Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/23/1998 01:37 PM Senate CRA
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SENATE COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
February 23, 1998
1:37 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Jerry Mackie, Chairman
Senator Gary Wilken , Vice Chairman
Senator Dave Donley
Senator Randy Phillips
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 281
"An Act relating to general grant land entitlements for the City
and Borough of Yakutat; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSSB 281(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 281 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Dave Gray, Legislative Aide to Senator Mackie
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview on SB 281
Daryl James, Mayor
City & Borough of Yakutat
P.O. Box 160
Yakutat, AK 99689
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 281
James Brennon, Attorney representing City & Borough of Yakutat
1227 W. 9th, Suite 300
anchorage, AK 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on SB 281
Ms. Wendy Redman, Vice President
Statewide University of Alaska System
Wood Center
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6640
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 281
Ms. Jane Angvik, Director
Division of Land
Department of Natural Resources
3601 C St., Suite 1102
Anchorage, AK 99503-5947
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 281
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-5, SIDE A
Number 001
SB 281 - YAKUTAT GENERAL GRANT LAND ENTITLEMENT
CHAIRMAN MACKIE called the Senate Community & Regional Affairs
Committee meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. All members were present.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE, prime sponsor of SB 281, brought the legislation
before the committee and invited Dave Gray to the table to present
the bill.
DAVE GRAY, Legislative Aide to Senator Mackie, read the following
sponsor statement into the record:
"SB 281 is introduced to complete the formation of the Yakutat
Borough and the land entitlements that the state grants to support
local government. Initially, the petition of the people of Yakutat
to incorporate as a borough in 1992 was considerably reduced in
size by the Local Boundary Commission. The land entitlement for
the new borough by the formula of 10% of "vacant, unappropriated,
and unreserved" (vuu) state lands was a mere 138 acres.
The City and Borough of Yakutat subsequently petitioned the Local
Boundary Commission to reclaim much of the area on its Northern
boarder. In a reversal of its earlier decision, the Local Boundary
Commission approved the annexation which contains a substantial
amount of state "vuu" lands. It is estimated that if the annexed
area had been included for the original borough formation, the
municipal land entitlement would amount to 33,000 acres.
It has been a long established policy for the state to assist the
formation and operation of local governments with generous grants
of state land. SB 281 corrects the defects in the borough
formation process that resulted in such a small land entitlement
for the City and Borough of Yakutat by increasing its entitlement
to 30,000 acres. The bill also gives additional authority to the
Director of the Division of Land in the Department of Natural
Resources to condition and restrict any of the municipality's
selections made under this increased grant."
Number 057
SENATOR PHILLIPS questioned why the initial land entitlement was so
small.
Number 075
DARYL JAMES, Mayor, City and Borough of Yakutat, said Yakutat has
worked long and hard on the formation of this borough which was
formed in 1992. He characterized that entitlement of 138 acres as
"half a borough." This resulted in the City and Borough of Yakutat
petitioning the Local Boundary Commission for annexation of the
other half that was cut out in the original entitlement. He said
if they had initially received the full entitlement, it would have
amounted to 33,000 acres.
Mayor James expressed appreciation to Senator Mackie for
introducing SB 281.
Number 100
JAMES BRENNON, an attorney representing the City and Borough of
Yakutat, in addressing Senator Phillips' earlier question relating
to the initial land entitlement, explained that the amount of
municipal entitlement lands a new formed municipality gets is based
upon 10% of the vacant, unappropriated, unreserved state acreage in
the borough at the time of formation. When Yakutat was initially
awarded "half a borough," all vuu land was in the other half so
that's why Yakutat ended up with next to nothing. He added that
when looking at what acreage the other rural boroughs in Alaska
have received, it's a miscarriage of justice and fails to fulfill
the state's statutory policy of giving generous land entitlements
to municipalities.
Mr. Brennon directed attention to Section 3 of the bill and pointed
out it contains language which authorizes the director of the
Division of Land in the Department of Natural Resources to add
certain covenants or conditions to the conveyance that are agreed
upon and accepted by the municipality that has applied for them.
He said that kind of language was sought because there are areas in
this region which DNR, because of concerns of other agencies or
other entities, might feel constrained against approving a
conveyance unless it was able to do so with certain covenants. He
said the City and Borough of Yakutat believes it will be able to
agree to those covenants which enable DNR to convey acreage to the
municipality that otherwise it might not be able to get at all.
Mr. Brennon also pointed out that the Yakutat region has been the
subject of past litigation, and there also remains some Mental
Health Trust ability to nominate lands in this area. He noted the
bill does not specifically nail down any particular parcel for
Yakutat. Those nominations and the acceptance or non-acceptance by
DNR of particular nominations is reserved for the already set in
place policy provided by law. If the legislation passes, Yakutat
will have to make its nominations by October 1999, and DNR will
have some time after that to determine whether or not to accept the
nomination. In addition to that, in many cases, DNR will need to
reclassify lands in order to put them into vuu category to allow
Yakutat to gain conveyance of them. He said that is something DNR
has some discretion in doing, and it would also require an
amendment to the Yakataga area plan.
Mr. Brennon said instead of just coming to the Legislature
requesting a bill, numerous discussions have been held with all the
affected parties in trying to arrive at a solution that is
acceptable to all. As a result, the initial request of 30,000
acres was reduced to 21,500 acres because it became apparent that
getting to 30,000 acres would have meant a large selection of
forestry land in the Cape Suckling area and that was proving to be
a lightening rod for all parties concerned.
Number 195
CHAIRMAN MACKIE commented that when the possibility of this bill
was first discussed, it was made real clear that it was important
to come to the Legislature with a consensus package. He asked Mr.
