Mariner's Landing: Rocks & Shoals

This is a complicated and long-winded issue which began long before I came on board and just won't die a quiet death. It should have been a straightforward and easy matter, but has turned out to be anything but.

I will eventually have a full briefing on how we got here and where we are going on my website, but for those of you who are watching this comedy of errors from the edge of your seats - here is the latest.

At our last council meeting I asked our incredible new Assistant City Manager, Kirsten Wheat, what was the status of the AKRR/Mariner's Landing issue. She was unaware and suggested she would get back with me.

After the meeting I was approached by Deb Altermath, co-owner of Mariner's Landing, who suggested that they were willing parties but were having a difficult time getting a meeting with the city manager.

I recently received this e-mail from her partner, Paul Carter, which offers the same complaint.

Mariner’s Landing, LLC
PO Box 3125, Seward, Alaska 99664
(907) 224-2206
paulcarter@hoteledgewater.com

July 27, 2005

City of Seward
Mayor and City Council Members
Po Box 167
Seward, Alaska 99664

RE: Mariner’s Landing, LLC

Dear Mayor and City Council Members:

At this time, we have been unable to get Mr. Clark Corbridge to sit down and negotiate a buy out with our city lease.

As a result and due to the time sensitive makeup of our city lease, we have had to submit a replat to the Seward Community Development Department and the Seward Planning & Zoning Commission for their action on our replat and requested they approve it so we can move forward and construct our Mariner’s Landing, LLC building on our lot.

We have discussed with the city manager the time sensitive issues with him several times and with no formal resolutions coming from him on them, we felt we had no choice but to move this forward as was originally approved by the former city manager and city council.

Specifically for your information, our lease specifically affirms in Article 6- Construction by Lessee (a) which states “LESSEE shall cause to be constructed and operated on the Leased Land a boat brokerage and related services building by September 30, 2005.”

We interpret “cause to be constructed” in this section of the lease to mean we have made significant progress towards construction of a building by at least filing a replat with the Seward Planning Department to move a building project forward. It does not mean we even have to have the building finished, a building permit in place, or even a final re-plat approved by that date. Mr. Phil Shealy and I negotiated this clause and wanted this issue to be clear between the parties that we were going to build a building but did not have to have it constructed by any specific date.

Mr. Corbridge has been unable to agree with me on what the “cause to be constructed” languages means and as I advised him on several occasions, we have a deadline to at least do something by September 30, 2005. Finally, under advise from counsel as well as all the delays from the city manager, we decide we could not wait until September to do something and we had to act now.

I can just imagine the parties against us never ever wanting us to build a building do a total turn around and demand the City of Seward terminate our lease because we did not build a building. What an oxymoron that would be, but I could see some people taking that position. As I have stated, I know what Phil Shealy thought it meant when I discussed it with him when we executed the lease.

We certainly hope the Seward Community Development Department will not impede our progress and act with the spirit and good will with which our lease intended in regards to making the building a reality.

We had hoped it would not come to this, but we really had no choice. If you have any question, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Paul Carter
Mariner’s Landing LLC

Filed in: Alaska politics news culture Seward

Renaissance for Neglected Jesse Lee Home

Am extremely happy to discover that the new group working on the Jesse Lee Home project seem to be set on turning this historically significant building into more than just a housing project.

Previous proposals for the building included low income, senior, or assisted living housing. These were shortsighted and inappropriate uses of what should be a public building.

With its ideal location next to residential neighborhoods and local schools, Jesse Lee begs to be made a place where friends and neighbors join together to explore the legacy of our past and to bring to fruition the hopes we have for our future. Alaskan children were the focus of the Jesse Lee Home, and children should be inside her walls again.

If the building is physically suitable to be an apartment complex then she is fit to be an interactive learning library and museum that greatly enhances the quality of life for ALL of our citizens. Revamp the stage that is already there and you have a delightful place for a readers theater, roadshows, one-act plays, music recitals and small group meetings. A place to grab a cup of cocoa, talk about the latest mystery novel, or research on the internet would draw regulars.

By combining an interactive museum with the public library we could have displays that educate and stimulate, room for archives and researchers, and consolidate staffing. We would be able to host traveling exhibits and symposiums.

A few well-placed meeting rooms inside the Jesse Lee Home could help support its maintenance by hosting group small conferences - that year-round income doesn't hurt the rest of Seward either. Such a venue also brings the perpetual grant money that straight housing will never find.

