July 18 City Manager Newsletter

City Manager Newsletter

City of Seward

July 18, 2024

New City of Seward John Deere Road Grader

From the City Manager

It's been a busy few weeks following the 4th of July holiday. We have a lot going on in the City Manager's office and some big projects in the works.

Last week, I spent the day with visitors from Alaska Railroad and Turnagain Marine to walk through their upcoming dock project. We spent the morning watching cruise ship passenger flow and walked the corridor from the train station to the cruise ship terminal to experience the flow of walking traffic. That route sees thousands of people a day! It's great to have such strong city input as they move forward with the private docks. It was also a good opportunity to brainstorm solutions to some simple wayfinding issues and some bigger infrastructure complaints. Making it easier for cruise passengers to find their way mitigates community impact.

Our Community Development team is hard at work on the early stages of our Comprehensive Plan. We're hoping to have a thoroughly collaborative process and look forward to a lot of public engagement. The team has some early thoughts on how to do that, but if you have ideas, let me know!

In the Electric Department realm, we're excited to have a full-time operations manager in Seward through our contract with Matanuska Electric. Taylor Crocker has joined us, alongside Brian Hickey, and will now live in Seward full-time. Taylor has a lot of great experience and has hit the ground running!

We should be hearing back about the Clean Ports shoreside power federal grant within the next month or two. I'm very hopeful that we'll be awarded a grant, and it will tie in nicely with the bigger projects at the Cruise Ship Terminal. If we are awarded the grant, the required federal match will be covered by Turnagain Marine, meaning the city will see no upfront costs for implementing shore power.

We also received two positive responses from our “requests for interest” to provide Seward with power starting January 1, 2025. We are sending out our “terms sheet” and will be looking to receive full proposals shortly thereafter. I'll keep you updated as that progresses.

I also had the opportunity to go onboard the M/V Pacific World Peace Boat and participate in a Plaque Exchange Ceremony between the City of Seward and the ship for the ship's inaugural visit to Seward.

It's a unique vessel that travels the world, and it was great to meet the captain and tour the ship. We were joined by Alaska Railroad representatives, the City Clerk Kris Peck, and Harbormaster Tony Sieminski.

Thanks! -- Kat

ksorensen@cityofseward.net

Second ave footbridge

Seward Parks and Rec and Public Works team up to install the new footbridge on Second Ave across from the Rotary Pavillion

Community

Library&

Museum

Click here for more

Library Summer Hours May 1 to September 29 Tuesday Friday 9am to 6pm Saturday 9am to 5pm

Seasonal Position Open! This position provides staff and front desk support services for the Library and Museum and helps with special events and programs. Apply online at the City of Seward website

Summer Reading Program: The Summer Reading Program has been a boatload of fun this summer! This week participants visited the Seward Marine Center where they were introduced to “Working Boats: An Inside Look at Ten Amazing Watercraft” an incredible book by fisherman and artist, Tom Crestodina. Next week they are headed to Samson Tug and Barge.

Library on Wheels: This program provides library materials to patrons who cannot physically come to the library. Their requests are delivered by the Senior Center Meals on Wheels drivers on Fridays.

Swimming in Seward - 1920s First Lake: Before Seward High School ever got a pool in the 1970s, many Seward people would swim in First Lake. Currently on display in the Library Atrium are photos dating back to 1910 of swimmers diving off logs and enjoying summer! The highlight of this display is a black wool swimsuit originally owned by Luella Kelsey McMullen from Resurrection Bay Historical Society’s Collection. In the 1920s, fabrics were chosen for bathing suits that would not become transparent when wet. For this reason, swimsuits were mainly made of wool.

Museum Summer Admission Hours May 1 to September 29 Admission price is 5 Tuesday Friday 9am to 6pm Saturday 9am to 5pm Sunday 1pm to 4 30pm

Fire Department

We NEED volunteers, if you or someone you know is interested in serving your community, call us at (907)224-3445 or stop by at one of our trainings on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 pm.

THANK YOU to our volunteers!

Fire Calls Year-to-Date: 249
Building Permits Issued Year-to-Date: 26
The Firefighter Combat Challenge hosted July 3rd & 4th was a smashing success! We look forward to this being one of the main attractions in the lineup of July 4th festivities!
Firefighter appreciation Pig Roast occurred Wednesday, July 10th
The Explorers welcomed a new addition to their team and learned about patient packaging, basic splinting, and C-spine immobilization.
Stay tuned for more details concerning fire hydrant testing in the Seward Community.

Fire Department assist

Seward Fire was dispatched to assist Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department and Lowell Point Volunteer Fire Department for a structure fire. All residents got out safely and the fire was successfully extinguished.

Parks and Recreation

Kids Adventure Camp was in full force this past week. We hiked 14 miles to and from Lost Lake, BBQ’d, and hiked to Tonsina. We also paddle boarded down Portage River and had an overnight at the Manitoba Cabins!

