Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/07/2012 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Alaska Mayors' Forum | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 7, 2012
3:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Donald Olson, Chair
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Albert Kookesh
Senator Linda Menard
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
ALASKA'S MAYORS FORUM
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DANIEL O'HARA, Mayor
City of Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Thanked the legislature for supporting the
City of Bristol Bay.
ALBERT HOWARD, Mayor
City of Angoon
Angoon, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Angoon.
LUKE HOPKINS, Mayor,
Fairbanks North Star Borough
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the
Fairbanks North Star Borough.
DAVID STONE, Mayor
City of Yakutat
Yakutat, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Yakutat.
PAT PORTER, Mayor
City of Kenai
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Kenai.
DOUG ISAACSON, Mayor
City of North Pole
North Pole, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
North Pole.
MORGAN JOHNSON, Mayor
City of Ambler
Ambler, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Ambler.
MARTHA WHITING, Mayor
Northwest Arctic Borough
Kotzebue, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the
Northwest Arctic Borough.
JAMES HORNADAY, Mayor
City of Homer
Homer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Homer.
BOB HARCHAREK, Mayor
City of Barrow
Barrow, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Voiced appreciation for what the legislature
and the Office of the Governor have done for the City of Barrow.
KENNY WELLS, Mayor
City of Noorvik
Noorvik, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Noorvik.
DELENA JOHNSON, Mayor
City of Palmer
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Palmer.
VERNE RUPRIGHT, Mayor
City of Wasilla
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Wasilla.
DAVID SEAWARD, Mayor
City of Seward
Seward, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the problems faced by the City of
Seward.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:34:15 PM
CHAIR DONALD OLSON called the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. Present
at the call to order were Senators Kookesh, Menard, Ellis, and
Chair Olson. Senator Wagoner arrived shortly thereafter.
^Alaska Mayors' Forum
ALASKA MAYORS' FORUM
3:34:40 PM
CHAIR OLSON announced that the order of business would be the
Alaska's Mayors Forum. He explained that this was an opportunity
for communities to voice concerns before the committee.
3:35:20 PM
DANIEL O'HARA, Mayor, City of Bristol Bay, said the Bristol Bay
Borough appreciated continued support from the governor and the
state, especially for its harbor renovations. He said the
enhanced dock facilities had fostered a successful and growing
commercial fishery.
3:37:20 PM
ALBERT HOWARD, Mayor, City of Angoon, said one of the immediate
concerns was the cost of electricity. He said it was hard to
create economic growth with electrical rates at $0.67 per
kilowatt. He said Angoon was ignored in the Southeast Alaska
Integrated Resource Plan for power intertie consideration. He
said an intertie would provide access to lower cost electricity,
allow Angoon to offer Southeast with potential hydro power
access and the state would benefit by transferring Power Cost
Equalization funds to other communities. He shared a personal
experience with suicide and stressed the need for suicide
prevention support.
3:44:11 PM
LUKE HOPKINS, Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough, said he was
thankful for last year's revenue sharing support from the state.
He said Fairbanks continued to struggle with high fuel costs,
clean air regulations and energy funding. He noted that the
proposed natural gas pipeline program would take time for
Fairbanks to benefit from. He said communities were employers
and the state's decision on funding for the Alaska Public
Employee's Retirement System (PERS) would have a financial
impact. He said Fairbanks benefited from transportation funding
for a railroad bridge and was hopeful that the new federal
highway bill would provide additional infrastructure funds.
DAVID STONE, Mayor, City of Yakutat, said the community faced a
dilemma from $600,000 being cut from federal funding for
education. He said Yakutat faced economic development and
population issues due to high energy costs. He said rural
communities provided the state with the resources for its
wealth, but money stayed primarily in the larger communities.
3:52:30 PM
At ease from 3:52 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.
3:55:04 PM
PAT PORTER, Mayor, City of Kenai, said legislation provided a
positive economic impact for oil and gas exploration within the
Kenai and the Cook Inlet Basin. She said two new oil rigs would
be operational in 2012 and natural gas delivery recently started
for the local market. She said Kenai and other small
municipalities would benefit from legislation that eliminated
the termination study requirement for PERS employees.
3:58:57 PM
DOUG ISAACSON, Mayor, City of North Pole, said high energy costs
were a burden to the community. He said infrastructure projects
were in the works and suggested short term solutions to address
immediate needs: trucking natural gas to Flint Hills Refinery
and Golden Valley Electric, working with the governor to combine
the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) pipeline with the
Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) pipeline, building
transmission lines from lower cost hydroelectric sources in
Southeast and natural gas storage tank tax credits to support a
trucking program. He said the community was concerned with the
potential economic impact from the Air Force's proposed jet
fighter move from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. He noted that residents in
North Pole and Interior were moving out due to financial
concerns from higher energy costs and employment uncertainty.
SENATOR OLSON asked why Flint Hills Refinery's fuel was so
expensive.
MAYOR ISAACSON answered that Alaska's Royalty In Kind (RIK) oil
was sold to Flint Hills Refinery at a premium. He said it was
less expensive to receive fuel from Washington state refineries
that process Alaskan oil. He said pricing RIK oil at cost to
Alaskan refineries would mitigate the high cost of energy for
residents and create more jobs in the local oil industry.
