e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] sometimes the world moves too quickly and I know it's not like the Earth is turnning so I'm already but we both know I can't sleep alone or at least I [Music] won [Music] really it doesn't hurt me even though I know where I'm going to go I hope that you take me seriously I hope that nobody stays mad at me [Music] oh oh which way is up in your eyes I hope I don't come down cuz we dancing on the world we didn't get to say enough that you take me seriously and know let nobody St man me and I let you take take me seriously [Music] oh sometimes the world moves too quickly and I know it's not like the Earth is turning tell I'm already but we both know I can't sleep alone that now let you take me seriously I know let nobody stays mad at me and now let you take me serious me [Music] oh do good it'll do good it'll all do good [Music] do good it'll do good it'll all do good do good it'll do good it'll all do [Music] good it'll do [Music] myet up watch the sunet now I'm done relaxing time is chasing after me I need a little substance not sure where it's headed but I know it's going somewhere take a cab and don't look back I'll move through all the sence now I'm colder than the weather steady going under pressure I'm finally over being ly under these coverers now I'm back and I'm better steady going under pressure sit back and watch the paint dry take time and watch the dope rise in another world have control of my can't seem to get it through that things I do but on my own time people waiting slowly fading the mirror is telling me I got to grip it right in front of [Music] me secure the seat and don't release the opportunity now I'm colder than the weather steady going under pressure I'm finally over being low under these old covers now I'm back in I'm better steady going under pressure sit back and watch the paint dry take time and watch the D fries it's passing hours dancing how the hell am I still standing keys are rting I'm not playing mes are [Music] infiltrating now I'm colder than the weather steady going under pressure I'm finally over being ly under these old covers now I'm back and I'm better steady going under pressure sit back and watch the paint dry take time and watch the [Music] door there's nothing I can do about [Music] it there's nothing I can say about it I tried to meditate [Music] about it I even tried to pray about it all let go be before I explode before I explode all let go before I explode before I explode I used to Le on my pride but I don't have any left I put my heart to the side I got it all to myself who cares playing the car that I'm no F did it without any help Daddy Tau me well never be proud of myself life was a living hell I started doubted myself something is telling me won't be clear until they looking me something is telling me it won't be clear until they look me all go before I explode before I explode all let go before explode before explode walk around with my head down I wait through the tra till everything's okay sometimes it feels like I'm a drown I work through the till everything's okay walk around with my head down I work through the TR till everything's okay sometimes it feels like I'm a drown I work through the tra till everything's okay [Music] all girl you're a good boy you and all the rest yeah you're all good boys you stop making excuses for other men unless it's one of your [Music] boys you know him better than that you swear he's a good boy good boy good boy good boy you ask how my day was after I say you didn't ask how my day was you're a good boy you think I prettier when I smile you're a good boy you say how you feel even when you're not drunk you're a good boy you confess girls play guitar just as good as boy good boy you and all the rest yeah you're all good [Music] boys you stop making excuses for other men unless it's one of your boys you know him better than that you swear he's a good boy good boy good boy good boy you're a good boy good boy you don't let me walk home alone you patiently wait to get out of the friend Z you're good boy you stop thinking there were girls who aren't like other girls you're a good boy admit you're a feminist in the room full of women you're good boy you and all the rest yeah you're all good boys you stop making excuses for other men unless it's one of your boys you know him better than that you swear he's a good boy good boy good boy good boy [Music] h [Music] [Music] Grill peaches with a little bit of char scoop of vanilla didn't make it quite far before the juice start dripping on down it reaches my elbows and kisses the ground just like a JY up running all day off the camp I got too much to say oh my God it happened again W up I thought I lost me again why don't you go visit the summer time cuz it miss you don't those in the water why don't you start sipping on tea go get yourself some love why Don't You Follow That Dream grab peaches gra peaches all you deser sweetnesses sweetness with you Havey BS in your life no perfect moment to reach out and try gra peaches gra peaches all you did sweetness sweetness life is auspicious when you l so yourself to the message you're receiving hardness harmonous you will never find that perpetual this and tell you go change your mind go do things for fun I know that it was stolen but go be a child for once I let out of left I let it bre I li it right off there with for another B life is too short get stress that enough let's go with those JS I keep you so tight and you know I love you but what I want so bad is to see you grow to see you laugh fulfill your desires and prove them more wrong even yourself Mama make it and hurry along why don't you go visit the summer time cuz it miss you a begging message from your daughter why don't you start sipping on tea go get yourself some love why don't You Follow That Dream Gres Gres all you Des so so you have in your life I know perfect moment to reach out and try gra beaches gr features all [Music] you my it's just when your listes all yourself to the message you're [Music] receiving a so fresh where I'm from Palm Trees ready made Goods don't FR cuz you was on your own time coming don't stop running burning the leaves in the backyard Summers flowers and it Breeze keep warming me tired of the priest keep warning me seconds from aise it's Hardy treat I'm too scared to breathe from my beliefs the land of Freedom the land for me too scared to seek too scared to be on my own you see but I know I just need some selfish time I need more rels that give me truth to what I know give me ruthless wait all these paper waav all the secret faces A6 LED strangers wasted blood while you fall across the Gap no Bridge stood no man could reach I pray three times at night hope you hear it I'm nearing Heights I dreamt of heights I fear and since nobody else can hear me let my ears bed let myrings RI following the tide never was a sign to align to the ceiling on the moon my stride low G's low weight low everything cheap these lights these streaks my guy too bright can't Vision need my lenses blue ball in the sky keep turning on and on and [Music] I'm too scared to breathe from my beliefs the land of Freedom the land for me too scared to seek too scared to be on my own you see but I know I just need some selfish time I need my Rel back give me truth to what I know give me Ruth pleas wait all this paper wait all the F faes AIC places changes place so fresh when I'm [Music] from the so fresh when I'm from [Music] [Music] nothing's better than being home with your loved ones you won't be alone when it's cold out you'll being warm in your own bed from the storm e e e e e e we'll be getting started in just a couple minutes she good evening everybody I now call this meeting of the Anchorage assembly to order today is April 23rd 2024 this is our regular meeting Madam cler could you please call the rooll it's 5:03 pm. member Myers here member Martinez present member Rivera present member Johnson here member constant here member zotel here member branga here member ven happy to be here member broy here it's my understanding member Sut is excused he is member Perez verdia here Mr constant you have AUM thank you next I'd like to have the Eagle Scouts come forward to lead us in the pledge um you just turn the little green press the little green button on the microphone pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic stand one nation under God indivisible would you please read the land acknowledgement yes a land acknowledgement is a formal statement recognizing the indigenous people of a place it is a gesture of appreciation for p the past and present indigenous stewardship of the lands that we now occupy is an actionable statement that marks our Collective movement towards decolonization and Equity the anage assembly would like to acknowledge that we gather today on the traditional lands of the denina athabascans for thousands of years the denina have been and continue to be stewards of this land is with gratefulness and respect that we can recognize Visions Innovations and temporary perspectives of the upper Cook Inlet n thank you next we have minutes of previous meetings we have meeting minutes we have three items for a special meeting February 2nd 2024 4 B regular meeting February 13 2024 and 4 c special meeting February 23rd 2024 I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the minutes so moved second moved by m alel seconded by Mr Myers like to ask unanimous consent is there any objection hearing seeing none the minutes are adopted next the mayor's report thank you Mr chair good evening everyone earlier this month I had the opportunity to meet with arctic leaders from around the world to discuss some of the unique challenges we Face uh living in an Arctic environment it was an insightful conversation where I learned about how other Arctic regions handle things like food and energy security during the round table discussion I highlighted our ongoing challenges including the imperative of safeguarding vital infrastructure like the Dan young Port of Alaska and I emphasize the urgency of exploring innovative solutions to address the pressing energy crisis confronting now cell Central Alaska shifting Focus to an even greater event last week I joined in celebration of the minicipal longest tenured employee here at the library Sophie misac guzmer this year Sophie celebrates 49 years working for the Municipality of Anchorage where she currently works as a library assistant here at the luzac library when asked about the secret to her longevity on the job Sophie attribut it to her ability to find joy in her work and I think that's invaluable advice congratulations Sophie on an incredible 49 years with the municipality and still going by the way as many of you may be aware the municipality hosted its second mayor's job fair earlier this month at the Sullivan Arena it was another successful event with over 100 vendors who lined the halls of the Sul and we had over 360 job seekers in attendance with over 215 job applications submitted I'm extremely thankful to the hard workers at the or the hard work by the HR department the chief Equity officer putting this event together and I want to thank all of the municipal departments who participated this is a great way to fill some of our vacancies in this very competitive hiring Market as now as we get closer to the end of cold weather shelter everyone in this room knows how important it is for the safety of our unsheltered citizens to have year round shelter I want to thank the Alaska legislature for all its efforts to try and secure try to secure $4 million in homeless shelter funding we're getting more support every day and my Administration has been working tirelessly with members of the legislature to get them the information that they need our hope is that we will secure the $4 million in funding to be able to keep a 200 person shelter open you're wrong so thank you Mr chair back to you thank you very much next as the chair's report and good evening everybody and welcome last Friday the assembly held a work session where we heard from the Native Village of akuta on their new alternative for the draft fish and wildlife program the native Village of uta's alternative plan is a really elegant and intelligent solution and comprises and and comprise excuse me and addresses the concerns of the electric utilities protecting our drinking water and maintaining our energy source while also developing a path forward to eventual restoration of the UTA River for all five species of salmon as contemplated in the 1991 agreement and its predecessors I know that for many who are following this issue the legal matters have become overly complex so I want to bring this back to the essence of the situation for nearly a century migration of a cluto river salmon has been blocked by hydroelectric dams and impacted by water diversions that have badly degraded the conditions of the river and uprooted the cultural traditions of the denina people of this area we have a once in a generation opportunity to write this wrong and do something that benefits our entire Community by restoring the akuta river two private electric companies are rushing to push their solution that has very little public support that jeopardizes anchorages water rights for years to come and puts Municipal taxpayers on the hook for an expensive solution that stops a mile short of full River restoration and has no stop on the way for their public officials to have a say in the matter I know it seems like the assembly is getting into the weeds with legal Maneuvers but we're jumping through all of these hoops because it is so important to the municipality to protect our water and power interests and meet the terms of the 1991 agreement in addition to advocating for the restoration of the river our community's water rights and our property tax bills for years to come that are on the line this is why we are fighting so hard to pause the project until we can all work together on a compromise that is transparent and beneficial for our community and our economy next as the final days of the legislative session wind down assembly members are busy working with the administration behind the scenes to advocate for anchorage's legislative requests especially the $4 million fund to operate the 56th Avenue shelter over the summer so that we can avoid turning hundreds of people out onto the streets after Municipal funding runs out at the end of May we are also advocating for sb77 a bill that would give the municipality more tools to incentivize Housing Development and deal with blighted properties and we're also advocating for full funding for the community Assistance Program one of the few remaining ways the state still funds local governments the municipality received funding through the Senate capital budget for some very important Road water and park projects so I'm hopeful those remain in the budget and we can see groundbreakings on those projects in this coming year this coming construction season I encourage everyone to contact your state legislators to let them know the issues that are important to you for them to address with the remaining days in their legislative session for 2024 finally probably not quite finally next Municipal elections with tonight's election certification we will soon turn to our runoff election for voters to elect our next mayor here are some items of note for the runoff election you can still sign up for ballot tracks to get text and email updates on the status of your ballot at Anchorage votes.com it's an amazing feature I get an update when my ballot leaves the mail house when it's delivered to my house when it's scanned across the machine and then when it's counted which is an amazing and awesome opportunity for members of the public to know if their vote has been counted and if there's any issue they'll be notified by text that they can come and cure you can visit muni.org elction to learn more about the election center and how elections are tabulated how the process works links to register track your ballot toward the election center and more ballots will be mailed on April 30th and they'll be due back on May 14th by 8:00 pm uh the accessible voting centers will open on May the 7th so you can come in person but the dropboxes are already in place voting local hits so close to home this is where we can make the biggest difference for our community our businesses our families our neighborhoods and the roads we all rely upon also the assembly has been engaging in an a monthly conversation that we're calling food for thought and what I like to call what's good Anchorage uh so often we talk about the issues that are challenging our community but we don't spend enough time talking about the good good things that are happening and so to that end and on a positive note we had a really great food for thought work session last Friday on housing success stories our community focuses on the people we see living on the streets and in parks and rightly slow but what we don't see are all the people who are moving off the streets or who never end up there in the first place because of important safety nets that our community has launched in the last few years to house our most vulnerable neighbors whether it's with the United Way or the Coalition or a small project by a local Community Church called in your backyard or Alaska Housing Finance Corporation people are working from the local to the state and even to the federal government to make sure we make a difference in our housing struggles we have some people in organizations doing incredible work and it's important to step back and celebrate that work if you missed the work session you can watch a recording on the assembly's YouTube channel I highly encourage you to watch finally this is a business meeting we're here to conduct the work of the municipality please help us create a climate of respect and refrain if you're speaking from personal attacks or speaking out of turn shouting clapping or pacing keep signs 8 half by 11 or smaller please keep the aisles clear except one lined up to testify and if you have something for assembly members please hand it to the clerk up in the front Travis If a point of order is called to the members please stop so I may rule in the point of order and the record is clear if rules aren't followed I may interrupt speakers to call for compliance if compliance with the rules doesn't occur then I may pause the meeting if there's an actual disruption I'll give a warant morning and if the disruption persists or happens again the person may be asked to leave if you're here to testify on public hearing items when you come forward please state your name and what part of town you're from please stay on topic and I'll direct comments or and direct comments to me or other members on the Das I will interrupt if you're off topic thank you everybody and now we'll go down the Das for uh committee reports starting with Mr Myers thank you Mr chair nothing to report Mr Martinez thank you Mr chair good evening everyone the next meeting of the community and economic development committee will be held on Thursday May 2nd and that'll be at the permit Center and also uh just one update for the Anchorage chamber and I'll say it now and again on our any other special meetings that we may have uh before then but for May the 4th you all know it as May the 4th be with you day um Anchorage Chamber of Commerce starts off its Citywide cleanup that day and so those are the orange bags get out and help clean up and contribute with our elbow grease to making sure that Anchorage is a be beautiful place to continue to live and so uh you could sign up for the cleanup day at the Anchorage chamber of commerce's webs page Anchorage chamber.org thank you chair thank you Mr Martinez Mr Rivera thank you Mr chair um two committee reports uh the housing and homelessness committee meeting was held last last week we got to review the Anchorage coalition to end homelesses update to Anchored home which is the community's plan to end homelessness we had an in-depth presentation and review of that plan which is uh truly an evolution of what was presented and adopted in 2018 and 2019 um I would highly recommend that folks uh listen to the committee meeting and review the documents including the final plan all of which can be found on the assembly website with regard to the audit committee the act for our annual audit otherwise known as as the annual comprehensive financial review um BDO is waiting for tie outs and outstanding items related to our federal grants uh once those items are in final form and delivered BDO believes it will take them about another two to three weeks to finalize the 2022 Aur and um I look forward to reporting that it is completed at some point in the hopefully near future thank you Mr chair thank you Mr R Mr Johnson nothing to report thank you Mr Johnson Miss elel thank you Mr chair last week the Enterprise utility oversight committee met um we got a great update from the port um really talking about the moving pieces necessary to get out to bid and get uh construction contracts awarded for the terminal one cargo terminals most exciting thing that came out of uh that um presentation I'm not sure if everyone caught it but we talked about a Target date for completing the cargo one terminals in July of 2027 that's really exciting we have identified a date by which we think this major piece of the port modernization program can be done um we also had a great conversation with Solid Waste Services um we talked about cleanup day that's coming up and some new um ways that they're hoping folks can get engaged particularly for your coupons to go to you know remember the free d Day coupons I think they're going to do that a little bit different so if that's something you're usually watching out for I really recommend you go to the Solid Waste Services website um and look at their social media I think um the intent is there's a uh kickoff event at Westchester and they really want participation in that and that's where you're going to get your hands on that coupon so um I really recommend if that coupon is something you look forward to each year to take a a look at their website thank you Mr chair Miss brona thank you chair uh the only thing I wanted to shout out is on uh Friday the 26th from 11: to 12 the inrage health department is having a think tank to discuss ways to roll out and get involvement in our pilot project for allowed camping on um at parking lots of various nonprofits churches in town um as you most of you probably saw that's limited to 3 t0 and we need to kick around ideas and you are welcome to join us again 11 to 12 at the health department fifth floor room 508 thanks thank you Mr V thank you Mr chair on April 17th we had a meeting of the assembly's transportation committee um we heard standing standing reports from amats from Mo MOA traffic from akdot and long range planning um as well as public transportation they all gave great updates on what they're working on appreciate their participation um I gave a presentation on my proposal to prohibit right turns on red in the Central Business traffic District um we discussed the Minnesota traffic divider and a resolution that will be coming forward um on behalf of member Broly and myself that is colloquially called the Minnesota cheese grader the dividing wall um and then we heard an update from the planning department on their long- range Transportation strategy that the assembly funded um looking at how um we can collect a lot of feedback from the community on what our priorities on infrastructure investment and uh modes of travel should be um going forward thank you thank you Mr V uh Miss broley yeah thank you I'll give we have two brief reports uh first for budget and finance committee the committee met on Thursday April 18th uh we've been focusing our discussions about first quarter budget revisions in the two work sessions that we held in the last two weeks um but but at our committee meeting we heard um our regular updates on um the state of our finances and had good conversation about Revenue projections among other things um our next meeting for that committee will be uh Thursday May 6th from 12:10 to 1:10 p.m. City hall5 and I will say another reminder in a couple weeks at our next meeting meeting uh for legislative committee um thank you to the chair for giving an update on um all the great action that's happening down in the legislature and um hopefully many of of our priorities and important projects for the city uh remain in that budget um but as far as the committee our uh uh legislative committee met on Wednesday April 17th we heard updates on the bills we're tracking uh as we said we're continuing to monitor the status of the $4 million doll legislative request for shelter that mayor Bronson also spoke to earlier and um as well as our other priorities and of course as as others have said we have been communicating regularly with Anchorage legislators um to make sure that we are helping in that process and helping our uh our folks at the legislature advocate for for our needs and I believe that's it for now oh just to say um our next meeting will be Wednesday May 1st uh from 1: to 2: pm at City Hall 155 thanks thank you Mr Bry Mr pres no update tonight thank you all right next on the agenda we're going to uh take up the addendum to the agenda theend but before we take the addendum to the agenda we're going to go ahead and address the very few late on the table items which I'm very grateful for um which incorporates any of the laate on the table items so there are a handful of items I think that one second so um we have three ordinances for introduction and then two supplemental items and so um the operation for the um laying on the table of the ordinances one sec we'll need a mover a second and a third so we'll start with item 10 G what will be 10 G4 I'm going to read it now it's an unnumbered AO an ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending the comprehensive plan and Anchorage 240 land use plan to allow implementation of the home initiative including text amendments to title 21 uh 10 G4 is there a motion move to introduce and set the public hearing for June 25th second third okay so and referred to Planning and Zoning moved by Miss broy seconded by Miss zotel setting it for public hearing and the meeting of June 205 and a referral to the Planning and Zoning commission and the third was by Mr band did you get that M clerk okay next we have item what will be item 10 G5 if it's laid on the table it is an unnumbered ordinance and ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code title 21 land use planning including sections 21.15 2.3.2 2.3.7 213.16 And 21.3 do210 to clarify the assembly's legislative powers for establishing land use public policy and the methods by which it may effectuate changes to title 21 and related matters and waving Planning and Zoning commission review of this ordinance um is there a motion moved to introduce moved by Miss Nel second seconded by Miss Broly is third do we also need to set public hearing automa for the okay thanks third by Miss wand yeah it's automatically set for the seventh third item is an ordinance it's going to be 10 G6 un numbered ordinance and ordinance the Anchorage Municipal assembly directing the Anchorage Water and Wastewater utility to decouple the municipality's access to drinking water from the the 1991 UTA fish and wildlife agreement is there a motion move to introduce a second moved by m Broly third by Miss zel second by Mr broy third by Mr Rivera thank you next we have um under item 12 reserved 12a certification of the April 2nd 2024 regular municipal election 12 A1 assembly memorandum am 351-2244 municipal election supplemental 12d other administrative matters 12d 1 assembly memorandum am 309 2024 Urban Design commission James Callis 12d 2 assembly memorandum am 328-2020 Zoning Board of examiners and appeals Craig Bennett that is everything for late on the table items next I would like to ask for a motion to incorporate the addendum and laid on the table items as printed and distributed so moved second moved by Miss zeel seconded by someone Mr vand like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection the addendum has been and laid on the tables have been Incorporated so next appearance requests we don't have any next after that is the consent agenda the intent after the consent agenda items are pulled is we're going to ask the members to change the order of the day to take up the certification and SAR in our new newest member so um but first we'll go through and pull items from the agenda so I'll start with Mr presidia no items thank you chair thank you Miss broy yeah thank you I'll pull um 10 A1 10 A8 I think those are the only oh and then um 10 D1 and 10 D2 and I believe that's it so I have 10 A1 10 A8 10 D1 10 D2 Miss Bry Mr wand thank you Mr chair 10 A3 10 A7 10 D2 and 10 E1 all right um so so 10 D2 had already been pulled so I have for you 10 D 10 A3 10 A7 and 10 E1 so um Miss brona thank you chair 10 A2 and 10 A6 and that's it okay so I have 10 A2 and 10 A6 Miss Z 10 A9 no other item items they've been pulled all right thank you that's 1089 missel U Mr Johnson no additional items Mr Rivera thank you Mr chair 10 A4 that's it thank you Mr ver Mr Martinez no additional items thank you Mr Myers no additional items thank you chair all right I'll go back through the list I have 10 A1 Miss Bley 10 A2 Miss branga 10 A3 Mr rollen 1084 Mr Rivera 10 A6 Miss Broly 10 branga I'm sorry that's right um 10 A7 Mr ven 10 A8 Miss Broly 10 A9 Miss Alat then I have 10 D1 and two Miss broy 10 E1 Mr valland and that's it did I miss anything Mr chair was 10 A4 pulled 10 A4 Mr rera if I didn't mention it yeah it was pulled thank you anything else okay so next um with the consent agenda all of those items have been pulled yes I would like to ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda minus the pulled items second moved by Miss alel or Miss did you move Mr Myers moved by Mr Myers second by Mr vond I'd like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda has been approved for The public's information the assembly is now passed or accepted all items 10 a through F other than the items that were just pulled which will take up next or that have been introduced for future public hearing which are all items in the 10g so if you're here to see on any items that weren't pulled from the consent agenda then those items have been passed or approved Miss elel thank you Mr chair I move to change the order of the day to take up the 12s after we complete the consent agenda second so motion to change the order of the day is made by Mrs alol and seconded by Mr Meyers uh any discussion um just so that we can take up the certification particularly so we can seat um our new assembly member who has been participating in work sessions um particularly on items um that would come before in the current order thank you so a motion to change has been made seconded is there any further discussion hearing seeing none I'd like to ask animous consent any objection hearing say none the order of the day has been changed next we'll take up item 12a I said after the consent agenda you want to go before the consent agenda yeah right now so I had said after the consent agenda I guess I should have said before the consent agenda so sorry that's great I am happy to make that motion second y okay moved again uh by Mr tell seconded by Mr Wallen the motion is to take it up now and so um any objection to that motion hearing and seeing none the motion is adopted sorry about that I was listening to the track in my head next we have item 12a just one second all right so I'm going to go and read this I I guess it's that simple certification the April 2nd 2024 regular municipal election we have am 351-2244 any discussion I'm going to go ahead if no one else is Mr Conant thank you um I would just like to say thank you to all of the members of the election team who have been working furiously for the past three weeks to get us to this point today and there are um Untold hours of work and effort that go into the conduct of an election from notices from the drafting of of ballot styles to getting questions on the ballot to beginning the process of educating the voters to the postcard that goes out to the voters in advance so we know who they are to figuring out how to make sure everybody gets their ballot to making sure the ballots are cast on time then helping people cure their ballots if there are a problem counting all of those ballots and all under the glare of the cameras and done with style done effectively and so um I don't know if our acting elections administrator wants to speak to the conduct of the election but if you would like to come up please come on up the floor please state your name for the record all right uh my name is William Northrup I am the acting elections administrator for the municipality um I just want to say that this election um went very smoothly I think the election team did a fantastic job and to be transparent this is my first election with the municipality and just having a very knowledgeable staff underneath me and having the guidance from the clerk has been very rewarding in having this election go