Feb 26 City Manager Newsletter

City Manager Newsletter

City of Seward

February 26, 2024

Valerie Estes

From the City Manager

Hello and welcome to the second edition of the City Manager newsletter!

The goal with this newsletter is to share information and increase accessibility to information outside of our usual City Council meeting packets. Since this is a new venture for the City Manager’s office, the template may change and information may be added or removed as we find the perfect format.

Thank you for reading, and please let me know if there is anything you’d like to see added to this newsletter over time. Send me an email with your thoughts and ideas!

Thanks -- Kat Sorensen, Seward City Manager

ksorensen@cityofseward.net

Ongoing

Projects

Lowell Creek Diversion Tunnel: At a Feb. 12 work session, we had a presentation from the Army Corp of Engineers on the Lowell Creek Diversion Tunnel. The Army Corp team shared updates and timelines to upgrade Lowell Creek flood diversion project. The following day, we had several stakeholder meetings throughout Seward with the Army Corp. They will be visiting again at the end of March to have more meetings with additional stakeholders, and plan to continue to visit Seward regularly with updates to the project.

See the Presentation

Work Session Recording

P&Z needs commissioners

Community Development Report

The Planning & Zoning Commission is in need of commissioners!

Do you live inside city limits and have an interest in community and comprehensive planning? P&Z advises City Council and promotes public interest and understanding of comprehensive planning, platting, zoning, land management and other issues relating to community planning and development.

The P&Z Commission meetings on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. and a work session on the third Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Email the application below to clerk@cityofseward.net

APPLY TODAY

Fire Department

We NEED volunteers, if you or someone you know is interested in serving your community, call at 224-3445 or stop by at one of our trainings on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 pm.

Chief Crites, along with other Kenai Peninsula Fire Chiefs, attended the Alaska Fire Chiefs Leadership Summit in Juneau and met with our respective House Representatives and Senators February 5-9
Haz-Mat Awareness and Operations started February 12th with 10 students
78 Emergency Calls for service

Community

Library&

Museum

Click here for more

Operating Hours & Staffing:

April will be the last month that we delay our opening on the first Wednesday of the month as we look forward to serving our Spring/Summer 2024 patron’s needs.

And the library is currently fully staffed! We’re excited to have such a great team on board.

Patron Statistics (Feb 1 – Feb 14): Over 10 working days, we served 2,597 patrons, averaging 260 visitors daily. Additionally, we facilitated 14 events during this period.

Passport Processing: Training for new employees who qualify as processing agents began mid-February. We hope to have the new agents able to begin processing in the next few weeks.

Programs:

Adult Education/GED classes will be conducted here at the library every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from March through June.
Local authors have been working on their Chapbooks and will soon commence their processing for publication.
This month, we are highlighting family activities centered around puzzles. Puzzles have been made available, and families have been participating together in solving them.
Our Scavenger Hunts have been updated, now teaching kids how to locate books in our collections, utilize resources to find what they need, and explore the diverse offerings of the library.

Museum collections & Exhibits

The Museum’s Winter Admission Hours are Friday & Saturday, 12pm to 5pm.

The Collections Committee will be meeting March 1st to discuss incoming donations, NAGPRA Law updates, and which objects will be taken off display for the Spring/Summer season.

Ongoing Exhibitions:

Seward Silver Screen Window Display: An exhibit highlighting the history of motion pictures in Alaska & movie-going here in Seward.
Dancing into a New Era: A glimpse into Seward's Nobby Club, a post-World War II jazz and swing dance club on Fourth Ave. Begins January 20th through March 2nd.

Upcoming Exhibits

March Window Display: First World Flight Centennial: 1924 - 2024

The next Exhibits Committee Meeting took place on February 20th. The topics of discussion were to vote on new color schemes of Brown & Hawkins Exhibit, Railroad Exhibit, and Benny Benson Text Panel. Once voted and approved, prints will be ordered and picked up from Anchorage.

Parks and Recreation

After careful consideration we have decided to close the rock wall - we are hoping to get it inspected and re-open in March.

Kids Open Archery has really grown within the last month - with around 20 kids showing up.

We sold 27 Bouquets on Build-A-Bouquet night and donated the remaining flowers to the senior center

Competitive Racquetball started with so many participants we had to schedule games on two nights of the week

Urbach's League started on February 17th and we have eight sponsored teams to bring games back in the mix for 2024.

Neon Skate was a big hit with over 80 participants

Kids Night on Valentines day had 32 kids attend - our biggest one yet! Seward parents were able to enjoy their Valentine’s Day evening for a few hours with the fun and affordable child care provided by Parks & Rec!

Campgrounds

We have been working to recruit campground hosts for the 2024 season, as well as painting and numbering the parking bumpers throughout the campgrounds.

We are also assembling and staining picnic tables.

Book your campsite today at sewardcampgrounds.com

Park Maintenance:

We’re continuing to surface Second Lake for ice skating - lace up and get out on a sunny afternoon!

As we approach the summer season, the Parks & Rec crew is working on a parking operations plan to insure smooth enforcement in the Harbor area this summer. This includes minor updates to the pay station software.

