that the area west of the one
hundred forty-first meridian is historically and economically tied
to the Prince William Sound region. He noted that the current
boundary is on the one hundred forty-first meridian. It is
appropriate for the election district boundary, for the Chugach
REAA school district boundary, for the Alaska Superior Court second
and third judicial district boundary, for the recording district
boundary and for the boundary that the LBC and the Community and
Regional Affairs staff use for the purpose of establishing model
borough boundaries. Above the one hundred forty first meridian is
the boundary that separates House District 35 and House District 5.
The proposed area of annexation is in Representative Kubina's
district. The shareholders of Chugach Alaska Corporation own the
land in the proposed area of annexation. The Yakutat based
corporation, Yak-tat-kwaan owns no land in the proposed area of
annexation. Understandably, Chugach shareholders would like to be
able to vote for the assembly that makes decisions about how they
will develop their land, but if the annexation goes forward they
will be without any representation on the City and Borough of the
Yakutat Assembly.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA noted that Chugach shareholders want the
taxes they pay to a borough to go to the benefits of their
shareholders. Under the proposed annexation, taxes paid by the
Chugach Corporation in the region would go to benefit of non-
shareholders in the Yakutat Borough. For some reason, the Local
Boundary Commission's recommendation was significantly larger than
what the Community and Regional Affairs staff recommended. He
strongly encouraged the committee to disapprove this
recommendation. The proposed annexation only marginally benefits
Yakutat and it significantly undermines the ability of the five
communities in Prince William Sound and its 8,000 people to
organize their own borough.
Number 1805
REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN stated that they hear a lot about the
traditional use areas in ancient and recent history of this area.
Looking at the map behind the committee it seemed to him that there
was a significant geographical difference between Prince William
Sound and the outer coastal area. From a geographic standpoint, it
would seem that Yakutat and the area of proposed annexation would
make more sense since it's the same type of coast line. It's not
more inshore and protected like Prince William Sound and the
Cordova area.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA noted that if they were discussing Prince
William Sound in itself, this argument might be made, but the
Cordova area, an integral part of Prince William Sound, encompasses
the Copper River Delta region and this is where the Prince William
Sound gillnetters fish these outside waters on the delta. This
whole area is traditionally tied with Chugach Native Corporation
and the Eyak people of the Cordova area. He felt as though they
should not just think of what's in the Sound while it's called the
Sound.
Number 1892
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked Representative Kubina to summarize the
reasons the court used in rejecting the annexation in 1992.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that he couldn't do this, but he
stated that there was someone present who could.
Number 1907
REPRESENTATIVE AL KOOKESH stated that he wanted to correct a
statement made by Representative Kubina in regards to the Chugach
Alaska Corporation owning the land in the proposed area, which is
not exactly true. The corporation owns some land in the proposed
area. He wanted to make sure they were in agreement with this.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA stated that this was correct. They don't own
all the land.
Number 1930
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH understood from Representative Kubina's
statement that a proposed study was underway to research forming a
new boundary. He understood that this would be the fourth one
conducted to consider a borough in this area. He wondered if the
Local Boundary Commission could afford to wait for another study or
another study after this one. He appreciates the fact that studies
are made, but someplace, somebody has to get off the dime and file
a petition. He also noted that no one has filed a petition at this
juncture to form another borough.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA stated that traditionally, people in Alaska
like their freedom and don't necessarily want another layer of
bureaucracy. He felt that with the mandatory borough legislation
which passed the other body last year, there are now many
communities that are looking at what's in their best interest. As
far as he knows, none of the communities have gone to the effort
that they have in the last year in trying to determine if forming
a borough in the Prince William Sound is the best thing to do.
Number 1998
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH referred to Representative Kubina's
statement that Chugach shareholders wanted the taxes they pay to go
to the benefit of Chugach shareholders. He said he was not real
familiar with this area, but familiar enough to know that no
Chugach shareholders live in this area. If the benefit of those
taxes are being paid, what benefits were they referring to.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that for those people who do live
in this area this proposal is just a "land grab," it's not a
"people grab." If there were people living in this area they would
probably have the ability (indisc.), the only living to be made in
this area is logging. There is a small school in the Chugach
school district, but only because there is a logging interest
there. He stated that there are a few, if any, permanent people
who live in this area.
Number 2047
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH noted that they both agree with
Representative Kubina's statement that they are doing this to make
sure that people benefit from the taxes to be paid by the people
out there.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that he didn't agree with this
statement because the Chugach Corporation does own a lot of land in
this area. These taxes, in the Prince William Sound Borough, would
be paid to benefit their members in this borough.
Number 2083
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that it seemed to him there were at
least two questions of contention, maybe three. One, which of the
two areas really needs this piece of land most for their future
economic development and to increase their tax base. The second,
which cultural or ethnic group is most closely tied to a historic
use of this land. He asked Representative Kubina to address the
second question.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that maybe it's easiest to answer
who has claimed the land. Who's land is it, in regards to the
private holdings in that area? He answered the Chugach Native
Corporation. He pointed out that this corporation is in Prince
William Sound. If this was traditional Yakutat land he asked why
it wasn't claimed by that corporation. It was not, and for this
reason he thought it was clear whose traditional land this is.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA continued, that one of his fears of having
this land in a borough where the people don't have a stake in the
land that is privately owned, is not that who can use it for
development, but for who cannot develop it. This is probably one
of the larger reasons why people are uncomfortable with the
direction of the Local Boundary Commission's decision.
Number 2170
REPRESENTATIVE JOE RYAN stated that traditionally throughout
history when people want to acquire lands they do so by conquest,
purchase or discovery. This is all for the purpose of obtaining
wealth, since wealth comes from the land. He looked through this
report extensively and he found one vague reference to some oil and
the fact that the University has some trees which they were
harvesting, but were sued successfully and this stopped. He noted
that they wouldn't want to take this much land on unless there was
some benefit. He asked what they would ultimately gain, mineral
reserves, is there oil, what about the trees. He asked what the
economic value of acquiring this land would be.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that the value of this land to many
of his constituents is that quite a bit of this land they already
own. They do look at this land as something to develop in the
future. He added that the fear which some of the Chugach
shareholders feel is that this property under Yakutat jurisdiction
would not be developed. There are places where oil and coal
deposits exist on this land and there have been both onshore and
offshore lease sales in the vicinity.