off without any issues couple things I want to highlight um we use two new Pro voter pieces of Technology this year uh we implemented or we introduced um Ada accessible voting machines these Ada uh voting machines are essentially secure touch screens with built-in accommodations most often used by people with visual or Mobility impairments and essentially how it works is when a voter goes to use the touchcreen or the control that we have they're able to vote the entire ballot they're able to print the ballot right there able to put that ballot in a secrecy sleeve into the envelope and that enters the regular stream of ballots um so I'm happy to say that each Anchorage vote Center had one and that each one was used at least by one person so that that was very nice and also it ensures that the mo MOA is in in compliant with Alaska statute 18823 um the other piece of equipment that we test ran this uh election was Tex secure and essentially it's just another Avenue for voters to Tech or to cure any issues they may have such as a signature that doesn't match or um things like that uh we had 230 registered voters utilized Tex secure in this election Alone um also want to mention that voter turnout for this election was 72250 registered voters or 3.44% um um which is in the average range ever since the municipality went to vote by male elections and it is the fourth highest regular election turnout that we've had since vote by mail um you know I think that's all I really want to say because I think you know I don't I think we did a the election was went really well I think we're I hate to say it but I think we're looking forward to the runoff um and yeah as the chair mentioned ballots will go out on the 30th so just make sure you watch your mailboxes for all that and sign up for Tex secure thank you all right anyone else oh Mr Myers thank you Mr chair I want to thank the election staff for putting this together and uh putting the hours in I also want to speak to the general public 30% turnout is bismal and frankly embarrassing it doesn't get easier than filling out an envelope and sticking in the mail or dropping it off so come on on uh hopefully the turnout we have a better turnout I mean it's quite frankly it's embarrassing so that's all thanks I I would just add a little character to that that we still have an ongoing challenge with the state and the fact that the we don't control the mailing lists and there are tens of thousands of people that are undeliverable that we can't remove from the list that add to that not voting percentage that we've been asking the state to help us figure out and there is a bill working and once they finally do correct that there will at least be a modest correction in the actual turnout in upward Direction because we'll have eliminated 10 10 or 20,000 people who will never vote again in the munity and so that's a issue we would love some help from the state on and we're we're getting there so thank you thank you Mr Myers anyone else question now before us is the approval of am 351-2244 on a vote of 10 to Z am 351-2244 so this take just a couple minutes to set up come on forward Mr Littlefield can be here get out here yes of course okay so we're making an original for you and a copy for me okay okay if you will raise your right hand I solemnly swear or affirm I solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the state of Alaska the constitution of the state of Alaska and the charter of the Municipality of Anchorage and the charter of the Municipality of Anchorage and that I will Faithfully perform the duties and I will Faithfully perform the duties of Anchorage assembly member of Anchorage assembly member to the best of my ability to the best of my ability congratulations thank you [Applause] now yes Jamie Travis you get that thank you welcome Mr Littlefield it's good to be back to full strength it takes all of us all right next on the agenda we have a item 12C assembly reorganization is there motion I am seeing and hearing no motion then we will maintain this organization next we have item and thank you item 12d other administrative matters Miss Mrs alel thank you Mr chair I move to resend a previously adopted item second so there is a motion to resend a previously adopted item which is generally not a favored motion but because of the the need of the department there's a motion made by Miss alel and a second by Mr rera Miss alel thank you so the motion to uh resend the previously adopted item is specific to um the two assembly memorandums that were laid on the table um one is for the Urban Design commission appointment of James Kohl's and the other is for the zoning Board of examiners and appeals uh appointment of Craig Bennett um this motion requires a 2third vote according to council just to bring the appointments back before us and it only affects these two appointments um so if we vote affirmatively to resend the previously adopted motion we will then be able to take up each of these items um separately um to discuss them um on their merits at that time thank you so I'm going to go ahead and ask for unanimous consent on the question the question being uh shall what's the motion again shall we make shall we move to resend previously adopted item a previously adopted item I'm not hearing any objection so the item has been brought back before now in either order the items I should say all right next we will take up am 39-22 4 appointment Urban Design commission James collus move to approve second motion by m alel second by Mr Rivera any more discussion yes please Mr chair go Ahad Miss um so thank you to Mr lion for letting us know that um our previous um action um to postpone another number of boards and commissions was going to have um an effect on these particular um on this particular board and commission and so these two items are coming back for three very specific reasons um one these are adjudicatory boards two these boards um need to make Quorum in order to make decisions um and these boards are made up of Professionals in our community where there are often conflicts so Quorum can be hard to make so that there are enough people available to make the decision and three both boards make decisions that will affect this year's building season um and so for me those are three really important factors to go ahead and move forward with the this particular appointment um and on the next one um and so I appreciate uh that being flagged and I hope that we can go ahead and get these passed thank you so just note that what we have up on the screen isn't accurate listed as 12 D1 one the motion is the correct am 12 D1 is not the correct and the published late on the table item that I have has the right item which is the urban Urban Design commission as opposed to the historic preservation commission and so um we have it accurate in our system I just want folks to know that what's on the board isn't recol isn't accurate to what we're and what's in your laate on the table packet is correct and the item that's in your packet is correct so any discussion on this appoint hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 am 30922 has passed the body next we'll take up am 328-2020 Zoning Board of examiners and appeals Craig Bennett let's will the body Mo to approve second moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr Myers any discussion hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 am 328-2020 has passed the body so now we roll back up our agenda to item 10A item 10 A1 a 202 24-18 resolution of the anchor Municipal assembly recognizing and honoring Paul D rodcast for 16 years of service the Anchorage Community as safety coordinator for the danong port of Alaska um is there a motion I guess miss broy you pulled this item move to approve second moved by Miss broy seconded by Miss elel i' like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection the item is adopted Miss Bry you're reading Mr vaugh you're presenting Mr Rus come on down at your team a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and honoring Paul D rodus for 16 years of service to the Anchorage Community as safety coordinator for the Don young Port of Alaska where I Paul rodus began working for then Port of Anchorage on February 4th 2008 as Port safety coordinator after 5 years of AC active duty As A Firefighter with the US Air Force and 14 years with the Alaska National Guard was both a firefighter and in the wing safety office and where whereas during Paul's tenure he served six administrations that included Mayors Mark beget acting mayor Matt Clayman mayor Dan Sullivan mayor Ethan burkowitz acting mayor Austin Quinn Davidson and mayor Dave Bronson and whereas over his time at the Port he was singularly responsible for re-energizing a languishing safety program and making it a municipality standard while at the same time initiating all of the following as New Port programs safe POA utility locates a POA continuity of operations plan a port wide safety manual hazardous Communications a port wide Safety Council safety plan specifically tailored for cruise ship and Military vessel Port calls Port wide Marine Mammal monitoring and Reporting and not to mention acting as POA safety liaz on to APD and afd and occasionally subbing in for the municipality safety coordinator and whereas during his tenure he attended to critical Emergency Management functions of the municipality where his excellence in service was offered through training exercise and immediate response to emergencies and disasters as part of the Anchorage Emergency Operations Center EOC Emergency Response Team during which he had consistently stepped forward to provide expertise in preparedness safety and Hands-On leadership guidance for the community during complex disasters such as the 2018 Point Mackenzie earthquake and the 2020 covid-19 pandemic whereas before during and after emergencies and disasters he continuously helped protect the most critical port in Alaska by enhancing safety for operations and management in our community by supporting and implementing additional steps in all Hazard mitigation through education Outreach advisement and documentation for future reference of operations and structural improvements to protect the port leading the way for increasing disaster resilience for the community for decades to come and whereas throughout his time here the tenants and stakeholders of Don young Port of Alaska had come to count on his institutional knowledge experience and aptitude to assist them in the comp sorry uh successful completion of all their commercial Port operations whereas we would be remiss if we did not add that thanks to his diligence leadership and personal example when you re review the risk management office records for workman's compensation claims and time off injuries they bear out that it is safer to work at the Port than it is to work at the library whereas his co-workers and friendss at the Port thank him for saving him from broken saving them from broken bones by educating them on how to avoid slips trips falls and in the odd instance catching things on fire and if they do how to extinguish it correctly and whereas after his many years of dedicated service to all the citizens of Alaska touched by this port he has chosen to retire on April 30th 2024 now there therefore be it resolved that the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizes honors and thanks Paul D rodus for his devoted service of 16 years to the DA young Port of Alaska the state of Alaska the Municipality of Anchorage the federal and state Departments of Homeland Security the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Defense passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 if you want to say anything now's your chance all right yeah if you want a couple minutes a minute if you want to say something no you just turned it off there you go okay is it on okay it's been absolutely wonderful of the past 16 years I never thought of it as being work just cuz it was always great to go to work and there was never a a dull typical day at the Port there's a lot of operations going on and it was just an absolute great work group to work with you know you never expect this day to come when you enter service and get hired and it's just been an honor to work with a lot of the Departments within the municipality and being entrusted to actually do so and help them and give them guidance and it's literally been an honor to work for the folks at the Port uh our stakeholders at the port and our our great citizens in in the city of Anchorage and and the state it's a critical piece of instrument infrastructure and I'm just absolutely proud to have been there and work and and serve for everybody so thank you and thanks everyone for coming appreciate it thank you next we have a 202 24-1 129 it's item 10 A2 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and honoring Nancy Clark for 31 years of service the Municipality of Anchorage Miss branga move to approve move to approve second moved by m branga seconded by Mr Walland I'd like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and see no objection that item is adopted unanimously Miss branga you're reading I believe Mr Rivera presenting that's correct are you here miss clerk come on down welcome resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and honoring Nancy Clark for her 31 years of service with the Municipality of Anchorage whereas Nancy Clark began working for the Anchorage public library on February 25th 1993 and whereas she served as a librarian in multiple capacities including readers advisory reference librarian Samson Diamond library branch manager adult services coordinator chugat Eagle River Library branch manager and most recently collection Management Services coordinator and whereas in 2018 she over saw the recovery and reopening of the chuak Eagle River library after the earthquake leading her staff through extensive cleanup efforts and working to restore essential Library services to the public and whereas she provided members of the library profession her expertise in earthquake preparation and Recovery by sharing Lessons Learned in the Years following the 2018 earthquake including multiple guests lectures with graduate Library students disaster planning Publications and other presentations and whereas she was honored as the Municipality of Anchorage supervisor of the year in 2019 and whereas she is an exemplary librarian who in tune with her is in tune with her community and offers professional reference service and well-curated Collections and is known for her book recommendations especially in Romance genre and whereas she hosted National novel writing month events and ran well-loved book group between the covers even though the pandemic even through the pandemic and helped to build community around a love of reading and writing whereas she believes in participating and serving in her community and was an active member of Alaska Romance Writers of America Alaska Library Association and Alaska sisters in crime and whereas her tenacity curiosity and intelligence paired with her sense of humor and Devotion to always growing and learning has has gained her the respect of her peers and her admiration of the public she serves now therefore the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizes and honors Nancy Clark for 31 years of dedicated public service to the Municipality of Anchorage the Anchorage assembly and the community passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 [Applause] welcome you want to say a few words there you go pull the mic down perfect yeah I don't have the height of previous speakers uh gosh uh where to start I'm so honored and privileged to have been able to serve my hometown I was born and raised here my grand parents moved to Anchorage in 1952 before statehood and my family's been here ever since I didn't know I was going to end up at the public library but I've built a career out of it met and worked with amazing people not just at the library but elsewhere in the municipality in city government and in other branches of government as well and all the wonderful patrons that we serve it's been an amazing time and I'm ready for a break so I'm retiring thank you so much for this honor I really appreciate it of course next we have item 10 A3 which is AR 202- 130 resolution in Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and celebrating may as bike month in Anchorage Miss alel thank you um the mayor has requested to be added as a sponsor to this resolution I'm clerk thank you um this one was pulled by Mr band Mr Rand thank you Mr chair move to approve second moved by Mr Rollin second by Miss alel going to go ahead and ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection this item is adopted I have Mr B reading Mr pres Veria presenting correct and uh not sure who miss the health department and the bike Anchorage group come on down everyone Mr M okay a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and celebrating may as bike month in Anchorage whereas biking is an economical form of transportation that encourages physical activity positive mental health and enjoyment of the municipality of anchorage's Scenic Beauty and whereas throughout May residen residents will experience the joys of biking through educational programs commuting events and simply getting out and going for a ride and whereas Bike To Work Day is on May 17th an annual event with thousands of participants and whereas the municipality's trail system connects activity friendly routes to Everyday destinations and attracts bicyclist each year providing economic health Transportation tourism and Scenic benefits and whereas creating a bike friendly Community has been shown to improve resident and employee health well-being and quality of life grow our economy attract tourism dollars improve Traffic Safety congestion and wear and tear on our streets and Roads and reduce vehicle emissions and improving air quality thereby improving public health and whereas local biking organizations municipality departments hospitals businesses and Civic groups will be promoting bicycling during May 2024 and whereas these groups also help promote bicycle tourism to attract more visitors to enjoy our local restaurants hotels retail establishments and cultural and Scenic attractions and whereas the municipality is dedicated to promote to promoting greater public awareness of bike safety education to reduce collisions injuries and fatalities and improve health and safety for everyone on the road now therefore the Anchorage assembly resolves to recognize May 2024 as bike month in Anchorage p approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April [Applause] 2024 welcome someone wants to speak there's a little green button on the mic hit the little green button on the mic there you go hi my name is Amy Brown and I am the environmental health educator at the Anchorage health department and we want to invite the public to enjoy bike mon with us we will have a lot of different events happening we'll be having bike to school day we'll be having a Bike Rodeo in mulun distributing free bike helmets to everyone who needs one we'll be having Bike To Work Day on Friday May 17th there will be treat stations throughout the municipality um and we'll have some other events a bike tuneup event bike safety education events and yoga for cyclists um throughout the month of May we encourage you to check out bike anchor. to see all those events hi uh my name is Alexa Dobson I'm the executive director of bike Anchorage uh we are absolutely thrilled to be presenting programming all throughout May for bike month in partnership with the Municipality of Anchorage um in addition to the great events that Amy just described we are building throughout the month to a very special grand finale on May 30th where we're going to have the ribbon cutting ceremony for the protected B Lane in Downtown Anchorage so I really hope to see everybody there I really hope to uh see a lot of folks get out there and enjoy it experiment with it and let us know what you think thank you so much thank you everybody next we have item 10 A4 resolution AR 2024 131 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing April 28 as workers Memorial Day in the Municipality of Anchorage that item was pulled by Mr Rivera thank you move to approve second right moved by Mr Rivera seconded by Miss zotel I'd like to ask for unanimous consent Mr chair could I have myself as a co-sponsor sure myself as well chair yeah I think um anyone else which go ahead and do that thank you everybody um next I'd like to ask for unanimous consent you can see no objection this item is adopted Mr Rivera is reading Mr broley is presenting welcome come on down folks okay uh a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing April 28th as workers Memorial Day in the Municipality of Anchorage whereas workers Memorial Day was first celebrated on April 28th 1970 at a time when an estimated 38 people died on the job each day in the United States and whereas today more than 340 workers are killed and more than 6,000 are injured on the job or suffer from an illness due to preventable hazardous working conditions and whereas workers Memorial Day pays tribute to those who have been killed or injured on the job or who have survived life altering on the job injuries and illnesses as well as their family members and loved ones and whereas since 1992 653 Alaskan workers have lost their lives on the job with 20 losing their lives on workplace incidents in 2022 and three Anchorage workers dying in work-related incidents since 2019 and whereas we recognize the individual contributions of workers who have built and sustained our City's Prosperity while acknowledging their sacrifices commitment and fortitude and whereas as we commemorate the lives lost in workplace accidents illness resulting from exposure to hazardous substances and injuries caused by unsafe working conditions we reaffirm our commitment to advocating for safe secure working environments in the public and private sectors and whereas the community is encouraged to observe workers Memorial Day on April 28th a date commemorating the anniversary of the occupational safety and health act a landmark legislation and aimed at safeguarding the well-being of workers now therefore the incourage assembly recognizes workers Memorial Day a day dedicated to honoring the memory of those who have been injured or tragically lost their lives in work-related incidents and the continuing effort to improve workplace safety pass and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd of April 2024 welcome you have the floor thank you very much for um bringing this uh resolution for us this year we celebrate April 28th in a form of Celebration um a solemn celebration for the lives lost on the job um today four people perished in in a plane crash in Fairbanks one of those people at least was at work the pilot it could be that everybody on that plane was at work cuz this was a commercial plane that crashed today Alaska remains a very dangerous place to go to work um I'm I I am really pleased to be on the same agenda with Mr riss who worked so hard to keep the port of Alaska safe for 16 years that kind of attention to detail safety on the job uh is what we're all about and we're very I'm just pleased that he was able to keep his cooworker safe for 16 years in a very dangerous work site thank you for doing this and um on Sunday just think about those four people on that plane today and uh let's fingers crossed we don't lose any more alaskans at work this year thank you very much [Applause] next we have item 10 A6 10 A6 resolution AR 202 24- 136 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing the Great Alaska Council Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout class of 2023 this item was pulled by Miss branga and so miss branga you have the floor second moved by Miss branga second by Mr vand I'm going to go ahead and ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection this item is adopted Miss branga I'm either too slow or too fast takes a while I'll get it right eventually all right thank you for being here whereas the Great Alaska Council Boy Scouts of America serves as a youth development program for young men and women whose mission is to prepare young people to make eal and moral decisions over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of scout oath of Law and whereas 24 young men and women achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Great Alaska Council Boy Scouts of America within the Municipality of Anchorage and whereas these young men and women through years of involvement learn developed outdoor leadership personal skills through earning progressing ranks stem Awards outdoor Awards as well as participating in camping programs service projects and earning 21 Merit vouges focused on Advanced skills such as camping cooking citizenship financial literacy and environmental stewardship and whereas 5,525 community service hours were completed through these individual Eagle Scout projects throughout the Municipality of Anchorage these projects are the culmination of years of dedicated experience in developing skills to lead other Scouts peers and adult Volunteers in fundraising and completing projects that better their communities and whereas these young men and women have shown skill and leadership in their troops amongst their peers and in their communities their time and scouting and the journey taken to reach Eagle Scout has shaped these young people to become better prepared as Citizens employees employers parents and Community leaders now therefore the Anchorage assembly recognizes the eagle scout class of 23 for their outstanding service to the Municipality of Anchorage and its communities through their participation in The Scouting program through the Great Alaska Council BSA and through their dedicated service throughout their Eagle Journey Scout Journey passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 now I understand one of you might not be able to speak tonight but um I would like to ask one quick question you can come to the mic and give us any thoughts about what this means but I understand you had to earn a citizenship badge and I'd love to hear what you did to earn that that is correct there is a citizenship badge in fact there is multiple there's citizenship in the community citizenship in the nation citizenship in the world and citizenship in society all four of these culminate to the citizenship portion of earning the Eagle Scout badge and each one has different requirements like Community main focus is on uh life in the community like you learn more about the school board and essentially that's the main purpose about getting better involvement with your community and we'd like to ask folks for their name for the record you don't have to give us your last name because you're young my name's Ryan Shepard okay thank you and I don't think you can talk can you can you you got a microphone uh so your cop all right right and what did you do for your citizenship badge uh well we both had to fill out the same requirements and um learn all the same things and then there's one more right oh it's just you two okay not the third back okay well thank you for your uh civic participation we're glad to celebrate you tonight and congratulations [Applause] to make a few sure go ahead you just turned it off again off some people like that anyway you only see two young people here we had 24 Eagle Scouts in the Anchorage bowl and I wonder if you are questioning where are they so I'm going to tell you where they are some of them in college some of them had join the the arm Services some of them are working and some of them are missions so I know that you all are trying to get youth to stay here but the realization that when kids grow up they move on in many many different ways and so these young people who will be Future Leaders in wherever they are are are becoming very educated working for the country working for their churches or working for themselves and their families so I respect all of you and thank you for your time and efforts honoring these young people thank you Miss Stoner all right next we have on the agenda item 10 A7 AR 202 24-38 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing May 2nd 2024 as the National Day of Prayer this one was pulled by Mr Walland Mr wand go ahead move to approve second moved by Mr Wen seconded by Mr Meyers I'd like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection that item is adopted uh Mr Myers is reading Mr vand is presenting and I believe Pastor May is here come on down a resolution by the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing May 2nd 2024 as the National Day of Prayer and designated May 2nd as a Municipality of Anchorage Day of Prayer whereas the National Day of Prayer is an annual observance day when Americans are encouraged to give thanks meditate peacefully or take time out of the day to visit their Church synagogue Temple Shrine in nature or mosque and to pray according to one's personal practice and whereas every year the National Day of Prayer calls on millions of Americans of different faiths across the US to be unified in public prayer and to pray for a nation and its leaders and whereas the National Day of Prayer was established by a joint resolution in Congress in 1952 signed by President Truman then amended 1988 to permanently set the first Thursday in May as National Day of Prayer signed by President Reagan and having been proclaimed by the president every year since and whereas the National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans and every American can observe in their own way expressing unity love and respect for each other and whereas in Anchorage many individuals institutions and religious groups pray for Anchorage Daily and will celebrate the National Day of Prayer and now therefore the encorage municipal assembly recognizes May 2nd 2024 as the municipal day of prayer and the National Day of Prayer and encourages people of the Municipality of Anchorage to join their community and express thanks and pray for their Community leaders and Nation pass and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 Pastor may you have the floor no that green button there you go you're good all right I think I have it uh chair conon and to the assembly and uh certainly the administrative Branch as well may included and to each of you present on this evening I am so amazed that uh all of the folk who are standing with me in recognition of a National Day of Prayer uh but uh it is my signal honor to uh receive this resolution uh for a National Day of Prayer on May 2nd throughout our nation and certainly throughout our municipality I'm sure all of us are very aware that our nation uh not just our nation uh our state our city and even the world needs prayer needs prayer and I'm assuming that because of all of the co-signers on uh this resolution ution that there are some folk Among Us who believe in in the power of prayer uh no disparagement or disrespect to uh anybody's motus operandi for how they handle prayer and uh what's considered quote unquote the powers that be uh but I believe that prayer is the Believers or the Christians vital or necessary breath it's the in breathing and exhaling of the nature and existence of God it's the motor's operan that the one true god Jehovah God almighty God has given us to communicate with him and with that I believe that prayer does change things prayer makes things better better for all people I believe that prayer is made to to to the one true God I believe that prayer is made to a God who is uh omnipresent he's present everywhere there's no where that he is not uh he is omnicient he knows everything he is omnipotent he's all power powerful there's nothing that he cannot do he's the architect of our universe uh the Creator the sustainer the preserver and uh I believe that's who we're making prayer to and I don't believe that anybody should pray if they don't believe that they're being heard I don't believe anybody should pray if they don't believe in the power present to help us one and all the God who says come boldly to the throne of Grace that we might find Mercy and help in a time of need and certainly we need God's help in this day and time in which we live God bless you one and all right next a big one uh 10 A8 resolution AR 2024 139 a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing and honoring chief chief of police Michael curl for his service to the citizens of Anchorage his dedication as a public servant and his leadership of the Anchorage Police Department this item was pulled by Miss broley move to approve second moved by Miss broley seconded by Miss zotel I'd like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection this item is adopted Miss broley will be reading Miss zotel will be presenting thank you Mr chair a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognized and honoring chief of police Michael curl for his service to the citizens of Anchorage his dedication as a public servant and his leadership of the Anchorage Police Department whereas Michael curl joined the Anchorage Police Department in 1996 as recruit in Academy 962 hit the