Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/21/2017 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB7 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 78 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 7-MUSEUM CONSTRUCTION GRANT PROGRAM
3:32:16 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced the consideration of SB 7.
SENATOR MACKINNON joined the committee.
3:32:52 PM
SENATOR STEVENS, Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 7, said that a lot of museums in Alaska need
improvement and SB 7 establishes a framework for getting that
done sometime in the future, because he knows there is no money
for it now.
SENATOR HOFFMAN joined the committee.
3:35:06 PM
DOUG LETCH, staff to Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, said the idea is to establish a program
that could fund future museum projects, and the language is
similar to the program for libraries. Under the provisions of SB
7, a person in charge of construction, expansion, or major
renovation of an eligible museum could apply to the department
for matching funds under regulations that would be adopted. The
key point is that this bill is subject to appropriation down the
line if there is money. The department would be able to award
not more than 50 percent of the total proposed grant project
cost to an eligible applicant.
Museums would be eligible for the program if they are located in
Alaska and entitled to receive state grant funds if they can
provide 50 percent of the project cost in matching funds. He
said that Alaska is home to many museums and cultural centers
that are located in various communities around the state of
various sizes and these facilities connect our past and future.
The goal of this bill is to help them continue their good work.
MR. LETCH said quite a few museums have plans for major capital
projects down the line and any assistance the state could
provide would be greatly appreciated.
3:37:02 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON said she is working on a bill for energy
efficiencies for construction development and asked if Senator
Stevens intends to require best practices to make sure that the
space is energy efficient. Sometimes the everyday operating
costs for facilities throughout Alaska are extremely burdensome
as they go forward. She has specifically seen in smaller
communities some pretty spectacular looking buildings that have
a lot of glass in them that are in high cost energy areas that
preclude best practices for operating the actual building.
SENATOR STEVENS looked back at what happened with the libraries.
The libraries in Homer in Kodiak and Seward were all done one
after the other, but all were done energy efficiently. The
library in Homer was awarded a LEED award for being innovative
as was the one in Kodiak, and absolutely they want to do best
practices.
SENATOR STEDMAN added that the original intent with the
libraries was to help communities build a library at half the
cost. But what they ended up doing was getting a lot of
libraries were twice as big as well as being nice. Sometimes the
community library planning at the local level was a little too
robust. Now the Foraker Group works with them on sizing the
facility for the individual community looking at the operating
costs and particularly energy costs.
SENATOR STEDMAN said the idea was to modernize these libraries
so that children could grow up in and around them and become
more productive citizens as well as better informed voting
citizens. This bill appears to have a lot of those same traits,
and he wouldn't be surprised if groups like the Foraker Group do
not work with the communities and the department to make sure
that the museums are sized for the community so they are
affordable.
3:40:28 PM
SENATOR STEVENS agreed that is the goal. He said the museums in
his community include a Russian-American Museum, a Maritime
Museum, and a Native Museum. He emphasized how important these
museums are to show what our culture and history is and that
there is a need for them throughout the state. Lawmakers need to
make sure these facilities are built to code using best
practices, and that they are energy efficient.
CHAIR BISHOP opened public testimony on SB 7.
3:41:46 PM
TIFFANY BRONSON, Executive Director, Kodiak Historical Society
and Baranof Museum, Kodiak, Alaska, supported SB 7. Collections
are at risk with the increasing age of facilities and many of
these aging buildings were not intended to be museums in the
first place. For instance, the Baranof Museum in Kodiak is
housed in the oldest building in Alaska.
3:43:48 PM
PATRICIA RELAY, Executive Director, Museums Alaska, Valdez,
Alaska, said this is an organization of over 65 museums in the
state that support SB 7. She said they will hear today how
museums are facing critical infrastructure issues. Without the
proper care and housing of public trust collections, robust
education programs couldn't be offered. Governor Walker issued a
proclamation designating 2017 as the year of history and
heritage in recognition of Alaska's sesquicentennial, 150 years
since Russia ceded its interest in Alaska to the United States.
MS. RELAY said they clearly recognize the fiscal challenges of
our state and communities and advocate for the passage of SB 7
to establish an effective framework to support current and
growing capital needs of Alaska museums as economies improve and
funding becomes available. She stressed that they are not asking
for any money at this time.
She reflected on Senator MacKinnon's comments about energy
efficiencies and said now is the time to work towards planning
appropriate programs. She also reflected on Senator Stedman's
comments about working with the Foraker Group saying they have
been working closely with them since the beginning. A 2014
McDowell Group survey demonstrates critical infrastructure needs
for our cultural institutions. Of the 36 museums contacted, 75
percent identified significant capital improvements needed
within the next five years: exhibition space, improvements to
facilities, collection storage, expansions, security
improvements, and bathrooms.
3:48:24 PM
ERIC JOHANSEN, Board Member, Pioneer Air Museum, Fairbanks,
Alaska, supported SB 7. He said the museum is housed in a
building that was never intended to be a museum, and it has a
lot of needs.
3:50:12 PM
PETE HAGGLAND, Curator, Pioneer Air Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska,
supported SB 7. A 2014 McDowell study indicated that 75 percent
of the people they interviewed needed to dramatically expand and
improve their facilities. His museum is one of those. As an
example, restrooms have been requested since 1982 and nothing
has been done until a recent asbestos report necessitated
tearing down the old facilities. They are trying to move ahead
and expand education programs and a place is needed to work on
projects and archiving.
CHAIR BISHOP thanked him for his comments and for stepping up to
the plate.