4:05:49 PM
MORGAN JOHNSON, Mayor, City of Ambler, said residents were
moving out due to a lack of jobs and homes. He said energy
prices continued to rise in addition to the added cost from
transporting heating fuel and gas via airplane. He noted that
the city's bridge to the airport required replacement. He said
all building projects were placed on hold when the Ambler Gravel
Pit closed in 1999 due to the discovery of Natural Occurring
Asbestos (NOA). He said the lack of gravel had a negative impact
on new home development, river bank erosion mitigation, airport
improvement, road construction and maintaining the solid waste
dump site. He said Ambler had worked with numerous agencies to
address solutions for NOA. He said Ambler and the Upper Kobuk
River Valley had been forgotten and hoped legislators would
help.
SENATOR WAGONER commented that jade was a member of the asbestos
family and could be part of the problem. He said there were no
easy solutions and suggested spraying roads with a calcium and
water mix to reduce dust created by vehicles.
MAYOR JOHNSON responded that formulating standard operating
procedures on how to deal with NOA.
4:15:39 PM
MARTHA WHITING, Mayor, Northwest Arctic Borough, said the number
one priority for the borough was public safety. She expressed
gratitude for the Village Public Safety Officer program and
mentioned a need for a public safety facility. She said the
combination of high energy costs and record low temperatures had
been a challenge. She said resources were extracted from rural
Alaska and asked that additional revenue return to the area.
4:19:06 PM
At ease from 4:19:06 p.m. to 4:19:40 p.m.
4:19:40 PM
MAYOR WHITING said it was important that the region directly
benefited from local mining operations. She said the Northwest
Artic Borough had the highest cost of living in the state and
asked that basic service funding take that into account. She
said the area required water and sewer upgrades, new bridges and
access roads. She noted the region's high suicide rate and asked
for suicide prevention support.
4:22:39 PM
JAMES HORNADAY, Mayor, City of Homer, said the city's population
was growing by 100 residents per year. He said the fishing and
tourism industries continued to grow. He noted that Homer had
the state's largest single-boat harbor and funding was required
for needed upgrades. He noted that harbor funds from the cruise
ship passenger fees had been beneficial. He said the state
should address PERS and asked that revenue sharing from gas
taxes continue.
SENATOR MENARD asked about the Pratt Museum's status.
MAYOR HORNADAY answered that Homer supported the Pratt Museum
and asked that funding for prioritized projects be taken into
consideration first.
4:25:49 PM
BOB HARCHAREK, Mayor, City of Barrow, said Shell Oil had
invested billions in regional exploration and was drawing closer
to the development phase. He said Barrow, the state and the
Coast Guard should be more directly involved with regional oil
activity. He said the Piuraagvik Recreation Center required
renovation funding due to Barrow's continued population growth.
4:30:40 PM
KENNY WELLS, Mayor, City of Noorvik, said the city's sewage
lagoon required an upgrade. He asked the committee to approve
airport upgrades to support the Postal Service's proposed bypass
mail hub for the Northwest region. He said the proposed mail hub
would bring jobs to area villages and recommended including
access to motor vehicle licensing within the new mail facility.
He thanked the committee for its ice road funding.
CHAIR OLSON asked about the gravel pit status and the condition
of the road to the river.
MAYOR WELLS answered that five gravel pits were in the region
with no asbestos issues and the road to the Kobuk River was in
good condition.
4:33:35 PM
DELENA JOHNSON, Mayor, City of Palmer, said the high cost of
energy was a contributing factor for an influx of rural
residents moving to Palmer. She said infrastructure upgrade
funding would be required to respond to the continued population
growth.
CHAIR OLSON asked what relocation services were available for
rural individuals moving to Palmer and what the state could do
to facilitate those services.
MAYOR JOHNSON answered that Palmer was a supportive community
that offered access to a Senior Center along with an active non-
profit group network. She noted that many of the state funded
services were not located in Palmer.
SENATOR MENARD commented that the Mat-Su College provided degree
and certificate program opportunities.
MAYOR JOHNSON responded that Mat-Su College was part of the
attraction of living in Palmer. She noted that the city's
inviting downtown and tremendous sense of community attracted
new residents.
4:40:09 PM
VERNE RUPRIGHT, Mayor, City of Wasilla, said the Mat-Su Borough
invested in schools and roads. He said the state could help
Wasilla stay ahead of the infrastructure needs. He said people
need a decent place to live, something good to eat and work. He
said infrastructure, transportation and jobs solve three major
human needs.
SENATOR MENARD commented that people also need safety.
4:41:49 PM
DAVID SEAWARD, Mayor, City of Seward, said seniors were having a
hard time with affordability, families were not finding work and
the future for young people was not bright. He asked support for
the Community Development Quota (CDQ) port project and the Jesse
Lee Home for Children restoration. He said the Sea Life Center
and the Alaska Vocational Technical Center were important
entities located in Seward that benefited everyone in the state.
SENATOR MENARD asked about the economic benefit from the Spring
Creek Correctional Center.
MAYOR SEAWARD answered that the correctional center was a
benefit to the community.
SENATOR MENARD said inmates sent to out-of-state correctional
facilities would be moved to Spring Creek Correctional Center
for rehabilitation near family members.
4:45:52 PM
CHAIR OLSON thanked the mayors for their testimony.
4:46:21 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Olson adjourned the Senate Community and Regional Affairs
Standing Committee at 4:46 p.m.
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