Number 2267
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH referred to the question posed earlier
regarding who owned the land in the area and the fact that Chugach
Corporation had filed and why didn't Yakutat file to get land in
this area. One of the restrictions of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act is that they were bound to stay within a township.
Yakutat was not allowed to go outside this township to select their
land entitlements. Therefore, to be able to select in this area
was beyond the control of Yakutat Corporation, however, the
regional corporation, Chugach, does not have this restriction.
They aren't bound by township restrictions. This is one of the
main reason why Yakutat didn't select from this area.
Number 2329
SENATOR JERRY MACKIE came forward to ask questions regarding HJR 17
and the attached sponsor statement. The statement was made by
Representative Kubina that Chugach owns the land in this particular
area, but qualified this by saying that there is some Chugach land
in this area. He referred to Cape Suckling on a map and the entire
area in question to note that the actual land owned by Chugach in
the overall general area is quite small. The other thing he wanted
to point out is that Chugach Alaska Corporation (item number three
of the sponsor statement), own land in the proposed area and that
Yak-tat-kwaan owns no land. Being a member of both the regional
corporation and a village corporation, as well as his involvement
for nine years as a board member and a chairman, he knows a little
bit about these corporations.
SENATOR MACKIE stated that a regional corporation is exactly that,
they are huge. They encompass all the villages within the region
in this area. A village corporation only encompasses a small
amount of land compared to the size of a regional corporation. To
say that Yak-tat-kwaan should have to own this land (referred to
map) was simply not a possibility to begin with. He didn't know
why this should be a requirement in terms of an annexation request
considered by the Boundary Commission. They not only consider what
land is owned by native corporations, but lands that make sense for
a particular municipality within a region.
Number 2422
SENATOR MACKIE referred to point five of the sponsor statement
which states that Yakutat does not have the resources necessary to
provide services to a large area. He took offense to this and
asked Representative Kubina if he had spent much time in Yakutat to
see what services are actually available. He also asked if he knew
where the majority of the people involved with this annexation
actually have their post offices boxes and where they receive their
mail. He felt as though the Yakutat representatives would provide
information to dispute this point five, but asked Representative
Kubina what he based this statement on that Yakutat wouldn't have
the resources and noted that they are currently a borough with
education services, a police force, shipping, a major airport which
dwarfs Cordova's airport.
TAPE 97-8, SIDE B
Number 036
JOHN CHRISTENSEN, Chairman, Chugach Alaska Chairman, came forward
to testify in support of HJR 17. He stated that the issue before
the committee was of great importance to Chugach since
approximately one-third of their shareholders live within the
communities which would be adversely affected if the LBC decision
is allowed to stand. He stated that there were representatives
with him from the villages of Prince William Sound, Tatitlek,
Councilmen, Mr. Ken Viasoff and Mr. Roy Totemoff. Also, from
Chenega, Village Council President, Mr. Don Kompkoff, as well as
the city managers of Valdez, Bill Hubbard, and Cordova, Mr. Scott
Janke.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said that if the LBC ruling stands, irreparable
harm will be done to the efforts to organize a viable Prince
William Sound Borough. At the same time, no such irreparable harm
will be done to Yakutat's annexation efforts in so much as they
will be allowed to re-petition in two years. If Prince William
Sound fails to organize by this time, he was certain that this
petition would fly probably without any opposition.
MR. CHRISTENSEN continued that the issues of traditional and
cultural use by the citizens and shareholders of Yak-tat-kwaan in
particular, is an issue addressed in ANSCA. It is not an issue
which needs to be addressed in an effort to form a borough. ANSCA
guarantees Yak-tat-kwaan shareholders traditional and cultural use
of the area surrounding Icy Bay. This was an issue brought up in
the Chugach Land Settlement and is addressed specifically in
federal law. They are guaranteed this use and access as if they
were shareholders of Chugach. He then introduced Scott Janke to
help him in a brief review of the events demonstrating the
commitment made by the communities of Prince William Sound toward
organizing a Prince William Sound borough.
Number 150
SCOTT JANKE, City Manager, Cordova came forward to testify in
support of HJR 17. He stated that he was also the President of the
Prince William Sound Economic Development Council that has tied the
communities of the sound together to work towards this borough
formation. He outlined that in late 1988, a prior feasibility
study was completed for Prince William Sound for becoming a
borough. As everyone was aware, shortly after this, there was the
Exxon Valdez oil spill which he believed put the whole issue of
borough formation on a very distant burner for the next five years
while they spent most of their efforts working towards
environmental and economic recovery. Since this time, beginning in
mid-summer of 1994, the City of Cordova's planning and zoning
commission began to investigate regional issues such as borough
formation and coastal resource service areas, as an effort toward
identifying what was best for them to do regarding regional issues.
MR. JANKE stated that at about this same time, the Economic
Development Council for Prince William Sound, including membership
from each community and village, began to discuss these issues at
the executive committee level. A little progress was made until
this past summer of 1996, the leadership of the Sound didn't feel
pressured that they had to do something quickly. They relied on
the 1990 LBC decision and the subsequent Supreme Court ruling
upholding this decision, that this land was being reserved for a
Prince William Sound Borough. He noted that they didn't believe
they had to move quickly without all the facts to make a decision
and then submit a petition. There was no good reason to do this.