Anyone who suggests that it is too far away from downtown and no one would go there, or that moving the museum/library from downtown would somehow diminish the quality of what Fourth Avenue has to offer is being less than progressive in their thinking. Seward is only three miles long, access is not an issue, and the Jesse Lee Home merits being a focal point in this community.

Seniors have a great transportation network in this city, no doubt the trolley would be happy to follow the same route the school buses do. The lots behind Jesse Lee could be paved and landscaped into an attractive parking lot. Students from all over could stay at Jesse Lee for a semester while attending classes unavailable in their villages.

With a population that is 30% Alaska Native, Seward is rural student-friendly in size, layout, and location. Jesse Lee is ideal for that purpose. Historically we opened our arms to those populations. As the Gateway to Alaska we embraced all of the state's cultures with respect and dignity, which is how we got the Jesse Lee Home here in the first place.

Jesse Lee could be successfully marketed as a destination location for the tourist trade, while at the same time enhancing the quality-of-life of the people of Seward as a public-use campus...honoring our past, meeting the needs of our present, and ensuring the strength of our future generations.

Restoration of the Jesse Lee Home has been plagued by naysayers since the earthquake. It is a proud legacy, not just for the people of Seward, but for all of Alaska. Our heritage deserves better than to be dumbed down into a low income housing complex.

I am happy that the powers that be have reconsidered the proposed use of this remarkable building and under their stewardship Jesse Lee will be given the opportunity to make as significant an impact on our future as she has made on our past.

I was relieved last night when the Seward City Council voted unanimously to place the Jesse Lee as the number one priority for the Historical Preservation Commission.

I am grieved to note that one of my fellow council members expressed concern that this project may shift city administration resources from other projects they deemed "more worthy."

We need to get behind this effort, 100%, with no reservations. Our stewardship over this historical gem has been horrendously irresponsible, and that wrong needs to be righted.

Filed in: Alaska politics news culture Seward native children

Road Rage, Alaskan Style

I have to be honest, whenever I am stateside there is a part of me that really enjoys pulling out on the freeway when it is full of traffic and driving 40 mph. They call it paybacks.

Just ignore the honking, the people stacked up behind you, keep switching lanes so you are always in the fullest one. You see I live at the beginning of one of the country's most scenic byways - the Seward Highway.

In the winter the road glitters with black ice, is often closed by avalanches, and you have to dodge moose and rock slides. You also have to be on your toes for the snowmachiners (that's snowmobilers, for non-Alaskans) - they forget they are no longer on their snowmachines but in a truck carrying a trailer. Can be a little unnerving when they decide to pass on the right shoulder going over 100 mph in a whiteout snowstorm.

We have whiteout snowstorms, and 120-mph winds along the Turnagain Arm that will catch your vehicle and pull it either into the cliffs or over them into the icy cold waters. Driving the Seward Highway in the winter is a picnic compared to driving it in the summer.

Starting in May the rental cars and tourists show up. They stop in the middle of the road or on a steep curve to look at mountain goats, beluga whales, or guys windsurfing the bore tide. They get out of their cars with their cameras around their neck - completely oblivious to the 18-wheeler pulling doubles that is bearing down on them.

After they are through oohing and aahing they pull back onto the highway without looking. Prepare for everything in your vehicle to hit the windshield as you pop the brakes to avoid a collision. They flip you off when you lay on the horn - the latter being an extremely rare thing for an Alaskan to do. If we are honking it is usually the quick "hello" given as you pass a neighbor.

Then they drive 45 miles per hour right past the sign designating the highway as 65. It is a highway after all. How you could not notice traffic backed up for 20 miles behind you (like the poor guys in the oncoming lane were backed up last night) and use one of the many turnouts so that the local COMMUTERS can get home from the day and be with their families?

Rental car, rental car, rental car, camper, camper, motor home, boat, rental car. We should have laws against this kind of thing. Wait, we do, anything after five vehicles stacked up behind you and you are supposed to let them by. Sadly, our state troopers are spread too thin to enforce the measure.

And while I am complaining about the manners of you visiting folk - I am sure this drive at the speed limit thing is not a regional custom - what is with the littering? You see those "Littering $1,000 fine" signs? We take keeping our beautiful state beautiful seriously. You want to play Johnny Appleseed, fine, but keep your forest fire-starting cigarette butts and your plastic candy wrappers inside your car.

