Are you building? Adding on?

Permitting & Agency Information Day Today
Wednesday MAY 15th 11 – 3 PM
Seward Community Library
Corner of 6th & Adams

Agency representatives will be available to assist with your permit application, summer project and provide information on:

PLANNING
PERMITTING
UPDATED BUILDING CODES
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
UPDATED FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAPS
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM
FISHERIES & WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
HABITAT AND WETLANDS

Drop in, ask questions and get answers!

“In Alaska, water resources are important to all of us!”

By Heidi Zemach for Seward City News

Harbormaster Mack Funk accepts proclamation for upcoming Harbor Opening Weekend, and related events. Heidi Zemach photo

The Seward City Council approved a number of resolutions without discussion or debate during a meeting of under an 90 minutes Monday, May 13^th. They unanimously accepted a number of resolutions on their consent agenda including a $24,000 grant, and appropriated a city 5% match of $1,200 to purchase new exercise equipment for the city volunteer fire department. The equipment will be placed in a 24-hour facility, available for emergency volunteer’s use. According to the resolution 2013-030, heart attacks are the leading killer of emergency responders for this physically and mentally demanding work.

A second resolution they passed will add an additional $71,000 to the existing $550,000 city contract with Harmon Construction Inc., which is constructing a vessel wash down pad at Seward Municipal Industrial Center, or SMIC.  The change order will enable Harmon to install a wash water holding tank that will allow the wash down pad to operate during light and moderate rain storms. The system it originally designed was inadequate for that, according to the project engineer, PND Engineers Inc. The wash down pad still has no source of heat provided to melt snow or ice, however.

A third resolution recommends that the Kenai Peninsula Borough approve the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area’s 2013 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, requires all states to submit a hazard mitigation plan in order to be eligible for FEMA funding in disasters, and requires those plans to be updated regularly. They guide citizens and policy makers in mitigating potential natural hazard disasters, and ensure public awareness and involvement. The plan’s approval will be reintroduced in the assembly June 4^th with the city council’s recommendation. The assembly also has an ordinance to accept $1.3 million in federal and state reimbursement for last year’s Sept 12 flood damage.

Sue Lang. of the USCG Auxillary, invited folks to don their life-jackets, and visit the new coast guard facility in honor of boating safety week. She thanked the many agencies that help promote boater safety. Heidi Zemach photo

Finally, the council passed a resolution accepting a $3,000 grant from Kenai Mountains Turnagain Arm Corridor Communities Association to hire a museum assistant to help scan and upload over 300 local historic photos into the statewide historic photo database, and to add ’64 Earthquake-related material to the UAA Consortium Library Archives in time for the 50^th anniversary of the event.

Under New Business, the council approved two ordinances for introduction. They will have public hearings, and will be up for final approval at the next meeting. One ordinance establishes electronic notification of wait list customers at the Small Boat Harbor. The other revises the city code to eliminate quarterly moorage rates at the harbor.

In Unfinished Business, the council held three public hearings on proposed changes to the International Mechanical Code, International Building Code, and adopting the 2012 IBC, and amending the 2012 edition of the International Fire Code, amending a chapter of its Health and Safety code. No one came forward to testify. After some discussion, the council rejected the new IBC code and revisions by a 3-2 vote, however. Councilmembers Bob Valdatta, Christy Terry and Mayor David Seaward voted in favor of the ordinance, while Vanta Shafer and Marianna Keil voted against it. Vice Mayor Jean Bardarson, whose husband, a contractor who converts steel shipping containers into temporary living structures, abstained from the discussion and vote for conflict of interest reasons. The vote means that the city will continue to operate under the 2006 building code that allows temporary structures to be approved for 180 days, with extensions possible if granted by the building inspector. The building inspector also must abide by the recently adopted 2009 state building code changes. The council will likely wait until the state adopts its own
version of the 2012 IBC before adopting its own version of the building code.

