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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 83
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
City mulls public record rules
Question Do you think the Legislature will have a productive session this year? n Yes n No To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked. Suggested questions may be submitted online or e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
In the news Man dies of injuries from Sterling Highway crash
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — A 53-year-old Anchor Point man has died of injuries sustained in a weekend crash on the Sterling Highway. Alaska State Troopers say they were notified Sunday that Dale Keefer had died from injuries stemming from the Saturday morning crash, which sent Keefer and six other people to the hospital. Troopers say the crash occurred when a northbound vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a southbound van. According to authorities, Keefer was a passenger in the van. Keefer and the driver of the southbound vehicle were sent to South Peninsula Hospital. The driver of the northbound vehicle and for children who were passengers also were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Inside ‘It is important to recognize that (al-Qaida) cannot be decisively defeated in Anbar. The (Iraqi military) presence in Anbar is therefore likely to be long-term, which increases the opportunities for (al-Qaida) to exert control elsewhere in Iraq.’ ... See page A-5
Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Setnetters in the Kasilof Section of the East Side Setnet Fishery push a boat into shore June 27, 2013. On Monday, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell rejected a proposed initiative that would have banned the use of setnets in Cook Inlet.
Initiative to ban setnets rejected Proposal backers say they will continue to push the issue By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
An initiative proposing a ban on setnets in certain parts of the state was rejected Monday as a “prohibited appropriation” under the advice of Alaska’s Department of Law. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell announced Monday afternoon that the proposed initiative would not appear on the ballot. The Department of Law issued a 12-page opinion Jan. 3 that determined that having voters consider the ban would be an appropriation, which cannot be addressed in a ballot initiative. That was based largely on a 1996 Alaska Supreme Court decision in Pullen vs. Ulmer that maintained that salmon are assets that cannot be appropriated by initiative, and that preferential treatment of certain fisheries may consti-
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See SETNET, page A-6
More questions than answers for oil, gas in 2014 By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
What’s in store for Alaska’s oil and gas industry in 2014? There are more questions than answers at this point with three major uncertainties. First, will North Slope producers and TransCanada finally reach a commercial alignment to proceed with the big North Slope gas pipeline and LNG project? That was unresolved as 2013 ended. Second, will North Slope producers and explorers quicken the tempo of new development enough to convince Alaskans that Senate Bill 21, the oil tax reform bill passed by state legislators in 2013, was a good idea? Voters will decide on a possible repeal of SB 21 in the August primary election.
Aaron Kaas, 11, carries the first fish from the Smith family’s setnet season up the beach June 27, 2013 near Clam Gulch.
tute a prohibited appropriation. In the Pullen case, a ballot initiative would have allocated a preferential portion of salmon to subsistence, personal use and sport fisheries, and limited them to about 5 percent of the projected statewide harvest. The state’s supreme court ruled that was an unconstitutional appropriation, and the question was not allowed on the ballot. A ban would largely have affected Cook Inlet setnetters, although the text of the ordinance sought to prohibit setnetting across the state in areas that do not have rural designations — in addition to the Upper Cook Inlet that would include Valdez and Juneau, where no setnetting occurs. Setnetting would have remained in other communities, including Kodiak, unless the rural designation was removed.
People want to see more activity, and Alaskans going to work, as a result of the tax. Third, will Shell decide — and will it be allowed — to proceed with a Chukchi Sea exploration program now proposed for summer 2014? The company has at least $5 billion sunk in its Arctic offshore exploration since 2005, when leases were first acquired, and has nothing to show for it except two partially-drilled holes done in 2012. Lawsuits, changes in government rules and operational mishaps, mainly the loss of the Kulluk drillship in a 2012 New Year’s Eve Gulf of Alaska storm, have dogged Shell’s efforts. Shell has filed an exploration plan for 2014 with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, that lays See OIL, page A-6
An ordinance concerning the disclosure of public records is slated to be introduced as a consent agenda item at Soldotna City Council’s Wednesday meeting. The ordinance calls for a public hearing at the council’s Jan. 22 meeting. If passed, Ordinance 2014-001 would create a new chapter in the city’s municipal code outlining what records are exempt from disclosure and the procedure for request. Currently the city uses the Alaska Statue 40.25 as a guide for public record disclosure, but the statue doesn’t lay out a “clear, defined process” for request and response procedures, Shellie Saner, Soldotna city clerk, said. “My main goal with this is to make sure that the process is definitely more easier for the public and the city staff to know what to expect when they request a record,” Saner said. In looking at other cities similar in size to Soldotna, Saner found that the majority have code for disclosure of public records. The city of Kenai and the Kenai Peninsula Borough both have such codes. According to Ordinance 2014-001, the purpose of not disclosing certain records is to protect personal privacy interests, law enforcement activities and sensitive financial interests. Exempted records, listed by the ordinance include privileged city attorney communications, medical files of personnel, financial engineering and technical specifications. “These are just things that See PUBLIC, page A-6
Council member urges quicker snow removal around hydrants By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Following the last major snowstorm prior to Christmas, Kenai councilman Terry Bookey raised concerns at the Jan. 2 council meeting that 60 percent of the city’s fire hydrants were still inaccessible. Bookey, who is a fire captain at Central Emergency Services in Soldotna, said he drove around town prior to the city council meeting and looked at 300 hydrants with the majority of them blocked in from snow berms left by street plows. Bookey expressed frustration after bringing the same issue to attention at the previous meeting last month. “We should not be bringing this up every time it snows,” he said. “I am at my wit’s end.” Kenai city manager Rick C
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Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Kenai councilman Terry Bookey is urging the city to remove snow from around fire hydrants more quickly.
Koch said there is a dedicated position in the Parks and Recreation department responsible for clearing out the hydrants. The position was created two years ago when the matter was first brought up by Bookey.
The Kenai Fire Department was responsible for snow removal around fire hydrants but the volume of aid calls made it difficult to undertake the responsibility of clearing all the hydrants, Koch said. See SNOW, page A-6