Legislature(2013 - 2014)BUTROVICH 205
02/18/2014 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB157 | |
| Overview: Alaska Conference of Mayors | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 157 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 18, 2014
3:31 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Peter Micciche, Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel, Vice Chair
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator John Coghill
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 157
"An Act relating to municipal fire protection service area
boundary changes."
- HEARD & HELD
OVERVIEW: ALASKA CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 157
SHORT TITLE: FIRE PROTECTION SERVICE AREAS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COGHILL
02/05/14 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/05/14 (S) CRA
02/18/14 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor for SB 157.
HANS RODVIK, Staff
Senator Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided an overview of SB 157.
DAVID GIBBS, Director
Emergency Operations
Fairbanks North Star Borough
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 157.
MAYOR MIM MCCONNELL
City and Borough of Sitka
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed Sitka's hydro-project.
MAYOR STEPHANIE SCOTT
Haines Borough
Haines, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Called attention to the Haines Borough's
energy issues.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:31:39 PM
CHAIR PETER MICCICHE called the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. Present
at the call to order were Senators Giessel, Bishop, Hoffman, and
Chair Micciche.
3:32:00 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE welcomed Senator Coghill. He noted the committee
meeting's agenda included hearing SB 157 and municipal overviews
from the Alaska Conference of Mayors.
SB 157-FIRE PROTECTION SERVICE AREAS
3:32:20 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE introduced SB 157, an act sponsored by Senator
John Coghill that relates to municipal fire protection service
area boundary changes. He said SB 157 is being heard for the
first time and the intent is not to pass the bill out at today's
meeting. He set forth that SB 157 will be back before the
committee at the next meeting with the expectation to move the
bill at that time.
3:32:53 PM
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
SB 157 sponsor. He informed the committee that SB 157 was
initiated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough. He explained that
at times a fire engine will go right past a fire station to take
care of their fire service area. He set forth that SB 157 will
provide for additional boundary flexibility. He detailed that SB
157 will allow the Fairbanks North Star Borough to set their
boundaries that best suits the equipment management. He pointed
out that the tax rates are not intended to change and the fire
service would end up being served better.
3:34:50 PM
HANS RODVIK, Staff for Senator Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, provided an overview of SB 157. He
read the following statement:
Current state law, AS 29.35.450(c), allows a local
assembly without a vote by the property owners in the
fire service area to increase the number of parcels in
a fire service area if the increase in parcels is not
more than 6 percent, or would not add more than 1,000
residents to the area. SB 157 adds a corollary
provision into statute that will allow an assembly,
without a service areawide vote as is currently
required, to remove a small number of parcels, or make
some minor boundary changes to a service area, so long
as the property owners request it and it meets the
criteria set out by ordinance.
3:35:46 PM
SENATOR EGAN joined the committee meeting.
MR. RODVIK continued to provide an overview of SB 157 as
follows:
Under current law, an election of the entire service
area is necessary just to remove that one small
parcel. As you can see in the maps provided, fire
service areas in the Fairbanks North Star Borough have
some off-boundaries. SB 157 will provide property
owners and local governments a streamlined way to fix
such ambiguous boundaries of fire service areas.
Furthermore, the changes to statute we are purposing
will allow property owners to receive fire service
from a fire department nearest to their residence.
Fire service areas are constantly growing and even
being created. SB 157 gives property owners the
ability to quickly adjust boundary changes. Therefore,
SB 157 is important because it gives property owners
the ability to choose to be covered by closer service
areas and thus receive faster emergency services when
the time arises.
3:36:48 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE welcomed Senator Egan to committee meeting.
MR. RODVIK continued his overview as follows:
Likewise, we think that statute must be fixed because
development patterns of roads have resulted in first
responders traveling through different fire service
areas to access land parcels that are within their
service area. Like Senator Coghill said, we have fire
trucks passing by other departments to reach a parcel
of land that they are trying to go and serve. The maps
provided show examples of this problem. In conclusion,
the ability to establish a less cumbersome process for
changing fire service boundaries will allow
municipalities to define more natural boundaries,
therefore making it easier for emergency responders to
determine which parcels to serve. Lastly, SB 157
provides municipalities with the flexibility needed to
adjust boundaries based on the service levels
available.
