CITY AND BOROUGH OF WRANGELL BOROUGH MANAGER REPORT · Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions! 1. Get Healthier 2. Get Happier 3. e a better person 4. Find love 5. Show more love to your

2016 YEAR IN REVIEW

CITY AND BOROUGH OF WRANGELL

BOROUGH MANAGER REPORT

2016 Length of Service Mile-

stones (5 year increments:)

Karen Lockabey– 5 yrs

Kjell Nore– 10 yrs

Derek Meissner– 10 yrs

James Early– 15 yrs

David Bryner– 15 yrs

Dorianne Blatchley– 15 yrs

Rick Groshong– 20 yrs

Bruce Smith Jr.– 20 yrs

Jeff Rooney– 25 yrs

2016 began with the bleak reality of a

State of Alaska budget crisis as the legisla-

ture met. Although there was a lot of

discussion in the legislature very little was

accomplished to resolve the deficit. Dur-

ing the following months we were hit with

several cuts from the State. We received

a 45% cut to our jail contract, 36% cut in

Revenue Sharing and a 25% cut in school

debt reimbursement. In addition, we

have not received any capital funds from

state sources over the last two years.

As devastating as this has been and will

continue to be, there were some positive

things that happened during the last year.

Attached as part of this report are various

department reports in more detail. A

summary of some of the projects and

activities completed during the last year

are as follows:

Electric Distribution Upgrades

New Summer Float

Barge Ramp Concrete Paving

Shoemaker Bay Harbor Design

Wood Street Paving and other related

improvements.

Other Street Paving upgrades

Sewer Pump Station Upgrades

Water Treatment Pilot Study

Application completed with USDA for

new water plant funding

Waterfront master plan (six mile mill)

completed.

Institute Master Plan near comple-

tion

GIS Mapping now online to public

Completed application and was se-

lected #1 for the State’s matching

grant program for Shoemaker Bay

Harbor

Parks and Recreation increased

aquatics activity and programs.

Parks and Recreation’s partnership

with schools including learn to swim

program

Library offers a variety of programs

such as Lynda.com (online training

free to public), summer reading pro-

gram, storytime and other services

Cruise ship traffic increased in 2016

which added to the Nolan Center

activity and revenues.

The Nolan Center hosted a dozen

weddings in 2016 and hosts a variety

of other programs such as movies,

display of local artwork, health fair,

and other activities.

More detail is included in each depart-

Wrangell Trivia:

The most western point in

the US is Cape Wrangell on

Attu Island.

Wrangell-St. Elias is the

largest national park in the

US.

What is a New Years Resolution:

It’s a “ To Do “ list for the first week of January.

On Retiring from the City after almost 40 Years

Page 2 CITY AND BOROUGH OF WRANGELL

The community of Wrangell has been my

home for almost 60 years and has been my

employer for almost 40 years. During my

time with the borough it has been a roller

coaster ride.

The 1980’s had the timber industry going

great and with that the addition of the state’s

oil pipeline and the huge influx of money to

the communities, life was good. During this

decade, Tyee Hydro Facility was built, the

High School and Pool, the Public Safety Build-

ing and the paving of Case Avenue to name

the major construction projects.

The 1990’s saw the state money decline and

the closure of the saw mill. The population

dropped from about 2,900 to 1,900 and the

outlook looked bleak. In about 1997, We

received almost 37 million dollars from the

Federal Government due to our influential

Senators Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski.

This helped us weather the financial storm

and put money into infrastructure such as

new water and sewer treatment plants, con-

struction of Heritage Harbor, paving projects,

Power Plant Generator Upgrades, Harbor

Improvements, Covered Playground and doz-

ens of other improvements around town.

Without timber as a driving force in our econ-

omy, Wrangell has turned to more fishing,

tourism and now the Marine Center business-

es that have added a great product for the

marine industry. Wrangell and Alaska is again

heading for a difficult time with the low oil

prices.

Through all of the lows and highs of the last

40 years, the rewarding part for me has been

the great people that I have had a chance to

work with to figure out ways to get things

accomplished when the money wasn’t there.

I cherish all those hundreds of work relation-

ships and friendships that I have been lucky

enough to have over the years.

I have often said that the quality of a commu-

nity is the quality of its volunteers. The

toughest volunteer job is our borough assem-

bly. For all of those that currently occupy

borough positions and for all those over the

many years that have volunteered before, I

applaud you. Job well done.