The International Mechanical Code and International Fire Code revisions were amended, but their approval was postponed to allow additional public hearings during the May 28^th council meeting.

SPD Lieutenant Tiner invites the public to participate in the Olympic Torch Run, and to honor corrections/peace officers week. Heidi Zemach photo.

The mayor issued five city proclamations including the U.S. Coast Guard’s safety week and life-jacket safety day this Friday, the Harbor Opening Weekend, May 18-19, the Seward Mariner’s Memorial dedication and blessing of the fleet, Seward’s Military Appreciation Week May 15-31^st, National Peace Officer’s week, and the Special Olympics Torch Run/Terry Pollard Exit Glacier race on Saturday morning.

Wednesday MAY 15th 11 – 3 PM
Seward Community Library
Corner of 6th & Adams

Agency representatives will be available to assist with your permit application, summer project and provide information on:

PLANNING
PERMITTING
UPDATED BUILDING CODES
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
UPDATED FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAPS
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM
FISHERIES & WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
HABITAT AND WETLANDS

Drop in, ask questions and get answers!

“In Alaska, water resources are important to all of us!”

By Heidi Zemach for SCN

New library file photo by Heidi Zemach

The Seward City Council has begun to talk about its upcoming budget needs in advance of more focused budget discussions that will begin in September. It has already had two preliminary work sessions. The first one focused on the Public Works Department’s plans and needs for Water and Sewer infrastructure projects. The second work session, held last week, focused on how to pay for the new library/museum bond in the coming years.

The bond debt is $3.4 million, payable over 25 years at 3.99% interest.  The bond payments pay the interest only for all of next year, FY2014, at around $159,400, then payments increase to $244,400 per year as they pay off both the principal and interest.  The remaining two-thirds of the library museum building project was funded through grants and donations.

The library is part of the city’s General Fund, with its capital and operating costs paid from tax and revenue sharing, not from user-generated revenues such as through the sale of goods and services.

The five options that the council discussed with staff and the public began with the idea of doing nothing and hoping that increased tax revenues would be enough to cover the new debt payments. This would require a 5.9 percent increase in taxable sales. Sales tax income has been steadily increasing in recent years. The second option was to reduce funding to other General Fund uses by about $250,000. The third option was to increase the sales tax from 4% to 4.25% based on 2013 projected sales, which would take some changes in business software, and trying to explain that to a public that voted against a sales tax increase in an advisory vote two years ago. Fourth, increasing property tax from 3.12 mills to 3.89 mills to generate additional $249,600, a 24% increase of the City rate, or a 9.5% increase of the aggregate City/KPB/SBCFSA rate, totaling 8.89 mills. Fifth and last, a combination of the above options.

The sales tax versus property tax idea was debated exhaustively during bi-annual budget debates two years ago under the city administration of then City Manager Phillip Oates. Property taxes weren’t viewed as fair by some because of the small number of city property owners relative to city residents of the area who used the library. Sales tax increases were rejected at the time by a majority of voters who said they felt squeezed by increases in city fees, and prices for goods generally. They also rejected Oates’ proposal for a seasonal summer sales tax increase and winter season decrease, although most of that increase would be borne by visitors to Seward. Local hoteliers said tourists frequently complained about our sales tax, and additional hotel head taxes, and would not want an additional burden. The borough said calculating the special tax would be cost-prohibitive, and that the city would have to reimburse them for their new software. A proposed “sin” tax on alcohol and tobacco also was defeated in a citizen’s advisory vote.

At the recent work session, Mayor David Seaward said he would support a property tax increase or a withdrawal from the general fund, such as from the motor pool fund to finance the library museum bond.

“People are extremely optimistic about the direction we’re headed (with increased business and thus sales taxes),” and would like to see the bond payment taken from the general fund, said Councilwoman Vanta Shafer.

“Which leads to the discussion of which fund?” said City Manager Jim Hunt.

Assistant Manager Ron Long said the increase in taxable sales that the city experienced in the last quarter had been spent by council to restore some programs that had been facing cuts, and also were used for discretionary spending such as trips and travel, and by the city paying resident bill payer’s credit-card fees.

