How to give public comment during June 17 Listening Session

To hear citizen concerns related to local issues on policing, racism, and social justice, the City and Borough of Juneau is hosting a Listening Session through Zoom this Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. Juneau Assembly members, Juneau Police Department leadership, the Juneau School District superintendent, and the Juneau School Board have been invited to listen.

Participate in the June 17 Listening Session at 7 p.m. by connecting directly to the Zoom Webinar https://juneau.zoom.us/j/99130137784 or calling 1-346-248-7799 with Webinar ID 991 3013 7784; the Listening Session will also be on Facebook Live.

The online event is meant to be a starting point of an ongoing community conversation. This is a forum for invited attendees to listen to local concerns. The Listening Session will kick off with brief introductions, followed by public testimony. Here’s how to give public comment and other things to note:

  • If you are participating through Zoom on a computer or smart device, click the “Raise Hand” button.
  • If you’re participating by phone, press *9.
  • The City Clerk will go down the list of people wanting to comment, note their name or phone number and unmute them. At that time, the person commenting should state their name and the area of Juneau they live in, and will have a set amount of time to speak.
  • While the Listening Session will be broadcast on Facebook Live, public testimony will only be taken through Zoom or phone.

Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to send comments, concerns, and questions to [email protected].

June 15th, 2020|

Juneau Assembly passes budget that maintains flat property tax rate

After weeks of budget work by the Assembly Finance Committee, the Juneau Assembly passed the Fiscal Year 2021 budget at Monday night’s Regular Assembly Meeting. The $385.7 million budget includes cuts to CBJ positions and the Capital Improvement Plan, and does not increase the property tax rate from last year.

At the beginning of the budget process, the Finance Committee wrestled with a revenue shortfall of $34.5 million over the next 30 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Assembly was able to maintain the property tax rate for 2020 at 10.66 mills due to the State of Alaska’s community distribution of federal CARES Act funding, $53 million of which was allocated to Juneau. Of this amount, $11 million is budgeted to offset CBJ operating expenditures in the next two fiscal years. CARES Act funding will also be used to cover certain CBJ personnel costs related to COVID-19  and for community services, like funding for the new COVID-19 childcare program, rental assistance grants, business sustainability grants, and emergency shelter.

To further balance the budget, the Assembly cut $1.5 million in CBJ staff positions and $13 million from the Capital Improvement Plan, including a one-year delay of the $3.3 million Augustus Brown Pool deferred maintenance project. The final budget is balanced by a $3.1 million draw from savings. The Assembly Finance Committee anticipates continuing to work on the FY21 budget throughout the year as the fiscal health of CBJ becomes more discernible.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 586-0300 or [email protected].​

June 10th, 2020|

Ordinances up for Public Hearing June 17 and 29, 2020

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that the following items are scheduled for a public hearing by the City and Borough of Juneau Alaska Assembly, on the date designated below. The agenda and packet materials for these meetings will be posted on the CBJ website at https://juneau.org/assembly/assembly-minutes-and-agendas.  Members of the public wishing to provide public comment during the meeting are asked to call the Municipal Clerk’s public testimony request phone line at 586-0215 by 3p.m. the day of the meeting or send an email to [email protected]  and provide their full name, email address, the phone number they will be calling from, and the agenda topic(s) on which they wish to testify. Testimony time will be limited by the Mayor based on the number of participants. Members of the public are encouraged to send their comments in advance of the meeting to [email protected].

Wednesday, June 17, 2020, Special Assembly Meeting Immediately following the 5:00p.m. Assembly Finance Committee meeting – Virtual Meeting – Connect directly to the Zoom Webinar https://juneau.zoom.us/j/93239184879, or call 1-346-248-7799 and enter Webinar ID 932 3918 4879

Ordinance 2019-06(AH)
An Ordinance Appropriating up to $1,000,000 to the Manager for a COVID-19 Conservation Corps Program; Funding Provided by the CARES Act Special Revenue Fund.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Monday, June 29, 2020, 7 p.m., Regular Assembly Meeting, Virtual Meeting

Ordinance 2020-22
An Ordinance Authorizing the Manager to Lease Approximately 1.25 Acres, Located adjacent to the Juneau Arts and Culture Center and Centennial Hall, to the State of Alaska for Employee Parking.

Ordinance 2020-24
An Ordinance Amending the Elections Code Relating to Vote by Mail for City and Borough of Juneau Municipal Elections.

Ordinance 2020-26
An Ordinance Authorizing the Manager to Renew the Lease of the Mayflower Building and Grounds to the Juneau Montessori Center.

Ordinance 2019-06(AD)
An Ordinance Appropriating to the Manager the Sum of $18,086 as Funding for the Land for Senior Assisted Living Capital Improvement Project; Funding Provided by Affordable Housing Fund’s Fund Balance.

Ordinance 2019-06(AE)
An Ordinance Appropriating to the Manager the Sum of $10,000,000, as Partial Funding for Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Fiscal Year 2020 Operating Budget; Funding Provided by CARES Act Funding and the Hospital Fund’s Fund Balance.

Ordinance 2019-06(AG)(b)
An Ordinance Appropriating up to $8,500,000 to the Manager for Phases 2 and 3 of a COVID-19 Business Sustainability Grant Program; Funding Provided by the CARES Act Special Revenue Fund.