Number 264
MR. JANKE stated that they were shocked with the decision the LBC
came back with this last time, quite surprised that they went 180
degrees on their own prior decision, as well as against the Supreme
Court upholding this decision. He offered that the three cities in
the Prince William Sound, Whittier, Valdez and Cordova, as well as
two villages, Tatitlek and Chenega with approximately 8,000 people
in all, is difficult to bring these many people with such diverse
interest together to make a decision to move forward with
incorporating a borough government. He stated they've made good
progress in the last few years to do this. All of these entities,
including the native corporations and the regional corporation have
all donated money to have this economic feasibility study done.
MR. JANKE stated that he didn't think the progress they have made
should be overlooked and it certainly shouldn't be punished by
having this annexation upheld. The damage to a future Prince
William Sound Borough will be permanent. He said this area's
people just need enough time to complete the studies which they're
funding, to educate the population in the sound to the issues so
they can make an informed decision. If the committee allows this
LBC decision to stand, they can never get these lands back,
however, if the committee gave them the time to do things right and
if they in the Sound don't form a borough, well then, "shame on
us." He stated Yakutat should be commended for their ability to
make a decision and move forward with it, however, it's a lot
easier for a group of people who essentially live in one community
to focus on a direction and move.
Number 406
MR. JANKE added that they've raised the money, they've submitted an
a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire an economics firm to do this
study. The proposal from the RFP are due next Friday. On the 26th
of this month, the Executive Committee from the Prince William
Sound Economic Development Council will interview the candidates
and make a selection. It's anticipated, based on the scope of
services, that the study should take about 90 days. This would
mean they would finish some time in May. During this same period
of time, they'll begin to put together an educational process to
educate the voters of Prince William Sound. If things go properly
they could see a petition submitted and an election held in
October. Currently, they are working on a petition and a draft
charter with possibly a home rule borough with powers limited to
education, taxation, and regional planning. This draft charter
will be submitted and circulated throughout the communities of the
sound for comments.
MR. JANKE noted that the main purpose of the Prince William Sound
group moving towards borough formation is to ensure the future of
education in the sound. The state and local governments have had
a difficult time every year funding education. In the Sound, they
have had this same problem. As a city manager, education is one of
the most difficult budget items to fund every year. They believe
that by forming a Prince William Sound Borough they can ensure long
into the future the financial resources necessary to educate their
children.
MR. JANKE continued that the region in question needs to be part of
this Prince William Sound Borough for a number of important fiscal
reasons: Number one, under municipal entitlements when a borough
is incorporated they are entitled to select lands that are
designated VUU (Vacant Unappropriated Unreserved). They would look
at the Prince William Sound Model Borough boundary region and those
lands identified as VUU are essentially mountain tops and glaciers,
except for this region west of the one hundred forty-first
meridian. There are valuable resources in this area that he hopes
would prove out in the economic study to supply a base for revenue
to fund education into the future. They are trying to do what the
state wants local governments to do and that is to take a more
active role in funding education. They need these resources to do
this. For two and one half years they have been working towards
this direction. He said it was unfair that the LBC made a decision
based on a first come, first serve basis. This is not the best
decision to make. PWS, if given the time, will do the right thing.
Number 509
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN asked if he was correct in his understanding
that municipal entitlement is based on a population driven formula.
MR. JANKE answered that he didn't know that this was correct. He
didn't believe so. He noted that the LBC staff might be able to
answer this better. He thought it was based on ten percent of
available VUU lands designated.
Number 538
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN asked if they were able to incorporate, of this
contested land, how much would they receive under their municipal
entitlement.
MR. JANKE stated he thought most of the VUU lands (those entitled
to be selected under the entitlement program) in the model Prince
William Sound Borough were mostly mountain tops and glaciers. He
said his estimate would be if they were entitled to select ten
percent of VUU lands, those combined acreages would be selected
from lands generally in this area west of the one hundred forty-
first meridian.
Number 568
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN referred to Mr. Janke's remarks about not
forming a borough on a first come, first serve basis and asked that
if the Yakutat formation was disallowed, "if both of you applied at
the same time and then - the boundary line was divided up at that
point, who's going to be - do you think, do you think, do you think
that would more of an equitable...
MR. JANKE responded that had a petition been filed simultaneously
by Yakutat and Prince William Sound there is not doubt in his mind
that the LBC would have granted this area to Prince William Sound.
As a matter of fact, at the end of their recent round of testimony
and prior to deliberations, one of the LBC members stated that
logically the land belongs with the Prince William Borough, but
Yakutat had submitted a petition and the people of Prince William
Sound had not.
Number 614
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said that this conflicted with the findings
within the report and quoted, "However, the ties between native
regional corporation boundaries and borough government boundaries
in Alaska is limited, few existing model borough boundaries
correlate directly between the boundaries of native regional
corporations. A number of existing model boroughs include portions
of more than one native corporation." Sealaska has land holdings
in five organized boroughs, as well as in an unorganized borough.
MR. JANKE stated that he didn't see any consistency. The model
borough boundaries were established and utilized before by LBC
decisions which have been upheld by the Alaska Supreme Court. He
believed that these decisions gave the Prince William Sound
residents a sense of false security that the lands were reserved
for our eventual borough and asked why would they have to rush
forward unprepared. He pointed out that at the end of any movement
to petition for a borough, an election must take place. The
population must be educated in order that they can vote with an
informed attitude and, hopefully, vote the right way. A rushed
movement would surely result in a failed vote.
Number 669
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH referred to Mr. Janke's statement that it
would be very difficult to get this land back if this annexation is
allowed to stand. He stated that as long as he can remember,
everything south of Cape Suckling was always considered southeast
Alaska and everything north was considered part of the northern
region of the state. Since he grew up in southeast Alaska,
traditionally, the people of Yakutat have fished Icy Bay and all
the way to Cape Suckling. He didn't remember any Yakutat fishermen
ever catching a sockeye in that area and having it be called a
Copper River red. He stated that the Cordova fisherman never fish
in Dry Bay and those areas. Traditionally, the Yakutat area was
used by the Yakutat fisherman. According to the Chugach Chairman
it was recognized in the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act. He
stated that he was a little uncomfortable with Mr. Janke's
statement that if this annexation goes forward that they'll never
get the land back, because in his mind, they never had it in the
first place.
