October 2004 Report

 

 

ACMP Amendments

On October 5th Glenn Gray came to Kotzebue, signed his contract with the NWAB Borough and spent time with Kim Franklin and myself and briefed us on the work that he will be doing for us.  He will be back November 5th to give the Planning Commission an update on the work ahead and what roll they’ll be playing in it.

 

Glenn tells us that this work normally take up to 3 to 5 years to this type of work.  The state (DNR) wants it done by July 1st, 2005.

 

NWAB Land Selections

More maps have been requested by the committee to show NWAB land selections after further discussions with Bruce Phelps from DNR.  We have RDI (Matt Heller) working on those maps. 

 

Dahl Creek/John Emmi Issue

We received a letter from DOT offices in Fairbanks telling John Emmi that his request to relinquish his request for a land lease at Dahl Creek Air Strip was approved and that they were returning his $800 application fee to him.  Mayor Ross Schaeffer and the NWAB staff were very pleased about this news.

 

NWAB Enforcement Activity on Unit 23

We are pleased with the enforcement work that Bedrock Aviation did for us this fall in Unit 23.  The individual that did the flying was Dan Hardwall out of Palmer.  He spent 7 years up in Kotzebue some years ago and new the area well.   While flying for us, he talked to hunters, guides and some transporters.  In observing some campsites he did find some real messy situations and video taped those sites.

 

He also got some airplane numbers off of planes that were not consistent with our records and applications for permits.   In addition to that we will be working with the NPS, Fish and Wild Life, Fish and Game and BLM to see who has been operating in Unit 23.

 

In my discussion with the mayor we are going to seriously look at recommending that the Assembly put more funds in the budget for this project for next year. 

 

September Report 2004

 

 

Buckland Water and Sewer Project

A Public hearing was held in Buckland on August 26th on their platting that was done by LCG.  There were no comments from the public but the mayor and city manager had two concerns; one, the lot size for an individual was surveyed larger then the city wanted it to be and two, some of the street names were wrong.  LCG was contacted and these problems were solved.  We are presently waiting to hear from the City of Buckland on the two groups that need to sign of on the land transfers, NANA and DOT.

 

Waring Street Issue in Ambler

We have given a punch list for LCMP to follow so we could go ahead and draft a resolution for the Assembly to pass.  As of September 9, 2004 they have completed doing the things we requested and our attorney is in the process of drafting the resolution.

 

Community Comprehensive Plans

We have met with the mayor on the progress of assisting the communities on completing their Comprehensive Plans and he has suggested that we work separately from Maniilaq if necessary and combine our information with Maniilaq at a later date.  We did meet with Maniilaq officials from their planning office and asked if they would entertain ideas of speeding up the process because of the upcoming deadline in 2005.  In our discussions with them they felt that “capacity building” and “relationship creation” were important items that they were concerned about.

 

Just recently USDA has come out with a RFP grant notice for groups to come up with innovative ideas on how to get the communities to complete their Comp Plans and to develop new methods on how they could use their plans.  We have put in for that grant.  We will know September 21st about whether we would be awarded the grant or not. 

 

John Emmi/DOT Lease

John Emmi was awarded the lease from DOT at Dahl Creek Airstrip.

 

NWAB Enforcement Activity

 

This year the Assembly budgeted $20,000 for the enforcement of its ordinances on lands in Unit 23.  All summer we have tried to hire pilots for the project but all the people we contacted could not do it. However we have located a pilot with a Super Cub in Anchorage that has agreed to do it.  We have hired a local person to fly with him and take pictures when appropriate.  This activity will take place from mid September through September 30th.