“Ask the nonprofits to chip in, it’s about time they step up to the plate guys,” said Councilman Bob Valdatta.

New museum’s display case of find handmade Native-Alaska baskets. Heidi Zemach photo.

Keith Campbell, who chairs the Seward Community Library Museum board, said he continues to believe that a sales tax increase would be the most fair for all, especially for elderly people like him, whose real property taxes are exempt. It also includes a broader population of those who live outside of the city limits, but who also use the library museum.  The majority of voters who approved an earlier ballot measure asking whether the city should fund the building project with a General Obligation Bond, was good enough for the council to justify a sales tax increase to pay for it, he said.

Tom Tougas, a local businessman, encouraged a combination of doing nothing and reducing the general fund. “I expect the sales tax bill to go up significantly this year,” he said. The North Dock and hospital (original building) bonds will be paid off this year, he said. Meanwhile, the one-percent sales tax for hospitals will continue to provide funds toward future hospital improvements. Although he believed the sales tax versus property tax increase debate as a waste of time, he did favor the seasonal sales tax concept as some 65-75% of our sales tax is paid by visitors.

Library Director Patricia Linville said the council should not think they could fund the bond by instituting library fees for users, because revenues would be minimal, even if the city charged $25 for a library card like the Loussac Library in Anchorage does. Her review of library patron’s addresses found that there were 5,504 card holding households living in Seward, 175 in Moose Pass, and 300 in areas outside of town, she said. These would only bring in about $11,250 in revenues to the library, she said.

Seward can expect to receive ten times as much money from the museum as they do from the library, Tougas said. But the Seward Historic Society currently averages only about $20,000 in visitor-income per year. While visitor numbers are expected to increase with the museum’s new location, and the entrance fee has increased to $5, the hours that the museum is open may not be as high as previous years due to staffing limitations. The historic society does plan to staff the museum with volunteers on tourist-season Sundays, when the library is closed, as those are on large cruise ship/tourist days. Kerry Martin, of the historic society, warned not to count on the earthquake documentary fee to support the new building. It is dedicated to the library association for books and programs, he said.

Seward has quite a history. For over 100 years now its citizens have come and gone; enriching our sense of place with each life and event. Without the hard work and civic pride of those that came before, Seward would not be the exemplary city it is today. And without the people and organizations who gather and preserve our past we have little to guide us into the future.

If you know of an individual or organization that deserves special recognition for their work in preserving Seward history, please take a moment to nominate them for the 2012 Historic Preservation Award.

The annual award is to recognize local preservation efforts and to encourage community understanding and appreciation of Seward’s history.

If you would like to nominate an individual or organization for this Historic Preservation Award, forms are available at the Seward Community Library and the City Clerk’s office. Or download the Nomination Form.

All nominations must be submitted to the Library Museum or City Clerk’s office by

Wednesday, May 29^th, 2013

CHC board members Jean Bardarson, Marianna Keil and Richard Cruse. Also City Manager Jim Hunt (left) and Susan St. Armand, second from right. Heidi Zemach photo

Heidi Zemach for SCN

What if they held a town hall meeting and nobody came? Well in a town as small and busy as Seward it’s not unusual, but it’s still disappointing to those who put it on. Saturday afternoon’s Town Hall meeting on the Community Health Center’s Access Point grant application, organized by the Community Health Center Board of Directors, drew only four members of the public plus two local reporters, Seward City Manager Jim Hunt, and Kenai Peninsula Borough Representative Sue McClure. Even the board itself was short-staffed. Board Chair Patty Beals, and fellow board members Richard Cruse, Shane Hand, Jean Bardarson and Marianna Keil attended however, along with Anchorage consultant Suzanne Neimi. Board vice-chair Maya Moriarty, Mike Craytor, Lois Daubney, Kris Erchinger, Nicky Thompson and Dave Paperman all missed it.