3:38:25 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE announced that SB 157 will be kept open for
public testimony. He said SB 157 will be held in committee until
the next meeting.
3:38:59 PM
DAVID GIBBS, Director, Emergency Operations, Fairbanks North
Star Borough, Fairbanks, Alaska; thanked Senator Coghill for
bringing SB 157 forward and announced that the Fairbanks North
Star Borough supports the passage of SB 157. He read the
following statement:
In our borough, fire service areas were established in
the early 1980s with a best-guessed eye towards future
growth and development patterns. For the most part,
these growth estimates have held true and our
residents enjoy high quality fire protection services.
However, there are a few situations where development
has not occurred as anticipated and service area
residents owning parcels along the boundaries of fire
service areas may be receiving substandard fire
services response due to distances from service
providers or very limited fire protection due to
problems with accessibility. The Fairbanks North Star
Borough believes that the only avenue currently
available to us in statute to address these anomalies
with fire service area boundaries is overly cumbersome
as it requires the expense and effort of multiple
elections to make even minor adjustments to the
boundaries of existing fire service areas. SB 157
provides municipalities with much needed tools by
giving a municipality the authority to decrease or
transfer by ordinance a small number of parcels in a
fire service area without holding an election.
Decreasing or transferring parcels by ordinance
provides property owners with an opportunity for a
public hearing before any action is taken. Parcels
along the boundary of a fire service area might be
decreased at a property owner's request if, for
example, they are not road accessible. In our borough,
the Fairbanks North Star Borough, there are areas that
were included in fire service areas where development
was planned, roads were platted but never built.
Residents will still pay fire protection taxes, but
due to limited accessibility, cannot reasonably expect
to receive a high level of quality fire services.
Passage of this legislation and a companion ordinance
by a municipality will allow a property owner in this
situation to petition the municipality's legislative
body to have his property removed from fire service
area until better road access was developed. We do not
have a mechanism currently to remove people from fire
service areas who cannot receive the service. Parcels
may be transferred to an adjacent fire service area
when adjacent service area has a much closer fire
station and therefore able to provide a much higher
level of fire protection. I believe we have provided
maps showing you a couple of examples that exist
within our borough; these are not, I should add, the
only examples within our borough. These are examples
where a fire department may have to pass through one
or more adjacent fire service areas before it can
provide services to its own area. In closing, the
Fairbanks North Star Borough believes that SB 157 will
greatly assist our ability to administer fire service
areas by insuring service area boundary parcel owners
receive the best possible fire protection and giving
those residents who are paying for, but not receiving
fire services, a simple and straight forward method to
remove their property from a fire service area.
3:42:38 PM
SENATOR BISHOP announced his support for SB 157. He asked what
does it cost the Fairbanks North Star Borough to run a service
area election.
MR. GIBBS answered approximately $9,000.
CHAIR MICCICHE thanked Mr. Gibbs. He noted a letter of support
and passage of SB 157 from Mr. Jeff Tucker, 2nd Vice-President,
Alaska Fire Chief's Association.
3:43:56 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE announced public testimony will be held open
until the next committee meeting. He announced that SB 157 will
be held until the next meeting.
3:44:11 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE announced that the committee will stand at ease.
3:57:24 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE called the committee meeting back to order.
^OVERVIEW: ALASKA CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
OVERVIEW: ALASKA CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
3:57:43 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE noted that the Alaska Conference of Mayors is
meeting in Juneau. He pointed out that the Community and
Regional Affairs Committee deals with issues that primarily
relate to local government and government services or functions
in the unorganized borough and other matters relating to
political subdivisions.
3:58:10 PM
MAYOR MIM MCCONNELL, City and Borough of Sitka, Sitka, Alaska;
addressed funding for the Blue Lake Hydroelectric Dam expansion
project. She read the following statement:
The method we are requesting for accomplishing this
funding is not the usual grant request, though we
would have of course preferred that, but a loan from
the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) Power Project Loan
Fund. This fund was a great idea for Alaska, it showed
great foresight because during a time of waning income
and plans for a deficit budget, this is a good
solution for continuing the important task of
affordably, sustainably, powering our communities. It
helps wean communities off of the grant cycle,
something which is obviously unsustainable right now,
and on to a process where communities participate in
paying for their power improvements. Imagine what this
state would be like over the coming decade of deficit
spending if we couldn't continue to lower our power
costs. Local economies would decline, economic
development would falter, the people would leave in
droves, meaning our children and grandchildren because
they couldn't find work. I don't want this future for
Sitka or any other Alaskan community. The legislature
can do something about this. You can save Sitkans
another rate increase; they have already had three
since December 2012, a 48 percent increase. By
appropriating money to the Power Project Loan Fund,
you did this for Cordova last year and the Prince of
Wales Island Community the year before. Thank you for
listening and considering our request for $18.6
million.