streets in 1997 served as a patrol officer field training officer Patrol sergeant lieutenant of Special Operations in the crime suppression division captain and deputy chief before being promoted to Chief in February 20222 and is retiring as chief of poli police after a distinguished career spanning 27 years and having fulfilled his Boyhood dream of becoming a police officer whereas prior to joining the Anchorage Police Department chief curl served the United States as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the United States Army serving in Korea Washington DC Hawaii and on numerous deployments throughout the world leaving Service as a major and whereas Chief curl has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the state of New York and is a graduate of the Police Executive leadership graduate program and the admin ad ministrative officers course from the Southern Police institute at the University of Louisville the FB FBI hazardous devices executive management school and the SWAT Commander school and whereas Chief Carl has never taken a day of sick leave during his 27 career year career at the Anchorage police department and whereas being from Massachusetts Chief curl has a wicked and well-known sense of humor and it always has a joke at the ready having recently informed friends and co-workers that he tried to watch the solar eclipse through a colander but only succeeded in straining his eyes and whereas today April 23rd 2024 is the 30th anniversary of Chief curl's wedding to his wife Grace and whereas Chief curl is a dedicated professional who has exemplified the highest standards of professionalism and has devoted his adult life to public service and whereas like the man who who will be evaporated he will be missed immensely now therefore the Anchorage assembly recognizes and honors Michael curl for his years of dedicated service the Anchorage Police Department the Municipality of Anchorage and the citizens of Anchorage passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 all right my last assembly meeting I'm not feels good so 28 years ago I was in the process of applying for the police department I never thought I'd be here and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for a lot of people uh as Chief I want to thank the mayor and the administration uh I was going to retire over two years ago he kept me here and I'll tell you the last two years have been entertaining and exciting I'll tell you that I want to thank the assembly uh without you guys I mean the the monetary support you give Police Department you're always there you believe in public safety money for training the money for vehicles we need a lot more money for vehicles by the way a lot more so keep it coming uh just the budget money you've support us you've shown that you support the police department and I really appreciate that to the citizens of Anchorage the few that are here and the few the millions that are watching on the TV right now or YouTube uh continue to support the officers really appreciate the support of the citizens and we couldn't do our job without you uh just a hello thank you for your service it goes it serves itself immensely and makes the officers want to continue to serve this fantastic city of Anchorage to the men and women of the Anchorage Police Department it's uh I I wouldn't be here without them it's like a big family it's I have a family of over 600 people because of the men and women of the anchit police department thank you for the support and I love every single one of you guys uh unfortunately uh the main reason I'm here the the backbone of my myself as my wife today is my 30th wedding anniversary uh even though my wife couldn't make it her mom passed away recently she had the Flight of the Philippines to be at the funeral uh when she watchs Us on YouTube I guarantee you Grace this is the last time I'll work during our anniversary um and with that over 30 years uh we've had a lot of uh dreams and my one goal and for the rest of my life with my wife is to make our dreams become memories and with that thank you all very [Applause] much all right next we have item 10 A9 10 A9 is resolution ar22 24-40 resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing rossof singer for his 27 years of public service and Rose major contributions to the betterment of building safety within the Municipality of Anchorage this item was pulled by Miss Alo moved to approve moved by Miss second second by Mr Walland I'd like to ask for unanimous consent hearing and seeing no objection this item is adopted Miss ELO will be reading Mr Myers present a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal assembly recognizing Ross ninger for his 27 years of public service and for his major contributions to the best betterment of building safety within the Municipality of Anchorage whereas Ross ninger began his career with the municipality in 1997 as a structural plan review engineer and whereas Ross's engineering expertise and Leadership skills quickly propelled him into management overseeing all aspects of building safety and on-site Water and Wastewater plan review through his multidisciplinary proficiency with all aspects of vertical construction and his ability to manage complex projects Ross became recognized as the municipal Authority for interpreting the adopted building codes that ensure life and safety and whereas in addition to his duties as engineering manager and cultivating a department of dedicated professionals when asked when asked Ross agreed to serve as serve as the acting building official for extended periods of time through several administrations working alongside the development Community to promote robust but safe development in the municipality and whereas Ross oversaw multiple code updates and developed numerous policies and procedures that now make up many of the standard business practices of the development services department and whereas Ross's insistence on professionalism throughout his career with development services cultivated a department of dedicated professionals focused on providing excellent plan review permitting and inspection services to the residents of the municipality the Anchorage assembly recognizes and honors R Ross no singer for his years of dedicated service to the Municipality of Anchorage and the residents of Anchorage passed and approved by the Anchorage assembly this 23rd day of April 2024 welcome Mr an singer the mic is off there you go the green tape well thanks everyone um I would I guess I I would really when I started with immun um Rick meom was mayor so I worked under meom bagage worch D all down the line um it's been a great experience I've learned a lot um I I what I really believe in what the the the department does the benefit that um that building code enforcement um offers to the citizens of Anchorage it's not just a safety issue it's it's an economic uh resilience issue you know um the the the better our buildings can withstand earthquake and windstorms and and whatnot um the better the community does so and I would really like to thank all the co-workers I've worked with all the years the building department is a big department I've worked with a lot of people the inspectors the plan reviewers the permit techs the admin staff um you know just lately um last two winterers we've we've gone through this collapsing building problem and um I have three structural plan review Engineers that I lean on heavily um that they they really don't get the credit that they deserve for their their technical ability and the problems that they solve and our ability to figure out what's going on in in the community with these buildings and whatnot and um and likewise for inspectors and all the benefits that the department and the staff offers to the municipal so again thank you thank you [Applause] everyone and we have made it through recognition resolutions next we have item 10 D1 10 D1 was uh am 36922 Watershed and natural resource advisory commission this item was pulled by Samantha and this item was pulled by Miss broley uh move to postpone to the meeting of July 16th second motion to postpone to July 16 seconded by Miss alel Miss broy yeah thank you um as was discussed in our prior regular meeting um there was a a motion to um basically postpone all board and commission appointments um and and tonight we took action to um to re I guess re send and then take up uh two items four uh or two individuals for boards that are adjudicatory boards um The Watershed natural resource advisory commission is an Advisory Board and so um this is consistent with our our prior action on April 9th and I intend to make the same motion for the next item thank you Mr bird on behalf of the mayor thank you Mr chair uh I just want to uh present again the administration's position we don't believe in the postponements this this appointment is a is a fantastic appointment this is biology scientist who's uh dealt with uh both fisheries and with oil spills um and would be a great addition to this Advisory board thank you Mr chair than Mr bird Mr Myers I just want to I I'm not going to support the motion to postpone I think we're playing politics here I'm frustrated by this because how are we going to get good people to continue to apply for boards and commissions when we keep postponing them uh it's hard enough to get people to serve on these boards and then when we keep moving them out month after month I think it's frustrating for the general public and frustrating for the other people that sit on the boards that maybe don't have enough people to meet because they don't have a quorum so I will not be in favor of this motion thank you Miss branga I agree with Mr Meyers I quite frankly was fairly embarrassed by the action we took last meeting to postpone um the individuals um one of which um I reach had reached out to me and told me he was sitting in the audience and I just find that embarrassing he's he was a very highly qualified young man the kind of young man we want to keep in Alaska that we keep talking about we want to support and um just to to set it aside to later when it even though we said there's nothing to do with their qualifications it has a bad Optics and I won't support postponing this person either thank you no one else in the queue members May proceed to vote the motion is to postpone on a vote of six to five the motion to postpone has failed move to approve Mr Myers has moved to approve second Miss branga has um seconded any further discussion members May proceed to vote on a vote of 9-2 that has been approved next we have item 10 D2 am 370 d224 public naming commission Richard Whitney move to approve moved by Mr Myers I'm sorry thank you I'm Sorry Miss broy move to postpone to the meeting of July 16 16th second so there's a motion to postpone by Miss Broly seconded by missel Mr Miss broy um just stating the same reasons as I did before thanks Mr bird thank you Mr chair uh for those of you who don't know Richard Whitney who works in the mayor's office I just want to again say that uh he was instrumental in going through the Don young Port of Alaska naming panel when we had the previous regime of naming um so he's famili Amil with that he's been an excellent asset he's been commended by uh people in the ombudsman's office uh as well as members of the assembly when it comes to um dealing with boards and commissions he also worked with member Perez verdia when it came to um trying to find a candidates for this new commission that uh that the assembly put into code uh I just want to make my own plug and say that he's born and raised Anchorage he graduated from Bartlet high school went to UAA he is somebody who uh lives breathes and drinks Anchorage and um I think he'd be a great uh person to help carry forward I think what this body and the administration both have in mind for this naming commission going forward so the administration um supports this nominee thank you thank you Mr Bond thank you Mr chair um this one you know I'm I understand that there was not the will to postpone the prior item but I'm curious as one of the sponsors on the um creation of the public naming commission um we put very specific qualifications um for who would make up the commission um and I I'll just read them briefly there was uh number one a a member with a background in history anthropology or archaeology and sort of based on uh Mr Whitney's resumee I'm wondering maybe that's the slot for him um number number two would be a member uh who is an Alaskan native cultural adviser number three a person recommended by the native Village of akuta number four someone with expertise in historic preservation um my understanding and but I could be corrected was that um at our last meeting when we approved um Christine benell that that would be sort of the the category that she would fit due to her involvement um in the historic preservation commission for I believe it was 12 years uh number five um a member with expertise uh in diversity equity and inclusion and then finally four community at large members um who would reside in different areas or neighborhoods of Anchorage so I guess a question um for the administration would be which category do they want to put um Mr Whitney in for and I think what would be helpful going forward and why I would actually prefer to post or to postpone this item I think it might be helpful when these ones come forward if there's a way to identify um at least in the memo if not the actual resolution which um which member category is looking to be filled um so first my question for the administration and maybe I guess for Mr bird um is is Mr Whitney meant to fulfill the qualification um with a background in history or is he meant to be one of the four community members at large or one of the other um categories Mr bird thank you Mr chair through the chair to member vand uh my understanding is that Mr Whitney was seeking the atlarge position for East Side um that he's he's lived fairly close to malun Road I think since the time he was born that's they ended up going to Bartlett um so that was the administration's position but I think he'd probably also be good for the history position um I think either one but we'd prefer the the atlarge east side thank you okay thank you that is helpful um and and sort of not what I was thinking so yeah uh thank you for the answer I appreciate that appreciate Mr Whitney wanting to join this commission um appreciate his background in involvement with various commissions um but I think what I would like to do is to postpone this to the meeting of July 16th um with an encouragement to the administration to identify which category is intended just so we make sure when we are uh confirming these that each of those qualifications is being met so I will make that motion now to to the meeting of July 16th oh it is oh this one here I thought this was a new thing coming from that's the motion on the floor oh it is oh Anna already moved that okay oh so then I will support Anna's motion thank you thank you Miss alel thank you um specifically with regard to um appointments for the public naming commission Mr vand really raised the issue is if there are selected seats um we need to make sure that the seat selected is um indicated um particularly for the public notice provision of it um because just saying toight on the dis that Mr Whitney should fill the east side seat Well maybe someone else on the east side has thoughts about that I don't know or that it's the historic seat um someone may have thoughts about that and it that notice this was just an appointment it didn't designate the seat um so I think that it would need to be postponed um even if not out to July 16th which I support um simply to start indicating which seats so that um the public is adequately noticed and can provide a comment thank you Mr R yeah thank you Mr chair um so I do not support the motion to postpone to the meeting of July 16th because I don't need postponement to know how I'm going to be voting on this eventual appointment so whether it's today or July 16th I will be voting no on this appointment to the public naming commission that said if we um don't postpone then I think um it would be an order for us to do an amendment and I'll probably put myself back in the queue um I think it would probably just be a simple fix of uh on the memo itself line 8 just put a comma at large um just to designate what uh seat um this individual is uh being put forward nominated for that said I will encourage um a no vote uh on this motion and on the eventual motion to approve thank you Mr Myers I don't think we need to Bel belabor this I I'm going to be no vote on postponement for the same reason as stated before uh again I think we just need to accept the people who are willing to volunteer their time keep in mind they're volunteering their time to sit on these boards and commissions uh so I move the question so there's a motion to call the question I don't hear second second all right a motion has been made by Mr Meyer seconded by miss branga this motion requires Ires an eight vote majority on a vote of 4 to7 the question is not called next in the que we have Mr Presa thank you Mr chair I um I'm I'm a little torn because of of what one of the members just said I I um I we worked very hard on on really thinking about this um this committee and especially who was initially on the the committee as a as a as an as as an inaugural group of people that would help to shape this committee um and and at this point I'm I'm a no vote for for for for po pointing him because I don't I don't see uh the the qualifications that I would hope to see for someone on this board I'm willing to postpone and and and and U and explore that more but um but until I get more information I I don't believe that that this is a good fit for this this this committee thank you m al Mr constant thank you um I have the opposite hat on I'm fine postponing because to be consistent there is a conversation going on about how we're going to approach these and arguments about who is willing to serve it's it's not so much that it's who's willing to make it through the screening of the appointment process that's what really um has been the barrier for a number of these seats not lacking people interested but that said I personally would support Mr Whitney for this position once we identify that it is out at large because I think that he has done of all the folks we've had dealings with over the last couple of years he's really worked hard with our team to square up and make accurate all of the boards and commissions and all of the work and I personally um see the mission of naming and can see this as a valid reward for that work which isn't necessarily why we would appoint someone but to me that's a valid reason um so whichever way the vote comes I I would support him in this position and uh just to say thank you for bringing some sanity to a project that was long deferred but also now in hearing that there are four at large seats and we have six districts I feel like we might have a disconnect in the actual structure of the commission because when I think one from East Anchorage then I'm thinking well who gets one next and then who doesn't get one and so um there's a broader question of foot but that's for another day Mr pres thank you I just wanted to to to really be clear I guess I I actually would uh encourage my colleagues to vote for it to be post postponed I I think that this this along with the other um nominations needs to be considered carefully and so I'll I'll I'll be voting to postpone thank you Mr Bond thank you uh yeah I I guess just one layer here that I want to add is this this is the creation of a new commission and um really what the sponsors were envisioning is that uh these folks are part of this inaugural makeup of this commission would really be responsible for crafting the direction of the commission going forward and creating a work plan that could identify um locations that need to be named um and so yeah I I guess I just want to make sure I I appreciate that people want to volunteer and that's that's wonderful but I also want to make sure that um the people that I confirm I feel are going to make a good contribution uh to any board or commission and so um yeah I guess I just want to add that extra um layer on there because I think it's really important that whoever fills this board they are capable of collaborating with others and can really um create a new direction for how we name um our public places an Anchorage thank you and anyone else seeing hearing none members May proceed to vote the question is shall we postpone to 76 on a vote of six to five the motion to postpone has failed now the main no there's no motion on the floor move to approve moved by Mr Meyers seconded by second Miss branga any further discussion members May proceed to vote oh were you trying to get in the queue hold on folks I'm sorry I saw him moving but nothing lit up Mr Johnson yeah thank you I would just like to make a motion to amend um I think following the suggestion by member Rivera uh I would move to amend line 8 after seat 9 to insert a comma and say um member at large can we also add East Anchorage member at large for East anage Mr Johnson uh has moved as our second second seconded by Miss branga uh Mr Rivera yeah thank you so on the amendment um so the way that the code was written um I'll just read the particular section in code around the qualifications of the Commissioners um four community at large members residing in different areas and neighborhoods in the municipality so don't think there was any envisioning from the sponsors and it's not in the language that it was for members representing four different districts but rather four different neighborhoods so if the Mover is amendable without having to do an amendment to the amendment um I would suggest that um there would be rather than East Anchorage it would just be a parenthetical U moldun because I believe as I heard from the administration that is the residence of this individual yeah I think I'd support that change so the Mover has amended the second on that one was Miss branga I think miss branga any objection oh no okay so the motion is amended it's moldun yeah it's just important that we have a neighborhood there so it's clear if we're going to make for clarity um now we have a whole bunch of people in the queue is it on the amendment so on on the amendment yep Mr vond yeah thank you Mr chair U member Rivera beat me to the punch yeah the language in the code is areas or neighborhoods you know I I could foresee having someone for instance um from the Hillside and and and someone from from Girdwood be members at large and and both bringing very different perspectives um and so I I do like uh having it just in parenthesis just so we can identify generally what neighborhood but it was not meant to be uh divvied up by District thank you Mr Presa thank you yeah this is this is another reason why this is uh this really should be postponed um we we need to be really careful about how we're doing this because it's going to set a tone for the rest of the the the appointments and so when we begin to start to designate these in a particular way it's going to start to set the tone for how others are designated and so um as again one of the the sponsors of of this um you know the idea is to have um people who live in a variety of different areas of Anchorage who can bring that perspective um and so how we designate them or whether we debt designate them whether they're simply an atlarge member but we know where they're from or where they live and we look that as that as a as a way to to look at Future ones that are nominated these are things that I think we need to be thinking about a little bit so um again I I would I would highly encourage I know this is the amendment that we not designate this as moldun um because it will then set the tone for how we designate the rest of them I would prefer that it is just an at large member um and that we we when we when we um appoint future people we look at the existing list of who's on and then make a determination whether that person is living in a different area or not um being sort designated whether their neighborhoods or their districts um a tone for how what we would do in the future so that that that concerns me thank you Mel thank you um what Mr Perez Veria said um it's really starting to set an odd tone we went from well Mr Whitney could be in a variety of seats to now he's being picked for at large again we didn't notice that to the public um and we've now decided that um he is the representative for the area of moldun without maybe asking the moldun neighborhood whatever that means what they think about that so at this point um I'm going to vote against the amendment and I'm also going to vote against the appointment I think it needs to be better thought out um the the naming commission this revamped naming commission is a big deal and I think we need to be really thoughtful or we're just going to wind up back in the same position we were that that was the impetus for creating the new naming commission so um I actually am surprised to see at large seats come before uh some of the other more designated seats in the um ordinance because I think those would possibly have helped round out where those atlarge seats might come from thank you Miss broy yeah I just um kind of echoing what member zotel said you know when we're talking about design um I appreciate the narrowing down from East Side to malun um but it also just made me wonder does that preclude anyone else who lives in the moldun area from being um seated to this commission and that does seem problematic to me um given the the diversity of that neighborhood and um and as memb zotel said I don't believe this um you know and it's and it's tricky because there is no defined public process by which to uh collect nominations other than members of the public or other people encouraging people to apply so we we don't really have visibility on on you know what that the overall consideration for other members has been um so that is that is an issue to me and and I am concerned about whether this precludes others from from that Community being seated regardless of which position they qualify for the way that it's written thank you m branga I'm inclined to pop the other direction I feel like mulun got too laser focused that um East Anchorage is probably more appropriate in my mind um especially because if there's only four out large you know are we going to do Airport Heights next are we going to do um Bayshore I think you know in general a pro an area of town to me sounds better um but I'll defer to the rest of the body so um have myself Mr Conant yeah I it's just a very interesting conversation we could have four well I'll just keep it real straightforward to the process if we don't designate it in the document itself then it will be lost to the memory hole and then administrations going forward will make appointments that they have no knowledge about this small requirement and it's not in the records to go back and find and thus it becomes not really a thing until somebody says hey wait a minute we got an issue but then it's too late because we made all these appointments and so for my part the clearer record we create the better whichever way we go rather than leaving it off all together Mr R yeah thank you Mr chair um yeah you know this is certainly an an interesting esoteric conversation that we are having here regarding the this uh appointment um I guess for me it always goes back to the language and code and I so I'll just read the language and code one more time so uh the language and code specifies five different very specific positions um a member with background in history anthropology or Archaeology is one second Alaska native cultural adviser with knowledge of local addition of History indigenous history and culture third a person recommended by the native vill of kuta fourth a member with expertise in historic preservation fifth a member with experience in diversity equity and inclusion work I think you will notice in my description of all of those there is no um weight given to districts or different areas or neighborhoods um if if all four five of those positions had qualified experts that came from one District then then so be it that does not concern me I think the reason that we decided to put four community in the last um qualifications for community at large members residing in different areas and neighborhoods in the municip ipity so nowhere in here does it say that they are representing moldun um that's not what the code envisions um it just envisions that we are going to have folks who have different perspectives in different parts of the municipality so that when they're looking at naming things it's not just one particular part of the municipality that is maybe the focus of that commission um so it allows I think for a variety of diverse perspectives in terms of GE graphy um so I think that was the rationale not that anyone's representing moldun I don't think Mr Whitney um would represent mulun on this commission rather he would be residing in moldun and that would be the perspective that he brings forward thank you Mr Ren yeah thank you Mr chair uh well member of era keeps beating me to the punch um yeah I I don't think we were ever contemplating that somebody would be speaking on behalf of a certain neighborhood or area of town um just that we wanted to capture um different local knowledge you know somebody might be more familiar with places that maybe are in need of of naming on um the east side you know maybe that's where they know where the little pocket parks are Etc um other you know I think reasons that we didn't want to add more members at large is just because we want the board to be able to meet Quorum um we wanted I guess we wanted to really uh consider how we weighted some of the other positions that have very specific qualifications with uh just general participation and input from the community um and and so that's why we settled on four and I think of you know there's a danger of a border commission getting too large um to be able to effectively do their business um so yeah with that I mean this has been a a great conversation I think this would be uh this would have been a fantastic conversation perhaps to have on a work session had the item been postponed but that's okay you never know how the body is going to go um yeah I I actually think my preference in light of all this conversation I would say would just to have it Des be designated at large and not with language that maybe that describes I really I think in the code that Mr Rivera just read the policy directive to the administration is when you make these appointments look to capture different parts of Anchorage and then we will do our job and decide whether or not we want to confirm that person um and so yeah I I think for me I would I would rather leave it nonspecific um and just have it member at large um that's just my two sentence thank you Mr chair Mr bird on behalf of the mayor thank you Mr chair and I I do not intend to complicate matters for the body but I just want to point out that um Mr Whitney if if the body is contemplating him being the the history uh member rather than the atlarge we would not oppose that um and I think it's Germaine to point out that he does have a continuing relationship with UAA he was just at a UAA event this past weekend and was speaking with Dr Kelly who served on the ethics board for two decades so um to the extent that helps the body it's offered by the administration no one else in the queue members May proceed to vote amendment is member at large Mal on a vote of five to six the amendment has failed now we have the main motion before us Mr pres yeah just want to encourage my colleagues uh to vote no on this appointment uh I I think that um once we come back and and have some time to review many of the appointments if if this gentleman wants to to to to continue to pursue this I think that that that would be an option but at this point I don't think it's a good idea I think we need to um vote no on this and um and and and move forward thank you Mr vond thank you Mr chair um you can tell me if this is not in order but I think what I would like to do before we get to this main motion because I'm not sure how it's going to go is to take another crack at amending um and and just add on line 8 at large with no location signifier so seat n seat 9 comma at large second amendment has been moved by Mr Walland was that second by Mr prisia any discussion you have that motion yeah if if I could speak to it I you know I do think it's important to know which seat it is we're trying to fill because there's very specific seats um don't necessarily think that we need a location signifier thank you Mr Riva uh thank you Mr chair so I'm not going to complicate things by attempting to do an amendment to the amendment but I'll go ahead and support this amendment but I will say and I think this Echoes a little bit of what the chair was saying the these am are where the historical record lies otherwise you're having to listen to hours and hours and hours of assembly meetings to try to figure out who was appointed to