But that’s what we reporters are for. So here’s the information you missed, and might be interested to learn.

CHC consultant Suzanne Neimi gives a presentation at Town Hall at the community library museum. Heidi Zemach photo.

Suzanne Neimi, the CHC consultant hired to do the job, recently submitted an application for Seward to be awarded Federally Qualified Health Center (FCHC) status from the federal government, which would enable its local board to own and run a FQHC here in this community. This time around, Chugachmiut Health Services Inc., did not submit an application.

The new clinic would be run from inside Providence Seward Health Center, our hospital, but would not be affiliated with Providence. It would replace the existing clinic, and enable Providence managers to focus on providing emergency care, which it does best, as well as operating Seward Mountain Haven, the long-term elder care facility.

One of the misperceptions people seem to have is that a CHC clinic would be for low income people only, or those without insurance, board members said. That’s not true, Neimi said. It would be a normal community clinic, available for everyone, including those with private insurance, those without insurance or underinsured, and folks on Medicare and Medicaid. The clinic will bill patient’s insurance companies, and collect patient co-pays just like normal clinics do. CHCs are required to be self-sustaining, so they actually need that mix of clients to assure their success. What they do offer, however, is a sliding fee scale, dependent upon a client’s family income and insurance.  The federal government helps subsidize the clinic for those clients who are unable to pay.

CHCs also must be open at times when most people can come in, including evening and weekend hours. CHCs are not-for-profit entities, so any profit that they make must be put back into operations. They must offer comprehensive care, and monitor care for those with chronic conditions. They will call clients and remind them when it’s time to return for a follow up exam, for example, or when another lab test is needed.

What about the other health care providers already practicing in the area? Well, another requirement is that CHCs not compete with, but make effort to cooperate with businesses in the community such as those who provide dental or eye-care services, and mental health or drug-treatment services. How it works is that the community health center, through its board, or the administrator, will contract with those other businesses, and refer patients to them for those services. Thus, the federal reimbursements available for Medicare or Medicaid, or uninsured patients who attend the CHC clinic will also go to pay for care provided at local dentists, or other providers with whom they contract, who might otherwise not have accepted those clients.

CHCs were created in 1965 during President Johnson’s War on Poverty, and have been seen a safety-net to serve medically underserved communities. The entire Kenai Peninsula Borough is considered medically underserved. In urban areas, CHCs were seen as an economic development solution. The most amazing thing about them, Neimi said, is their staying power, and the fact that they continue to grow regardless of which political party is in power.  The CHC’s greatest growth in fact (in terms of dollars, and numbers of clinics opened), was under President George W. Bush.

Once a certain community receives CHC status, the federal grant-program will assist that community in renewing their status annually, and it’s very hard to be removed from the program and defunded, Neimi said. What CHC administrators do need to do, however, is provide plenty of data regularly on how the program is working, and how well the population, and local clients are being served. The downside is those reporting requirements make the clinics administrative top-heavy, she said.  CHC’s have been especially attractive to young prospective nurses and physicians by paying off the student debts of their employees.

The CHC board should know by September whether FQHC status has been awarded to Seward, whereupon the City-CHC entity would begin receiving up to $625,000 in yearly grant payments to operate the clinic. The community would then have just 120 days to establish the center, hire an executive director and staff, and begin providing services. That process should not be too difficult as Seward already has a clinic, although it will have to be equipped.

Meanwhile, there are many questions that the city, and the CHC board will have to address. Key among them, which they have already begun to discuss, is whether or not future CHC clinic employees would be hired as city staff, and entitled to city worker’s health insurance and retirement plans. Without a well-established, long-term insurance history to become part of, prospective employees may be reluctant to join, based on her experience with startup CHCs, Neimi told the City Council at a work session prior to submitting the application.

Board members, and the few who showed up Saturday were disappointed that so few members of the public attended a forum to educate them on what may soon become an important, wholly community-driven entity. They were tasked with informing their friends and neighbors, and writing articles explaining the CHC concept in the local media to garner more interest and understanding.