MAYOR MCCONNEL noted that she had language and documentation to
present for inserting into the budget. She set forth that the
Blue Lake Hydroelectric Dam is an amazing project and committee
members were invited for a tour. She noted that the project has
Alaska's largest crane in service.
4:00:47 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE asked to clarify that the dam has been working
for many years.
MAYOR MCCONNELL answered that first dam went in about 100 years
ago. She said the current dam has been in place since
approximately 1959. She explained that the dam was a three
phased project and the first two projects were done within the
first few years. She noted that the intention has always been
for a third phase. She remarked that original dam designers did
not know that the third phase would entail adding an additional
83 feet, the plan was for a lesser amount. The third phase was a
now-or-never decision to go all out and go up as high as
possible. She said the dam will end up at an elevation of 425
feet. Power will be increased from 7.5 megawatts to 17
megawatts. She summarized that the Blue Lake Dam will help Sitka
for the next 15 to 20 years.
4:01:48 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE inquired if the dam only serves Sitka.
MAYOR MCCONNELL answered correct.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if 17 megawatts will be the dam's average
production.
MAYOR MCCONNELL replied that 17 megawatts is what Sitka needs
and some extra power will be available. She reiterated that the
power supplied by the Blue Lake Dam will provide Sitka with
enough energy for 15 to 20 years.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if Sitka is supplementing with diesel.
MAYOR MCCONNELL answered yes. She added that Sitka was in the
process of looking at Takatz Lake which is on the other side of
Baranof Island. She said Takatz Lake does have possibilities for
an intertie. She noted that Sitka has started on the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting process. She
revealed that the potential Takatz Lake project would be a lake-
tap rather than a dam.
4:02:48 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if the lake-tap was an instream generator.
MAYOR MCCONNELL answered yes.
SENATOR EGAN asked what was Sitka's kilowatt per hour rate for
residential.
MAYOR MCCONNELL replied that when the Blue Lake Dam Project was
first started, the kilowatt per hour rate was $0.09. She
explained that Sitka has an inclining rate and the current rate
varies between $0.12 and $0.19 per kilowatt hour. She added that
conservation has been built into Sitka's rate structure so
residents can save if they conserve power. She specified that
the $0.19 is more on the heavy users, especially businesses and
residents that use a lot of energy. She said Sitka was able to
use a variable rate by helping residents get their rates down by
reducing the monthly flat-fees.
4:04:12 PM
SENATOR BISHOP asked if Allen Marine and the Pioneer Home would
come in the $0.12 to $0.19 per kilowatt range.
MAYOR MCCONNELL replied that Allen Marine and Pioneer Home would
be on the higher end of the rate range, similar to Sitka's three
seafood processing plants.
SENATOR EGAN asked if the $30 flat-fee charged to residents was
to pay off a bond.
MAYOR MCCONNELL answered that in order to get a bond there must
be a promise that there is going to be enough money to pay the
bill. She said Sitka has to increase its rates every time a bond
is issued. She added that there are different ways to create the
rate structure and one of them is to have the flat-fee be a
particular amount and the per kilowatt hour rate is calculated
after that. She revealed that the third bond rates go into
effect July 1 and rate increases will occur.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked to see the language for the Blue Lake Dam
and the committee members will discuss support for the project
with other senators.
4:07:00 PM
MAYOR STEPHANIE SCOTT, Haines Borough, Haines, Alaska; explained
that the Haines Borough has been guided by the Southeast Alaska
Integrated Resource Plan (SEIRP). She noted that SEIRP has many
recommendations for energy, one of which is to do some fuel-
switching to use biomass for heat to conserve hydroelectric
power. She said the Haines Borough has included in its AEA
recommendation for a $1.3 million grant to convert ten public
buildings to pellet use.