what seed and all of those things but if this is the will of the body to just do at large and not signify neighborhood then so be it Mr constant yeah thanks and um just not note on the one person who spent hours and hours reviewing all of these records other than our own staff was Mr Whitney members May proceed to vote on a of 9-2 the amendment has passed we now have the main motion as amended any further discussion members May proceed to vote on a vote of six to five the motion has failed to pass now we have item 10 E1 before 101 is ar22 24-135 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage appropriating an amount not to exceed $370,000 of Sven Arena capital reserve account revenues within the areawide general Capital Improvement projects fund 41800 for Capital Improvements at the Solen Arena Mr B move to postpone indefinitely motion to postpone by Mr vand second by Miss alel Mr vand thank you Mr chair so I had some questions um when I saw this item because I remember that we had a robust discussion when we approved the operating agreement for the hockey rinks um you know we wanted detail about what was the municipality's obligation to pay for and then what was the operators obligation to pay for to enhance their events um and questions that I have about this item you know when I look at this it there's a there was a general amount provided for for two expenses um and so I think it would be helpful to for the assembly to have the breakdown of how much for which item how much for the heat exchanger which to me is okay that's an integral part of the building that is a needed Capital expense versus how much is for to purchase the house divider curtains which I think are maybe a nice to have um you know they can sort of block off part of the upper seating and make it look more attractive when there's smaller events and um an opportunity to put ads up on the curtains right so people can buy ad space or you could promote upcoming events questions I think remain about what type of AD Revenue those could generate and how much of those um are of a benefit to the operator and how much of those are of a benefit to the municipality and how how are we using public dollars um wisely in that regard um and there's also issues and I think maybe the the chair will have some comments on this later but um when when we looked at the capital Improvement budget um that item which is I believe the the larger expense those house divider curtains were not on the programmed um Capital Improvement budget and so why did this get moved forward in terms of prioritization among other needed Capital expenses um is I think a question worth diving into and then um I guess lastly how much um you know when we look at 370,000 how much over the the lifespan of this operating agreement are we expecting to make you know how much how much revenue is the municipality expected to make out of this agreement and will it cover uh this expense among others so uh with that I think there was more questions and answers for me when I looked at this um appropriation resolution and the companying memorandum and so for that reason I'd like to uh take a little more time with it I would like to encourage the um the administration certainly to bring back as a standalone uh the item on the heat exchanger because I think it's of a lesser amount and and more clear to me that that would be an obligation of the municipality rather than the operator um thank you Mr chair Miss broy yeah thanks um I support postponement I actually I did reach out to uh Mr thern and Renee Stewart and um also to Sharon lechner to ask some questions um sorry om director our CFO and um uh Renee deals with Civic ventures in a lot of our facilities so um because I had similar questions and then I also am aware there's some U maybe technical edits that could be made to this and you know one option is to do them tonight on the floor another is to um bring it back as a new item and so I would support postponement um I I don't have heartburn with the um with those curtains but I also had questions how this interacted with the operating agreement I had most of my questions answered but as I said I think there's some improvements that could be made so just to say if we postpone this indefinitely it can be brought back as a new item it would have a new number and then it can have those corrections made without needing procedural uh action on the floor so I would encourage for that reason as well thanks Miss Alo thank you um I support postponement one of the reasons is there is a capital Improvement plan for the solivan arena and this doesn't bring any amendment to tell us where how this fits in the plan um overall does this mean that it increases the total amount spent under the capital Improvement plan or does it push other projects currently slated for the solivan arena so I think it's missing an essential piece like a CIP Amendment thanks Mr constant thank you um I shared some conc concerns with this I asked myself I went back and reviewed this stunning agreement that they received for seven years in which they are supposed to take on um investments in maintenance and upgrades that are not capital in nature not substantive to the building and so the question certainly came is this giant curtain that they'll make ad Revenue off of a capital Improvement to the project or not and um so I turned to the capital Improvement plan which I provided members just as a print out for you all to see the CIP list for all three of the ice facilities that are under the operating agreement and there are millions and millions of dollars of deferred maintenance projects that are actually programmed on the list but none of them were this curtain so if the curtain is in fact Capital it should be listed on the plan if it's not Capital it's probably the expense of the operator now we looked closely at the agreement and they propos their 5% net or gross payment that they would make to the municipality over 5 years would be roughly $250,000 of a total contribution and so in the AM it suggested or ar in the document it suggested that um it would be paid back essentially by increases of Revenue under that 5% but what kind of increase of Revenue would we have to generate to more than double what they had in their budget for revenues under that 5% and so that raised a number of questions so then the question that really hit home for me was is this the highest and best use of the money that's available in the capital Improvement fund that that comes forward from the previous operator and their 5% that won into this fund now if you look at the CIP and the 2024 approved General government capital budget all of the Deferred maintenance programs are in the magic money category State please give us a capital Grant and none of them are programmed for actual improvements or repairs or restoration so we have things like that within the the financial scope include UPG upgrading the security and camera systems that will include the parking lot and radios um upgrading building automation controls replacing interior doors and locking systems exterior sidewalk repairs repainting the exterior uh LED lighting upgrades which will actually save money in the long run regular lighting upgrades and these are all programmed over the next 5 years um replace exterior Administration stairway replace parking lot equipment Etc you have the document renovation of box office so the question really becomes is this the highest and best use I did ask the CFO for how much money is in that account and it's roughly $400,000 and so it's a highly limited pool of money that's maybe going to see an additional 250,000 if all the financials of the proforma hit their mark Mark relating to the agreement that's been signed over the next 5 years and so I don't know that this is the best investment of our treasure limited treasure in repairing suent Arena and so I too support the um postponement I believe it's fine if the administration I I would have supported an amendment that divided out the heat exchanger because to me that's clearly a capital expense sounds like it's a fairly important one even though it's not on the plan um but that said bringing it back with a more thoughtful approach that tells us why it makes a business case to spend the limited money in those those limited fund pools for this need relative to all of those others is an essential ingredient to getting to yes for me anyone else members May proceed to vote on a vote of 10 to1 AR 202 24-135 has been postponed definitely for now and that brings us to our regularly scheduled dinner break we'll be back in just a little bit approving an amendment to the 2024 Capital Improvement budget of the Anchorage Community Development Authority and appropriating 215,000 $796 from the AC CA general fund balance to purchase Lots four and five block three Smith subdivision number 1 202 and 204 East Fir Weed Lane and to purchase two for plexus from jber for the attainable housing project so there is no motion pending on this item I believe we have a work session scheduled for this coming up soon yes Mr chair it's scheduled for the 3D of May so miss Al I moov to postpone to the meeting of May 7th second all right postpone move to postpone to May 7 by Miss zotel seconded by Miss broy Miss alel that'll give them a chance to present their plan to us and then we can take the item up thanks all right any further discussion motion to postpone hearing and see none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to Zer that item has been ar22 24-12 has been postponed to the meeting of May 7 next we have item 11b ao20 24-22 an ordinance amending the zoning map and providing for the rezoning from R3 mixed residential district to R4 a multif family residential mixed use District within cook subdivision tract B um public hearing was closed 35224 action postponed from 35 and 49 there's a motion to approve second made by Miss elto seconded by Mr Riva on the floor Miss alel thank you Mr chair so we have the work session on this and I understand there's an amendment um which I'm looking forward to being moved here shortly um but there's a couple of things I wanted to say about this to really set the tone so this is the old Federal archive site uh for me this is a seminal plot of land in Midtown um it it's a it's an ident it's an identity defining type of piece of land um it's located U next to the library next to Cy Park where we've um Mr a and I have supported um considerable improvements including um a chalet that's supposed to be there um and then also Midtown hasn't had a really big development yet in my time on this body I've been here five years now um we were supposed to have the tutor Elmore development a lot of work happened um in that one um actually a rezone was a part of that deal but it never came to fruition and so it's been my goal to really think about the component parts of that development and say can any of them be included when we're going to do the next Midtown development this appears to be the next Midtown development and I really appreciated the work session I think a lot of really good questions were raised and then we got good follow-up information rezoning this to r4a does um provide great opportunity for something to be done here and so I will support the rezone but I'm going to hold it in the John W wlon Maxim a rezone is just a rezone I think there needs to be more work done before this moves into development I will be very disappointed if it simply goes out for RFP to the highest bidder I would like to see a development agreement I would like to see some Vision um because and and I'm I'm asking you as colleagues that if this was a seminal piece of property in your District that you know what would you want to see so um I'll support the rezone tonight um and I look forward as I said to the amendment but um this is really important to me um as someone who represents Midtown um it's barely in Midtown uh the political district but it is definitely in the heart of Midtown as a place to be um so with that I would uh ask for your support tonight um and your continued engagement on this as we hopefully can work with development services um and and uh Community Development to really figure out I'm sorry real estate and Community Development so we can really figure out a great vision for this so we can have a robust public private partnership thank you thank you Miss broy thank you I'd like to move uh Amendment uh Bry vent amendment number one second motion to amend by Mr broy seconded by Mr vond M broy thank you and then also state that as I understand it um this um general idea is um I believe supported by mayor Bronson and member Johnson so I won't speak for them but they can um speak to their intent as this was something discussed um at the work session on Friday and and by email earlier today uh so this amendment includes broad policy intent for the long-term project to restore and daylight Fish Creek this policy is supported in our 2040 land use plan as part of um the benefits described for Greenway supported development so the idea of um having uh Creek channels um and having development around it that um allows for the natural flow of the creek and really the the integration of natural features into development so what this amendment actually does is it directs dedication of an easement it does not have specifics yet but it it communicates that clear policy intent to have that restoration work happen it also does not require that the the actual restoration work be done by the purchaser of this project uh of this property in the F in the future it reserves the space to do that when it comes together and I just want to briefly Thank The Advocates of FR of Fish Creek they have been consistent champions for the need restoration for our waterways especially Fish Creek obviously is in their name um and also um that this type of uh restoration action has both environmental and economic benefits to the city thank you also to uh planning department staff and Community Development staff uh for helping prepare this draft language as well thank you on the amendment Mr R yeah I'll speak to the amendment and I'd also like to speak to the main motion um I will go ahead and support um this amendment and I'm actually you know quite excited about the opportunity um this is something that I think would greatly benefit both Midtown and West Anchorage um the eventual daylighting of Fish Creek and I think we need to be very careful um you know as we are planning what to do with these various Parcels that we don't um cut off the possibility of the daylighting of Fish Creek so I think this amendment um does that and it allows for that project to remain viable going into the future you know I think as members alel stated this is a seminal property that is really key to Midtown and I think um protecting this project um the future daylighting of Fish Creek can also be I think a generational project so I think the two go hand inand very well thank you on the amendment Mr Bond yes please thank you Mr chair um yeah really the amendment is meant to be a policy directive too to say you know we want to support a vision for this important um part of Midtown um and also you know going into West Anchorage and you know how much value it could add in terms of ecological restoration um economic benefit to that whole area to see a a creek that is currently buried in a in a storm drain to be Unearthed and for people to enjoy um and you know how nice that we can uh restore a creek without having to to um negotiate with Partners in a decades old agreement right um so really just want to uh urge your support for this amendment um and also um urge my colleagues uh to really be part of the process um going forward um to create uh the opportunity you know we we did appropriate arpa funds um for planning for the for the daylighting fish creek project and so there's a lot of community momentum in and uh I think it's very worthwhile thank you Mr constant thanks I'm am fine with the easement language but there's a question that I didn't get answered that came up during the work session and that is a question of can other sectors of the lot be looked at in a way where you can reduce setbacks or some alternative methods to assure that the same useful square foot value exists with the easement on it and so an amendment to the amendment that I'm not prepared to make because just maybe not that smart would be some language that would be along the lines of the department May liberally construe other setbacks or um elements of the design that would allow for a no square foot impact I don't know how to word that but for me is I would like to have a statement in there that the department is authorized to actually look creatively at that lot and come up with some way to adjust so I'm not sure how to do that on the floor and so it probably won't happen because it would be rather embarrassing but um I would like to see that be a principle of this lot because I hear the arguments that are made that any encumbrance on the land may be a net detraction and value but I don't I think it could be creatively designed in such a way so um that's my only concern with this and I don't know how to get there but I do support this amendment so Mr Mr he P himself oh okay I gave her the floor never mind um Miss broy yeah thank you um I and uh I would struggle to come up with that uh language on the fly as well but I think it is important to note that r4a is described as one of the most flexible zones in terms of um the the dimensional standards um in terms of setbacks height restrictions and then of course um you know r4a and other residential zones are under current consideration in another item um which might may make may make them um even more liberally construed but but just to note that that even with the existing zoning as it is written now um of course again I'm not speaking to the specifics um how it would be interpreted but just to note that it's it's the some of the least restrictive zoning that we have at least in terms of if you're building residential all right um so the motion to amend is before us see anyone else in the que members May proceed to vote on vote of 11 to zero the item is amended Mr Rivera yeah thank you Mr chair um I am supportive of the efforts to rezone this property you know I will say that I am particularly concerned about the real lack of a vision um an articulated vision for this parcel um you know from my perspective and and I think we've heard this phrase a lot in these Chambers uh you know this is public land and I want to make sure that it is developed to its highest and best use so I just want to Echo their request that members alel made you know we need to be involved in this process from the get-go so that any future possible disposal isn't stalled because of the legitimate concerns that we may have so I really hope that the administration is listening to those requests that members alel and I are raising that we um really as the legislative body need to be involved in this process uh from the beginning in hope that we achieve a successful outcome thank you anyone else so I I'm drafting an amendment quickly but um anyone else on the main motion okay so um the clerk is helping me right now I'm going to make Miss El Mr con a motion to amend that would add a warehous clause the last whereas that is whereas it is the intent with this property disposal to allow the greatest flexibility in achieving maximum buildable land second so um moved by constant seconded by Bry and the purpose of this is to communicate to the planning staff that uh when a proposal comes forward the idea isn't to be limited by what the strict restrictions are but to try to figure out as aggressively as possible to achieve the goal of the maximum development that's possible on this land and um so it may be not so artfully stated and I recognize that when you get to the point where it comes to actually planning something or making a policy decision it's more complicated but I want that to be understood if the members agree oh development not disposal not disposal yeah then we can just say with you know we can even just say with this property yeah so just remove disposal thank you um Miss branga I was just thinking on along the lines of of relaxing whatever word um we would use next to enable the capture of lost acreage from the daylighting of the stream to create the maximum number of parcels I don't know if that would help or not anyone else on the amendment okay then members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a vote of 11 to zero the amendment has passed next we have the main motion any further discussion you see none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to Z ao20 24-22 as amended has passed the body we've concluded the 12 next into the 13s next is 13A a20 24-24 an ordinance of the mun Anchorage Municipal assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code title 21 wave reading thank you um for this item public hearing is now open anyone wish should be heard on this item at all the microphone isn't on welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes you turn the hit the green tape there you go you're good you're okay can you hear me now my name is Guy Burke uh I'm from South Anchorage but I own businesses in Midtown Northern Lights and Benson area so just want to um read an email from my architect because I was getting ready to do a project and we're getting ready to actually start this next week and it's on hold now because of these amendments okay so there's unintended consequences to all this stuff um it's for my architect Daniel Cliff we urge a delay in implementation of this code update relating to The Pedestrian Frontage standard for urban neighborhood context the area under consideration is vast in the area according to table 21072 were required to comply with numerous additional standards in this area for the title 21 code as is often the case we have to run the code on a test project before we can fully appreciate the impact on this project the critical item is a basically for my project which is retail condos there's a new item that says garages can't comprise 50% the width of the building I have now in my personal money hundreds of thousands of dollars tied into this project this was by the way I was like the poster child for the getting rid of the parking requirement okay this was exactly what we're talking about I'm developing the site there is literally a house that is selling fentanyl that I'm tearing down it's not even a livable house it's business they're illegally subletting it there's a line down the street selling fentanyl you can go look at it teal house on shako street and I'm trying to develop this block and make it into retail condos and improve it my business is right next to this okay and somebody is putting in a code that's blocking me because they think garages are unsightly there there will be six or seven businesses in this area that would you know benefit from this and now I might be dead in the water because of this little detail so I just I would urge the consideration of when we add things in that seem ideal and my Architect by the way says 50% or something of his projects are going to be affected by this and we feel it's unfair right before construction season to execute this so he's asking for a delay on the execution of this until we've done more research on it this is going to have major Economic Consequences and it took us a long time to get here on these projects and a lot of money and now I'm getting blocked it's very frustrating Mr vand thank you uh Dr Burke I have a couple questions for you actually thank you for being here um just two questions number one what part of town because it's relevant to the item what part of town is your project in and then does where your project is meant to be developed does that do they have Alleyways paved Alleyways so these particular Lots don't have Alleyways so the frenches directly to chako Street which actually chako street is all ripped up and it's you know not in good shape so part of this project I'm putting in sidewalks it's going to look really nice and it's going to improve the area thank you and just um because I'm not super familiar with the name to choco Street what what neighborhood um it's right behind the Carl's Jr between Northern Lights and Benson it's right adjacent to um the peach Investments lot where the old Northern Hotel was got it thank you just to the west of that appreciate it all right anyone else wish to be heard on this item anyone at all public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second motion to approve by m broy seconded by Mr vand um Miss Broly first then Mr Myers yeah thanks um this is going to take a few minutes but I I want to really set the stage for kind of because this is this is a cleanup ordinance but I want to remind folks kind of where we've been because this has really been a threeyear story so so bear with me I'll try to be brief um the short version of this is that this planning project started about I think three years ago possibly even before that in 2021 and the intent was really to improve sections of title 21 or zoning code related to design standards and ensure that projects are built to be pedestrian friendly especially in areas older neighborhoods with alleys um so it's original Ally attached uh these changes in the the the ordinance that we've already passed last summer were originally attached to uh a proposal to reduce parking requirements so in 2022 the ordinance was split into two the parking reform ordinance passed in late 2022 and then the other pieces these site access pieces moved forward as as a separate item a separate ordinance so in 2023 the assembly passed AO 22350 uh which put the site access and pedestrian Frontage standards in code and they were effective January 2024 so that gets us up to this year so come January uh we started to hear from folks who use the code on a regular basis who said that there were major problems in how this is being applied or or or essentially how to interpret the code in order to apply it it's an impacted projects currently in development we just heard from a gentleman today it appears to have rendered uh prior projects that were done even recently out of compliance with code if they were to be built again today so really the raising some serious questions about this um so the assembly myself incl Ed had a part to play in this problem so myself and member cross and there was maybe a third member moved an amendment to make those standards apply Citywide as opposed to in some of those older existing neighborhoods What's called the urban uh neighborhood context areas in in the code because we thought that sounds like a great idea right you want everywhere to have nice sidewalks and walkable areas um but it turns out that it wasn't really a good idea it was part of the problem and so in February we've already passed another ordinance February of this year to scale back back where these things uh appli to be more uh in keeping with the original ordinance so that's kind of where we are now so now what we're looking at is a cleanup ordinance a lot a lot is being asked of this cleanup ordinance because really it only makes minor changes um so what we're being asked to do is address problems in the bigger ordinance and the challenge with all of this is it's very complex so if we simply pass this cleanup ordinance as it is even with the small amendments that were brought forward by the planning department it won't fix the underlying problems that are being identified um but also repealing the original 2023 ordinance would be a step backwards I believe um because there were good things that were made there good changes that were made in that ordinance that 2023 50 um and and I think the intent is still good but so really it would take a lot of work to go back and simply undo and we would lose some of the good work that was done so simply repealing it um didn't feel practical certainly not in the time frame we have and it was not really a good option so looking at all this uh knowing the negative impacts um that the that the 2023 ordinances having that this cleanup ordinance will not address on its own um I believe that we made a mistake and that we need to correct that mistake by making the code better but by making the code better and writing in a way that's simpler more flexible and more tailored to conditions on the ground that's going to take time that's not something that we can amend tonight so um the amendment that I'm about to move is really something that will I think dissatisfy everybody for the time being but I think is a is a a a solid approach and will uh hopefully result in a better outcome than the approach that we've been taking for the last three years so I move Broly Fallen amendment number one second motion to amend by Miss broley seconded by Mr Walland Miss broley yeah so let me describe so this amendment does uh what what seemed after a lot of thought about this the last several weeks uh to be the most practical short-term solution so it's pressing pause on the variety of new standards that have been applied to parts of the city so not the whole city but these parts of the city including this area of Midtown that this gentleman was describing um and these are the ones that that really cause problems so what it does is it takes uh in the underlying ordinance it inserts uh or sorry the underlying code changes it inserts the sections describing where these new standards apply the urban neighborhood development context area and it makes that geographic area not effective until November 20 or sorry November 1st 2025 so what that does is it leaves all the standards in code but it does not apply them to any physical area of the city until next year so that gives us time um to really work through what this should look like so in the meantime the standards that are already in code that have been updated um that would apply to areas outside that area would still apply so it doesn't leave uncertainty or it doesn't leave things in limbo it just says that we're setting back the entire city to basically status quo or a modified version of status quo and I will acknowledge the developers um who have been reaching out to us wanted us to go further they wanted us to Simply repeal sections and so this doesn't do that either what it does is it attempts to to come to a middle ground and for the short term say let's work on other things um and so we can turn our attention to other projects we're working on the home initiative that is a big change to zoning we know there's an areawide study of managing rights of way and parking that was a direct implementation action out of the parking ordinance so that really makes time to deal with this um so now not in the amendment and then I'm almost done sorry not in the amendment but saying on the record now is a part two so the longer term solution is not simply to delay this that's really the short term that's what we can do now um the longer is to form a working group to identify what our goals are so what is this trying to do what are we protecting against and then where should it apply in the city where is it appropriate and then work collaboratively to write replacement code sections that are simpler more flexible and really are informed by work on the ground so I imagine this the working group would be um it would include staff Builders planning and design professionals and also members of the public folks who really want to be involved in the you know in the community and talk through this especially in these neighborhoods that are affected so I believe it would be a really good solution for collaborative problem solving and then ideally they would be charged with coming back within a year so by Spring 2025 with a solution as an ordinance um and and hopefully sooner but but that would be the latest um and then that could be adopted we can look at kind of how to um fix some of these other underlying issues and then rely on that uh collaborative effort to come up with um a better product than what we unfortunately passed last year thanks the Q is on fire Mr Myers thank you Mr chair and actually the folks I wanted to address have left the room so I was hoping someone from the planning department could come and address his concerns so I'd say put yourself back in the queue I believe they're conferring and they'll be back out when they have align so put yourself back in the que Mr vond thank you Mr chair um my my thanks to member Broly for putting this amendment together that pushes out a timeline that I think is very workable and I think there's a lot of opportunity here to bring in members of the community particularly those um that would be within the the the urban neighborhood context you know we talk a lot about neighborhood context and I think that um that term is very interesting it's a little squishy it has a a number of connotations um but I will say I I I think in my perspective a big uh part of the context is the streetcape in in neighborhoods um we have a number of neighborhoods in my district that have Alleyways which I think are a Community Asset um that includes South addition it includes um parts of Government Hill Fair View Mountain View um and and others