MR. JANKE responded that if the borough of Yakutat is allowed to
maintain the LBC's decision and take these lands via the
annexation, a future Prince William Sound borough can never
incorporate those lands as part of its borough. Taking personal
use of the land is something completely different. He noted that
Cordova residents do fish down in this area.
Number 795
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA came forward to clarify comments made earlier
in response to some of Senator Mackie's concerns. He noted that
Senator Mackie talked about Chugach Alaska selected lands within
the proposed annexation and that the Yakutat Village Corporation
hadn't done so. Representative Kubina stated that it was unfair
for him to say that "because they couldn't go out of theirs." He
said he didn't think it was unfair that Sealaska, a regional
corporation, did not choose any areas out of this annexation where
Chugach Alaska did. Again, he stated that if they were looking at
traditional use it seemed that the regional corporations made this
decision a number of years ago, also they took it.
SENATOR MACKIE said he was concerned with Representative Kubina's
statements regarding Yakutat's resources as being inadequate to
provide services to this area. He reiterated that Yakutat is an
organized borough currently providing these services and he wanted
to know what the justification was for this. He stated that he was
quite impressed with the infrastructure of Yakutat.
Number 876
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA responded that he didn't mean in any way to
belittle what Yakutat is capable of doing. He stated that the
people of Yakutat have come to him to talk about this issue. These
people were complete ladies and gentlemen. He appreciates what
they are doing to try to better themselves also. He stated this
was what everyone was trying to do. In discussions with the
communities he represents, these individuals believed the Prince
William Sound area was better able to serve a wider borough in
these ways.
Number 914
JAMES BRENNAN, Borough Attorney, City and Borough of Yakutat came
forward to testify against HJR 17. He stated that he was
intimately involved with this process and he introduced the mayor
of Yakutat, Daryl James. The Yakutat Borough was formed in 1992
and has since then shown its capability to deliver municipal
services to a borough area on a fiscally responsible basis.
Yakutat now wishes to extend this borough into an area which
Yakutat residents have, traditionally and today, used extensively,
economically, for subsistence and prior to this, they had villages
in this area. The reason Yakutat seeks to annex this area is not
out of some tax grab, nor is it a land grab, which appears to be
the case with the Prince William Sound proposal. Yakutat has
always had a strong connection with this area. Yakutat has
depended on this area. It's their backyard and the residents use
it very extensively. Yakutat's economic connection with this land
is much stronger than that of Prince William Sound.
MR. BRENNAN continued about the process of annexation. The Local
Boundary Commission is constitutionally established. It was
established to hold hearings, review written comment and then make
decisions on annexations, reasoned, analytical decisions after
extensive review of the evidence. The legislature should not
overturn a Local Boundary Commission annexation decision unless
there is an apparent monumental error or something that flies
directly into the state's own interests. He stated that he was
aware of dozens of annexation decisions that have come before the
legislature and the only one that he remembers which was ever
rejected involved an annexation built around a blatant tax grab of
pipeline property. This would have reduced the state's ability to
tax this same property, this was a direct state issue which was
affronted and the legislature overturned it.
MR. BRENNAN noted that in this instance of the Yakutat annexation,
there are over 4,000 pages in the record, 16 hours of hearings this
time around and many more previously. These hearings did not take
place just in the Yakutat area, but also in Cordova. The Local
Boundary Commission went out of their way to hold an extensive
hearing there. The issues heard at these hearings have been hashed
out before and in much more detail than possible at this hearing
today. The Local Boundary Commission heard all the evidence, asked
hard questions of both sides. These are intelligent people and
they made a unanimous decision that Yakutat had a far stronger
connection with this area. The commission rendered an eighteen
page analysis.
MR. BRENNAN stated that if the committee truly wanted to review
this decision he asked that this issue be given substantially more
hearing time before the legislature than what would be allowed
today. They can only boil this issue down to a short presentation
today, but given time, he thought they would reach the same
conclusion as the Boundary Commission did which is that Yakutat
shows a much stronger connection to the area than Prince William
Sound. The issue regarding whether this annexation was disruptive
to the model borough boundary system was briefly raised and he
noted that model borough boundaries are presumptive guidelines
established by the Local Boundary Commission and they have the
power to determine that the evidence was so strong as to overcome
its own pre-set model borough boundaries. This is the way the
system should be, it should be flexible, something which makes it
stronger.
MR. BRENNAN noted that the suggestion that the Supreme Court
independently decided on the one hundred and forty-first meridian
boundary is completely wrong. This case involved a procedural
challenge to the way the Local Boundary Commission made the initial
incorporation decision. There were challenges by both sides as to
the way this occurred. The court held that the Local Boundary
Commission had followed the correct procedure and the court simply
deferred to the Boundary Commissioner's ability to determine the
correct boundary line. The court said that the commission had the
expertise to make this decision and they bowed out. The court did
not independently evaluate this question, but left it to the
Boundary Commission. He said now the Boundary Commission has
decided unanimously that the best boundary is at Cape Suckling.
MR. BRENNAN continued that the question which has been discussed
rather extensively is whether this annexation would affect the
viability of a "would be" future Prince William Sound, should there
actually be an effort to form a Prince William Sound Borough. He
pointed out that there has not been a petition to form such a
borough. The state paid for the last feasibility study in the 80's
in the hopes that the Sound residents would form a borough, but
they did not. This area is completely outside of Prince William
Sound on the open gulf, a coastal region which is similar to the
Yakutat region. Also, this area is not necessary to the viability
of the Prince William Sound Borough.
MR. BRENNAN referred to a hand out, an excerpt of an analysis which
the Department of Community and Regional Affairs put together.