I would like to thank Joyce Rasler, a previous

City Manager, for taking a chance on me com-

ing right out of college. I owe her a lot for

giving me the opportunity to live and work in

Wrangell at my dream job.

I hope that I can become a productive volun-

teer with my new available time. I have al-

ready committed to several things and hope

to do more.

I would like to thank the many assembly

members, fellow employees, Wrangellites,

consultants and others that have been so

supportive to me and my family over the

years. That is why the job has been so re-

warding and why it was easy to stay in one

job for so long. Thank you.

I just wouldn’t feel right in ending this with-

out some humor. Things for me in retire-

ment:

Catch my first salmon in 25 years

Coin flip Kay for first choice on the list of

choirs

Use my boat more than twice during a

summer and avoid running aground.

Coach youth league basketball so I can

once again interact with people I can

relate to

Go into serious training so maybe I can

beat Fred once during the summer at

tennis.

Jeff Jabusch, Borough Manager

Top Ten New Year’s

Resolutions!

1. Get Healthier

2. Get Happier

3. Be a better person

4. Find love

5. Show more love to your

family

6. Be a better friend

7. Get better in school

8. Learn something new

9. Be a role model

10. Make some money

Most failed new year resolu-

tions:

1. Working out and losing

weight

2. Eating Healthier

3. Stop Procrastinating

4. Trying to spend less money

5. Let go of grudges

6. Work harder in school

7. Fall in Love

8. Use technology less

9. Take more chances.

See you at the pool & recreation

center January 2nd. Good Luck.

Page 3

Above, the light department working on several of the projects on the distribution deficiency report. Major Progress!

New summer float

and new concrete

work done at the

barge ramp this

past year.

Parks and Recreation

youth basketball trip to

Petersburg (above) and

a photo of the new mas-

ters swim group.

Below is the end of the

year summer reading pool

party for those that fin-

ished the program and to

the right is the storytime

program at the library.

2017– The Challenges and Opportunities

Challenges:

How do we continue to balance a budget with declining revenues without reducing ser-

vices?

Where will the money come from to maintain our aging pool, public safety building and

other buildings and equipment as state revenue and grants dry up because of low oil

prices?

How do we deal with the escalating health insurance costs for our employees?

These are the big questions in Wrangell as well as other Alaskan communities. And the solu-

tions long term will be painful. Our staff will continue to look at federal sources and will also

look at possible new revenue sources other than tax increases. But the bottom line is that it

will be difficult to maintain the current level of services , repair buildings and equipment and

keep up the cost of healthcare without new revenue sources to pay for it or to reduce services

or a combination of both.

Opportunities and things to look forward to:

Wrangell was the number one rated harbor on the state’s harbor replacement matching

grant program and we are optimistic that the governor will again put it in his budget. It

will still need to survive the legislature, but if approved, Shoemaker Bay Harbor will be

ready to be replaced with a new harbor. The design is mostly done and work could start

possibly in 2017 or early 2018.

The Wrangell Institute Property has gone through a development study and hopefully in

the near future we can begin to develop the land by putting lots up for sale which long

term will add to the tax base.

The construction of Evergreen Road is schedule for construction in 2017. This will add to

our economy, hopefully put some local people to work and improve a failing road. It will

add a sidewalk to the water side which will make it safer for pedestrian traffic.

We are schedule to have more tour ships visit Wrangell next year. This will add to the

visitor industry and increase sales tax revenue.

We hope to have additional industrial lots for sale in the near future.

The Chamber has a great Fourth of July planned this summer.

We continue to move forward with the ANSEP school at the institute site, building a new

hospital and the possibility of buying and developing the six mile mill property.

Wrangell is a great place to live and a hidden gem in Alaska. Voted safest town in Alaska.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Helen Keller

Finance Department News:

The Finance Department is

working on a new ac-

counting software system

that replaces a old system

the will not be supported

after 2017. After much

research and talking to oth-

er communities that use it,

we selected them. The

installation is happening

the week of December 12th

for the first phase and then

will continue in January –

March for the payroll and

phase II. The new system

offer many more time sav-

ing process then the old

system and we believe that

once the staff is completely

comfortable with it will be

a huge time saver.

Assessment Program:

The finance department

has also been working with

our assessor on a new as-

sessment program for sev-

eral years and although

then initial costs are painful

it is estimated that within 4

or 5 years the city will

begin to save money as our

assessment costs will re-

duced because of the effi-

ciency of automation. Au-

tomating our system has

been encouraged by the

state assessor.