and uh the Alleyways you know we don't tend to develop neighborhoods like that anymore but they they really do serve a kind of a cool purpose and that they keep the primary Street Frontage very walkable it makes it so that you don't don't have these large driveway cuts the the sidewalks aren't interrupted so for me there's this sort of opportunity here for marriage of how can we get more infill Housing Development but also how can we make our streets more walkable and pedestrian friendly and those things can really work in tandem um and so there are trade-offs I think that that need that that Merit further discussion and I will it's interesting to think about you know when we passed this item we we moved to expand it um perhaps to context where it really didn't work and so again I appreciate member bro's uh uh former item that Reed this back um um and also this amendment that gives us a longer timeline to sort out some of these details so I hope my colleagues will support this um yeah you know I I I guess I I'll leave it there for now and um really well actually I'll just say one more thing I have this this is it's very interesting to have gone along Journey you know I see um Tom Davis is in the audience I know he's worked on iterations of this for for multiple years um and did a lot of work to engage um those parts of of my community um you know I think it could be a little bit more narrowly tailored perhaps just to where there are Alleyways and make that the defining feature rather than to try to do these Geographic locations um but one other thing I want to say is that district one one of our main um legislative priorities funding for the legislature was to finish Paving some of those Alleyways in Fair viiew and Mountain View and that's really important to me it's really important to those neighborhoods that those Alleyways are respected so opportunity for further conversation let's please give it a longer timeline we can work those details out thank you um Miss Salo thank you um so thanks to miss Broly for basically being able to put a pause on this um heard from a number for developers that this is problematic and really it's I think um indicative of how problematic title 21 is as a whole it's too complicated it is Every Time We Touch it it has unintended consequences um and while I appreciate what member volan said about um this ideal standard of a neighborhood in my mind it doesn't matter if houses aren't being built hard stop period the end and I app appreciate that some neighborhoods have alleys um you know one of my suggestions and this is where Miss Broly's genius comes in was well maybe this can apply when alleys get paved but right all of those ideas need time to percolate and have further discussion and it needs to be a broad cross-section that sits down to do this work um I'm I'm really an urban neighborhood context area to me is is word salad how how do we just create areas where we can build housing for people to live I mean I think we're in a housing crisis and that's where we start so I appreciate the additional time um I'm not volunteering in the moment to be on the work group um but should it be constituted um and I can find a little bit of time I definitely think that um it needs to have representation um kind of from throughout anywhere that identifies as being Urban and to me that's anywhere in the bowl thank you Miss brona thank you chair I heard from your architect and I um saw the mockup of what he's planning to do and it's beautiful and I can't imagine that um we would call that something that can't be done for this design CR criteria um I just having lived here a very long time um one of the things is we need housing and when we really needed housing before we let housing happen fast like Nuna Valley and they all looked exactly the same they weren't beautiful but what is cool is they evolutionize over time and they've all you know entryway here this one's been raised this one's you know added a cool carport um a nice G Rock Garden on the front so some of this design criteria you got to get into the house first at an affordable price and then you can work to make changes that make it better um I I really were I read through this um like several times I put a lot of highlighter in here it's tough to read and if you um I was talking with Mr Spinelli about he is a seasoned Builder that knows the ropes and it causes him paw and if it causes someone that's that experienced paw then how do we ever expect a ma and PAW Builder to jump in and develop their lot without you know a lot of difficulty so um you know I just I there's one thing to be all obsessed with a snout house and another to just get some housing so I appreciate the pause um I would say that um I heard from some people that said you know if you're if you're going to stick with this east of bonface do not do it um the you know there's some consequences in these older neighborhoods that are already pretty dense thank you Mr Myers thank you Mr chair I'm not going to be able to repeat uh the member of the Public's testimony or member of the public that spoke in his questions as eloquently but perhaps he can come back up and ask and we can have the building department address so not right now we're on the amendment I think right right well I I specifically am wondering if the amendment solves his issue that's a fair question I just don't know that we can get back into the whole can I uh ask the building department to weigh in then y based on what his public testimony was relating to the amendment okay yeah and then when we get to the main motion it's more broad opportunity to ask those questions I guess I can wait till the main motion I think it would be better at the main motion to the okay so on the amendment Mr Martinez yeah that you you the conversation you just had with Mr Myers I was going to ask the Mover of the motion if this would impact the project that we heard about tonight so essentially asking the same question so where does that fit but I was going to do it in an eloquent way if that would have been appropriate thank you well if if that's the way we're going that's the way we're going you can ask the question but really yeah I I think um there's some conference that needs to happen because I don't know that the petitioner who spoke knows what the amendment does nor anyhow it's a complex question no so chair my question was to the Mover of of the motion right on the amendment to the Mover is it their understanding that this would have a positive impact on the project that we just heard testimony about M Proby yeah thanks um so so this amendment would take the geographic area which it sounds like includes the property you're speaking of he's nodding I see in the audience um and it would say that that if there's standards that apply to that area those um that area doesn't exist until 2025 so it so it should relieve uh properties that would otherwise be in that area but but would be developed you know in 20124 this year so I believe it would the question would be whether the standards that that this gentleman is described also applied to areas outside of that area I don't know the answer to that question the the garage um limits but I believe most of the site access ordinance the underlying ordinance that we passed last year um puts that geographic area in place and that it puts a bunch of additional standards on it so the idea was to suspend application of that area so so so I I think it would but again I would have to look at the details of his property so um Mr Martinez okay um and then Miss Broly on the amendment okay you have the floor yeah thank you and and um I appreciate the conversation so this is really the least worst um solution I could come up with was something that was already in the works um is is one answer uh because these are really technical edits to something that that we're finding underlying issues with the other thing I forgot to mention there's an item um in the agenda it's the uh site access fit test report and I appreciate that the planning department U worked with a consultant to do that and evaluate ated how U basically how these standards would apply with a series of hypothetical um developments in different configurations um there's several recommendations in that report um some of them were brought forward as um as proposed FL amendments by planning staff others were not and so I think that's another guide to look at through the working group process because I think there are um valid um there's a valid valid evaluation of what we've already put in code and then I think there's other improvements that can be discussed and so there's a lot of resources out there that could um contribute to a conversation that we really don't have time or the the resources to to sort out tonight Mr Rond thank you Mr chair I'm glad member broy touched on the site access fit report um I I don't know how much my colleagues have had time to to Really process that um as member broy said there were recommendations that were brought forward and then there were some that the planning department chose not to bring forward um I have asked the chair of the community and economic development committee Mr Martinez if we could have a discussion where we actually have the Consultants who prepared that report present on it so it's not just funneled through the planning department they can of course give their input um but that we can hear directly from the Consultants what are their recommendations and then perhaps we can hear from the planning department why or why not were some of those adopted and some not um I think that's very interesting um and finally I'll just say again on the the amendment and I know it's kind of broad but it's a broad Amendment it it it it contemplates a pause putting a pause on all of the overarching changes that we made um I think when we consider tradeoffs it's very important to our community yes we need more housing I think the assembly is very United on that and I've worked on a lot of pro housing uh legislation and will continue to do so but you know are we going to level all of our parks and put housing on them you know are we streets are important and the two work in tandem we can have Safe Streets walkable streets and also have more infill housing and that merits a conversation with the community and I think we can get to a really productive place um where both goals can be accomplished thank you Mr chair I don't see anyone else in the queue on the amendment members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to zero the amendment is passed Mr Myers want to ask that question I think I'm going to defer to Mr Martinez to ask it more eloquently I think you'll do just fine okay uh planning department I don't know if you guys were in here when uh this gentleman spoke but I wanted to get your take on his two concerns were raised and then find out if this amendment that was just passed will satisfy those welcome it's on it's on okay uh Tom Davis playing Department uh the uh amendment that I saw up there which uh I believe took table three and and uh applied it areawide uh I haven't seen um U his development but Table Three would provide a much more leaning standard for um the width of garages and the amount of area in front of a building that could be used for parking than uh the urban neighborhood context table so uh what you've done is you've uh temporarily replaced uh the more strict table that would apply in his area to uh with u a a much more lenient table and uh I think that it would help but not not seeing his development I if that would uh uh fix it uh if if that Amendment goes forward uh I I would recommend looking at the uh up above that section uh there's a there's an applicability section and the applicability section states that that table three applies only outside the urban neighborhood context and so what we would need to do for use maybe draft up a quick Amendment uh to uh temporarily inil that November 2025 apply table three to the urban neighborhood context as well otherwise the effect will be uh there won't be a standard at all in the urban NE context you'll just have a standard for the outline areas uh but we could draft up a really quick uh text edit to help with that um and that's in uh just a couple paragraphs above um up under uh subsection two of the applic ability um a page reference oh I do it's I think it's on page eight of the AO starting at line 17 so page eight line 17 I that's okay so the planning department has offered to draft a text Amendment um do we want to do this on the floor or let them the if the planning department were to take this in the next few minutes we would move on to something else or continue this conversation if others want to speak to it is there any objection to the planning department taking a t a stab at a text amendment I am not hearing any objection I think it's welcome okay okay so it take a few minutes and we will either continue this conversation or move on to the next one and come back so okay any further discussion on this item while they do that work um I think then what I would like us to do is to roll on to the next item and begin the budget process while they do this and then come back to this item is there any objection I'm not hearing any objections so next we're going to open up the public hearing on item 14a uh resolution R 2024 104 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage revising and appropriating funds for the 2024 General government operating budget for the Municipality of Anchorage now I'll note for members of the public it's the intent of the sponsors to open the public hearing here whoever wishes to be heard tonight and then continue the public hearing to a special meeting next week on the 30th of April here in Chambers so on this item the public hearing is now open anyone wish to be heard are you speaking on behalf of yourself or the council okay welcome please state your name ATT turn from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Mike Edington from gwood speaking on behalf of myself um I'll start about three I think it was exactly three months ago on uh January 23rd in this very very uh venue um I asked a question about um short-term room tax and uh how it's captured and how it gets spent and uh the chair suggested that there's a lot of complexity and I should go away and sort of learn learn about all this complexity and I'm not sure if it was a warning a threat or a challenge I actually I would interrupt and say I didn't offer that to you at all I said we need to do that but well I heard a challenge I went away and did and took work at it but the um this has opened up some interesting questions about longterm about how this gets used but that is secondary to the thing I want to talk about tonight um I've looked at the AO uh AO uh 2024 104 um and one of the things that came up in uh in this discovery and I think everyone in finance who's uh helped me uh understand this and the OM office Etc um acknowledges that the rules and up to last year on how the convention center Reserve gets funded change this year they're different in 2024 uh there were obligations we had up until last year which no longer apply this year what I see in this AO on page two line five and also on page three uh line 12 are transfers and um Appropriations to the convention center reserves which do not which appear to follow the TW rules up to last year and do not follow um the obligations that are required this year and onwards so what it looks to me is that um as this stands your you as a body will be optionally um providing more appropriation to the uh Convention Center Reserve than is required um and I just think you should be aware of that uh I don't know what the right numbers are um I believe finance will have those numbers uh maybe some point between now and next week one of the reasons I'm speaking tonight and losing my opportunity to speak next week is to give the is to give some time the opportunity to look through these and understand them so basically my point is just that uh as it stands it appears that there is more of a contribution to Convention Center Reserve than you really need to and while you can choose to supply more I think you should all be aware of that before you make that decision thank you all right anyone else on the budget anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed Miss alil thank you Mr chair I move to set a new public hearing for the special meeting of April 30th second so there's a motion she said a new public hearing by Miss alel and seconded by miss broy you know what go ahead Miss alel thank you the the reason for saying a new public hearing um is so that um as our amendments come out and are published um there's an opportunity um for someone who's testified tonight like Mr Edington to be able to provide us direct feedback um we're working to get the Amendments out into the public um in advance of the 30th so that's why we've made that move instead of just a continued public hearing which would preclude that secondary option thank you Miss broy yeah and I'll just add briefly um thank you m zel for uh summarizing that if anybody is interested in amendments that have already been put forward um we had a work session on Friday April 19th um where you can I believe download the copies and also watch watch the discussion or at least watch the presentation of each Amendment thanks I'm going to ask the Mover to slightly amend the title to a second public hearing sure thank you that will avoid any problems so any further discussion members any objection to the motion okay then by Anonymous consent we have uh set a second public hearing for this item for the meeting of April 30th Mr Edington you're welcome to come back and talk again we had a plan for that next we have item 14b which is AO 202 24-29 an ordinance of the municipality of anchor setting the rates of tax levy approving the amount of Municipal property tax and living taxes for all service areas of Municipality of Anchorage General government for 2024 public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard welcome same as before Mike Edington goodward speaking on behalf myself I'll be very quick um a few years ago there was a uh sub complexity and we ended up with a a situation where there was an unintended consequence uh tax levies were uh were probably inappropriate across the municipality and I know at the time there was a suggestion to uh provide a table at some point through the process saying what the final Mill rates would be under a certain C circumstances and I I just wanted to thank owb for doing that this time it was great to see that in one of the audio packages so thank you thank you all right anyone else wish to be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearings now closed Miss thank you um move to set a second public hearing for the special meeting of April 30th motion by Mel seconded by Miss Broly any further discussion same principle is there any objection hearing see none a second public hearing has been set for April 30th in this chamber starts at 6 PM so um next item we have is item 14 C a202 24-30 an ordinance of the Municipality of Anchorage setting the rate of tax levy approving the amount of Municipal property tax and leving taxes for the Anchorage to school district for tax year 2024 public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing this item is now closed what's will the body move to continue the item to special meeting of April 30th second sorry move to postpone the item to April 30th there's a motion to postpone by Miss zotel second by miss broy you want to describe why the difference um sure Mr chair um there aren't any amendments or anything we'll do that will affect the tax levy for ASD so um anyone should have who had something to say about it should have come tonight to speak to it there won't be it won't be our action that would make any changes all right um any further discussion on the motion to postpone hearing and seeing none I'm going to go ahead and ask for anonymous consent on this item as well any objection hearing and seeing none this item is postponed to the meeting of April 30th that's a a202 24-30 next we have item 14d AR 2024 105 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage revising and appropriating funds for the 2024 Municipal Utilities Enterprise activities operating and capital budgets for the Municipality of Anchorage public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard on this anyone at all public hearing is now closed what's will the body moved to postpone to the meeting of special meeting of April 30th moved by Mrs alel second second by Mr broy any discussion yes Mr chair if anyone is intending to make amendments to these budgets which we hadn't heard on Friday you might want to say say something now so we could continue our set a second public hearing if if that is your intent but based on what we've seen to date we haven't seen any intentions to uh to do that okay um any further discussion on this item I'm going to go ahead on this one again and ask for unanimous consent is there any objection hearing see none this item also is continued to the meeting of April 30th starts at 6 p.m. that's ar202 24-105 next we have item 14e ao20 24-33 an ordinance authorizing and providing for the issuance of not to exceed $150 million in aggregate principal amount of tax anticipation notes wave reading thank you the public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second moved by Miss alel second by Miss broley Miss alel thank you so um tax anticipation notes are a loan we um basically like taking out a a short-term loan so that we have enough cash on hand until property taxes start to be collected um what this does is it puts that tool in our toolbox should we need the cash um prior to property taxes being amended and they can be issued um anytime between now and 120 days so there's a window on these um so um this allows Finance to do the chief fiscal officer and the finance department to do what's necessary um should we need the cash thanks thank you any further discussion on this item hearing see none members May proceed to vote want a vote of 11 to0 a20 24-33 has passed the body next we have item 14f 14f is AO 202 24-31 in ordinance of the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code section 90615 to adjust the existing hourly rate charged for police services and provides for subsequent adjustment every 5 years public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have 3 minutes microphone's off there you go um Miss Sophia O'Neal Eagle River um my question is adjust the existing hourly rate charged for police uh services and provide for a subsequent adjustment every five years um the police force when they have to do these duties uh and despite the amount of money that is is allocated whether if it's uh to attend a meeting uh provide security whatever my question is is that you want to do the adjustment every five years now given that we've all acknowledged that uh the the police force is significantly lower than it needs to be and the fact that they are being inundated as we can see in the news with vehicular accidents murders uh the fentanyl that has just been addressed the fentanyl issues for some time in three years the area of Eagle River has changed significantly my point is is that if you're going to say that you're going to make adjustments for their duties and their how they'll be paid when they're taken away from their outward duties uh their field duties is how I should say um I think five years is is spaced way too far apart to make adjustments that will benefit uh the department and their and their addressing issues and providing Services I just think that that should be taken into consideration and thank you for hearing me thank you anyone else wish to be heard on oh someone oh yeah no anyone else anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on the item is now closed what's for the body move to approve second moved by Miss alel seconded by Mr Meyers Mr constant thank you um the nature of this ordinance is to address an issue that has evolved over the last about 15 years I think it's been about that long since the last time uh these fees this these rate sheets were adjusted um BAS basically what's happening right now when a volunteer organization or someone makes an application and wants overtime police officers to come provide services for their events they're charged a fee and it's an hourly fee but the hourly fee hasn't been adjusted for nearly two decades a long time and it doesn't cover the cost of an officer and their time and so the municipality is underwriting the expense of our officers going out and providing these services and so what this does is it adjusts the rate today if it passes and then provides for a just like the Permanent Fund kind of it's an every fiveyear average they're going to look at the rates and it's going to rebase itself automatically so assemblies don't have to think oh maybe we should adjust that rate when the costs have changed and so if you look carefully at the mechanism it's well crafted and it's pretty straightforward and it takes the question out of the annual appropriating and legislating process and it just makes it automatic which will ensure that we don't find ourselves in a position where the taxpayer is underwriting events in the community instead it should be the events paying for themselves so that's the general principle anyone else on this item okay seeing here none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 a AO 202 24-31 pass the body next we have item 14g 14g is AR 2024-25 annual work program in 2025 to 2029 5-year management plan public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard hearing and seeing none Miss alel thank you I move to postpone and continue the public hearing to the meeting of May 7th second all right so there's a motion to continue made by Mr zotel seconded by I think it was Miss broy Miss uh zotel thank you um the reason I'm making the motion to postpone is Mr stt was unable to join us tonight and I know he has another number of items he'd like to speak to and discuss in the context of this plan so um I would like him to be here while we take it up thank you any further discussion seeing no one in the queue members May proceed to vote the motion is postponed to the meeting of May 7th on a vote of 11 to Zer AR 204-9207 an ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage missal code title 7 to enable and authorize submission of bids proposals and Grant applications in electronic form authorizing the purchasing officer to implement an approved electronic bidding system and relating matters the public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing this item is now closed what's the will of the body move to approve the S version second moved by the S version is moved by Mr vand seconded by Miss broley Mr vand thank you Mr chair um so this is something that sort of came to light as members broy and branga and myself are going through the alcohol tax strategic plan process um it was an issue actually raised by the health department and some members who are involved in that working group and um you know they just talked about number one how difficult it was you know their own process to have to open these sealed envelopes with multiple copies and then they would have to scan them electronically um for for recordkeeping so there was like this redundancy of how current code was requiring these uh bids to be submitted via paper you know hand delivered or or in the snail mail um and then for the health department to have to put them into an electronic format and it was also identified as um perhaps being um difficult for smaller nonprofits who would want to apply for a grant maybe through the alcohol tax uh for instance um you know timec consuming and and maybe resource consuming as well to have to make multiple copies and and go through this whole process where could have a a simple but secure means of applying for Grants or other bids uh electronically and um really want to thank assembly Council Dean Gates um for his work in um trying to collaborate on this s version uh not only with the health department but also the purchasing department and with it um I think you know it's it's time to to modernize our code um the state of Alaska accepts electronic Grant submissions um and I think we can follow suit we also heard from members of the purchasing department who have experience in other jurisdictions in Alaska um with receiving bids electronically so I want to make sure that you know these things are are secure when they're submitted um and that the process is fair um but also just want to be able to capture a widen that and give the purchasing department ultimately the the power to um to have an additional tool um what implementation looks like specifically you know what what software would be used Etc um those details would be forthcoming um as the purchasing department decides how and when to implement this but this creates the opportunity to do that in code so uh hopefully uh my colleagues will support this thank you Mr chair Miss Al thank you um so for any of the sponsors or Miss Alger either um it says that this ordinance goes shall be effective immediately upon passage so is this process ready to go today or tomorrow um to be able to do these electronic um bids um so no um the the it's okay go ahead yeah the the ordinance um is essentially creating the tool it's kind of like saying you know you don't have to build a shed tomorrow but here's the hammer to do so so at any point the um the purchasing department could choose to implement now know because of um their comments at one of our health policy committee meetings um that they were invited to participate in that they have been actively looking at how they can implement this in in certain software programs so I think they've really got the ball rolling and there's a lot of momentum but this doesn't say you have to have this up and running tomorrow okay so this gives us all the choices in the world to start with and then purchasing has full control and ability to implement as it sees um appropriate okay great thank you all right um I have a number of people in the queue Miss broy um yeah just adding a couple things um and I appreciate member of ven's a great overview so just to note um it it essentially looking at page two it talks about us uh giving the powers and duties of the purchasing officer to establish an approve an electronic bidding system so getting to the the point of um what this does and then and then also just to point out on page four um or actually three and four there's many places in our current code um that that specify that you have to be submitting things um in an envelope by mail or in person so what this really does is it um it it pulls back that language um and it still requires establishing how how we can you know legally um uh receive proposals and and how that that fits in but um but this is really again giving that flexibility and then I just want to also note you know this did come out of the alcohol tax strategic plan process and it's really feedback that um that I know grantees had been giving since the alcohol tax was put into place um but also say as a a former uh contractor you know who does not currently have any business with the city um but I have I have responded to rfps in the past for the state for the mun for other jurisdictions and um so I would anticipate that electronic bidding is not just for health department and not just for Grants but also for um Professional Services right so so uh contract B bids all these other things and so again there will be a lot to work out it probably um means that there will need to be kind of variations or specific uh you know uh specific uh procedures that are established for these different types of procurement but this really allows for that to happen whether it's one um you know software package in the future multiple it would not be our our role to determine um and nor would the potential cost of this but I think really the it sets the stage for um figuring out those operational details thanks thank thank you Mr Myers thank you Mr chair since Miss Alger is here I would like to get her take on this Miss Alger through the chair to assemblyman Myers we actually are ready to go um we are going to use a uh entity or a a system called bid X and we are piggybacking on the state's contract there is no cost to the municipality the cost is borne by the biders that choose to use the system it's $40 per bid or if you're a subscriber to bid X it's $50 a month and you can use that system Nationwide so you can use it to bid on things with the state you can use to bit of things um with the with the city and I have had some extensive conversations with the state on how they use this and the different uh uh Pros to it and so far there are no cons uh the team the purchasing team has a meeting later on this week to start learning how to use it great information thank I thank you Miss branga I am super excited about this I um member Broly and I were presenting at the um make it Monday about alcohol tax and kind of floated this with uh some of the people who have applied for Grants through you and they just you know they're just