Untitled Document

Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly
Regular Meeting Minutes for November 25, 2003
Assembly Chambers - Kotzebue, AK

CALL TO ORDER Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly President Willie Thomas called the Regular meeting to order at 1:05 P.M. on November 25, 2003 at the Assembly Chambers in Kotzebue, Alaska.

INVOCATION / MOMENT OF SILENCE Assembly member Eugene Monroe Sr. gave the invocation.

ROLL CALL Members present at the time of roll call: Reggie Cleveland Verne Cleveland. Roger Clark Larry Westlake Sophie Ferguson Walter Sampson John Schaeffer Clement Richards Willie Thomas Suzy Erlich Frank Adams
A quorum was present to conduct business.
Introduction of staff and guests: Roswell Schaeffer, Sr., Mayor Judy Hassinger, Treasurer Cindy Cooper, Borough Attorney Willie Goodwin, Elder Representative Cheryl Winkler, Grant Writer Helena Hildreth, Borough Clerk Martha Whiting, Mayors Assistant James Mason, Arctic Sounder

AGENDA APPROVAL Mr. Larry Westlake requested to get on the agenda under Boards, Commission and Committees to report on the Joint Construction & Maintenance Committee. Mr. John Schaeffer also requested to report on the BAF and Healthy Committee also under Boards, Commission and Committees.

Mr. Suzy Erlich motioned, seconded by Mr. Roger Clark to approve the agenda. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
1. November 4, 2003 Regular minutes

Mr. Reggie Cleveland motioned, seconded by Mr. Larry Westlake to approve the minutes of November 4, 2003. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

A ten-minute recess was taken at 1:59 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 2:10 p.m.

BOARDS, COMMISSION & COMMITTEES BAF Chairperson Suzy Erlich reported that the BAF Committee reviewed and by full concurrence of the committee, recommended for passage by the full assembly Ordinance 03-06am 02 and Ordinance 03-09 for enactment. The committee also reviewed Ordinances 03-10 and 03-11, which was recommended for passage of the first reading with a public hearing date set for December 16, 2003. The BAF Committee also reviewed and recommended to table Resolutions 03-47 by full assembly until the final audit is presented to the Assembly.

Joint Construction & Maintenance Committee Chairman Larry Westlake reported that the committee met on November 17, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. and the committee reviewed the changes of the grading system that the Department of Early Childhood and Education submitted on the construction bid. The committee requested more points on the local hire category that would be finalized on December 1, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. Chairman Westlake stated that they had to cancel the trip to Ambler because of weather and the plan is to conduct a walk through of the Ambler school December 1 at 1:00 p.m.

Mr. Westlake commented that he attended the Miners Convention on November 3-7, 2003 in Anchorage, Alaska and stated that the presentations were very interesting. He commented that it was interesting to know that Red Dog still had a problem with the recovery rate but they are working on it. Mr. Westlake reported that the Mining Industry in Alaska tests a lot of things such as the new fuel oil, the fuel filters in the system, exhaust filter system and that his information comes from the miners. The federal government came out with a reclamation law in bonding to put the ground back the way it was before the mining started.

Healthy Communities Committee Chairman John Schaeffer reported the next committee meeting would be in January of 2004. Maniilaq Association provided a Wellness Report, Youth Wellness Report and Mr. John Schaeffer reported on the regional elders assistance project and Ms. Sandy Kowalski reported on the school ASSETS Program.

The committee also discussed subjects to be considered at the next meeting and they were: Consider what kind of support for wellness projects; what type of resources to bring to Barrow to help wellness efforts and consider providing education and training to support wellness and healthy communities.

Mr. Walter Sampson stated that the Northwest Arctic Borough should provide support to the Youth Wellness and other wellness programs in the region.

BOARDS, COMMISSION & COMMITTEES President Willie Thomas reported that the committee had some good discussions and the committee is finally starting up a good base from the discussions. President Thomas announced that the ASSETS book was distributed at the committee meeting and stated that it is a good tool for assisting our children.

PUBLIC HEARINGS, ENACTMENT OF ORDINANCES & EMERGENCY ORDINANCES
Ordinance 03-06am 02 an ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly providing for the establishment and adoption of the line item budget amendment for the fiscal year 2004.