This demonstrates that should Prince William Sound form a borough
in Prince William Sound traveling eastward to include Controller
Bay and the Copper River Basin (an area outside of the annexed
area), areas traditionally used by Cordova fisherman, they were
left out of this annexation. Should they incorporate a borough as
far east as Cape Suckling, they would be the second richest borough
per capita in Alaska, trailing only the North Slope Borough. They
would have a tax base that be the envy of all the rest of the
boroughs including Yakutat and other municipalities, such as
Anchorage with a tax base of $197,000 per capita as compared to
say, $50,000 per capita for Anchorage, $40,000 for Yakutat, etc.
They do not need this annexation for a tax base for a viable
educational system.
MR. BRENNAN pointed out that what they were asking to do is go
outside of their natural region to reach into the resources of a
neighbor region in order to get a land base. They would get 30,000
to 50,000 acres of land in municipal entitlement even if they were
confined to the Prince William Sound area. On top of this land
entitlement they are asking to go further and receive an additional
8,700 acres from the Yakutat Region. Even though the Prince
William Sound representatives say that this annexation is
absolutely necessary for the viability for the borough. The
Yakutat Borough, when it was formed, received a grand total of 138
acres of municipal entitlement land. Yakutat has been able to
function. It's not necessary - we would like to have the land in
this area and they would not get it by virtue of this annexation
because of the idiosyncracy of the law, but at some point they may
go back and ask for some compensatory award of entitlement land
there because they also have an interest in getting this
entitlement land so that they can further industry in this area.
MR. BRENNAN added that the Prince William Sound Borough would get
along just fine financially without reaching into the Yakutat area
to grab municipal entitlement land.
Number 1439
DARYL JAMES, Mayor, City and Borough of Yakutat, came forward to
testify against HJR 17. He stated that the Yakutat people have had
a long and continued use of this annexed area including timber
harvesting, fisheries, oil & gas exploration and transportation.
All of the mentioned resources uses have had and still have their
primary support out of the port of Yakutat. About 150 percent of
the stevedore operations come out of Yakutat for both West Icy Bay
and East Icy Bay, for the university land timber harvesting, as
well as the same with the mental health trust lands, and Chugach.
Supplies to these camps go through the port of Yakutat by the
Alaska Marine Lines off-loading their cargo and Alaska Airlines.
The employees of the timber operations in the area come through
Yakutat and the workers have post office boxes there.
MAYOR JAMES continued that mail is picked up and expedited by air
taxi service that flies out of Yakutat to these camps. Local
businesses of Yakutat supply the timber companies, including fuel
by air transport. He noted that there were 1,316 flights in 1995
from Yakutat to these camps; 2,539 passengers from Yakutat; 233
tons of freight through the port of Yakutat to Icy Bay. In the set
net fishery within this area, primarily the fisherman are from
Yakutat, 30 to 35 permits originate from Yakutat. In the last five
to ten years, there have probably been only two to three from the
Copper River area.
MAYOR JAMES stated that the fish primarily, since the 1930's, have
come to Yakutat for processing with some going to Anchorage and
Cordova. This fishery takes place in the Tsiu and Kaliakh Rivers,
the Duktoth and Yahtse Rivers in Icy Bay and the Cape Suckling
region. These have been fished commercially since the 1930's.
There are 20 or so commercial fish cabins in the area owned by
Yakutat fisherman. To his knowledge there is only one Prince
William Sound region fisherman cabin there. The Yakutat Fisheries
Management area goes from Cape Suckling to Cape Fairweather. The
Cape Fairweather area is within the current boundary of the Yakutat
City and Borough. In the 1970's, oil exploration was supplied and
imported out of Yakutat or Seward. Recently, with the cancelled
sale of 158, the draft proposal considered Yakutat as a support
base and port for this operation. In the 1950's, exploration for
oil and gas in this region was supplied out of Yakutat.
MAYOR JAMES continued that residents of Yakutat under native
allotments have in excess of 500 acres in this area and noted that
native allotments need to go through very strenuous federal
requirements to gain possession of these lands. This annexation
area that Yakutat has petitioned for has the same ecosystem as the
rest of the gulf coast area that are currently in the Yakutat
Borough. Yakutat would like to meet and has met with the
University of Alaska to work out any difference that might exist in
the resource uses of the area. It is important to the City and
Borough of Yakutat for economic diversification to work out any
differences in plans. He urges the committee to uphold this
unanimous decision by the Local Boundary Commission.
Number 1761
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH noted a reference made by a previous
presenter that this was a land and tax grab. He asked them to
comment on this.
MR. BRENNAN responded that he wished this was so. The reason this
isn't so is that most of this land is tax exempt. The biggest
parcels are held by the university of Alaska which is exempt from
municipal taxation; mental health trust has some big holdings, also
exempt; the great majority of Chugach Alaska Corporation lands are
exempt under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The only
lands of Chugach's that are subject to taxation are ones that are
actively in a state of development, mainly those used for timber
harvest. The total taxation they anticipate from the whole area,
including lodges in the area, is about $24,000 per year. In
municipal taxation terms this is a small chunk of change.
MR. BRENNAN continued by asking what does Chugach get in return for
this. Chugach is a logging camp and the other logging camp in the
area will get a borough funded education service. Right now, their
education service is 100 percent dependent on the state. The
amount they would pay for taxes would only partially offset the
local contribution that Yakutat would make. They would also be
getting police services from Yakutat. Right now there is no
realistic availability of police in this area. State Troopers are
the closest in Valdez or southeast Alaska on an "as available"
basis. Within 45 minutes, Yakutat would be able to get a policeman
over to the Icy Bay camps. It's a short flight.
MR. BRENNAN also mentioned that it should be remembered that the
Prince William Sound Borough envisioned by the Local Boundary
Commission is a Valdez based borough. Valdez is totally
disconnected from this area. This is Yakutat's back yard. Valdez
can be quite inconvenient.