Ordinance 2019-06(AI)
An Ordinance Appropriating to the Manager the Sum of $700,000 for COVID-19 Testing Equipment to be Operated by Bartlett Regional Hospital; Funding Provided by the CARES Act Special Revenue Fund.

Ordinance 2019-06(AJ)
An Ordinance Appropriating to the Manager the Sum of $52,600 as Supplemental Funding for Downtown Parking’s Fiscal Year 2020 Operating Budget; Funding Provided by the Downtown Parking Fund’s Fund Balance.

The public can listen to the audio or watch the June 29 meeting in a few different ways:

ADA accommodations available upon request: Please contact the Clerk’s office 36 hours prior to any meeting so arrangements can be made for closed captioning or sign language interpreter services depending on the meeting format. The Clerk’s office telephone number is 586-5278, TDD 586-5351, e-mail: [email protected]

June 10th, 2020|

After testing positive & recovering from COVID-19, Juneau Mayor emphasizes importance of testing

Early on during her 14-day quarantine after having traveled to the Lower 48, Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon started to feel sick. She took a test for COVID-19 on May 26, and received a positive result on May 27. The case was part of the State of Alaska COVID-19 case count on May 28, which the City and Borough of Juneau reported on in an information release that same day. Mayor Weldon was Juneau’s 32nd COVID-19 case. According to Juneau Public Health Nursing, the case is attributed to travel outside of Alaska.

On May 14-17, Mayor Weldon was traveling down south to help out a family member. She flew back to Juneau early on May 18 and immediately went to her home residence to quarantine for 14 days, as was required by the State of Alaska Health Mandate 10 at the time. She conducted all CBJ business by phone or internet. After a couple of days, Mayor Weldon began to feel mild symptoms. “I was fatigued and I felt like I was coming down with a cold – a tickling in my nasal passage and a little irritation in my lungs,” she explained.

Following public health guidance on testing for any new onset of COVID-19 symptoms, even mild ones, she completed a PCR test for COVID-19 through a nasal pharyngeal swab. “It wasn’t that bad. There is a perception that the test is extremely painful, but it isn’t. If you have any symptoms at all, do not let the fear of pain stop you from getting tested. It takes about 20-30 seconds,” Mayor Weldon said.

She continued to stay home and participated in municipal meetings online. Late last week, DHSS declared Mayor Weldon recovered. After consultation with Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink, Mayor Weldon decided to share her experience. Mayor Weldon considers her case of COVID-19 to be fairly mild. “The fatigue was true fatigue. I couldn’t be up for any length of time. I took lots of naps during the day and there was one day when I was pretty sick; I just did not feel good at all. But I never had a fever,” Mayor Weldon said.

An important message that she wants to emphasize: “Get tested even if you have the mildest of symptoms, because that’s exactly what I had – mild symptoms. I didn’t even have a runny nose.”

The public can call Juneau’s COVID-19 Screening Hotline at 586-6000, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, for any new symptoms of COVID-19, even mild ones. Symptoms include fever (>100.4), dry cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, decreased appetite, diminished sense of taste or smell, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, muscle/joint aches, nausea, rash, rigors, runny nose, sore throat, or phlegm

Mayor Weldon also encourages community members to continue practicing preventive measures to slow the spread of the virus: stay six feet or more away from non-family members; cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others; wash your hands frequently.

June 8th, 2020|

Assembly to approve budget, discuss COVID-19 business grants & hear JPD update at 7 p.m.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly has a Regular Meeting tonight at 7 p.m. Agenda items include an update from Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer, an ordinance on a COVID-19 Business Sustainability Grant Program, and approving the Fiscal Year 2021 CBJ budget. The public can listen to the audio or watch the meeting in a few different ways: connect directly to the Zoom Webinar https://juneau.zoom.us/j/98088088215, call 1-346-248-7799 and enter Webinar ID 980 8808 8215; or watch on Facebook Live. KTOO will also broadcast the meeting live on 104.3 FM and online.

The Assembly is holding a public hearing on an ordinance appropriating up to $3.5 million for Phase 1 of a COVID-19 Business Sustainability Grant Program, funding provided by the CARES Act Special Revenue Fund. This ordinance encompasses several recommendations made by the Economic Stabilization Task Force.

For the budget, the Assembly is set to approve an ordinance setting the property tax rate for 2020 at 10.66, which is the same as last year; another ordinance appropriating $385.7 million for CBJ’s FY21 operating budget (excluding the school district); and a resolution adopting the capital improvement program for FY21-26.

Tonight’s agenda also includes items related to CARES Act funding and COVID-19. Read the full agenda here.

To provide public comment during the Regular Assembly meeting, call the Municipal Clerk’s public testimony request phone line at 586-0215 by 3 p.m. today or send an email to [email protected] by 3 p.m. today and provide your full name, email address, the phone number you’ll be calling from, and the agenda topic(s) on which you wish to testify.

If you haven’t notified the Clerk’s Office, you can still testify on public hearing items or non-agenda items, by clicking the “Raise Hand” button (online Zoom Webinar) or press *9 (telephone) when those items come up on the agenda. Members of the public are encouraged to send their comments in advance of the meeting to [email protected].

June 8th, 2020|
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