Ms. Judy Hassinger, Borough Treasurer, highlighted the changes in the amendment to the budget and referred to the Narrative on Page 11-12. The changes from the first reading in the general fund revenues was the Teck Cominco agreement with an increase of $553,000.00; a change was in the general fund expenditures for the Teck Cominco agreement in the amount of $553,000.00; the budget proposes using $73,722.00 from the undesignated, unreserved fund balance to balance the budget. Ms. Hassinger then went over the changes in the various departments: Mayors - an increase of $59,936.00 in salaries and fringe benefits to budget for the Special Assistant to the Mayor for Grant Writing and environmental work, a $35,000.00 decrease in Consultants to move it to the Economic Development Summit fund; a decrease of $5,000.00 in Miscellaneous based on projections for the remaining fiscal year.

Noatak Revenue Sharing has increased by $38,786.00 to match the State of Alaska municipal grant of $40,000.00 in Admin and Finance; equipment has been decreased by $5,000.00 based on projections for the remaining Fiscal Year. A decrease of $20,000.00 for enforcement of Ordinance 03-05 in the Planning and Communities Department and would not be spent because the fiscal year has passed. A decrease of $5,000 in Printing and Publications and is based on projections for the remaining Fiscal Year. An increase of $10,000 in the Public Services Department to purchase Fire Extinguishers for the residents of the borough. Lastly, three transfers to Operating Transfer To Other Funds: an increase of $35,000.00 in the which is to transfer the budgeted amount of Lori Henry's contract to the Economic Summit Fund; an increase of $553,000.00 in the Financial Contingency appropriation for the Teck Cominco contract, and the Kotzebue School Capital Project has been increased by $70,000.00 to pay for the cost of moving the outbuildings in the construction area.

Ms. Suzy Erlich motioned, seconded by Ms. John Schaeffer to approve Ordinance 03-06am 02 for enactment. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

MAYORS REPORT
Ordinance 03-09: An ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly establishing policies for review and approval of external, public financing of Economic Development and for related purposes.

Mayor Ross Schaeffer read the changes in the 4th whereas.

Mr. Walter Sampson motioned, seconded by Mr. Larry Westlake to approve Ordinance 03-09 as amended for enactment. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

Cheryl Winkler, Grant Writer: Ms. Cheryl Winkler reported that they have filed ten grants and recently filed two Community Development Block Grants for Kiana and Noorvik. She is currently working on an Environmental Justice Grant that would affect seven villages and deals with vehicles, satellite telephones and many aspects. Non-grant writing include activities such as environmental issues present in the villages targeting solid waste, water and waste water, roads, acquisition of gravel, financial status of villages, relationship between the cities and the IRA's, and assisted in bringing in DOT and EPA who would review the landfill and the road to the landfill in Selawik. Ms. Winkler reported that the State finally released the funds for the Buckland tank farm project. Ms. Winkler reported that Kivalina's CDBG grant is tied up with their relocation, worked on utilization of equipment in the villages and was able to secure permission, as in Noatak, to utilize a road grader before freeze up; dealt with contractors and how we were going to approach environmental issues with grant writing; fuel spills in villages due to inadequate pipe, dislocation of the pipes, etc and trying to target opportunities to acquire funding to help clean it up and hopes to receive help from other critical review agencies. Ms. Winkler stated that we should hear about the mini grants awards in December and the rest of the grants would be coming out in the January-February time frame.

Ms. Suzy Erlich asked what stage the design of the multi-purpose buildings was in and Ms. Winkler reported those designs were used for Denali commission for the villages of Ambler and Shungnak and a prototype design allocated for this was $12,000.00.

Judy Hassinger, Borough Treasurer:
Ms. Hassinger briefly reviewed the Financial Report ended October 31, 2003 and highlighted some of the major activities for the month of August. The balance in the General Fund Revenue totaled 2,785,007.00 and the Expenditures were $2,342,683. Ms. Hassinger highlighted the major transactions: the borough received the quarterly usage payment from the school district in the amount of $449,980.00, the borough made a quarterly payment to the school district of $803,873.25, the borough reimbursed the school district for the bond funded projects in the amount $3,412,031.00. The borough made a quarterly payment to NANA for the Resource Specialist in the amount of $25,000.00 and we received a payment from Cominco of $250,000.00.