MAYOR SCOTT revealed that the Haines Borough's other problem is
derived from the borough's 2008 plan to conserve energy. She
said the borough participated in every energy efficient and
weatherization program the state offered. She detailed that the
borough's private sector initiated energy conservation through
alternative energy projects that included geothermal heat
systems. She reported that the consequence from conserving
energy has led to the borough's local private utility proposing
to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) for rates to be
raised by 18.6 percent. She noted that one of the arguments by
the local utility is that they should be compensated for the
fact that the customers in their service district have conserved
so much that their revenues have been reduced. She said the
increase affects Tok, Coffman Cove, Craig, Skagway, and Haines.
She pointed out that all of the affected communities have filed
to be interveners in the rate case. She set forth that the
intervene filing is an expensive proposition primarily due to
the follow up testimony and investigation. She informed the
committee that the Haines Borough is confused because it seems
to the borough that the state of Alaska has been promoting a
policy of energy conservation and efficiency which has collided
with the capacity of the for-profit utility to be guaranteed a
certain rate of return. She asked the committee to think about
the Haines Borough's contradictory situation. She added that
heating rates are increasing due to revenue loss from the
borough's pellet use.
4:11:57 PM
SENATOR EGAN asked if the utility being referred to is Alaska
Power and Telephone Company (AP&T).
MAYOR SCOTT answered yes.
SENATOR EGAN asked if Haines is heating their school with
pellets.
MAYOR SCOTT replied that Haines' school is being converted to
use pellets. She noted that the vision is for a pellet mill to
be located in the Haines area.
4:13:39 PM
SENATOR EGAN commended the Haines Borough for their pellet
initiative. He noted that Juneau and the rest of Southeast could
be served by pellet production. He called attention to a hydro
plant that is on the drawing board for the Haines area. He asked
if the council has come out against the hydro project.
MAYOR SCOTT answered no. She explained that AP&T was proposing
to develop Connelly Lake, which is in a very rich watershed and
there was quite a bit of community opposition. She specified
that there was no opposition from elected officials. She
detailed that AP&T dropped the Connelly Lake Project and the
borough was very disappointed. She revealed that the Haines
Borough is on 98 percent hydro power. She said the borough's
issue with hydro power is that there is not much room for
growth; therefore to conserve hydro power the borough has gone
away from using hydro power for electric heat.
CHAIR MICCICHE noted the comprehensive evaluation of an energy
balance in a community and Mayor Scott has outlined the perfect
struggle where the borough is not using its hydro power to
capacity, but the energy still has a cost per unit of generating
kilowatts and someone has to make that up. He said it is a
challenge where a community becomes too efficient for the size
of its generation.
MAYOR SCOTT stated that she was interested in Mayor McConnell's
structure where Sitka's rate is structured for people who are
conserving in their community. She suggested that AP&T consider
a similar plan for their lost revenue by considering a tariff
revision for high electricity consumers.
4:16:09 PM
SENATOR BISHOP asked what the Haines Borough's hourly kilowatt
rate is.
MAYOR SCOTT answered $0.22 per kilowatt hour. She said the
borough's comprehensive plan is to bring the rate down to $0.15
per kilowatt hour. She said the Haines Borough agrees that their
hourly kilowatt rate is the biggest barrier to economic
development. She noted that despite the high rates, Aspen Hotel
is building a new hotel in Haines and their facility will be
heated with pellets.
SENATOR EGAN thanked Chair Micciche for inviting the mayors to
testify.
CHAIR MICCICHE stated that it is always interesting to hear from
constituents.
4:17:42 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Micciche adjourned the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Committee at 4:17 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 157 version N.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Fiscal Note DPS 2-16-14.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Supporting Documents - Alaska Fire Chiefs Association 2-17-14.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Supporting Documents-JurisdictionBoundaryShiftDemo_ChenaRidge.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Supporting Documents-Overview of Fairbanks Fire Stations.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |
| SB 157 Supporting Documents-JurisdictionBoundaryShiftDemo_CrestLine.pdf |
SCRA 2/18/2014 3:30:00 PM |
SB 157 |