the redundancy of seven copies of paper that then gets scanned so um I know Mr ven probably went through all this already but I just think this is a a a nice leap my only question is I I know we were talking about not wanting anyone to have to pay to apply um so I'm a little worried like if they're a really small organization so how much is it for one the like one for one it's $40 and for a month month-to-month subscription it's 50 and I I'm sorry through the chair apologize Mr constant um the other thing I need to specify if it is a construction RFP there will need to be multiple um copies because those copies are are given given out to different people and the municipality can't produce all those copies so there are a a couple different nuances that that will come into play for for the system I have a number of people in the Cub Mr Martinas all right uh H having been a part of the process of moving the the municipality from paper applications for boards and commissions to an online application for boards and commissions I app appreciate moving to the 20 to the new century like you know um but member brona mentioned something that I did want to flag and I just wanted to make sure that the equity questions with respect to doing business with the municipality continue to be just focused on so that we don't have barriers and obstacles uh for folks who who who may not have uh those initial resources Upfront for application fees but who can provide a service um that we can that can bid for those particular particular uh things for us whether it's respect to this particular um work or in all facets of uh doing business with the municipality I just want to make sure we have that Equity lens uh applied thank you through the chair to Mr Martinez um absolutely I agree with you this is just another tool so we can continue to accept all proposals the way that we have right Mr Rond thank you Mr chair um I appreciate you being here tonight miss Alger so that is one of the concerns I I will say that I have is you know one of the motivators were these small nonprofits who have to really they're Scrappy they have to fight tooth and nail for every dollar um and so um having them front the cost I think for me is just I I feel conflicted about that um and I'm wondering if within the platform that you're looking at if there's potentially an option where if it's a nonprofit applying for a grant um if that could be a different process or maybe have the cost waved or reduced separate from like a a contractor um bidding on a service if that makes sense is there a way to differentiate the two um again nonprofit where we we put a call out for Grant submissions versus other um types of bids through the chair to assemblyman Ballin I'm going to take that in in chunks um first off if a nonprofit brings a bid to the municipality there's a cost in fuel there's a cost in labor and there's a cost in their in their print work so if they're not paying the cost of their fuel and they're not paying the cost of their labor to deliver it and the cost of their paper then they're then they're probably breaking even with paying that $40 and they still have skin in the game when they're applying to get free money um the other thing is it's I don't know how we would allocate the costs if it was waved because purchasing cannot absorb those costs we do not have the budget for that I am willing to ask the company if there's a way to buy for for individual departments to cover that if they choose to I I do get concerned at the potential for other entities to raise their hand and say well why not me this may be a nonprofit but I'm a small company and I'm only netting I don't know $10,000 a year so you know when we're talking about fairness and Equity I think $40 per bid is is pretty reasonable can I ask a follow-up question Mr chair yeah um so yeah I I I think for me it'd be more about the process rather than maybe nonprofit or not if it's a you know the municipality is putting out a call for Grant submissions maybe that's the the thing that it hangs on um so I'll just leave that aside for now but my my my follow-up question would be um let's say you know cuz the assembly let's say doesn't come out of the department budget but the assembly wants to make an appropriation and we say we don't want the nonprofits to bear the cost um but we want to know how much would a software platform be or how much would the the time the the Personnel time be um to where we make an appropriation to say we're going to fund this process is it possible to get a summary of economic effects from your department um or from from I guess the CFO or who would I go to to get that kind of information you know this type of program is going would potentially cost the municipality this much money so that um when we're putting out we're saying please apply for these grants because we want this important work to be done in the community um we're not expecting that fee how do we get that dollar estimate through the chair to assemblyman Ballin what comes to mind is looking at the historic records to see how many applicants there have been for any type of particular grants or grants that you would want to consider waving the fee for and seeing what the company would charge us per bid so or it would definitely still be per bid okay so if there were I gosh I don't even know how many grants there were in the past but right now it doesn't cost anything for someone it would be $40 per submission that we that the municipality would be paying for now it is or we you're saying under the new paradigm if we went with that software program yes $40 but current in our current process the paper copies we don't they don't pay anything no we don't charge them to apply for for bids it's only their overhead cost on getting preparing the documents and delivering them to the municipality that is Food For Thought thank you so I haven't spoken so I'm G to jump the queue Miss alel Mr constant yeah thank you I I actually have some concerns about the idea of making one set of people less another set more and I just want to know what's the cost if we just pay like we pay for any other software license to use and so um we are I apply for state grants all the time in my professional job I've never paid a dollar and it doesn't make any sense if they're offering us to provide a service that we need then we should be laying out the foundation to make it an easy as application as possible and so I would like to know I don't want to hold this up but I think we should have a second project that addresses The Lure or the cost Factor we shouldn't be charging people to apply to provide us Services is my my hot take and we just need to know the math figure it out and get it done because we are a government entity we should provide as efficient a mechanism as possible we'll save money on the the staff was having to scan we'll save money on it repairs and scanners we'll save money on the time it's taking for the staff to figure out who gets what documents because once you have a good system it just gets routed and so we'll save on recycling paper you know we'll save and so I think the cost benefit analysis will scream to us we should just make this a service that's available to biders who want to provide our service but I don't want to slow the wheels down let's get this implemented and then come back on the cost question would be my take Miss aler um Mr chair if we were we we did factor in some some costs if we were just to allow to just cover the cost for everybody nonprofit or not and a very rough estimate is $35,000 a year and that's for any that's based on historics on how many bids we receive that does not take into account how many addition bids we would would begin to get and this particular software it's not like a licensed where you have 10 people and it's $100 per license it is per bid so looking back at historics for the last two years we took an average and it's a minimum of $355,000 and so um 35,000 is a lot to a personal budget but to this government it seems like a reasonable cost benefit analysis to getting us to the point where we we don't have to worry about the Equity issues because it's just resolved we don't have to worry about winners and losers because they can't afford to pay $40 to submit some paper um and for those who would then otherwise have to submit it in paper we don't have our staff having to scan and like it just solves the problem so again for my part I don't want to slow down I won't repeat myself but I think we need to come up with the way that what's on us is on us and what's on them is on them so Mr Rivera yeah uh thank you Mr chair um yeah I've pretty appreciated this discussion um and I won't belabor the point uh you know I think folks will remember for those who attend in the health policy committee this is something that um was raised and I had some concerns about it um but I think for my part I don't think anything in this particular ordinance as drafted and as written for us to vote on today will preclude us from going into the future and fixing it I think as the chair has suggested so um I will um support this change with the knowledge that I think there's a second step in this that we will take up hopefully soon thanks Miss BR yeah thanks um uh and I appreciate the the discussion about Equity because that was certainly a big part of the alcohol tax um discussion as well and some of the issues and also the idea of um you know who's who's paying for what as you said um it's funny this discussion about fees um I had brought it up when we were Drafting and then we we opted not to include language um so I I was going back to my email because now I'm discovering my own intent to have brought a a floor amendment that would have said um basically no fees shall be charged to users of this program so um so we could resurrect that I guess one option would be to um postpone this to the meeting of May 7th and I'm seeing some shakes okay so so my co-sponsor is saying that we should um keep it going and then and then we can come back to it I guess the other thing I'll say about um software is I know in my observation this city has not always done a good job in rolling out software because we we jumped the line by saying here's the software product we want and then we don't take the time upfront to say what the the protocols will be what the processes are what the user requirements are and then base base all of that kind of mapping out of what you want it to look like process-wise and then you go out and look for your software solution um and and because I know that's been a big discussion for example with our online permitting system I understand there's some um issues with it that that really we we purchased it and then we never really fixed them and then there was a move to purchase a new system without again having done that kind of mapping out of the process first and so I guess that's what I would really encourage um is to figure out what that looks like because I think just buying a software solution even if it works for other places doesn't necessarily mean and I I see some shaking heads but um but I I guess I just want to say um that we shouldn't let the requirements or the particulars of one software solution Drive what we do as a process um and it sounds like if there's not will to um take more time to add specific language in here around fees I think we can leave it as it is but that is something that we need to come back to for um Equity consideration and also really is this a public service or not and I believe uh having access to the ab the ability to apply for Grants and other public funds is a public service Miss alel thanks so I was in Miss Broly's Camp to postpone this for a couple of reasons one is we're in one q and so if this is a priority where is the budget request like what's the initial cash outlay to make this go and make this go in 24 there should be a oneq budget request for this um because we want to be able to implement it and we can't implement it um without money um to miss Alger I'm not asking you a question thank you two when you Google fees for government applications it says is that a scam that's the first hit that comes up it's like thought that this could be a scam when you are asked by the government to submit a fee with a Grant application so I really don't want us to go down that route that really gives me significant pause and then frankly I I'm frustrated because we have three assembly members who've come up with something that addresses a really important issue we have been talking since pretty much the Inception of the alcohol tax at least after covid um about how to access it and how to get broad access and what I heard today on the implementation side is paper is a barrier true we've heard a lot about that but money is a barrier so we're just swapping barrier for barrier um and so I appreciate the good work here but I'm worried about what's going to happen in implementation and I want to ensure that there's money to implement the idea um if we know how much is needed in one Q we could take it up right we could take it up in our conversation and two we could um give the purchasing department the tools it needs in order to implement this without charging a fee um also I don't know um I have a couple more questions which is are you going to go out for RFP for this software because title 7 would require you to generally comp bid it unless we were having a good reason not to um and then what's the cash outlay in order to make this go and what's the fastest it could go okay through the chair we are not buying a software we are not implementing anything within any system within the Municipality of Anchorage this is a subscription if you want to get a Google Gmail address you make the choice you apply for that I understand we're going to subscribing and it's based on our historical bid counts great and that's $35,000 a year okay if we want to do that and that doesn't mean that that's the final number that's based on historical and if once we once we say you can do electronic bidding the amount of bids that we will get and we are hoping is going to go up so if we're going to cover the cost that cost will go up I hear you and and we we where we're doing a co-op so that is covered on title 7 the state uses this system Kenai Peninsula burrow uses this system we've investigated that so we going ask you more question on that on that contct if you were to get $35,000 for the remainder of 2024 do you think it would cover the cost hold please move to postpone to the meeting of May 7th second oops wrong person there is a motion to postpone to the meeting of May 7th by Miss zelel seconded by Mr vand um Mr chair I think we need to postpone this item because I think purchasing needs to do a little bit more work so we can make a conscientious decision to make sure our um policy intent is implemented Miss broy on the amendment yeah thanks that would also give me time to uh resurrect this floor amendment that addressed uh whether or not fees would be charged Mr Myers I'm just wondering if Miss got the answer to miss zel's question I I don't need a motion on the floor yeah a different question now we're not Fe Mr band thank you Mr chair um so I I will just put out there that I don't know that we've quite been able to have the opportunity to have the conversation about who should pay and so this has for me opened up a door to more conversation and I appreciate you miss aler for being here tonight for being willing to answer these questions I appre appreciate your participation um in the health policy committee meetings and I super appreciate uh you working with your staff to investigate how could we platform something like this I know that you are after a solution um and so I think that there's opportunity here for us to get out the same solution um but just make sure that um we are all in alignment about who pays thank you Miss branga I I don't really see a need to postpone I feel like we've been shown that there is a product that we have evidence is working for the state and other municipalities and it doesn't cost a fee for our us to subscribe but if someone wants to use the convenience they could submit their applications that way for $40 I honestly am not thinking $40 is going to break anyone and if they really can't pay $40 they're they're given the option to do it just like we're doing it now with the paper copies um I I really regret to if we postpone this and just keep kicking this down the road because it's it's good it's good to get modernized and doing things and if at the end of this year it really has become problematic we see there's just been a deep Chasm of people who aren't applying because they can't afford the $40 we can change it it's it won't be that hard rera yeah thank you Mr chair um so I will be voting against this motion to postpone but for different reasons than member branga uh for my part um we I think as another member stated we have first quarter budget revisions coming up very soon so I see no reason why a budget amendment can't be brought forward during first quarter budget revisions and when that is done that policy intent behind the money can be put into that first quarter budget revision um so I will be voting against the motion to postpone Miss Al so I think the question then is can we have a firm amount if this was something on the radar at one should have come through first quarter with the administration's proposal but here we are so can we get a firm amount to put into first quarter budget amendments I mean we we we've contemplated our amendments we've had our conversation so this is a late breaking amendment that has to have space found for it um and so I I think from what I've heard it's somewhere south of 55 or $35,000 is that right Miss aler through the chair assembly members all tell um that's correct I have been in touch with Ryan marqueis who's been done a lot of work on this and he says he we could make it through 2024 with 30 $5,000 and and this wasn't on the radar this wasn't brought to me by the assembly members prior to First budget revision so I apologize for that so in order to proceed Miss aler I think what we'll need is the calculus for what you your estimate is um to the budget co-chairs um so the math behind it so that we can make sure we have the right documentation um if we want to bring this and add it into uh first quarter because what I'm hearing on the dis is that this is a popular policy choice that we don't want to delay implementation on um and it sounds like you have an implementation solution and so the missing piece will be an appropriation and that day for appropriation is next Tuesday so all the pieces can come together um we just need to have the documentation on the cost Miss broy yeah thanks um I understand the desire to not postpone and then I'll just say um I did I was able to find uh the language that we had originally drafted around fees so if we wanted to take that up um it would require not not postponing but um I could read that into the record at that point meaning make a motion to amend yes thank you you have the floor I withdraw my motion to postpone okay the motion is withdrawn then I would move to amend um and I'll read it out in the S version and then I'm going to uh hit send on the clerk just one second okay thanks um so I'm looking at uh section two uh page two of the S version starting on line 43 and then what it would do is add a phrase so after it says provided that so it add new language on starting that line 40 yeah 43 um there shall be no fee for applicants or potential applicants to access an approved D electronic bidding system comma and and then it continues the form and type Etc so it's inserting that phrase second motion to amend by Miss broy seconded by Miss zotel we'll give the clerk just a second to get it up on the board does that match Miss Broly provided slight slight provided is that your language up on the board okay so a motion to amend by m Bry seconded by Miss zto do you want to speak to that Amendment yeah I can just say you know again the the discussion was around whether um we should preclude charging of fees for participants in this system um and so it says applicants or potential applicants meaning if there was any kind of um I think it was stated subscription service or um or ability to view uh bidding opportunities Mr Johnson yeah thank you I um I do not plan on on voting for this amendment my my underlying logic around you know why I would like to see this just sort of approved as written in the S version and done so here tonight it's basically what member branga said you know I think this sounds like a good enough plan at least point and I would like to see it implemented um my concern with the amendment is at that point we are essentially in the position where if we don't don't find a way to cover the cost of it then nothing happens and and maybe we can but I don't see what advantage we have by inserting this language in here necessarily if there's a revision to the budget you know that we want to contemplate for q1 I think we still could do that without the amendment but we don't incur the risk of preventing any sort of implementation in any form in 2024 if we don't find the funding for it I mean again this coming in you know sort of at the 11th Hour through I don't think anyone's particular fault but just the reality of where we're at and recognizing that you know there's not a lot of where we don't anticipate um a lot of new funding opportunities for for first qu of budget revisions so I I would hate to make perfect the enemy a good here um as M member branga pointed out you know this is still is simply providing an option to to to prospective biders and then if they find the the $40 fee that they may potentially be facing too owner there still exists the the um the current system in its place so I I intend to support the uh the AO the S version and and honestly I'll probably support it with or without the amendment but I I don't think this amendment is doing anything to um improve our chances of success so I haven't spoken on the amendment yet Mr con thank you um I have spent the better part he's already spoken on the amendment the better part of 20 years or more writing grants to government agencies federal state and local local I have never once been asked to pay to make an application this would be an extraordinary twist in the customs and practices of government entities and it would be completely out of line in my opinion for us to do this we just need to provide this we are asking people to apply to Opportunities we are putting out for what we have needs for it's not the other way around anyhow so I strongly support support this amendment Mr Bond yeah thank you Mr chair I I agree with the chair you know I think um we are the solicitors of the bids we are saying please apply and it shouldn't be a money-making thing for us when we are saying no you don't get the grant or we're not making money sure well I I think I think member Raley's amendment is more broad than what you're proposing Miss aler I think she was saying you know if there was a different software platform I know you have a specific thing that you're looking at which I totally appreciate and I would again just say on the record um the sponsors of this did not approach we we approached the purchasing department saying please give us your feedback on this ordinance and what a platform could look like we never asked the purchasing department to bring forward a budget amendment to because we we really didn't have this conversation I will say so that's on us it's not on Miss Alger it's not on purchasing um but I think I'm encouraged by the dialogue here tonight in the conversation to say hey there's a path forward to a solution there's a a funding path forward there's a software platform path forward um all that to say I will be supporting the amendment because I I just don't think that as the solicitors of bids or or of Grants Grant proposals that we want to I guess it seems punitive to make to charge people and they don't get what they bid on they don't get the grant that they made a proposal for um if we're putting out a call for for submissions it just I don't think it is the right posture and I I I really want to encourage more folks to engage in the government process whether that's services or um work in the community we want to be C casting a a much wider net um and I think you know for a nonprofit if if you're struggling to get you know a couple thousand doar and then every time you put in for a bid or for a grant you're having to pay $40 I do think that adds up um and I think it it can discourage people from being involved in the process so the more the discussion has happened here tonight the more I am inclined to say yes this is a government service and we should be um fronting the cost for this and there's also a cost as has been mentioned here tonight to the current way that we're doing business it's redundant it's extra hours of employees that they have to spend in various departments to convert from paper to electronic um and then also something that was detailed in the ordinance is that we actually waved this this happened during the pandemic um nonprofits were able to apply um electronically and it from the feedback that I heard from the health department and others it saved a lot of time and the process Wen well and they were able to keep the information secure so it's not like this is unprecedented in the municipality we've kind of already piloted it which I think is cool so anyway um hope that we can support the amendment tonight and then ultimately move this forward and modernize our code thanks Mr Martinas thank you chair thanks to my colleagues for this uh insightful conversation and debate thus far um I think to move the needle requires active intentionality and um and so just considering I'm going to support uh this amendment but just considering what we're asked to vote on here we're asked to vote on a new tool or new tools uh to make processes easier and then in there lies some intentionality about those new tools um I don't want to make I want to make sure that if we're going to advance new tools we just Advance them in a more complete way right so if the intentionality of the new tool is to make it easier to make uh access accessibility to reduce the cost of actually um engaging in the bids or the grant process um for the the manual labor costs I also think in the big picture it's it's it going to be really important for the Department to do the economic impact uh with respect to the workload differentiation like the the Delta of those workload differences in the intra Department probably is cost savings as well right and so my hope is that um if people don't have to do a same manual work paper load that there's a cost savings to our own workload long story short though it's why wouldn't we want a tool to roll out the most effective and as soon as we can so I think that this particular Amendment adds a degree to the tool that may in fact pause what we what we heard was we're ready to roll out tomorrow I and I respect that but um I'd rather us roll it out right because we're going to roll out something new in the first place um with respect to this tool and uh and if there's the will the will for this body to make sure that we don't charge for folks to apply to Grants and to the bidding processes then I think that's the right thing to do and it just speaks to the intentionality of making more business possible with the city and making it easier to do work with us so thank you Mr Myers I certainly didn't see this conversation going this long and and this direction but I want to Echo what Mr Johnson said uh we pay for convenience so we pay for convenience all the time as member branga said if you don't want to pay the $40 or can't afford the $40 you can still use the old way uh we also pay for application fees I charge application fees on rental properties people don't get selected they move on so I don't feel like the fee of $40 that you pay and then you potentially don't get the winning bid is that big of a deal I think it's a cost of doing business I think we should just uh call the question and move forward I didn't hear a second second on so we're on the amendment calling the question just puts us back so we're going to have a vote to ask ourselves if we're going to have a vote to I don't know that needed the motion isn't necessary um I think members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a vote of 8 to three the item is amended now the main motion is before us any further discussion Mr Bond thank you Mr chair yeah so now we're back on the main topic you know just briefly I'll say yes sometimes folks are willing to pay for convenience but right now I think the current Paradigm is that our municipal departments are paying for inconvenience the current Paradigm is inconvenient for our Municipal departments and to to that end I would like um to invite director rash up to uh the podium if she's willing and just kind of walk us through your perspective on the conversation um that we had in the alcohol um the alcohol tax strateg gosh strategic alcohol tax Grant strategic plan um and sort of why why your department brought this idea forward how this would help you what is what are the challenges of the current process and how could this streamline this for your department Mr through the chair thank you so much um so we um a part of the Strategic plan you know we were having discussions and um it was brought up about applicants um being able to apply for different grant opportunities that the health department has and one of the ideas that we came up with um was why not have this um ability to um apply for uh these electronically and so um you know we moved forward with that idea um and brought it forth um to the group and um I I I I hear um all of the different perspectives and I understand that um you know there's the um either way you're going to pay so either you're going to pay with paper you're going to pay with uh staff time um but I think at the end of the day it is a tool that we can use um and we are very supportive of um that because it allows us to um cut down on the time that we have to spend to have it check the the jump drives before we insert them um keeping papers scanning paper um it just really I think would increase efficiencies across the municipality across the health department um and again it's just a tool that allows us to effectuate that change um and we hope that it it does move forward um and I understand that there are different platforms and whatever platform is chosen um I think it will get us further than where we are right now thank you appreciate that thank you Mr chair anyone else hear and seeing none members May proceeded to vote vote of 11 to0 ao20 24-36 as amended as passed the body next we'll take up item 14 I ao20 24-37 in ordinance of the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code section 2310 tables 3 -8 and 3-b to modify the building permit and plan review fees for four plexes to address unintended consequences uh public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will de body move to approved moved by Mr Rin second seconded by Mr broley any discussion yes Mr chair thank you so I think the memo on this is pretty clear we did discuss this in the community and economic development committee um as folks know Triplex and fourplex we've tried to make them easier more cost effective more time effective to build one of the things we attempted to do is create a category um for permitting for or fewer dwelling units um it turns out that that actually made fourplexes um more expensive um compared to how they were calculated under a square foot um parameter in current code so we are walking that back um as another fix to an unintended consequence I will say going forward what I would be interested in doing is working um with the Department to look at how can we still keep a special designation um but maybe make the cost more aligned because the whole goal of both of those companion ordinances was how can we treat Triplex and fourplex more in the manner that we treat single family homes and duplex and so I think um our our fee calculations should reflect that as well so anyway urge your support of this thanks anyone else hearing see none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 ao20 24-37 is pass the body next we have item 14j ao20 24-38 in ordinance the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage Municipal Code Section 12.1 15.15 to provide a municipal real property tax exemption for the residences of volunteer firefighters and providers of Emergency Medical Services the public hearing on this item is now open welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes the microphone's off go ahead hi my name is Brian whky I go by Bri she her pronounce not that I'm trying to discourage this as I wish for more people to always volunteer in these sectors because any and all help when it comes to emergencies is important but I hope there's a guide line to it because unfortunately even people that sometimes do good deeds take advantages of our systems and I'm not trying to talk about the good ones I just want to make sure that when we're looking at it that we're