Ms. Hassinger informed the assembly that she spent a substantial amount of time trying to acquire the bond issuance for the Kotzebue school with the bond bank and the underwriter and have also spent time reviewing the draft audit report.

Ms. Erlich asked for a copy of last page of the letter that was in regards to bonding written from someone from the legislature that was not included in her packet.

Cindy Cooper, Landye, Bennett, Blumstein LLC: Ms. Cooper highlighted a few items of interest that happened in the last month. There has been a lot of negotiations with the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority and the Underwriter with the terms of the loan. Ms. Cooper stated that the decision to have negotiated sale or competitive bid is still up in the air and that the bond authority is planning to meet on December 1.

Ms. Cooper reported that their office is in the process of completing the documents of the KIC Land Exchange. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a memorandum of opinion allowing the Borough to intervene in the Kivalina lawsuit. Mr. Dave Case would also be working with NANA's and Teck Cominco's attorney's to get actively involved in that litigation since NANA was also allowed to intervene. Mayor Ross Schaeffer: Mayor Ross Schaeffer reported that Mr. Al Adams is busy and is unable to make this months meeting. Mayor Schaeffer reported that he and some of the Assembly members attended the Alaska Municipal League conference held in Nome, Alaska on November 11-15, 2003 and that he got elected for the at large seat for the AML Board.

Mayor Ross Schaeffer reported that some of the issues they talked about were a long range fiscal plan for all Alaskans, AML's request to have fairness and full funding by the State of community jails, AML's support for a resolution to allow Alaskans to choose an Alaskan dividend to avoid higher local taxes or cuts in critical public services. Mayor Ross Schaeffer also attended the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee in November 17-20, 2003 and discussed the traditional knowledge studies and harvest reports with forty-eight members present. Due to ice conditions many communities did not see any belugas at all.

The leadership meeting was canceled due to weather and is rescheduled in the near future. Mayor Ross Schaeffer reported that December 1 is set for approval of the bonds for the Kotzebue School. Mayor Schaeffer reported that the problem may be the bond authority utilizing the Underwriter for these bonds.

Mr. John Schaeffer commented that he distinctly remembered the Underwriters mention that the borough did not have to pay them if they did not sell bonds for the borough.

Mr. Walter Sampson commented that the Commissioner Tandeske come to our region to conduct public hearings so that they can hear our concerns about the VPSO Program.

TIME & PLACE OF NEXT MEETING
Mr. Clement Richards motioned, Mr. Roger Clark seconded to schedule the next Assembly meeting for the following dates:

ASSEMBLY CHAMBERS - KOTZEBUE, ALASKA
December 15, 2003 1:00 P.M. Committee Meetings
December 16, 2003 9:00 A.M Work session 1:00 P.M. Regular Meeting Assembly Chambers

Mr. John Schaeffer requested that if the Assembly does need an agreement for the bond sale, that it be done telephonically, and then have our next regular meeting in January 2004.

Mr. Larry Westlake remarked that he is against teleconferences because of poor reception but by then we would know more about the bond sale.

Mr. Thomas reported that Ms. Suzy Erlich left the meeting and was excused.

A roll call was conducted and the motion passed by a majority with Ms. Suzy Erlich absent during action.

A fifteen minute break was taken at 2:15 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 2:27 p.m.

INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES
Ordinance 03-10 An ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly revising provisions related to the Frank R. Ferguson Scholarship Program.

Mayor Ross Schaeffer briefly went over the changes in Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, Section 4 and Section 5 of Ordinance 03-10. Lincoln Saito, Director of Chukchi College, reported that he was happy to see that the vote was unanimous.

Mr. Saito reported that on a lot of work was put into offering over thirty courses by the Chukchi and ATC staff that are now offered at Alaska Technical Center that qualify for university credit and what was missing was the extension of the Frank R. Ferguson Memorial scholarship to cover the fees.