Brennon if everyone's concerns have been addressed fairly
adequately. MR. BRENNON answered that there is no known
opposition, but there are still some wrinkles to be worked out that
are not dealth with in the bill, but which will be dealt with in
the selection process and public hearing process.
umber 213
SENATOR WILKEN asked if forestry lands at Cape Suckling will be
selected. MAYOR JAMES and MR. BRENNON responded that they will
not.
SENATOR WILKEN then asked if any forestry lands will be selected.
MR. BRENNON replied that a relatively small parcel in West Icy Bay,
which is subunit 4(a)(1) in the Yakataga Area Plan, plus a portion
of section 22 in subunit 4(a)(2) amounting to around 2,000 acres
and which was harvested in the '70s and '80s.
SENATOR WILKEN inquired if there are plans to select the log
transfer site at Icy Bay., and if the University of Alaska will
have future access, if needed, at a reasonable rate. MAYOR JAMES
acknowledged that was correct.
SENATOR WILKEN asked if the legislation will require
reclassification of state lands to assure 21,500 acres of available
lands. MR. BRENNON answered that it will. However, he clarified
that not all 21,500 will need to be reclassified, but most of it
will.
SENATOR WILKEN questioned if any lands transferred under this
entitlement include the same access rights currently provided to
the University of Alaska under their memorandum of understanding
(MOU), including any substitute tracts yet to be identified. MR.
BRENNON acknowledged that the university would have the same access
rights.
Number 280
SENATOR WILKEN then moved the following amendment to SB 281:
Amendment No. 1
Page 2, line 5: Delete "30,000 acres" and insert "21,500 acres"
CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked Mayor James if the concur with that number,
and MAYOR JAMES responded that they do.
Hearing no objection to the amendment, CHAIRMAN MACKIE stated the
amendment was adopted to be incorporated into a C&RA committee
substitute.
Number 285
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President for the Statewide University of Alaska
System, voiced their support for SB 281. She stated the university
has a large interest in the region, and the City and Borough of
Yakutat representatives, including Mr. Brennon, have worked closely
with the university to try to accommodate their concerns. She
added that the university believes that any acre of land that is
taken out of state ownership and put into the ownership of private
hands, be it city, borough, municipal, or Native corporation, is a
better acre than it is within state ownership.
Number 300
CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked Ms. Redman if she thinks the nominating of
particular lands and the hearing processes it will go through is
sufficient to meet any further concerns that might arise on the
part of the university. MS. REDMAN replied that she thinks there
is some concern about whether or not any current forestry lands
would be redesignated, which could pose a potential problem for
them, but they feel any further concerns that they have can be
addressed with the parties or through the best interest
determination process.
Number 310
JANE ANGVIK, Director, Division of Land, Department of Natural
Resources, stated she was testifying in support of SB 281 with the
reduced figure of 21,500 acres. However, in order to achieve that
amount of acreage, DNR will have to reclassify lands and have
amendments to the Yakataga Area Plan of approximately 18,000 acres.
She pointed out there could be considerable opposition to this with
some of the adjacent landowners, but DNR believes that some of that
concern will be addressed by the stipulations and conditions to
address those concerns.
Ms. Angvik said DNR is a bit nervous about any title that has a
long term condition on it because of their limited ability to
actually enforce conditions with respect to the land, but they look
forward to working with the City and Borough of Yakutat in
monitoring the uses of those lands.
DNR also has concerns regarding some of the specific selections
that have been proposed by the City and Borough of Yakutat,
particularly the log transfer facility and storage yard near Icy
Bay. This facility is the only access point for state lands,
current University of Alaska timber harvests, Mental Health Trust
Authority Lands. Ms. Angvik emphasized that DNR has in no way
agreed to a particular parcel to be selected by supporting this
legislation, and they agree that the City and Borough of Yakutat
can come to them and propose acreage that can be nominated for
their ownership.
DNR is also concerned that if the City and Borough of Yakutat
receives large tracts of timber lands, the sustained yield
calculations for timber harvest in this area can be reduced. Ms.
Angvik said she was gratified to hear the representatives of the
City and Borough of Yakutat indicate in their response to a
question from Senator Wilken that they do not intend to request
reclassification of forestry lands.
The department has some concern that the borough has expressed
interest in owning some lands that may be of limited value such as
adjacent to the Yakataga State Game Refuge
In her closing comments, Ms. Angvik said the state can provide
municipal entitlements, but it is the responsibility of the local
governments to bear the costs of surveying the land before the
title can be transferred, and surveying 21,500 new acres is a
significant amount of money. She noted there will also be
significant costs for the department associated with amending the
Yakataga Area Plan.
Number 380
In response to a question from SENATOR PHILLIPS on the fiscal note,
MS. ANGVIK said the $128,000 figure for second year and $143,000
figure for the third year reflect the amounts the City and Borough
of Yakutat is going to pay as program receipts through DNR to
expedite this process. The $10,000 for the first year is the
amount it will cost to review the applications from the borough.
Number 411
SENATOR HOFFMAN raised the question of approximately how much it
would cost to survey the 21,500 acres, and there was brief
discussion and an estimate made of approximately $1,000 an acre.
He then asked Mayor James if the borough planned on having that
done by the October 1999 time frame set out in the bill. MAYOR
JAMES clarified that date is just for the selection of land, and
the surveying of the land will be done in phases. The borough will
not receive ownership to the land until the surveying is done.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE concluded that it is quite possible that this whole
process will take place over a long period of time.
There being no further testimony on SB 281, CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked
for will of the committee.
SENATOR WILKEN moved that CSSB 281(CRA)and the accompanying fiscal
note be passed out of committee with individual recommendations.
Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.
There being no further business to come before the committee, the
meeting adjourned at 2:08 p.m.
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