Number 1978
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN referred to the Local Boundary Commission's
decision statement, more specifically that, logging, commercial
fishing, and subsistence activities are clearly linked more to
Yakutat and on the other hand, guided sport fishing and hunting
activities appear to be connected more to Cordova. They also
mentioned geographical considerations that the territory stretching
from the one hundred forty-first meridian to Cape Suckling is a
cohesive geographical area and it would be poor public policy to
place a cohesive area into more than one organized borough. State
law requires that boroughs conform generally with natural
geography. He assumed that they would agree with these assertions,
but he stated in all fairness this might be a question to be posed
to both sides.
MR. BRENNAN stated that everything Representative Ogan referenced
favors the annexation decision made. The only discordant note was
on the sport fishing camps which is a fairly new industry into the
area, although it should be compared to the long standing
commercial fishery in the area. Mr. Brennan noted the geographic
area in question and added that this does impact the type of
fishery which takes place there. It is entirely different in this
area as compared to the state. This is a shore based fishery where
people camp on shore and fish the mouths of the rivers with much
smaller gillnets than in Prince William Sound. As a result there
are almost no Prince William Sound fisherman who fish this area.
Number 2204
SENATOR MACKIE stated that his understanding was that the
University of Alaska was quite concerned about the proposed
annexation because they have a number of land holdings there to be
developed. The City and Borough of Yakutat passed a resolution
regarding this concern. He asked this situation be explained and
what the university's reaction was.
MR. BRENNAN responded that as background some years back there was
litigation between Yakutat and the university over the very initial
timber settlement the state made with them. It was done with
almost no public hearing in Yakutat and there was a lot of discord
over the area selected. Yakutat became involved and this case
settled a long time ago on terms mutually beneficial to both
Yakutat and the university. The university's timber harvest was
put in an area to the east, closer to Yakutat and in an area more
viable to extract the timber at a commercially reasonable price.
Yakutat consequently supplied employment and transhipment
capabilities, etc. to the university. They now have a cooperative
arrangement. The university wanted to get some reassurance from
Yakutat that if they sought this annexation they would not seek to
restrict development in this area by way of taxing or planning.
Yakutat passed a resolution which the university was very pleased
with. The university supports this annexation.
Number 2384
SENATOR MACKIE said he also understood that Chugach has indicated
that they were concerned about their potential development of their
lands and asked what efforts Yakutat has made to discuss these
issues with them.
MAYOR JAMES responded that Yakutat has met with Chugach Alaska and
it was very beneficial. He stated that they would continue to work
with them and for that matter with any resource development
companies which might come into the area.
TAPE 97-9, SIDE A
Number 033
MR. BRENNAN stated that one of Chugach's concerns is with their
timber operation and that Yakutat will enact some stiffer
standards. They understand that the state's position on this is
that municipalities cannot have stricter standards than what are
under the state. It's natural that Chugach would have concerns and
referred to differences in the past which must be resolved, but he
wanted to stress that Yakutat has never lifted a finger to stop
Chugach's development thus far in the area. He said it was ironic,
previous mentions about Chugach owned lands, but it's actually
Yakutat people who are employed there and providing services, much
more than Prince William Sound communities.
Number 159
SENATOR MACKIE referred to a supplemental, provisional report to
the Local Boundary Commission that discusses the education issue.
He asked if the City and Borough of Yakutat was prepared to take on
the responsibility of the Icy Bay School as part of their school
district and he asked for a comment about the assertion made by the
Department of Education that if Yakutat took on this school
district it would save the state approximately $180,000 a year.
MAYOR JAMES responded that the City and Borough of Yakutat is
capable to take on this responsibility. Currently, they fund the
local school district at the current cap for the past three years.
Yakutat has a surplus in their funding for this project which is
growing.
Number 266
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA stated that he was curious about the
discussion regarding the university. He characterized this
situation that the university opposed the annexation originally.
The borough obtained an injunction to prevent the logging of the
university, but then the borough made a deal with the university
that they would withdraw this litigation in turn for their support
of the petition to annex. He said this sounded like blackmail to
him.
MR. BRENNAN responded that this chronology as outlined was out of
whack. The litigation actually started in 1989 between the prior
City of Yakutat and the university. This was in the process of
resolving itself about the time Yakutat first considered
incorporation. Initially, the university in the midst of
litigation, was not excited about the incorporation of this
borough. As this process furthered and the litigation was
resolved, the university withdrew their opposition to the
incorporation. The incorporation went through and they have never
opposed this annexation. Yakutat has a good working relationship
with the university and they'd like this same thing with Chugach as
well.
Number 368
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA reiterated that he didn't believe that the
university had always approved of this annexation.
MR. BRENNAN stated that the university even supported the earlier
efforts of annexation and referred to the record as documentation.
Number 437
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA asked that, if there is no real financial
gain for Yakutat to annex or no land entitlement, what is it, other
than restricting development, that Yakutat stands to gain by these
efforts.
MR. BRENNAN stated that their motives were not for land or money
interests, but they were motivated by heritage interests. He noted
that this is Yakutat's backyard, they've used this area for
subsistence uses and commercial fishing. This area was formally
populated by the Tlingit - Eyak people, the residents of which
settled in Yakutat eventually. The ancestors of the Yakutat
community are buried in this region. They have a very strong
identity to this land. It's a community land relationship.
Number 550
MAYOR JAMES noted also that Yakutat has been characterized anti-
development, that they would shut down resource development in this
area. Yakutat has no intention to do this. There is tremendous
amounts of economic benefit that comes to Yakutat as a result of
development in this area. He didn't know where this perception was
coming from that Yakutat was anti-development
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN referred to the suit with the university
regarding timber and discussed whether this took place during the
spotted owl controversy in the state of Washington.
Number 646
MR. BRENNAN summarized what the specific timber issue with the
university was about. Actually there was an injunction issued but
because of the pendency of the litigation, the university did not
proceed. For engineering reasons, the lands the university
received were clear out at Cape Suckling and they had a hard time
retrieving the timber. The delay from the litigation and
subsequent settlement benefited them in two ways: First, they
received a substitute tract which is substantially eastward of Cape
Suckling making the timber easier to harvest. Secondly, the timber
prices went way up from the time they initially wanted to harvest
the trees.