Sports and Recreation

Calendar of Events

Check out the Parks and Rec website for a full calendar of events and information on how to sign up!

CHECK IT OUT HERE

Program Coordinator Russ White built a bouquet at the event, which sold nearly 30 bouquets ahead of Valentines Day.

Join our team!

Below are a selection of current openings with the city of Seward. You can see all employment oppportunities by clicking HERE.

An application for employment can be found HERE, by emailing HR@cityofseward.net or in the lobby of City Hall at 410 Adams Street

Applications may be sent electronically to Tammy Nickell, HR Manager at HR@cityofseward.net, faxed to 907-224-3577, or delivered to City Hall at 410 Adams Street (5th Ave & Adams Street), Seward, Alaska 99664.

Accounting Technician II

Electric General Manager

Journeyman Lineman

Patrol Officer

Electric Utility

New Rates for the tariff approved on January 8, 2024, will be effective for billing in February for reads on 1/15/24. - 2/15/24

You will see a new line-item charge called the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Charge, as part of the tariff approved in January. This rate was established the the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) and supports the Railbelt Reliability Council, whose mission is to work collaboratively and transparently to establish and uphold protocols that sustainably balance safety, reliability, cost, and environmental responsibility.

The cost of the RRC is split amongst the Railbelt utilities (which includes Seward Electric) as mandated by Alaska state legislation. The ERO charge is based on your monthly kWh usage at a rate of .008886. You will see this charge separately on your bill to provide full transparency of the costs.

ERO Charge

Learn more about the RRC

We are reviewing drafts of a management contract between the city of Seward and Matanuska Electric Association, which should be presented to council on March 11.

There was a widespread outage downtown on Feb. 20. Thank you to all who reported the outage, and to the lineman who got power back up and running in a timely manner.

Public Works

With the ever-changing weather conditions we experience in Seward, the Public Works Department is working hard to maintain safe roads through snow and rain events.

Most snowstorms have the street crew out at 4:00am plowing or sanding roads ahead of the morning traffic. During the rain events the sanding efforts continue throughout as the rain washes away a lot of fresh sand.

Of course, the more it rains, we shift gears to drainage issues. Storm drains and ditches need constant attention as large puddles and streams of rainwater add yet other challenging conditions. We had a few snow avalanches locally and other larger ones across the state. Use care when travelling.

Avalanches

Some Common Factors that Increase Avalanche Hazard

Large quantities of new snow or rain
Strong winds
Rapid changes in temperatures

The potential for avalanches changes constantly, sometimes in a matter of minutes. Not all snowstorms create avalanches, nor are all sunny days free of avalanche occurrences.

During the winter, the vast majority of avalanches occur during snow/rainstorms and within 24 hours following a storm.

In the springtime, a warm sunny afternoon day can be considered a storm as much as heavy snowfall or heavy rain is in the winter.

Avoiding highway avalanche areas and/or postponing your travel during the times described above will greatly reduce the probability of encountering an avalanche or being delayed for avalanche work on ADOT&PF highways.

Learn more about avalanches from the Alaska DOT at the link below

Reducing Avalanche Hazards

Kevin Wright

HARBOR HAPPENINGS

The Seward Boat Harbor currently has two harbormasters as we prepare for Harbormaster Regis’ retirement! Harbormaster Sieminski officially started in his new role Feb. 12 and will be training on the job with Norm for a few months. Congratulations to them both!

Both Norm and Tony are in Juneau with the Alaska Association of Harbormasters the week of 2/19.

Seward FRC Homeport Schedule:

Scope: Acquire real property and complete NEPA for future FRC homeport.

(DONE)

Status: CEU Juneau obligated funds on 25 Aug 2023 to purchase a 1.5-acre parcel at the Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) for future waterfront improvements. (DONE)

Schedule:

Mar 2024: RFP package to contracting.

Apr 2024: Design/Build solicitation released.

Sep 2024: Contract award.

Projected Construction Completion Date (CCD): September 2026

Notes: Construction pends funds appropriation which is anticipated in FY2024.

Finance

Community Development Report

Billing – Utility Assist and Finance are working on the collection workflow program to collect old outstanding balances.

Audit – The finance department is preparing for audit FY23 in conjunction with Altman Rodgers and Co.

Working with the Electric Department and City Manager to discuss the cost of Phase 2 of the infrastructure project.

Code Recodification – Finance is reviewing Tile 14 and submitted it to our City’s Attorney for review.

Your Main Idea Goes Here

There is just enough space here for several lines of text. You can add details, share a quick story, or elaborate on an idea, as long as you keep the information engaging and relevant. For maximum impact, make sure you get your message across clearly yet concisely.

Ruby is looking for a home.

Police Department

Officers remain busy with proactive traffic work for the most part, be careful out there on the roadway.

We recently had a citizen get scammed for a significant amount of money. If you have any question whether something is legitimate, please call us for advice. We’re here to help you.

ANIMAL SHELTER

The Shelter has plenty of great animals for adoption. We’ve included some pictures of some we have to choose from. (PUPPIES!!)

Meet Bandit!

Puppies!

IT TECH TIP

Community Development Report

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