Youth Soccer has started and has 90 participants through the first three practices.

No Man’s Land Film Festival was a success with 40 attendees and five women panelists highlighting women in the outdoors.

It’s not too late to sign up for the Camp Stove Cook-Off on Saturday, July 20th!

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

Last call for Dogs Who Hike! Join us at the Lost Lake Trailhead on Saturday, July 20th!

Join our team!

Below are a selection of current openings with the city of Seward. You can see all employment opportunities 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.

Seasonal Harbor Aide - Part Time

Public Works Maintenance/Mechanic

Journeyman Lineman

Patrol Officer

Electric Utility

Click here for a billing breakdown

2024 Water Quality Reports for the City of Seward and Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) are now listed at Public Works | Seward, AK (cityofseward.us

Our Finance and Util-Assist Team is dedicated to working with delinquent accounts, providing deferred payment plans, and offering information on assistance organizations. We are here to support you! Feel free to contact our Utility Department with any questions or concerns.

HARBOR HAPPENINGS

Two incidents were reported at the Seward Harbor between June 28 – July 11, a minor vessel fire and a truck/trailer/boat that drove into the water

No major incidents were reported in the SMIC Yard between June 28 – July 11

We had a total of 61 lifts with the 50-ton Travelift for the month of June

We had a total of 24 lifts with the 300-ton Travelift for the month of June

North Dock saw over 1500 tons of cargo/freight cross the dock

Harbormaster Tony and Deputy City Manager Jason had an exciting and promising meeting to discuss the new Harbormaster building, potential site locations, and department needs

Public works

We just received the new John Deere Road Grader City Council approved for the Public Works Street Department. This replaces our well-used 23-year-old Volvo road grader. This equipment will serve the City of Seward well into the future.
The Street Department has been working on yearly culvert cleaning and ditching to aid drainage during rainy weather. Pavement patching and repairs continue as we move through the summer. Gravel roads are being routinely graded and as conditions necessitate. One new operator started last week and is training on heavy equipment. We still need a one more operator/mechanic - apply on the City of Seward website.
The Water and Wastewater Utilities are training two new employees by having them ride along to help and learn the required testing, repairs, and ground maintenance at all facilities. Multiple projects are in the works to help to keep clean drinking water for the City of Seward.
The Maintenance Shop is going strong with a lot of preventative maintenance and repairs to the City’s vehicles and equipment.

Reminder: There will be a Water and Sewer Rate Study work session at 5:30PM on July 22 (before the 7PM Council meeting). There are two important parts to implement from the study. First, replacing the current complicated ERU billing for all businesses and any residential apartment buildings that are a 3-plex or larger. They will all be “metered.” This will simplify the system for customers and the City billing process. Second, adjusting rates and revenues to keep on track for infrastructure, maintenance, and operations. More work sessions and/or meetings will be coming to finish this rate study.

Finance

Community Development Report

We are working with the City Manager on the first round of the budget conversations with the department heads and sharing budget policies and strategies to perform our FY25-26 biannual budget.

Our Finance team is actively collaborating with the auditors to review the first draft of the FY23 audit.

Staffing issues: Unfortunately, the Finance Department has lost two team members. This has created a significant challenge in training new employees.

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.

Police department

We would like to thank everyone for their cooperation during the 4th of July Holiday. It is worth mentioning that it was one of, if not the, quietest 4th holidays any of us can remember. We’ve come a long way from 20 years ago!

Unfortunately, we are seeing some bad behaviors in the Forest Acres area. It seems a couple thieves have taken to prowling people’s yards and taking people’s things. Please know that our officers will be making a larger presence in the middle of the night trying to catch these criminals. If you see something suspicious call 911 right away and we’ll come to help.

The DMV is open for limited hours until further notice

Mon, Wed, Fri

9AM - 3PM

Closed for Lunch

12PM - 1PM

Community development

The Planning and Zoning Commission held a work session covering two topics:

The Commission discussed how to change the wording of City Code to help the public better understand the current marijuana establishment regulations. The Commission plans to have a work session in the fall to discuss the current land uses of marijuana establishments and will be looking for public input on that discussion.
The Community Development department has started work on an update to the Seward Comprehensive Plan. The Commission discussed the overall format of the new plan and talked about the best ways to engage the public to generate feedback from Seward residents.

A new subdivision agreement was drafted regarding the Dairy Hill subdivision
Based on recommendations from the Municipal Lands Inventory and Management Plan, survey work was completed on four city-owned properties. Those properties include Kawabe Park, Spring Creek Campground, Fourth of July Beach, and Marathan Addition Vacant Lot. The specific recommendations the city is pursuing can be found in the Municipal Lands Inventory and Management Plan located on the City of Seward website, Community Development page under Community Plans.

IT TECH TIP

Community Development Report

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