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN stated that the university needs to generate
alternative incomes to take the load off the legislature for
appropriations. The legislature promotes alternative generated
incomes at every chance they can.
Number 839
MR. JANKE came forward to redress a few issues. He noted that a
future Prince William Sound Borough would also include for
educational purposes the school in Icy Bay. Currently in Prince
William Sound there are three school districts, the City of
Cordova, Valdez and the Chugach Rural Regional Attendance Area
(REAA), which the REAA is completely supported by the state.
Cordova and Valdez expends significant funds for local schools.
The significance of this proposed annexation region for the future
of education is to support a Prince William Sound school district
which will reduce the need of the state to solely support the REAA.
MR. JANKE referred to the comments made by one of the members from
the Yakutat delegation who identified the value of lands property
in the proposed Prince William Sound borough as being second in
riches only to the North Slope Borough, however, it's important to
note that the majority of that value is at the Valdez Oil Terminal.
The terminal is being devalued by approximately 8 to 12 percent per
year through depreciation. He continued that this proposed
annexation is one of their solutions to make up for shortfalls on
the horizon.
MR. JANKE noted that there is about 80,000 acres of Chugach land in
this region, 58,000 have been selected and 22,000 are under
consideration. Chugach Corporation stages most of their operation
out of Cordova and has a close relationship with Cordova and with
the Prince William Sound. Currently they have plans to build a
road to Carbon mountain for a logging operation and its scheduled
to be open in 1998. This will create the beginning of a ground
transportation system connected to the area in question. Cordova
does supply a lot of services to this region already, medical,
dental, mail service, etc.
Number 1060
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN noted that state law requires that the
boundaries of a borough conform generally to natural geography and
referenced again the Local Boundary Commissions findings regarding
this issue on page 17. They also discussed current use regarding
logging, commercial fishing and subsistence were clearly linked
more to Yakutat. Further, this area of annexation is a more
cohesive geographic area and referred to the map. He said he
couldn't disagree with this finding.
Number 1163
MR. CHRISTENSEN stated that the area between Icy Bay and Cape
Suckling is not only geographically different from either side, it
is geologically different than anything east of the one hundred and
forty-first meridian or anything west of Cape Suckling as well. A
senior geologist from ARCO informed him that this area is
geologically a formation that begins in Kodiak, extends across the
ocean floor and comes up to the mainland between Malaspina Glacier
and Cape Suckling. It is different than the area of Prince William
Sound, but it is considerably different than the present Yakutat
Borough.
MR. CHRISTENSEN stated that this area has a history of being shared
by Yakutat and Cordova. Many of the Yak-tat-kwaan
shareholders have relatives and elders who are shareholders of
Chugach Alaska Corporation. There are families that have
shareholders in both or either. A decision could be made today
that would cause harm that cannot be repaired, whereas, if the
resolution passed out of committee there will be no harm done to
the Yakutat position, since they can bring this petition at a later
date. If this resolution is not passed out, there will be no
opportunity in the future for a Prince William Sound borough.
Number 1339
MR. JANKE pointed out that the original decision to form the
Yakutat borough did not meet with any of the requirements for
borough formation in the state of Alaska by population size, the
number of communities, and he thought a special exception was
granted in this case. The Local Boundary Commission has made
decisions on other occasions that the one hundred and forty-first
meridian is the appropriate dividing line. They keep changing
their minds and hanging the Prince William Sound communities in the
balance.
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN noted that Mr. Janke was correct. State law
provides that absent a specific or persuasive showing to the
contrary the Local Boundary Commission may not approve a borough
annexation beyond the model, this text he read from page 13. The
commission obviously felt that there was a specific and persuasive
showing to the contrary, after a much more public process, than
they will be able to accommodate today.
Number 1405
MR. JANKE stated that he thought this regulation had been changed
since Yakutat was first formed.
CHAIRMAN IVAN noted for the record that they had been joined by
Senator Georgianna Lincoln at approximately 9:45 a.m. He then
asked the Yakutat delegation to summarize their statements
regarding the resolution before the committee.
Number 1436
MAYOR JAMES referred to the comments by Mr. Janke that development
will occur in the Carbon Mountain area and pointed out that this
was under a joint venture with Concor Construction, Incorporated,
which Yak-tat-kwaan is a member of. This will benefit both Yakutat
and Chugach, but this Carbon Mountain area is outside the area of
the proposed annexation. This area has a long history with
Yakutat. Mayor James said his grandmother was born on Kyak island
and raised in Katalla. She moved to Yakutat from there and he
noted the numerous other descendants to be considered. Three of
the Yak-tat-kwaan clans come from this area as well.
Number 1460
MR. BRENNAN referred to the issue of the Chugach REAA raised, it
should be pointed out that this REAA is based out of Anchorage. It
is an Anchorage based school district. They are talking about a
state funded Anchorage based school district that currently
operates Icy Bay school. They are asking it to be put into a
borough that's a very short distance away. He believed that they
could provide a closer, better educational services on this basis.
MR. BRENNAN responded to the question regarding previous litigation
with the university and wanted to point out that the Cordova
District Fisherman's Union were a part of this matter. They also
had concern over the university's timber harvest. There was an
alliance between Yakutat and the Cordova District Fisherman Union
on this issue. This matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all
three parties.
MR. BRENNAN mentioned the appropriate boundary issue raised and the
regional native corporation boundaries that have been discussed.
Looking at a borough map of Alaska, along with the native
corporation boundaries, these overlap all over the place. ANCSA
boundaries are not used as the standard for borough boundaries and
he used the example of Cook Inlet Regional that's in four different
municipalities. It is a part of doing business in Alaska, that if
you're a land holder, your land might fall into a borough. There
is nothing sacrilegious about this. As far as election district
boundaries used as a basis for setting a boundary, he ventured that
they would end up with ridiculous looking boroughs. He then
summarized how the land surrounding this proposed annexation was
parcelled out according to native corporation boundaries, fish and
game management areas, etc. He again noted that this proposed
annexation was geographically more similar to Yakutat.
