The City’s mining ordinance, Centennial Hall management and the future of the Hurlock property are all on the agenda for the City and Borough of Juneau Committee of the Whole at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.
The mining ordinance has been a major topic of discussion since it was brought forward by the CBJ Mining Subcommittee to City Attorney Amy Mead to make minor changes at its Jan. 25 meeting. Mead sent a memo on Feb. 8 and March 12 outlining the changes, most of which were done to clarify wording, making the ordinance easier to understand, and are included in Mead’s memo for Monday.
That memo is up for review at Monday’s COW meeting. In it, Mead adds that “the (Mining) Committee also approved my request that I be authorized to review the reclamation and financial warranty sections for the purpose of bringing forward proposed changes designed to better mesh our code with state and federal law. That review is underway; this draft does not include those proposed amendments. I will bring those recommended changes to the Planning Commission if this ordinance proceeds.”
At the March 12 meeting, Kyle Moselle, Associate Director of the Department of Natural Resources Office of Project Management and Permitting, explained the reclamation plan would be a five-year agreement outlining what a mining company would do to reclaim the land to its original state when it is finished with its project.
During a public discussion about the ordinance on March 1, those who testified broke down into two categories: either they wanted to keep the ordinance as is, with just a few revisions from Mead with a socioeconomic study included, or they wanted to revise the ordinance and not require a socioeconomic study but to allow the mining operation to rely on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) instead.
City will go over Hurlock Property
COW will also open up discussions on who will take over the 9290 Hurlock Avenue vacancy. COW decided to recommend Alaska Legacy Partners, an assisted living facility, and Gehring Nursery during its March 19 meeting but requested both of the entities answer further questions before moving forward.
Centennial Hall management under discussion
The future day-to-day management of Centennial Hall is also on the docket Monday. The Assembly first discussed the proposal of an agreement between CBJ and Juneau Arts and Humanities Council at its Feb. 26 meeting. The Assembly decided to move the agenda item to the Public Works and Facilities committee and have public comment before moving forward.
Public Works and Facilities committee decided to move the discussion back to the Assembly on March 19.
If an agreement were reached, it would last for five years with possibilities of renewals thereafter. The CBJ would have oversight of operational plans, budget, the facility and governance and daily operations would be handled by the JAHC.
Finance Committee continues budget work
The CBJ Finance Committee enter week three of discussions and presentations over the city’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget at Assembly Chambers at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The committee will hear from the Aquatics Board on its FY19 proposed budget and listen to Travel Juneau, Alaska Small Business Development Center and Juneau Economic Development Council on funding requests.
According to the budget season calendar, one more meeting — which will include public comment — on April 25, will include presentations. Starting May 2, the committee will enter into full discussions over the budget.
• Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.