3:53:04 PM
STEVE HECKMAN, Board Member, Pioneer Air Museum, Fairbanks,
Alaska, supported SB 7. He said the Pioneer Air Museum is a
tremendous museum with tremendous exhibits, and it would be nice
for it to have a bathroom. They have blueprints for things they
would like to do, looking down the road, and SB 7 would go a
long way to keep the momentum going.
3:54:27 PM
ANGELA LINN, Senior Collections Manager, Ethnology and History,
University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska, supported SB 7.
She said Alaska has over 80 museums and cultural centers. Many
of them came into existence as a result of the Centennial
funding appropriated by the state legislature in 1967.
She said the Museum of the North receives over 90,000 visitors
from near and far, of all ages, annually. Nearly 12,000 of those
are K-12 kids from the Fairbanks North Star Borough District and
surrounding areas. It is a world class museum that was
established in 1926 in the early days of the University as a
home for Alaska-based research and it is one of 30 Alaska
institutions that are actively planning for or in the midst of
an expansion or a renovation project.
Every museum in the state is in urgent need of additional
collection space to curate the 1.5 million objects and specimens
in their care, Ms. Linn said. A primary responsibility of
museums and cultural centers is to preserve collections and
protect them from age and deterioration. When objects are
deposited into their permanent collections, it is their
responsibility to care for them in perpetuity, but as these
facilities become overcrowded or aged, this job becomes more
difficult. Only through expansion or renovation can
infrastructure be kept in place to safeguard these holdings, and
SB 7 will establish a system that can help the museums obtain
the funding needed to accomplish this task.
3:57:10 PM
EVA MALVICH, Director/Curator, Association of Village Council
Presidents' Yupiit Piciryarait Light Museum, Bethel, Alaska,
supported SB 7. Their long-term plan is to become the Yupiit
knowledge center, and it will make a big impact on their
organization. At this time there is no facility or service
readily available to their tribes who want to preserve ancient
artifacts that are being uncovered due to coastal erosion, like
the community of Quinhagak where masks and other items dated 500
years old have washed up on the beach. Although they tried
getting help from the state, they had to turn to help from
outside. At least one other village is experiencing this
problem. Having a facility with staff would provide a safe
accessible space to work and learn.
3:59:18 PM
KATHERINE ELDEMAR, Director, Division of Community and Regional
Affairs (DCRA), Department of Commerce, Community and Economic
Development (DCCED), Juneau, Alaska, explained that DCRA
administers $1.25 million in federal, legislative, and state
grants. These grants are administered throughout the state of
Alaska and the Community Aid and Accountability Section at DCRA
is responsible for the museum program grant as well as other
grants like the Community Assistance Program (formerly the
Community Revenue Sharing), Share Fisheries Business Tax, and
PILT funds.
Should SB 7 become law, she explained that DCRA will be
responsible for the museum program grant. At first glance, this
seems to not have a fiscal impact because no grant funding is
attached to it, but that is not accurate. DCRA foresees that it
will have impacts similar to those experienced with the library
grant program, which was created because the two programs are
statutorily similar.
MS. ELDEMAR explained that what happened in the case of the
library program grants, DCRA was required to draft regulations
which takes time to produce and then there were procedural steps
including public notice that take about one year to complete.
Additionally, communities actually submitted library grant
applications for their projects, so DCRA had to accept, consider
them for funding, and rate them. What was unique was that no
grants were awarded after that entire process.
She brought in a big binder [maybe one foot thick] to show them
an example of one grant application for a library and said that
when different communities come forward and submit their
application, the grant staff has to review and rate it, and then
the applications must be stored until funding is provided.
4:02:47 PM
She said the SCRA administers many grants and is responsible for
the oversight as well, and this costs money in light of the
state's current budget challenges.
MS. ELDEMAR said the expansion of the definition of museum under
SB 7 is quite exciting, as it opens the door for many which were
previously closed to showcase their wonderful and unique
communities. But it takes some funding, and if this bill is
passed DCRA requests funding for sufficient staffing.
Last week DCRA submitted an indeterminant fiscal note as the
administration was informed of a possible committee substitute.
During the previous legislative session the committee substitute
for HB 52 was introduced to address these concerns. The change
provided that the department did not have to write regulations
nor accept grant applications until funding was actually
provided by the legislature. This reduced the fiscal note to
zero. The ability of DCRA to absorb additional programs has been
curtailed by the reduction of a number of employees, and in the
event that SB 7 becomes law as currently presented, they would
just request sufficient funding to make sure they can take care
of the museum requests.
4:04:31 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON asked the reason the department is still going
"old school" with paper products versus having electronic
storage.
MS. ELDEMAR replied that they prefer electronic filings,
actually, but a certain amount of paper work is still required.
4:05:50 PM
CHAIR BISHOP finding no further questions, closed public
testimony. He notified the committee of an expected amendment
next Thursday.
4:06:16 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON asked the sponsor if grant funds could be
considered as the 50 percent matching fund requirement from
other sources.
MR. LETCH replied that he would have to find out.
CHAIR BISHOP said a lot of antiquities have left Alaska because
that was the thing for expeditions to do 100 years ago, and
asked if there is any room in this bill to help repatriate
totems or other indigenous artifacts to Alaska.
MR. LETCH said he would bring that up with Senator Stevens. He
said it's interesting that Senator Bishop brought that up,
because recently he was looking through material from his
college, the University of Maine, and discovered that the
Seattle Seahawks logo is based on a totem that wound up going
from Orono, Maine, to what is now Washington State.
CHAIR BISHOP thanked Mr. Letch and held SB 7 in committee for
future consideration.