MR. BRENNAN stated that this would be the only committee in the
legislature to hear this issue. He appreciated the time given to
both sides of this issue, but it doesn't compare with the amount of
time that was put in by the Boundary Commission. This is their
specialty and they don't have other things they need to concern
themselves with during deliberations. He stated that if the
legislature was going to overturn the Local Boundary Commission
without a clear, glaring error or due to an affront to the state's
interest, the question should be asked, why do we have a Local
Boundary Commission? Why do we pay their expenses to investigate
and hold hearings? He asked why should the Local Boundary
Commissioners work their tail off to evaluate these situations if
the decision will be overturned on the basis of political matters.
The constitutional process for this should be respected for this
case as a precedent.
Number 1785
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN stated that he'd done a lot of soul searching
on this issue and he had been heavily lobbied. To be a good
statesman, he stated that he couldn't in good conscious vote to
move this resolution out of committee. He said he couldn't
disagree with the commission's findings.
Number 1825
REPRESENTATIVE JERRY SANDERS stated that after hearing all the
testimony he would vote to move this resolution out of committee,
and he expressed his agreement with Mr. Christensen. If he ever
sees this proposal again, it will fly with very little opposition.
Number 1849
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that as a freshman in this process he
said he would enjoy some discussion from the experienced hands
present on the merits of passing this resolution out of committee
for a larger debate on the floor, as opposed to not passing it out,
and/or how their actions interact with the actions of the other
body in the House.
Number 1887
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH stated that as a committee they are looking
at a process set up by the legislature, a process to allow local
governments to form. He believed they needed to commend Yakutat
for the point that they've formed a borough without a mandatory
borough bill or without any money from the state of Alaska. He
said before they overturn this process, they have to look at the
process the legislature established. The commission is made up of
Alaskans who sit through extensive hearings. The legislature
doesn't have the luxury of these hearings. If they move this out
of committee and send it to the floor, the rest of the
representatives will have even less time for hearings on this
issue. Debate will not cover all of the issues. He asked the
committee members to stand behind the Local Boundary Commission's
unanimous decision.
Number 1950
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN said he had read the Local Boundary Commission
report. He didn't see why this annexation could not take place
within a larger borough if necessary and one of things that
troubled him, was, in the past, he had seen where land, was taxed
without providing services to those entities who owned the land.
He didn't want to see this happen in this case. He stated that he
would vote to move this resolution out of committee.
Number 2022
REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE said he had spent a lot of time
listening and digesting the issues. He said this was not a
situation unfamiliar to him, but it was under different
circumstances. He said it's ironic that this issue was before the
committee and that later today they would hear issues surrounding
tribalism. Listening to the debate about ties to the land he was
considering the weight of what will be before the house later on.
He noted the commission had heard so many hours of debate that they
will not be afforded the time to do the same. He said he would
vote not to move this resolution out of committee.
Number 2100
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN noted that Icy Bay was in her district.
She felt compelled to say a few words about this issue. She spoke
to the validity of bringing this issue before the entire house for
a more full disclosure to benefit both sides. She said that
precedent had already been set before, through other situations,
which have come before the Local Boundary Commission and mentioned
briefly these situations. She noted the validity of both sides to
this issue and mentioned the fact that constitutionally, it was the
responsibility of the legislature to make the final decision. She
believed it would be wrong to have this resolution stuck in
committee when many lives were at stake.
Number 2218
SENATOR MACKIE offered that he chairs the Community and Regional
Affairs Committee on the Senate side and he had scheduled a hearing
at 1:30 p.m. later today to discuss the report. He believed the
hearing today had been fair. He responded to a statement made that
the Prince william Sound wished to become a borough. He didn't
think this was the case, that there is nothing to say that they
will ever become a borough, but they are discussing this issue as
a result of the annexation granted to Yakutat. As to the
communities contributing money towards a feasibility study, this
has happened after Yakutat was granted annexation, so he didn't see
a lot of action before this. He appreciated that they were looking
at what's in the best interest for their communities.
SENATOR MACKIE also referred to the fact that both Representative
Kubina and Senator Lincoln had stated that this area is within
their districts, but this is not a criteria for any of this. These
election district boundaries have changed three times in the last
six years. He used an example from seven years ago when Juneau
proposed to capture Greens Creek Mine for taxation purposes, an
area within his district at the time. This issue was buried in
that committee for the sole reason that they did not want to usurp
the Boundary Commission's decision. He again reiterated all the
work that went into this annexation review by the commission. He
stated they should protect the process and that the commission made
the correct decision.
TAPE 97-9, SIDE B
Number 000
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN stated he appreciated all the work which the
commission has conducted thus far and addressed Representative
Dyson's concerns. He stated that a bill if passed through
committee it would be heard by both sides of the house, regardless
of the subject matter. His intent was for the committee to hear
both pros and cons regarding this annexation issue. He said they
were here to serve their districts, but when they serve on
committees they represent the whole state of Alaska. He asked what
the committee's wish was.
Number 050
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that in light of the new information he
was able to gain today, he said he would enjoy some time until the
next committee meeting to process this information.
Number 064
REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS moved and asked unanimous consent to move
HJR 17 out of committee with individual recommendations and
accompanying zero fiscal note.
Number 076
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH objected. A roll call vote was taken.
Representatives Sanders, Ryan and Ivan voted in favor of moving HJR
17 out of committee. Representatives Dyson, Ogan, Kookesh and
Joule voted against moving HJR 17 out of committee. HJR 17 failed
to move from the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 097
CHAIRMAN IVAN adjourned the Community and Regional Affairs
Committee meeting at 10:20 a.m.
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