Hopefully, this article helps begin that conversation.

TYC 2013 SUMMER CAMPS

PUPS CAMPS is for kids entering grades 1 to 3. Campers will enjoy daily field trips, exercise, arts & crafts, games and more! Camp meets rain or shine. Each camp is led by caring professionals with fresh and exciting activities. Campers need to bring a sack lunch, afternoon snacks, or spending money for the Snack Shack. Limited space, early registration is encouraged.

TYC ROOKERY CAMPS  are specifically designed for kids in grades 4 to 6. Theme weeks coincide with the Pups Camp, but the activities throughout the day will present more challenges and adventure for the older children. Campers will be building campfires, cooking out, hiking to lakes, adventuring in and around Seward with kids their age.

Adventure Camp  is for mature kids in grades 5 to 7 who are looking for a challenge and are not afraid of getting dirty. Adventure Camp promotes an environment in which campers will be problem-solving, learning life skills as well as experiencing what the great state of Alaska has to offer. Campers will be hiking farther, camping more, clam digging, kayaking and more. This camp is separate from TYC Summer Day Camp and has limited space available. Sign up for one week or for all 12.  You will not be disappointed. The AC week themes coincide with TYC Summer Day Camps.

Lemonade Day Alaska is Saturday, May 11^th! Lemonade Day Alaska is a free, fun experiential entrepreneurship program for youth (K-12) that teaches them how to start and operate their own business through lemonade stands. 2,536 youth participated across Alaska in 2012 and gave a portion of their earnings back to charities totaling $68,000! Register online at: www.alaska.lemonadeday.org or contact the Chamber of Commerce at 224-8051 for more information. Look for a Lemonade Stand at the Terry’s Tire Bike Safety Rodeo event!

Sports & Rec (more…)

Amy-Carney-photographs-ivory-sailboat artifact in preparation for the museum move. Heidi Zemach file photo.

By Heidi Zemach for SCN

The Seward Community Library Museum staff will be undergoing some changes. Tim Morrow has got a promotion to full time library museum technician. He’s been a part time library aide. Meanwhile his old library aide job is going to Carol Conant. Amy Carney, the Seward Community Library Museum & Archives Collections Coordinator is leaving to become the webmaster for the State Libraries Archives and Museum (SLAM) in Juneau, Alaska.

“Amy is the sort of person who’s a doer. She doesn’t blow her own horn too often, but she does get things done quietly and competently. We’ll miss her,” said Library Museum Director Patricia Linville.

Carney undertook a few big projects since she began working for the library and museum in July of ‘07. She, along with Lee Poleske, a local historian and volunteer museum curator produced the “Bits of History” series after Ryan Reynolds moved on. The series has more than 40 five to seven minute historical videos covering all aspects of Seward, Alaska’s past. The videos use archival records including photographs, maps, newspapers, and 16mm archival video footage, and are hosted and narrated by Poleske, himself an integral part of the town’s history. They are accessible on the Seward Library website, YouTube, and are posted on Seward City News. Carney and Poleske received Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board (ASHRAB) archival Certificates of Excellence for their series, calling the vignettes “local history at its best.” That series is expected to continue.

Carney also oversaw the museum move across town into the new library museum building. That undertaking involved carefully conserving, cataloging, photographing, packing, and moving  a couple of thousand, often delicate museum artifacts, and then reversing the process in time for the new museum Grand Opening on May 11th.

“She rode herd on that one, that’s been her deal basically,” said Morrow. “It’s amazing how much work it took.”

Carney also added a social media presence, including Facebook and Twitter to the Library Museum. It was the technical skills that she brought to the library job and performed there however that most interested her new employers, she said.

Carney’s last day is May 11^th,  the day of the museum’s opening. The city is currently advertising that position.

