QUAD MEETINGS

“State of the Borough”

Public Services  Dept.

Past and present accomplishments

Projects

• Project planning and coordination:  Public Services Department has historically functioned as a village advocate and has provided project coordination  during planning and design phases for a number of village projects including Buckland Water & Sewer,  West Selawik Consolidated Tank Farm.   The Borough continues to work on Kivalina Relocation in partnership with the City of Kivalina, the Kivalina IRA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has invested over $400,000 in this effort to date.
• Project implementation:  Department has been directly involved in the execution other projects including Noatak Cemetery Road Project, and the recently completed Singauruk River Bridge construction.   The most notable  Borough project in recent years has been creation of new  Borough Office space through the purchase and renovation of the old Valu-House property.  This action has produced comfortable and efficient new office space for Borough staff and will pay dividends in the years ahead when the Borough debt for this move will be retired in 2009.

Programs

• LEPC:  Borough provides in-kind services and facilities and department staff provides coordination and staff support for the Northwest Arctic Local Emergency Planning Committee.
• Public Safety Commission:  Department provides coordination and staff support for the Borough Public Safety Commission
• EMPG:  Department has taken on Emergency Management/ Disaster response role and is the recipient of FEMA’s Emergency Management Performance Grant.  As a requirement under this program, the department is currently drafting a Borough Hazard Mitigation Plan.
• Homeland Security:  Department was successful in acquiring $230,000 in Homeland Security Grant funds which shared between City of Kotzebue, Maniilaq Association, and the Borough.
• Borough Fire Department:  Borough has adopted area-wide authority for prevention and suppression of fire, creating a new Northwest Arctic Borough Fire Department with ten village battalions.  Department has developed an annual budget to address training needs and equipment upgrades.
• Winter Trails:  Department has taken over responsibility for winter trail system, Assembly has given oversight  duty to the Public Safety Commission.
• Water & Sewer:  In December 2003, the department conducted the first-ever Borough-wide Water & Sewer Symposium which focused utility and municipal viability in light of current program methods and declining state and local revenues.

Future projects and issues

• Infrastructure Mega-project:  Borough has recently taken the lead on the “Northwest Arctic Borough Energy and Communications Infrastructure Project.   This project addresses the reliability and sustainability of our region’s energy and communications systems, and project partners hope to find a way to develop new energy resources which will lower the cost of living for all Borough residents while providing for sustainable broadband communications.
• Bulk Fuel:  Borough has grappled with the difficult issue of Bulk Fuel costs and will continue to address this difficult problem, by further investigating transportation, storage, and purchasing aspects of this issue.
• Disaster Response Coordination:  Borough anticipates promulgating a Borough-wide Emergency Operations Plan within the next year, and simultaneously establishing an Office of Emergency Management in Borough Code, for the purpose of coordinating disaster response.  Department currently provides this function on an un-official basis. 
• Regional Water & Sewer:  Borough has been engaged in discussions for quite a few years concerning the regionalizing of water and sewer utilities.  The Borough has recently been approached by  representatives from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) about the possibility of doing a pilot project in our region, similar to the one that is in progress in the YK Delta region.  The pilot project proposed would involve having a utility cooperative formed by communities in our region.   The Borough will  soon be publicizing this proposal to determine whether there is any local support for this project concept.  The Cooperative model has quite a few significant advantages over the current programs which deliver water & sewer services.
• Winter trail system:  The department is seeking funding to supplement general fund dollars to provide for more bridge replacement on winter trails, shelter cabin upgrades, and permanent  overland trail markers.
• Ambler Naturally Occurring Asbestos:  The department is seeking guidance from the Public Safety Commission and the Assembly on what approach should be taken  to deal with naturally occurring asbestos in the village environment, namely Ambler.
• Public Safety Facilities:  The department will continue to seek solutions to providing for  village public safety facilities.  Most villages do not have a place to store fire fighting equipment, nor due they have adequate jail cells and other public safety related space.  Past attempts to acquire grant funding have not met with success.

Other issues (Not Necessarily  Public Services Dept)

• Need for more extensive and continuous finance / accounting training in city and tribal governments, in order to maintain village government viability.
• Need to get 14C3 negotiations completed in every village so as to not negatively impact projects and limit community growth potential and economic development.
• Need to address issue of Port site expansion, and additional mineral resource development elsewhere in the Borough, and a means of acquiring additional revenue, in order to  expand Borough Services, for example, Borough Law enforcement, environmental program,  water & sewer design and construction oversight.