Tag Archives: Michael Powers

On today’s edition of The Lowdown, city manager Mike Tvenge, borough manager Michael Powers and fire chief Jim Mullican sat down to talk about Kodiak’s coronavirus prevention measures and strategies. The biggest takeaways should sound familiar by now — practice good hygiene and stay separated from others as much as possible. “The only way to slow the coronavirus, like any …

The Borough Assembly ratified the results of the October 1 municipal election at last night’s meeting. Shortly after, the newly elected mayor, Bill Roberts, and two assembly members, Duane Dvorak and Scott Arndt were sworn into office. Roberts and Dvorak are new to the assembly and Arndt is an incumbent starting another term. Duane Dvorak and Assemblymember Scott Arndt take …

The Consolidation Committee took an incremental step forward on Monday night’s meeting, voting unanimously to strike the option of a consolidated second-class borough government from the list of potential outcomes. In the State of Alaska, a second-class borough government is different from either a first-class or home rule borough in that it has fewer powers. And to exercise the powers …

The State Fire Marshal lifted the fireworks ban for Kodiak Island Borough over the weekend. Residents are now able to purchase and use fireworks until August 4. “The ban was lifted on Saturday and we have been striving to get the word out to everyone,” Borough Manager Michael Powers said over the phone Monday morning. “I do know that Chief …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough is using a scoring system to solicit nonprofit applications for fiscal year 2019. The borough assembly went over criteria at its work session last week. According to the meeting packet, organizations can fall into the categories of health and social services for a total budgeted amount of $144,000 or under education, culture, and recreation …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Last week, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly turned down a potentially illegal land sale. Assemblyman Dave Townsend and Rob Baer had applied to buy land on Raspberry Island. The transaction made it past the Planning and Zoning Commission before the borough’s attorney pointed out the deal may not be legal. It turns out that the mode of sale …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT When a dog gets loose and poses a threat to Kodiak residents, animal control is the service they call. Animal control also covers vaccine enforcement and responds to reports of abuse. The Kodiak Island Borough contracts with the City of Kodiak to provide those services and pays for its part of the agreement. Last week at its regular …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The borough is working to clear the muddy waters of land sale. At the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly meeting on Thursday, the assembly altered language in its code that Borough Manager Michael Powers said modernizes the land disposal process. “It basically puts the onus on a developer or developers to present proposals for the development and then, once …

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough is looking into raising property taxes to make ends meet and balance the budget in the next fiscal year. Like the rest of Alaska, Kodiak’s budget is suffering from shrinking state and federal revenues, which make up a large portion of the borough’s general fund. Borough Manager Michael Powers says 2016’s poor pink salmon …

The Kodiak Island Borough government is pretty new at the top, with the mayor, manager and finance director all coming aboard in 2016. As a result, the budget under consideration for the fiscal year that begins in July is somewhat new ground. “I’m trying to think of the best way of putting this,” said Borough Manager Michael Powers at last …