Welcome Crystal Symphony, Seward’s first cruise ship of the season!  Most of the passengers were in Seward today on a port of call and will continue on to Southeast Alaska and then to Vancouver, B.C.  Several new passengers joined the ship in Seward for this voyage to Vancouver.  This is the only time a Crystal Cruises ship will come to Seward in 2013.  Built in 1995 and refurbished in 2009, the Crystal Symphony can carry up to 952 passengers and 566 crew.  More information is at their website.

Click here for the 2013 cruise ship schedule.

Crystal Symphony in port at Seward, AK
Photo by: M Tougas

By Heidi Zemach for SCN

Monday’s April 22 Seward City Council meeting was unusually short. They clocked out of the meeting before 8:00 p.m., with the most controversial parts of the meeting dealing with adopting new building, fire and mechanical codes, postponed until a full council could be present.  City Manager James Hunt, Assistant Manager Ron Long, Vice Mayor Jean Bardarson, and Council member Christy Terry, were absent. All but Terry are on a good will trip to Washington D.C., and to Seattle, along with the Seward Chamber of Commerce leadership, meeting with representatives of major shipping companies and cruise ship companies, hoping to drum up more local business.

By unanimous consent, the council adopted the Consent Agenda adopting the Seward Port and Commerce Advisory Board’s priorities; authorizing payment of $96,000 to Alcan Electrical and Engineering Inc. for repairs needed to restore power to Camelot Subdivision; approving a contract amendment with R&M Consultants for $209,500 for managing the D-Float replacement project at the Small Boat Harbor.

Craig Turnbull, retired, accepts proclamation for his many years of service at Spring Creek. Heidi Zemach photo

There were several proclamations. Longtime, recently-retired Spring Creek Correctional Facility Superintendent Craig Turnbull was awarded one. Turnbull said he was honored, and was looking forward to seeing everyone at Safe-way, perhaps the town’s most frequent meeting-up place, as he’s not leaving town.

2013 Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey, a two-time Iditarod winner who grew up and graduated high school in Seward, and still runs a dogsled tourist business here, also got a city proclamation. Seavey said he is honored by the recognition, and said Seward still means a lot to him. He pointed out however that the proclamation failed to mention that he was also the oldest person ever to win the Iditarod—a somewhat dubious distinction, he added, but one nonetheless. The proclamation had mentioned that his son Dallas, who won the Iditarod last year, was the youngest musher ever to do so.

2013 Iditarod winner Mitch Seavey accepts City of Seward proclamation. Heidi Zemach photo

Matt Gray, Watershed Program Coordinator for the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance and Jenna Giddens, a ranger with the Kenai Fjords National Park Service, picked up the April Bear Awareness Month proclamation. Both are Seward representatives on the Kenai Brown Bear Committee. They reminded residents to keep their yards and porches free of all bear rewards, even birdseed, thus training the bears to forage in our forests and streams, not around homes, businesses and dumpsters. At the suggestion of folks on the bear committee, the city recently signed a contract with Alaska Waste Inc., where people can now lease a 95 gallon bear-resistant garbage can from them for just $2 per month more than the standard rate.  Police will fine those who repeatedly allow bears to get into their trash.

Matt Gray, RBCA Watershed, and Jenna Giddens, KFNPS ranger accept Bear Awareness proclamation. Heidi Zemach photo.

Several youngsters from TYC also showed up to advertise the upcoming children’s Bike Rodeo Safety program and Police Open House in early May. It’s a fun event enabling police to instill a message of safety in children bike riders. They give out free helmets to those who safely complete an obstacle course and demonstrate knowledge of correct biking skills, and volunteers some simple bike adjustments such as inflating tires, raising seats and checking breaks.

The meat of the meeting was to have been holding public hearings and then adopting the 2012 International Mechanical Code, the 2012 International Building Code, and the 2012 International Fire Code, all with revisions.

Council also introduced the 2012 International Residential Code Ordinance, number 2013-007, which requires even more public hearings. But Councilmember Vanta Shafer felt they were all too important and lasting to adopt without a full council present, so she moved to postpone adoption of the first three until the May 13th council meeting, and the rest concurred.