Mr. Reggie Cleveland motioned, seconded by Mr. Larry Westlake to approve Ordinance 03-10 for the first reading with the public hearing date set for December 16, 2003 at 1:00 p.m. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

Ordinance 03-11 an ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly establishing fire response service areas for the Fire Department functions and for related purposes.

Mr. Reggie Cleveland reported that the BAF Committee reviewed Ordinance 03-11 and recommended for approval by the full assembly after amending it by adding the word A after establishing.

Mayor Ross Schaeffer reported that this ordinance is establishes services areas by naming all the villages involved in this. It is also a house keeping measure to apply for funding for training and equipment from FEMA in the near future.

Mr. Larry Westlake motioned, seconded by Mr. Clement Richards to approve Ordinance 03-11 for the first reading with the public hearing date set for December 16, 2003 at 1:00 p.m. A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

RESOLUTIONS
Resolution 03-47 a resolution of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly accepting the General Purpose Financial Statements for the year ending June 30, 2003.

Mr. John Schaeffer reported that the BAF Committee recommends to table Resolution 03-47 to December 16, 2003 until we receive the final documents.

Mr. John Schaeffer motioned, seconded by Mr. Reggie Cleveland to table Resolution 03-47 to December 16, 2003 when the final documents are presented.

A roll call was conducted and the motion passed unanimously.

AUDIENCE COMMENTS
No audience comments.

ASSEMBLY COMMENTS
Mr. Larry Westlake requests for the Assembly to have a planning session at a date set after the New Years before we get into the budget. Mayor Ross Schaeffer responded that that the plan was to have a planning session before the regular meeting in January. Mr. Westlake wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Mr. John Schaeffer wished the members and everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Mr. Clement Richards wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and encouraged everyone to practice safety if they are traveling with snow machines.

Elder Representative Willie Goodwin would like to thank the Kotzebue IRA, Senior Center Staff, and the students who helped in the Kotzebue Thanksgiving potluck for the elders.

President Thomas thanked the Assembly members for attending the meeting and encouraged the villages to get involved with the Wellness gatherings and encouraged the other members to join on the Healthy committee meeting if they have time. President Thomas also thanked the mayor and his staff for the preparation of the packets for this meeting.

Mr. Sampson also echoed President Thomas's thoughts about getting involved with Wellness and that he didn't mean to sound harsh about the public safety issue, and that it is time we get proactive with these issues.

MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Mayor Ross Schaeffer wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in the region and to be careful.

ADJOURNMENT
With no other business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 2:50 P.M..

Assembly Regular Meeting
ASSEMBLY CHAMBERS - KOTZEBUE, AK
December 16, 2003 - 1:00 P.M.

AGENDA

A. CALL TO ORDER

B. INVOCATION / MOMENT OF SILENCE

C. ROLL CALL
1. Introduction of Staff & Guests

D. ASSEMBLY & ELECTED OFFICIAL VACANCIES, OATHS OF OFFICE & ELECTION OF OFFICERS

E. AGENDA APPROVAL

F. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
1. November 25, 2003 Regular Meeting

G. COMMUNICATIONS AND APPEARANCES

H. BOARDS, COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES
1. B.A.F. Committee
2. Personnel Committee
3. Land Selection Committee

I. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ENACTMENT OF ORDINANCES AND EMERGENCY ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance 03-10 An ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly revising provisions related to the Frank R. Ferguson Scholarship Program.
2. Ordinance 03-11 An ordinance of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly establishing fire response service areas for the Fire Department functions and for related purposes.

J. MAYOR'S REPORT K. TIME & PLACE OF NEXT MEETING
1. Staff recommendation - January 27-28, 2003

L. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES M. RESOLUTIONS
1. Resolution 03-47 A resolution of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly accepting the General Purpose Financial Statements for the year ending June 30, 2003.
2. Resolution 03-48 a resolution of the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly authorizing the mayor to take measures to amend the memorandum of agreement between the Northwest Arctic Borough, the City of Kivalina, the Kivalina IRA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska district dated June 29, 1999 in order to extend the agreement from a five year term to a seven year term and for related purposes.