not looking at any possible areas that the city could continue to make the revenue that we need to be able to do all these things that we all speak of so I hope that there's a guideline there's a breakdown there's a sheet somewhere that breaks it down that you know if they volunteer x amount of hours that they get this exemption and that how long they get the ex exemption there is not much information that I I know about this but I just wanted to make sure that that is something that is being looked at seeing how we've been able to tear apart everything else tonight on money let's make sure that good deeds are not taking advantage of too far on giving every way everything away for free as well thank you guys and again like I said I do not discourage giving us a way to encourage more Volunteers in any of these things thank you anyone else anyone at all that's right hello welcome audience participation now right no this is for this ordinance right here oh they told me wrong I'm so all right thank you Travis can we call Miss hello hello Miss Sullivan this is Anchorage assembly we're taking testimony on ao20 24-38 uh tax exemption for volunteer firefighters you'll have three minutes thank you good evening esteemed assembly members I am Briana Sullivan co-chair and fire department supervisor for the Girdwood Board of Supervisors I am speaking in support of AO 202 24-38 which provides an important symbol of gratitude to current and active volunteer firefighters and providers of Emergency Medical Services in both Girdwood and Chugiak this real property exemption would apply to eligible and certified individuals annually by their respective Department's fire chief as provided under Alaska statute 29455 they must own and occupy property as their primary residents the where ases in the AO say it all while the real message is the gesture of appreciation as volunteers provide a huge service to their communities and this is a relatively minor cost to provide an ongoing acknowledgement from their community at large from all taxpayers for their commitment there are two challenges I'd like to mention that volunteer fire department space Recruitment and Retention while time will tell if this AO will help with recruitment this small reward will most likely help with retention which would keep more experienced people in the role of volunteer and in turn increase Community safety this exemption is modeled after the keenai peninsula buau and Northstar buau who have implemented this exemption for their essential volunteer service providers for now this token of recognition would only only apply to home owners as established in State Statute volunteers are not compensated tremendously well if any are able to own a home they can be rewarded for service as you know the proposed ordinance would be Revenue neutral with an estimated total value Exempted from taxation constituting less than 100th of 1% of the total taxable base so any impact on Mill rates will be negligible the impact to the mo MOA is small with 30 to 40 people total Girdwood takes great pride in our volunteer fire department who provides EMS and Fire and Rescue protection to the Girdwood community and stretching turnig arm along the seart highway a national forest Scenic byway with 15,000 cars per day in the summertime dangerous mud flats significant tides and severe weather year round we all know how busy it can feel how scary and how vital a connection we are proud of our fire chiefs and the training and standards that cwood fire department meets we feel fortunate to have their qualified service and dedication similarly the community of Chugiak is within the Anchorage municipality yet relies on Chugiak volunteer fire department for emergency response so in short the AO serves as a modest acknowledgement and small reward for the service of integral volunteers who are a specialized trained Workforce investing a significant amount of their time toward training and Online requirements certifications who risk their lives on some days and who provide an unmet need and critical parts of the Municipality of Anchorage thank you Miss suvan thank you all right good night welcome come on down please state your name what part of town in you have three minutes hi there my name is Michelle Weston I'm the fire chief of Girdwood and I was a past uh Deputy Chief of Anchorage Fire Department um I was reflecting on the way uh down here um I left our training night we've got 30 members training tonight uh for 3 hours like they always do every Tuesday night they've also spent 16 hours this past weekend also training as we have a firefighter one class going on but what I was reflecting on was 27 years ago when I started as a volunteer firefighter uh with gwood fire I worked at City Hall in a small office uh next to the mayor's conference room and I would dress up in my work clothes and go to work and then I'd come home drive the old section of the highway which is bird to gird Trail as you would know it now uh and then go to work uh on shift going grab some food and then go to work um you know as a volunteer so providing on call coverage as a fir Fighter um overnight and then come back to work so um in the meantime I might have gone on a car accident or transported people to town in the ambulance which takes um 45 minutes to an hour to get to to people to life-saving care I might have uh cut somebody out of a car I might have gone on a mud rescue I would have done all those things and then I would go back home have a shower uh put on my you know work suit and dress uh high heels and then go back to work at City Hall so that is kind of what volunteer firefighters do um you have a regular job and then you have this other sort of life that you do and uh our firefighters uh volunteer or do uh 48 hours of paid on call coverage a month that's the minimum and then they also every Tuesday night spend three hours in the fire station during training that's the minimum and then we require extra service um for them to be firefighter one uh for them to be firefighter one we don't pay them to do firefighter one they do that on their own time just like emt1 uh do I have any questions you like to ask me no we're good thank you you're done thank you thanks anyone else welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have 3 minutes thank you my name is Scott fiser I'm the fire chief at the chudak volunteer fire and rescue we have 103 volunteers I see them give so much to the community they get no compensation monetarily for what they do we pay their or the volunteer Association pays for their crew food when they're on duty Staffing the station we provide them good quality training and we provide them with their personal protective equipment the volunteers last year uh put in 65,000 hours Manning the Cru or Staffing the creu station that's a significant cost savings to the taxpayers I see these men and women do wonderful things all the time on calls uh they're Second To None So this is kind of a way to uh show uh the appreciation for what they do and all the time they volunteer uh for their community so thank you thank you anyone else I at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now Clos what's will the body move to approve second moved by Mr Johnson second by Mr Meyers Mr Johnson's I would invite Mr Myers to speak first Mr Myers thank you Mr Johnson actually Miss Sullivan said pretty much everything that I wanted to cover tonight I appreciate Chief fiser and I apologize I missed your name uh the other fire chief for coming up from Girdwood um I also want to thank Senator former Senator Bill sto for bringing this to my attention because as Miss Sullivan mentioned this is already um enacted in the keenai peninsula buau and in the Fairbanks Northstar BAU and it really is just a meant to be a gesture of appreciation for the thousands of our hours that the volunteers spend away from their family and saving the taxpayers money I do have a question for Mr fiser if I can Mr chair I was just curious I wanted to ask while he was giving public testimony if he knows how many of his volunteers our homeowners in Chugiak or Eagle River if or a percentage if you have okay um so our admin person we looked at those numbers and like I said we have 103 volunteers uh 31 of them own properties in the Municipality of Anchorage they're homeowners so 31 from uh chudak and I'm not sure obviously in the numbers for gwood thank you Mr Fisher thank you lots of people in the queue Miss branga oh thank you chair um so I heard I wrote down 48 hours a month is um active and is that um active for all the different volunteer is that what considered active is it's a lot of hours I'm just wondering if it's consistent is it 20 hours in Girdwood but 48 hours for us so they can be on shift for 6 hour blocks so we make it flexible so you can do like six and six some people like to do 48 Hours like the guard like I'm going to go in for 48 hours and then leave it all depends on their work situation since they're balancing work and home and kids and everything as is and then for us for our question on how many people does it apply to um I do have people that I pay for regular shift so I'm not going to apply this to them so for us it would be 10 homeowners probably um and of that I think three or four are in Girdwood so not that many all right all right so as far as the hours we have uh two types of volunteers one would be we call them an active member they do 60 hours a month the Affiliates uh work during the week during the day and we only require 36 hours out of them so the Affiliates are 36 hours the active members which cover nights and weekends do 60 hours a month thank you and and I wanted to follow up with um I I delivered my niece's baby in Powder Ridge and Chek volunteer fire department came we were very happy that you came so fast I I appreciate that the men and women do wonderful things every day and powder bridge is part of our service area Mr Johnson yeah thank you I I think a lot of um a lot of what I would want to say has already been said um I think just to add a little context to the numbers we've been given you know just by Chief Weston's estimate 600 hours per year I mean that's the equivalent of 15 weeks of full-time work that people are providing on a volunteer basis like it is an extraordinary amount of dedication I was proud to be a member of this fire department for six years um but boy it is a huge commitment and then on top of that if you want to advance as an EMT or a firefighter that's usually another 100 plus hours that you're going to invest into that and then also I recognize you know a lot of the best people we have serving in the Anchor's fire department came up through these programs so even within the bull I think we benefit from the experience that this provides I I guess just the one thing I would encourage members to keep mind here is is you know not just for the people who live in these communities but also for the rest of an anchor to pass through them for any number of reasons if you find yourself you know in a car accident or facing a medical emergency or something else of that nature like you can pretty much take for granted that a professional well trained crew of mostly volunteers will show up to help you out and often at Great risk themselves like these are not safe or easy tasks we ask them to perform but they do that for you and they do it for essentially little to no compensation um and we all benefit from that and I think you know uh this what we're offering here is ultimately it's a small gesture you know I mean the the property tax savings for the volunteers is is pretty minimal but I think it has some symbolic value and shows our appreciation to them and so I I with that recognizing what they offer and what I think we're sort of providing and and turn here um is is more than reasonable uh anyways I guess I will with that uh move Johnson amendment number one second and just to speak to the amendment real quickly um all right so there's been a motion to amend by Mr Johnson seconded by Mr Myers yes so this this uh was brought to our attention by uh uh staff from the municipal attorney's office um and it's not meant to change the intent and I don't think it does in any particular way um it simply makes some minor tweaks to language uh that they think would just work better for for the courts um and I think if uh we ran this through a legislative Council who ultimately provided the draft here um and agreed that you know this might provide some clarification without actually making any structural changes so I I think it's pretty straightforward but um certainly if there are questions I I believe we have um attorneys on hand to answer them I have a number people on the Queue but I think it's on the main motion on the amendment miss broy miss alel Mr Martinez anyone else hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote all right um 11 on a vote of 11 to Zer that amendment has passed are you done Mr Johnson Miss broy yeah thank you and I really appreciate my colleagues bringing this forward so um because it has to do with um taxation of course I had to do the fiscally responsible thing and look at the um the C the summary of economic effects and I was um happy to see that the that there was an estimate but that it's really as it states um the total uh Exempted value from taxation would be between 500,000 and 1.2 million or uh 100th of 1% of our total tax base so I think it's important to remember um that as Mr Johnson said this is not um this is not a massive uh tax break oh excuse me it's not a massive tax break um but it's also not a massive uh hit to the city's finances essentially um but I think it's also important to understand um that tax exemptions and tax credits and all those things do shift the cost burden right so so no matter what we do and so the policy question isn't whether or not we should do that because there's certainly situations where we should um but the policy questions are what are the fair and reasonable ways to do that and for what reasons and I think in this particular instance um based on what folks have said during public testimony what my colleagues have already said I do believe that this is um this is a very good uh deal for uh for the folks who are doing this work um certainly not full compensation for all the hours and the effort and the um sweat and tears that they put into it um but it's also really a good deal for us residents um at least the residents of the area served by um by these bodies and so I think it's important to remember um that you know we we talk a lot about tax burden but we should think about kind of what policy choices we're making in terms of who pays so I look forward to supporting this thanks Miss Al thank you um so I'm going to support this um I'm surprised nobody's called the question on Mr Myers yet quite frankly um but I guess it's because because it's such a great topic to talk about um I wanted to raise two issues and they keep cropping up um both of these communities aren't in our fire service area and and there are reasons for that but again we're back to the structure we've inherited maybe versus the structure that might make sense for our community um this will require um you know while there's no you know Direct Hit to our budget it is a redistribution of taxes and the majority of those taxpayers will be in the bowl um and you know this actually was something we didn't talk about very much when the voters approved the additional residential exemption as well those taxes didn't go you know that need for those funds didn't go away it shifted and where are these things generally shifting to renters so um I just I want to note that I think it's a part of a larger conversation we need to have um but it's not going to derail the effort I think this is great um but I think it's a part of that additional conversation we need to have are we a unified municipality if we're a unified municipality how do we make sure um all of the communities in our municipalities needs are met in an equitable way across the board thank you Mr Martinez yes thank you chair I want to thank my colleagues as well for bringing this um piece of legislation forward and I want to send a message to uh the folks in the volunteer fire firefighters and the EMS Personnel within the municipality thank you um this doesn't this doesn't send the the full amount of appreciation that I think members of this body have for you um and and very specifically to members alel point with respect to the equity question uh the relief and the thank you is really focused on a particular subset of the firefighters that those that we can help with respect to property taxes but there are other things that we I hope that we can consider with respect to uh sending the message of appreciation but it's also about something that folks had mentioned uh Recruitment and Retention and uh and as a priority of this uh assembly for Recruitment and Retention I think uh I would really be open I'm going to support this today but I'd really be open and also exploring other ways uh that we can continue to uh to to show love and to have folks know that their valuable time and contributing to the tapestry of Public Safety matters for us um and just one final note uh in the previous item we talked about uh a price tag of about $35,000 with respect to making accessibility a little easier I think that is a lot less than the 1.01% of what we're talking about now and so um when it comes to uh doing the right thing with with the public dollars I think uh this is a great uh opportunity for us to send the right signal thank you chair I already have myself in the que Mr constant thank you um so I will support this item I have a long history of um backing and being supported by the firefighters in our community and EMS I will say though because it has to be said similar to what melel said but somewhat differently this is a great deal for the taxpayers of Chugiak Eagle River and cdwood it's a great deal for them because those of us out here who aren't in that tax service area or the other one are going to to pay for this for your community so we once again are the pockets that are being looked to to underwrite the value of supporting our First Responders and uh because it's firefighters I'm not going to put up a fight but it's inequitable and again I'll just end where I started this is a damn good deal for the people of Girdwood and the people of Chek Eagle River and that part of town because the people of Fairview are going to pay for a tax exemption for their workers and so um that is a fundamental flaw in our system at this time we heard some concern about the collection of um short-term rental taxes earlier today because it's being paid more from one community and their perception than another and so um I think as a whole it washes out because we as our Urban taxpayers are often pushed into these positions that we are required to help fund and support those communities that refuse to help fund and support themselves but I do support the underlying principle Mr wand thank you Mr chair yeah you know certainly share the chair and vice chair's concerns about who is subsidizing what in many of these conversations whether it's services or infrastructure um that being said I also can hear member Johnson's um argument about you know folks who visit these areas they may themselves have an eer um you know if if I'm skiing at alasa I want to make sure that if I have an emergency um I can be helped so I understand both sides of the coin and I think it's a worthy conversation going forward I have a question you know when we were talking about the the danger that some of these people put themselves in and their risk I I guess I have a question for the Chiefs um how do you handle liability is do I know this is a volunteer and part-time thing is there any type of like Health Care coverage if you one of your own volunteers themselves has an emergency on the job or how does that work uh yeah so we um I'll speak for Girdwood um we we have our own liability insurance that we provide everyone and then if they're hurt on the job it comes like any other workers comp um claim and we go through that process we haven't had at least in The Last 5 Years that I've been Chief we haven't had any significant report aordable injuries or accidents and no fire fatalities either or fire injuries of civilians so we're doing well now that could change it anytime right we've just been very lucky obviously for us we work on the highway a lot on car accidents and you know we've had some near misses where a semi have has blown through has blown through the accident scene as we're trying to get people out and they've ignored everything because we're often working without police um for the first 30 minutes of an incident so um those are challenges um and then through our membership with the State firefighters Association we do provide $10,000 of accident uh death accidental death Insurance um they do not get health coverage at all so it's up on themselves um for this for this year I've implemented um a basic we're going to do firefighter one screenings because for all this time like when I was on the department in the beginning of time otherwise known as 20 years ago we had health screening but somehow it got value engineered out and so we weren't compliant for NFPA for standards for health so we've added firefighter Medicals back in but that's a baseline medical uh to be compliant with NFPA and did you want to answer shortly yeah I don't really have anything to add to that uh we would be very similar what she just said thank you that's helpful thank you Mr chair thank you uh anyone else on the main motion seeing and hearing no one else members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 AO 202 24-38 has passed the body so I think now we're going to roll back up the agenda to the item we moved on from which is item 13A so item 13A probably we want to have the department come down and tell us well maybe we need a motion first we're as soon as she pulls the item back up you have a procedure question M broy um I was going to get ready to move an amendment that was passed out okay so um go ahead Miss broy yeah and I think the prior question was um whether or not we were still on the main Amendment but I'm going to move um it's it's labeled as Amendment a to Amendment one um or or rather it's as amended since we're in the middle of that second one sec right so it's the main motion Miss broy yeah thank you um we care Miss Bry made a motion to amend Mr one second go ahead M Bry yeah thank you um and thank you again to uh the planning department and Department of Law staff for working through this um as we were continuing to meet so this First Amendment addresses the issue that U Mr Davis brought up earlier essentially the idea being that um that if there's these Urban neighborhood development context standards and that's inside and then everything else is outside if we make the inside not applicable until next year then it leaves a potentially a hole where it's unclear what standards apply so what this does is it still has the same effective date it does all the things that we've already talked about but it says until November 1st 2025 that that table that is meant to apply outside those areas applies to the whole city so it removes that kind of uncertainty about um which standards apply in the meantime anyone else hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on the amendment all right on a vote 11 to Zer the amendment has passed any further discussion on the item yes I'd like to move amendment number two second for the purposes of discussion motion to amend by Miss broley seconded by Mr wand yeah thank you so this second um this second uh piece of of drafting is offered by the planning department so I would invite them to come up and speak um they wanted to explain this further yes so this uh ensures that uh if there are other developments besides the one you heard about during the public hearing tonight that been under development uh that uh it provides certainty that the applying department is going to be able to provide administrative relief through that same overthe counter permit review so in other words if um they can't what what the assembly is doing is uh uh is is uh making the more lenient table u in effect until November 2025 in the event that that more lenient table doesn't solve the problem for a development uh such as this uh that this provides applying Department the ability to provide that extra relief uh because there are some developments that have been under preparation by development Community maybe they weren't aware of the standards even in table three so this just provides that that extra layer of uh insurity that uh we can solve the problem until November 2025 okay any further okay Miss Miss elone thank you so thanks for drafting this um my question is if this is for table number three is and I have a hard time placing sometimes where these amendments go in the overall ordinance as we get down into them is this only during the time time that the other pause is in place or is this generally as Table Three applies because Table Three will continue to apply to certain things otherwise so are we creating this administrative relief generally or only during the pause where Table Three is superseding the table that's on pause this uh new provision is only during the uh period uh through November 1 uh there's an existing in effect subsection B that is designed to work in perpetuity which is also a form of relief for both tables got it okay so it's just making the same available for table three regardless of which route you had to use to get there at least during this pause thank you Mr Rolland thank you um I also appreciate uh the planning department working with us to get this drafted I guess I'm just a little bit confused on the fairness that this would put in place um it definitely gives the the director some some overview um how would we Define an undo burden I guess is one question that I have um and if I I think I think it almost beges the question of should Table Three just be put on a pause then and are there any other areas of code where something similar to this is an effect are there other examples of the director having the power to approve Administration relief based on whatever an undue burden might constitute so those are my questions so I guess undo burden um number one yeah we we have a new new planner um Mr yel if you would answer that undo burden how do we Define that sure uh Ryan yel long-range planning manager uh through the chair assembly member ven undue burden I'll admit is a little tricky um there is some subjectivity to it I think um in the example that was shared earlier with the assembly if it's at the point where this is a make or break and it's just financially or practically infeasible um to where development is just not going to happen because these reg these uh regulations are overburdensome that could constitute an undue burden um we are going to ask those questions um of the developer have you tried XYZ what about reorienting uh redesigning your site but certainly um uh we would make sure uh to go through that process that it's not simply just hey I don't want to do it so um give me some relief certainly they would have to demonstrate in writing and we would keep those uh findings on file um for public review okay um how do we make sure that's not I think the word is capricious like how do we make sure that everyone has the same they're held to the same standard uh through the chair um one of your earlier questions too is what other tools do we have for administrative variances and that kind of ties into that question as well so we have administrative variances which are defined in code which have um certain approval criteria and standards we have something called alternative equivalent compliance which is not granting relief from the regulations it just allows for an alternative design that achieves the same intent to be proposed so that's kind of like our cool flexibility relief valve tool um lastly we would have the full variance process that would be a design or dimensional variance depending upon the request and that would go before a border commission um so um in terms of uh the decision-making process on that um and vetting it we could tie that to the approval criteria for aec but that would end up being a redundant process so I I can kind of see the path you're going on you want to you want to tie it to some type of evaluation criteria um but certainly the way that this is written they would have to provide the department u in writing the exact explanation on why they cannot meet the subject standard why the subject standard is pro um giving them such a burden that it's breaking their development and not allowing it to happen um and then we would provide a written response to that okay and then what about uh just the I guess the one remaining question what H happens if we were just to pause table three then as well and make it not apply to either the in or out of the urban neighborhood context for the time being uh through the chair we that is an option we could pause uh table three but when you get to that point of you know should we pause it then the whole section kind of is rendered useless for a year so it's just a decision um do we go with the more lenient standard and give the industry a little bit more time to adjust to the new regulations or perhaps give um us more time to adjust those regulations to remove any remaining sticking points but if you were to uh yeah remove Table Three from the whole equation then you know it becomes sort of a moot section of code for um until November 1st 2025 okay appreciate those answers um I will say hearing those answers I'm torn um again I think there is some good stuff in this and I know it's been through many evolutions and a lot of work has been poured into it um I just I I think this this particular Amendment does give me a little heartburn just in in the terms of like how would it be applied what is the discretion what does fair look like um yeah I don't know I'm interested I guess to hear what my colleagues think thank you Mr Bronson yes uh Mr chair I just want to say thanks to uh to Tom and Ryan and Kate for the work in the last hour so I know en Lance has been upstairs uh on his phone working this as well this rewrite so I just want to say thanks to the team for doing this thank you m Bry yeah thank you and I appreciate the planning Department's explanation of this um I I do think having heard that explanation I think this would be valuable to add um and I I I'm not in favor of um suspending Table Three because I think if part of our goal is to have certainty and predictability um then we may be in the situation where we were a few months ago where we inadvertently did something um and then it had those unintended consequences so the other thing that I think would be valuable about this is because it does require um clear standards to allow for more flexibility basically waving some of those requirements uh per project I think it also gives us a good data record of what some of the issues are in code so if we start seeing the same issue come up over and over um that is a good data point for us looking at these standards and considering what it looks like in the future if we see kind of a random smattering or or you know not the same issue over and over that also tells us that maybe there's some site specific issues that need to be addressed um that that we need to have some flexibility in the code so um so ultimately I think I I'm going to speak in favor of this and urge that um one that this can deal with those other kind of one-off problems you know that we certainly don't want to come back to the assembly and that can be dealt with administratively and two again because it can help um the working group and that larger process um kind of understand as these projects move through in the next year or so Mr constant thank you and I'll just note that um any concerns about potential arbitrary actions or capriciousness that this is only valid through November 1 2025 so it's limited scope Limited time and unlikely to reach that level of challenge I hope petitioners don't have to go through a variance process to achieve a rational response to a challenge that comes up through one of these sticking points because that sounds like medicine that's going to be worse than the illness if you will iatrogenic problem and so let us try to find ways that don't include other major bureaucratic processes but rather workable solutions that achieve workable plans this season by November 1st so I support the amendment Miss Alo thanks I guess I have two more questions what if you're denied relief you don't have anywhere to go so you're going through a variance at that point and then how fast does the director act like are we talking 30 days we talking 90 days and I understand that's a little bit iterative based on questions but like ballpark yeah through the chair so the the first question you know what would be the recourse if you were denied relief um you'd have to pursue another option in code whether that's depending upon the situation whether that is an administrative variance if you're eligible an a request if you're