Juneau Daily News Online

Tuesday,  January 29, 2002

Assembly committee makes recommendations on dealing with black bears
The Assembly's Planning and Policy Committee has identified Juneau's urban bears as a top priority to be dealt with before spring and has come up with recommendations to reduce the conflicts between bears and residents.

The panel is recommending the hiring of another Community Service Officer to be in charge of bears and the garbage that attracts them. Committee Chair Dale Anderson says the panel is looking at ways to get metal lids on dumpsters. The lids are estimated to cost between 100 to 500 dollars apiece.

The committee is also recommending that the City spend up to $2,000 to buy or build two bear traps for use by state Fish and Game. Anderson says, according to Fish and Game Biologist Neal Barton, bears transported to the other side of the Taku River usually don't come back to Juneau.

The traps cost between 800 to 1,000 dollars each. Anderson says Fish and Game's spare bear trap is usually in Haines during the summer months. The Assembly directed staff to find a funding source for the traps.

Another recommendation calls for a city funded bear awareness public education campaign.

Bear Committee Chair steps down
The Chair of the Mayor's Ad-Hoc Bear Committee has submitted his resignation. Mark Farmer notified Mayor Sally Smith of his decision yesterday. Farmer says the bear committee has become irrelevant.

He says the original idea behind the committee was to centralize bear issues. But instead, Farmer says, control has been given over to four new players including Assembly Planning and Policy Committee Chair Dale Anderson, City Manager Dave Palmer, City Tourism Director Maria Gladziszewski, and Dan Garcia of Community Development Department.

Farmer says he'll now participate as an observer and government watchdog.

Young Juneau bear now residing in Kansas
The young black bear darted and corralled before Christmas at Switzer Village now has a new home at the Topeka, Kansas Zoo. Polly Hessing of State Fish and Game says the bear was held at the Anchorage Zoo until the zoo in Topeka was ready for it.

Hessing says the bear is fortunate to find a home. She says its very rare to find a zoo willing to take a black bear.

Fish and Game officials started calling around to zoos after noticing the young cinnamon colored bear making a nuisance of itself. They figured they would have to deal with it knowing that it could not survive in the wild on its own.

Proposal to limit enterprise board terms rejected by Juneau Assembly
The Assembly has rejected term limits for Juneau's Enterprise Boards. The Human Resources Committee forwarded a proposal to the full Assembly that called limiting board members to three terms with current members grand fathered in.

The idea was to allow more frequent turnover and opportunities for residents to serve on panels like the Planning Commission, Hospital, Harbors and Airport Boards.

Citing concerns about limiting the "institutional memory" and experience of long time board members, the Assembly rejected the proposal on an 8 to 1 vote during last night's meeting. After much debate, Marc Wheeler was the lone vote for limiting terms.

A compromise amendment adding the word "diversity" to the policy guiding board appointments was approved.

Ice rink project gains additional funding
The Assembly approved an appropriation last night earmarking $150,000 in state funds as partial funding for construction of the Treadwell Arena.

There's now just over $2 Million on hand for phase one of the construction of the 26,000 square foot ice rink at Savikko Park. Phase One is estimated at $2.5 Million with Phase Two pegged at about $500,000.

Another $200,000 grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund is pending. The rink is expected to open in October.

Resolutions okayed by Assembly
The Assembly approved several resolutions last night. One supports the Arctic Winter Games being held in Juneau. Two others support nomination of the Alaska Marine Highway System as a national scenic byway and state funding for the Alaska Tourism Industry Crisis Recovery Plan.

Package of veterans' bills unveiled by Knowles
Governor Tony Knowles is pushing a package of veterans bills. One measure would have the public approve a $500 Million bond issue so a veterans mortgage program can continue. The bonds would finance mortgages through the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The bond debt would be repaid by mortgage payments.

The proposal was one of three veterans bills Knowles announced today. Another bill seeks $125,000 to establish an Alaska Veterans Memorial Endowment. A third bill would name the Knik River bridge on the Glenn Highway after a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Sergeant James Bondsteel. He died in 1987 in an accident on the bridge.

Halford believes incremental progress on fiscal gap is possible this session
During his weekly press briefing this morning, Senate President Rick Halford said he was not for him to comment on the way the Majority and Minority in the House plans to reach consensus on the fiscal gap. Both sides of the aisle in the lower house will conduct a joint caucus in private tomorrow in attempts to come up with a plan.

Halford doesn't know how the Senate is likely to respond to any package developed by the House. But he thinks the Legislature is much closer to a package than in the past. He hopes some incremental steps can be achieved this session, including a constitutional spending limit and progress on the revenue side.

Ellis calls for public meetings on fiscal gap in Senate
Senate Minority Leader Johnny Ellis called it a "political earthquake" in the Legislature for members to reach across party lines like House Republicans and Democrats are doing on the fiscal gap. He would rather see it done in public, but says House Democrats had no choice. He doesn't think there will be significant progress for the Senate Republican leadership restricts discussion of the issue to its caucus.

Ellis is calling on Halford to open up the discussion to a committee of the whole that includes all 20 Senators with those discussions also open to the public.

Traffic fatality reported on Kenai Peninsula
A Chugiak man has died from injuries sustained in a head-on collision on the Sterling Highway last night. Alaska State Troopers say 27-year-old William Hrdlicka (HERD'-lik-uh) was a passenger in a car that slammed into another vehicle while passing a tractor trailer.

Voting bills up for consideration
Two bills under consideration by the Legislature this year would allow visually impaired people to vote in private.

A Senate bill was introduced yesterday to allow the Division of Elections to purchase electronic paperless balloting equipment. A similar measure is in the House.

Senator Loren Leman is the sponsor of the Senate measure. Leman says it would allow visually impaired to vote without the assistance of sighted people. Leman says visually impaired voters now must depend on a sighted person to read the ballot aloud and assist them in casting their vote.

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