Two propositions will be on Wrangell’s ballot in next month’s municipal election.
Capital Projects Director Amber Al-Haddad said the first ballot proposition will ask voters to approve a $3 million bond for the Public Safety Building. The building holds the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, customs, courts and the jail. There’s also the volunteer fire department, Search and Rescue and an indoor shooting range planned in the future.
She said, “We’ve put a critical eye on our funding for that project to make sure we can do the most essential work to keep that building viable, structurally sound and safe for all of its occupants that either are tenants there or the public that visit there.”
She said that there are significant structural issues with the building.
“There’s rot in the walls and we need to replace the external portion of that building,” she said. “That is the extent of the project that we’re seeking to fund this go around. It’s different than the project that we asked the public to approve with the GO bond a couple of years ago.”
That bond from a couple years ago was for roughly $8.5 million, which the public voted down. It included things like working on the elevator, fire alarm and other critical aspects of the building.
Federal funds might come through but there’s a wait
Al-Haddad said the borough would only work on the essential components and won’t be doing any interior work this time around. She said they are hoping to receive an additional $2.4 million for the project from a federal grant request called Congressional Direct Spending (CDS). This will help with paying what is roughly a $5 million project.
“If we do not get the $2.4 million from CDS, we will do our best with the $3 million that we hope to get approved by the voters and then by USDA for loan funding,” she said. “We will attack the most critical pieces that we can with $3 million.”
That will cover both the design and the construction of the building’s exterior.
Borough Manager Mason Villarma said that Wrangell will have to be patient because CDS funding usually takes up to a year.
If they voters turn down the bond and the legislature approves the other, he said they’ll try to work with what they have.
“We would scope the project down to a partially funded project and it may be something that we do just the roof and siding, or just the roof and that’s just what we’ll have to deal with,” Villarma said. “It’s just a part of the reality. The same could be said if we get the Murkowski money and we don’t get the bond.”
Villarma said if voters don’t approve the bond, he fears there won’t be enough funds for materials.
“My fear is if we don’t address it now…”
He emphasized that the Public Safety Building is a critical asset for the community and a top priority for the borough’s administration.
“My fear is that if we don’t address it now that we’re done with public safety building; and there’s going to be a completely new building that we can’t afford,” Villarma said. “And then what do you do? You lose critical facilities. Certainly, the courthouse has already kind of told us we need to get our stuff in order.”
He said they will preserve what they have and take a conservative approach to get the building back in a stable condition.
“We’re getting as creative as we can to stretch dollars,” Villarma said.
He said he will not raise taxes even though it would be a 40-year loan.
“It’s tough times right now,” Villarma said. “Prices at the grocery store, prices at the pump, housing, we understand it. We see it every day. So I don’t want to be like George HW here and ‘no new taxes,’ but that’s the goal. So public safety building.”
The ability to compensate assembly members
The ballot’s other proposition is to amend a Home Rule Charter section so the city can compensate assembly members.
Wrangell’s charter currently states that assembly members can not be compensated.
Essentially, voters will vote on whether to remove the language that reads “no assembly member may receive any compensation for serving on the assembly, but may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her official duties.”
Villarma said that removing this language will help create an avenue for the borough to compensate assembly members.
“I do think it’s an important item,” he said. “Assemblies tend to be folks that can afford to do it. It’s a big time commitment and we really appreciate the time that you guys spend doing it. And likely, it’s a little bit more challenging for younger folks to participate in that.”
He said it’s common for municipalities to compensate assembly members and the mayor. If it passes, the assembly will have to decide how to go about getting compensated – a process that will take time.
At an August 27th assembly meeting, Assembly Member Bob Dalrymple questioned the wording in the charter and whether assembly members should even be compensated.
“My preference would be that the people would vote on how and who gets to approve that compensation,” he said. “Because right now it’s a blank check. I could see it just being a blank check for us to compensate ourselves as we wish and I think that’s not a good precedent.”
Dalrymple was the only assembly member to vote against the compensation ballot proposition. The assembly unanimously supported putting the Public Safety Building bond on the ballot.