eligible or lastly um well there's a minor modification if you're uh eligible for that and then there's also uh the going to a border commission for a variance approval which is certainly something we only want folks to do in large um uh situations that warrant that um second the time we don't have a time uh specified here but typically um our practice is that we try to address these in a maximum of 30 days but we can typically push those through in far under two weeks thank you um so I have an amendment I'm so sorry folks um so I want to add a sentence at at the end of the that says denial shall indicate the most appropriate alternative for the applicant to pursue period second Jamie I wrote it down so there's a motion to amend the amendment by Mrs alel seconded by Miss Broly the clerk's going to catch it up while the clerk's typing can I talk you have um so the idea here is Mr yel just like rattled off all the Alternatives available if there's a denial I think the planning Department's probably in the best position to point the applicant in the right direction for what they're wanting to achieve if the director is not going to do it in a discretionary manner so it just takes some of the guess work out that's all I'm trying to achieve um because some of those things I'm somewhat familiar with some of those things I'm absolutely not familiar with and it's best to just get the applicant headed in the right direction if uh the director can't um doesn't feel like they can provide the um exception um based on this process thank you all right so I think the clerk has the language up there but if there's no further discussion we can vote on the amendment to the amendment members May proceed to vote oh Mr Presa I I just need one more explanation as to what that that means I'm if you could just one more time I'm not really understanding sure so I asked Mr yel what happens if someone's denied this um uh director's discretion and he said well you could pursue a variance he listed four things four things that I'm not very familiar with so the intention of the amendment is um the denial will be provided by the director to the applicant that the denial shall indicate which one of those things Mr yel rattled off is the most appropriate Avenue for the applicant to pursue to achieve their goals still can I make a suggestion for one more word just the denial decision shall indicate is there any objection from the seconder thank you English yeah I think that will make it more clear denial decision shall indicate K okay yep perfect that's fine making a full sentence folks except um okay so any further discussion on the amendment to the amendment hearing seeing none members proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to zero the amendment to the amendment has passed now the amendment is back before so as amended any discussion hearing seeing none members May proceed to vote on the amendment on a vote of 11 to zero the amendment as amended has been passed now we have the main motion back before us as amended any fur the Miss broy yeah just thank you um everybody for um going on this this journey of of title 21 today um and um just to restate what happened earlier um so we are pressing pause on implementing new standards that are in in our code currently but will not well assuming this passes will not um apply right away and so it sets us back more or less to the status quo and then the Amendments that we just passed made Clarity around where those standards apply and also provides um an outlet basically for um projects that are already in process or will be in process um that may in in encounter more specific challenges using the code as it's currently written and then also as I said before um I am committing to being part of a working group and making sure uh that we have good representation on that group that they are um open to the public those meetings and that we can really work through um kind of the bigger picture uh fixed to this code hopefully so thank you very much Mr Martinez thank you chair I just wanted to express my appreciation to my colleagues for working on this here and uh specifically with the idea that um the things that we're trying to work on have to have a kind of clear objective of of getting to yes in our community and uh and and as folks know I'm always saying if there's money on the table what can we do to make sure that we're not losing those investments in our community so I'm appreciative of this body moving in this direction today recognizing that um it sometimes it takes a little while to get things right to get the to the ideal but um that if we can do anything we can to get to the yeses in our community um to that point I extend my thanks my appreciation to the folk uh that made their presentation earlier uh specifically the investors in our community um let's keep working together to make sure that we capture those dollars and we get Anchorage to the place of growth thank you Mr conon yeah thanks um watching the department work with the assembly members and the legal department on a solution um I will say one of my goals for the next year is to ensure there's a reboot of that working relationship and Advance on some some major projects that we can um find our way through the challenges before we adopt so we don't have to come backwards but um obviously this process is iterative we figur it out as we go we find the mistakes as we go but I am enhe heartened to figure out a path forward that um does the work that needs to be done so thank you to all my peers and to the Department if there's no one else members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 ao20 24-24 as amended has passed the body and now takes us back to item 14k in our agenda item 14k is ar22 24-18 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage appropriating 2,140 th000 from earnings within the mo MOA trust fund 730000 for expert financial management and support services provided in the calendar year 2024 public hearing on this item is now open welcome Mr slivka please state your name what part of Cher from you'll have three minutes um Alex slifka I'm currently the chair of the M trust board and I just want want to come before and PR to a brief update um the committee was organized in October we've met six times we've passed a number of policies including um an investment policy and a a meeting policy which very importantly indicates that all meetings are physically held here in angd and um an Ethics policy and a meeting payment policy um we are on track to start meeting quarterly starting in May um and uh I would just stop there and saying we're working very closely with the administration and things seem to be going well and happy to answer any questions thank you thank you Mr slka okay um anyone else wish to testify on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second moved by Miss elol seconded by Mr Myers any discussion you and see none um I'll just say one thing that I want to monitor the expenditures I know this is a standard demount standard um I anticipate because it's a more complex board and there will be more meetings there will be more expenses but I want to make sure we monitor those expenses in a way that is not um so substantive that it starts to skew the use of those funds um through the chair so I have met with your uh budget analyst and I will keep them fully informed I I do not expect that we will hit the amount budgeted um but we will intend to work with you to make sure you're fully informed I get that I I trust we have great folks on This Crew I just want to say that part out loud so thank you if there's nobody else members I may proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 a ar202 24-18 has passed the body next we have AR item 14 L AR 2024-25 operating budget of 1,852 54452 to the solid waste refu utility operating fund 560000 2023 operating budget of 1,852 54452 for interest payments and amending the 2023 operating budgets public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish to be heard on this item anyone at all see and hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body mooved to approve moved by Miss alel second second by Miss any discussion um quickly Mr chair um this is a cleanup ordinance um miss lechner explained to us how um this occurred when we talked about the budget or in a budget and finance committee meeting I don't know the meetings have blurred together a bit but um she briefed us um it's cleanup to Great remember that in Solid Waste Services there are two separate utilities um it's just moving um what was supposed to go um in the one utility over to the other U Miss broy yeah I just wanted to say um thank you to miss lechner for bringing this forward I know there's a lot of um a lot of kind of cleanup items or other things that need attention um and now that we have the time having been passed some emergencies over the last few years and I appreciate the the attention to detail on this thank you thank you anyone else seeing hear nonmembers May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to Z AR 2024 D16 is pass the body Mel thank you I move to change the order of the day to take up 140 15a 15b before 14 M and N so there's a motion to change the order of the day by Miss alel to take up 140 15a 15b be 14 M and N seconded by Miss broy purpose of that is just so so that um we can get the items that Miss alella can vote on off the agenda first is there any objection to the motion hearing I see none the order of the day has been changed I'll just note for the public that the sponsor and author of item 140 has asked that this item be postponed to the meeting of May 21st so we're going to open the public hearing and we're going to postpone that item to the meeting of or excuse me continue the public hearing on that item to the meeting of May 21st as he has a substitute version and he could not be here tonight to make that argument himself so um we will open I'll read actually item 140 a 202 24-35 an ordinance of the Anchorage assembly amending Anchorage minicipal code section 23035 and 2304 to include initial audience participation and establish durational limit together with appearance request at regular assembly meetings public hearing on this item is now open Miss alel thank you I moved to uh postpone and continue the public hearing to the meeting of May 21st second all right so there's a motion to continue the public hearing made by m alel seconded by Mr Rivera any discussion on the motion here it's for Mr Sut request yeah Mr vand okay I would think I I was going to comment and say that I probably don't support the ordinance yeah and am ready to dispatch it but out of respect for Mr soul since he's a sponsor and he's not here um I'm fine with postponement thank you I think it's yeah there's more conversation to be had and so uh if there's no further discussion members May proceed to vote the motion is postponed at the meeting of May 21st oh okay um so on a vote of 11 to zero AO 202 24-35 has been the public hearing on AO 202 24-35 has been continued to the meeting of May 21st also I'm not sure the exact date of the rules committee but um at the rules committee in May that's the is it the 16th May 16th Mr salt intends to present his argument for this this ordinance all right so next we have item 15a 15a is ar22 24-1 126 a resolution of the anchor Municipal assembly stating its conditional protest regarding the transfer with name change of Beverage dispensary tourism license number 4283 for Beluga Point Investments it l l LLC DBA a k m i o h I think that's the International House of hot dogs located at 1020 West 12th Avenue we reach 9 and 51 thank you the public hearing on this item is now open and wish to be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body approve second moved by Mr Meyers I couldn't quite tell who the chorus of seconds were over there so Mr Johnson all right so um anyone wish to speak to this item anyone at all see hearing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 ar202 24126 is pass the body next we have item 15b ar202 24127 resolution of the Anchorage assembly approving an alcohol special land use permit for sporting activities or event license number 6197 for vmh Enterprises LLC DVA divots golf thank you the public hearing on this item is now open anyone wish should be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second moved by Mr Meers seconded by Mr zotel M M zel um anyone wish to speak to the item yeah it's it's the end of the night sausage making um hearing and seeing none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 11 to0 ar202 24-1 127 has passed the body Miss elel thank you Mr chair the next two items both involve the Anchorage Coalition and homelessness of which I'm the executive director and specifically Grant funds to it so therefore I would ask to be excused you are excused for both items 14m and 14n all right next we have item 14m resolution ar22 24-18 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage appropriating 56864 43 for emergency rental assistance ra2 fund 24190 to Anchor Health Department 24190 for Grant agreements with the Anchorage Coalition and homelessness for the anchored home next step initiative pilot program for decompression of emergency shelter including family emergency shelter public hearing on this item is now open welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Brian Whit I go by Bri she her pronouns I want to say thank you guys for even bring this to the table as always I am a part of this I have a home thanks to you guys for this we spoke uh last Friday I think it was uh when I spoke into ongoing help and growth of such a grant or such a an idea of it it can't just in here I will always continuously urge that that we just can't just put people in a home there's so much that goes into it so again I wanted to take a moment to say thank you again not only to the assembly the administration into the city of Anchorage for making it a possibility thank you for my home anyone else wish to be heard on this item anyone at all see hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's will the body move to approve second moved by Mr Rivera seconded by Mr Wen Mr R yeah thank you Mr chair so this item uh simply looks at some of our leftover ra emergency rental uh assistance funds and looks at uh using those um through the next step initiative pilot program specifically for family emergency shelter um we know that there is uh a pretty big need in that specific area and so we're hoping that this will help with the transition out of that shelter and um I urge everyone's approval anyone else you a see none members May proceed to vote on a vote of 9 to1 a224 d118 is passed the body next we have item 14 n ar202 24-22 a resolution of the Municipality of Anchorage re appropriating $1,500,000 from the real estate department 2024 alcohol tax budget 20600 to the Anchorage Health Department 2024 alcohol tax budget 20 600 for a grant with the Anchorage Coalition and homelessness for the anchored home next St initiative pilot program public hearing on this item is now open and what should be heard on this item anyone at all seeing hearing none public hearing on this item is now closed what's Mo the body move to approve second moved by Mr Rivera second by Mr vand Mr Rivera yeah thank you Mr chair so this item uh simply shifts the funds from the 1.5 million which we appropriated in December uh from real estate department to the anage Health Department I think uh there was uh some thought back in December that it was more appropriate for these funds to exist within real estate but I think reality on the ground uh has suggested that perhaps the anchor child department is more appropriate so that's what this uh package does I approval thank you m broley yeah thank you um and and I appreciate the explanation so I remember discussing this and I know that we've well as I understand it the coalition's been moving forward on uh Next Step commitments so I guess I'm just confused why basically why it's taken this long to get to the point that that there is a recommendation to move it back from Real Estate to health um I do understand that the health department um you know has a lot more kind of Grant uh Grant agreement execution experience um compared to a lot of other departments but I guess uh maybe I could invite Miss Johnson up I see you in the off in the audience I just want to understand kind of um the rationale for this and then ALS also you know we've heard time is of the essence obviously getting um you know getting folks moved into housing so um how can we be assured that this will move as quickly as possible given that it's taken three months through the chair to miss broy um so originally this was appropriated to the real estate department uh the real estate department although small is mighty they do not have the capabilities to administer a grant of this size and oversee the administration uh through um and so we ping ponged back and forth and um we felt it was best to come back to Anchorage Health Department especially since we already had existing Grant agreements um you know we work with them for their with their insurance um and we just felt it was best served back with the Anchorage Health Department um we are moving forward uh to continue the funding based on the original appropriation so any funds that have been spent um will continue to be uh through this Grant and then just to understand then so what would be a rough time frame assuming um you know folks get paperwork done on time that this would actually be executed because I think that's really the issue I believe the goal was to bring it back at the next assembly meeting um we've been working behind the scenes to to do the work and so hopefully at the next assembly we'll get the contract executed and just to clarify you mean the next regular meeting on May 7th I believe they wanted to bring it to the April 30th meeting um but I can confirm that with our grant and contracts team okay so yeah then I I think if if it is all possible to bring back on April 30th um because we are dealing with a number of kind of financial issues or or financial matters uh related to the budget so um I would encourage as soon as possible thanks so uh just for everybody's Clarity um we need a little bit of time to get it on the agenda for a special meeting it's not the same proced procedure for a regular meeting if it's not on the agenda then it can't be brought up and so we'll need it sufficiently it need be Friday tues it should be Friday by noon is the ideal time there might be a little bit of flexibility there but for the purposes of getting on a special meeting agenda it's slightly different process so I have myself in the queue um and I'll just be brief Mr Riva question for you um so I just want the record to be really clear this is not a new money it's not a new Grant it's nothing along those lines it's simply reappropriate from one account already appropriated for this purpose to another correct okay so with that I'll just say also on this item because we did the disclosure before 14m that Miss Alo was excused from this item as this is a place of employment she has a personal and financial interest in it so she was excused from this deliberation um if there's no one else members May proceed to vote on a vote of 9 to one AR 2024 d122 has passed the body that brings us to audience participation welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes i r qu now Sand Lake for the volunteer fir fired thing I gladly pay the taxes to give them the exemption I drive past e river and Girdwood all the time and I'm glad they're there in regards to the electronic Grant application it does not cost anything to the mun to use it it is ready to go people can choose to use it they don't have to it helps streamline things for the underst staff department and the reason the administration did not bring forward a budget revision for $35,000 is because they could not anticipate that you want to make it free and lastly just as with the boards and commissions you can discuss making the fees free while the program is already running because people have the choice to pay or not and you belly ache about $40 and you want people to engage in the government process here's a public records request that somebody submitted in November you charged between 13 and $1,400 for that I don't know the exact mind but I know it's in that in that between $ 13 and $1,400 that if you count 35 cents per copy that would make 3,700 copies more than that I think your fees are a little excessive especially if you want people to engage in the in the government process and the Clincher is that public records request from November by the at the beginning of April had not been fulfilled you did not provide the records almost six months later so that's atrocious and then lastly in the last couple of weeks there have been several occasions of vicious verbal attacks on employees of the mun and the the last one on Thursday special meeting and that was really the peak for me the vital that was spew from the members from some of the members including the chair on that day were abhorent I'm ashamed to have have you as my assembly members and I'm ashamed through the chair Mr Paris viia that you are my representative because you were one of those and you can have the tech guys erase part of your tirade but you can't erase it from my memory I know what I heard and I can promise you all one thing I will talk to anybody who will listen and tell you how absolutely unprofessional you perform your duties and on the contrary to the people on this assembly who do not engage in these attacks I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you Miss quido welcome please state your name what part of time you're from you'll have three minutes hi my name is Brian witzky I go by Bri here pronouns Midtown is where I currently reside thank you again couple of different areas I want to point on today is that we are looking at the summer coming up again and I hear plans of abatement of 40th and Denali again maybe it's for control and maybe it's for safety but at the same time I hear it's because we have another concert with nowhere for them to go I often wonder what it is that we're trying to search for and you guys still haven't been able to answer as far as criminalizing or not criminalizing living outside the point being is is one way or the other these folks are going to exist so I do continue to encourage finding better ways to handle it the initiative first that we are working on is great steps but it should not be the only step so I continue to challenge you guys to find ways to talk about it and find Solutions moving beyond that I know we have an upand cominging runoff I want to encourage through the chair and through the assembly that we are a part of encourage and we are all Neighbors being positive in how we go about doing that I encourage from our future politicians and our current politicians I only speak of such a year all's meeting because everybody is related to the aspect of when we run for office for you guys you know you guys speak one way or the other throwing negativity back and forth in that is just like throwing negativity in this room shouldn't have any room we're alaskans first we need to run better elections so that way you guys get better results as far as moving uh the idea about one of the things about uh having this time now I encourage you guys to maybe keep your views open without us having an audience participation it will not bring people in here to being able to voice our concerns to you guys directly without that you guys are not going to have more participation you guys' voting numbers will continue to drop people are getting busier and busier every day in their lives for them to stop and be able to take time and know that it's going to be here makes it worthwhile so having that time for us to have our audience participation to be able to voice Our concern s is a movement in positivity for you guys that being said I'm sure we'll talk more about it when it comes up in the next meeting I encourage positive growth in all ways because negativity there's enough of it out there we're intelligent people when we choose to be we're polite people when we choose to be let's always make the better choice thank you guys have a great night and all the work you did tonight welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes Alexis Johnson Eagle River I come to you today to request that this body stop bullying Municipal Employees and apologize to the many people that you guys have brutalized over the last three years under the guise of politics last Thursday I left these Chambers in tears and ultimately contemplated resignation from a job that I love so much this came after a member decided to speak on the failure of leadership at the health department a point of order was raised and the chair of the body encouraged his colleagues to carefully construct their comments to protect line employees but that anyone who moves into the political sphere is subject to the political forces I signed up for respectful political discourse but what this body has chosen to say is out of line and inappropriate and has gone from political rub to outright bullying when I started with the municipality in 2021 I held a great deal of respect for this assembly we had different opinions and life experiences but I was always respectful F had an open door policy and in even some cases believed we were friends that was until my staff was bullied out of a housing and homelessness committee meeting one that ended with my now former employee saying I no longer want to present to the assembly for fear of ridicule Dr ven later apologized for his colleagues remarks for which I am grateful I want you to recognize the impacts that your words have on people who are absolutely doing the hardest work imaginable and it's not just my department or the home division specifically the planning department has been labeled as dishonest and agents of disharmony and that you couldn't trust them the purchasing department has been drugged through the mud and then later told that they were just collateral in a larger fight ahd painted as the fox guarding the hen house when we asked to manage both the Sheltering Contra contract and its oversight which were only hired because this body did not trust Henning to run our homeless shelters the animal control staff were assumed to be conspiring with pet owners so that they could pass Wellness visits Department of Law went as far as to write a letter to you saying that you could not continue to treat their staff the way that you've been treating them I'm here today to tell you that you cannot continue to treat people this way our work was labeled as a death stain do you guys criticize Anchorage firefighters and blame them for any death by fire no we support them in every instance because that job is hard it is heart-wrenching at times and we offer support not blame I embarked on this role with a deep love love for Anchorage and a commitment to serving its most vulnerable residents while I take every loss of life personally I'm no longer going to allow this body to bully me my staff the department that I love so much or any other department in this city I love working for this city I sold my business to commit my life to public service and I tell every person I know that encorage Health Department is the happiest place on Earth but we are in a struggling labor market and every new employee I hire I have to preface with whatever the assembly says about you it is not true the work you are doing is Meaningful thank you welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have 3 [Applause] minutes my name is Vera pero rasier this is my third time here I reported uh March the anniversary of when parue and his father started coming in my home chloroforming me and sexually assaulting me and it's been 24 years and APD closed the case because it was a police officer and last week I was here I was a little bit upset so the tone of my voice I was not proud of however Monday night April 15 2024 parue and his goons surrounded me in three different Vehicles it took over half a dozen men in to present a threat of attack to me one woman that tells me that officer Purdue and his goons are cowards parue you are a sorry excuse for a man and an even sorrier excuse for a police officer now you all better keep this man away from me and my family I am not afraid of him I don't believe I'm his first victim but all my life all I've ever done was go to work church and school work church and school you can't spot my life at the age of 14 I began working and purchasing my own school clothes and paying for my own school lunches I have worked all my life and ask nobody for anything so when I rented that duplex for barue and I furnished it top to bottom in just a few days and I paid that man several months in advanced rent so I was stuck there and then on top of that I paid cash for a vehicle and parue made it in his mind that a black woman shouldn't have that kind of resources and he has been stealing from me he has been harming me when he kidnapped me January 20123 my first vertebrae is messed up from being um sedated raped beating my head against something and beating in my lower back I can barely stand and walk anymore now I'm telling you the women that he messed with in the past I believe they were Street women and women on drugs now he's messed with the wrong one I am black yes he's white yes but I would fight for justice and I will get Justice you better put him in check cuz I am not afraid of not one of their goons I know the Lord and I know I can call on Angels they've showed up for me in the past and they'll show up again thank you welcome please state your name what part of town you're from you'll have three minutes Roger Branson I'm a longtime mental health Advocate out of Eagle River and I want to respond to the one of the prior speakers and and uh remind everyone of the vitreal that was in this room four years ago and the challenges that we've gone through since then the challenges we've been through as a community and especially the challenges of the homeless people to include those who aren't here today because they lost their lives before we could get help to them uh 3 years ago we needed everybody to come to the table to help solve homelessness and here we are today we need everybody to come to the table and help solve homelessness us we need us all to to continue this vitreal from years ago to keep repeating it it just causes more division in the community Please Mr Mayor collaborate with us work with us help us solve this problem thank you anyone else all right seeing hearing none we'll move on to the last part of our agenda which is member comments Mr pres Ria thank you Mr chair I have no comment tonight Miss broy yeah um a year ago today um myself and um actually seven other members on this body were sworn in um but I want to say that before I joined this body um I watched a lot of these meetings and I remember what happened thank you Mr vand no comments thank you Miss brona no comment Mr Johnson no comment thank you Mr Rivera uh thank you Mr chair uh welcome Mr little Littlefield uh to the frey Mr Littlefield thank you very much through the chair I appreciate being here and I look forward to working with everybody was really en in enlightened tonight and it's going to be interesting to say the least thank you very much Mr chair Mr Martinez thank you chair um one of the opportunities I had tonight with um with our new colleague Mr Littlefield was to just to have an observation of how many unanimous votes we have and if you think of to the point of our first year in service uh member broy um the majority of the votes that this body takes are probably um overwhelmingly uh unanimous or you know just to one side and that just shows the diversity of of ideas coming together to solve problems for the community and and um and I recognize that everyone comes to these challenges with their own Vantage points their own backgrounds and their uh experiences uh but my vantage point still holds true that uh if we can focus on the things that are the common ground areas roll our sleeves up then we can make a difference and we can get things done and so I welcome Mr Littlefield to the sleeve rolling table and um and thank you chair with that we are adjourned wait I'm sorry Mr Meer thanks Mr chair Mr Myers I called a question I I do have a question I first wanted to thank uh or welcome Mark I guess it's good to have a counterpart back and uh share the duties because it is much more timec consuming than I ever expected but I do have a question because somebody asked me to community council and I don't know the answer to this if somebody is a Municipal Employee and they're feeling bullied who does the assembly who do they report to by an assembly member rather um because I I couldn't answer that and I don't know how to answer that that's an interesting question and it's all the rage from this Administration but I guess that didn't really answer my question I don't have an answer for you okay yep I don't have an answer for you okay y yep it's very interesting question some of us will go to the superior court so thank you we are adjourned e e e e e