The city fire department hopes the council will adopt the 2012 International Residential Code, and insert its own version of the code’s fire safety mandates for one and two-family homes that that sprinklers be installed. By statute enactment of that code revision requires at least three public hearings be held under a strictly-prescribed timeline. Council members did not want to rush this somewhat controversial requirement through, nor to hold all of the public hearings during the busy summertime when people are working, or away vacationing. So the City Clerk has spread out the hearing date schedule to May 28, August 12, and the final hearing and enactment September 9. (more…)

Nichole Feemsters’ mural is going up on the South side of the Library Museum building.  The install is being conducted by Harmon Construction.  The vibrant colors of the mural match the colors that change with the light on the siding of the building.

Nichole’s design is centered on the idea of stories.  We are beginning to see a family, sitting by a fire sharing a story.

Stop by to see the mural come to life, who is listening in while the ‘story’ is being told?

Photo’s by: M Tougas

Harmon Construction starts the install.

Panels joined and starting to tell a ‘story’.

By Heidi Zemach for SCN 

The Seward City Council will conduct three public hearings on adopting the 2012 International Mechanical Code, 2012 International Building Code, 2012  International Fire Code, and making revisions to them at its meeting tonight, Monday, April 22, 2013.  However dry this seems, these codes don’t just matter to the city’s fire chief, or building inspector, however. They matter to the people planning to build, or live in Seward, those with businesses here, and even those who come here seasonally to work.

For instance, the city fire department wants to adopt the 2012 International Residential Code, and also to insert its own version of fire safety rules mandating sprinklers that those building large homes install sprinkler systems so that putting out a fire in those homes won’t draw down the city’s water supply to other customers in those or other neighborhoods, or stress or even break aging water mains by overtaxing the system.

If the code is adopted tonight unchanged, or as amended at the last meeting, Seward area residents will soon get three  chances at future public hearings to weigh in on whether the City of Seward should adopt the requirement that sprinkler systems be installed in all new one and two-family homes and town houses that exceed 3,600 square feet. For new houses built larger than that, the city would be required to change its average water flow requirement from 1500 gallons per minute per two hours to 1750 gallons per minute for two hours.

Another proposed code revision to the 2012 International Building Code (IBC), up for adoption by the council, would allow new buildings to be constructed on wooden foundations, and it would do away with the existing requirement that they be built on a cement foundation. This change would make new construction more affordable than the current building code requires, said City Building Inspector Stephan Nilsson, but it also could make repairs to the underside of those buildings more difficult, and given the weather and flooding—more likely.

Another proposed code revision to the IBC would allow temporary buildings located in industrial zones to remain there indefinitely, doing away with the current five year limit.  Currently, an owner must move their temporary building or bring it up to existing city building code requirements if it has remained on the site for five years. Bringing those buildings up to code requirements mean a variety of things such as hooking these structures up to the city water supply, providing running water and flush toilets or hooking them up to city electric systems and meeting electrical code standards, Nilsson said.

Alaska Logistics, a shipping company located at Seward’s Alaska Railroad dock and Icicle Seafoods currently employ converted rudimentary steel Conex intermodal-shipping containers for seasonal housing. This helps  workers who could either not find housing during the busy summer tourist season, nor afford the rental, or hotel costs here. Council members seem to support the plan as they see those steel facilities as more secure, particularly for women workers or family members, than tents would be.

The council also will vote on resolutions:

-adopting the Seward Port and Commerce Advisory Board (PACAB) Priorities From April 2013 To March 2014.

-authorizing $96,040.38 payment Alcan Electrical and Engineering, Incorporated for emergency construction costs to reenergize Camelot Subdivision following storms and power outages last year.

-amending an engineering contract With R & M Consultants for an additional $209,580 for the D-Float replacement dock at Seward Small Boat Harbor.

-amending the City Clerk’s employment agreement, and funding it.