There is a special place in hell for those who fail to use the trash dumpsters conveniently located every 30 miles are so at rest stops and park campsites. If you can't find the way I will be happy to draw you a map.

And wake up and dodge the animals. I know in Michigan it is sporting to run over the wildlife, but in Alaska it is the exception, not the rule. You can go for months in the off season before you see a bird that bit it - so give the porcupines a break. Unless you plan on eating them, and if that is the case, pick up after yourself when you are done butchering so that you don't draw ravens and bears to the roadway.

Filed in: Seward Alaska history humor wack-a-do wildlife Michigan culture

ANILCA Aggravation

Homestead Elementary school was the site of my first act of political outrage. "Down the drain with the Carter campaign!", I yelled at the top of my voice to the voters making their way to the polls. I know, but hey, I was only a kid. My concern with Carter was that he would lock up Alaska.

Concern realized. On December 2, 1980, President Carter designated 10 new national parks, nine refuges, and two national monuments in Alaska- doubling the total acreage of national parks in the US.

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) set aside more than 100 million acres of federal land under the pretense of public use. 100 million acres. That is a scant four million acres less than what the State of Alaska owns. The Natives of Alaska were only given 44 million in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Seems backwards.

Hmmm, how many states can we puzzle together to come up with 100 MILLION acres of park? States that are peopled by folks who FAILED to keep their lands pristine. Alaska's people managed their lands successfully for tens of thousands of years, now these Johnny-come-lately-do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do's are going to tell us how to go about the business of keeping Alaska the Great Land.

No, I am not bitter. Nor am I buying it. President Jimmy Carter signed the law 25 years ago, touting the legislation as the single greatest piece of conservation in the world. I would have gone about it a different way. Close our borders and set up a rigid training program for those wanting to tour Alaska's wilderness. Talk to them about littering. Inform them that whaling is a year-long activity even though the whale-hunting season is short. Introduce them to the honey bucket, the expedient latrine used in rural Alaska, literally a bucket. Give them a taste of what the wilds are really like.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for parks. I'm for state and local parks, where Alaskans decide what to do with their land. For Big Brother to come in the way Carter did was morally offensive. Alaska's congressman, Don Young, declared the Act "criminal."

The Act's restrictions on road access are appalling. People who have been driving on a road for 60 years, a road they put in with their own sweat, now need permits and are restricted on how many trips they can make a year. Trips to acquire necessities such as food, heating fuel and medical assistance are limited. Private landowners are landlocked, an offense most Planning and Zoning Commissions would be up in arms about.

The pretense of public use is also offensive. Most of the 165 MILLION acres of federal land in Alaska is accessible only on foot. So if you are young, healthy, and athletic - not the average American - you can enjoy the beauty of Alaska.

Everyone else can take a bus to the edge and wish they could experience the majesty. If you are handicapped, forget it. That notion flies in the face of the disability-empowered society that we have worked so hard to foster.

ANILCA is also insulting to Alaska Natives. There was the hope, with so many acres to manage, that the Federal Government would hire a large Native workforce - people who had intrinsic knowledge about the land and its resources and who had successfully managed it for generations.

Despite thousands of Alaska Natives in dozens of villages available, making up 16 percent of the State's population, they only account for 7% of the National Park Service/US Fish and Wildlife Service's 1,613 person workforce. The number of Natives selected under the local hire provision is a measly 5%.

Representative Don Young has been steadfastly promoting Alaskans being employed in the management of federal lands in the state. In 2002 he introduced a bill that would have required the Department of Interior to let six Native organizations manage a portion of Alaska's federal lands. The bill didn't pass.

Instead of allowing Alaska Natives to manage their ancestral lands, most are managed by outside interests. A failure for ANILCA, which was supposed to revolutionize the spirit of public land management by introducing the concept that people were as much a part of the ecosystems as plants and animals...protecting the ecologies and the people who rely on them.

Inherently, Alaska Natives bring more to the task than outsiders. They know the land and the interdependent relationships of the environment. Natives get the Big Picture of how Alaska works. Without that traditional knowledge the Feds are stumbling in the dark in a land that is fragile, with a balance of nature that is delicate. How do you explain that to a peanut farmer from Georgia?

Filed in: Seward Alaska history native culture politics news environment history wildlife

A Good Family

It was a month ago that we spilled out in the hallway of the hospital. Unsure, afraid, avoiding eye contact with each other less we loose our composure. Quietly excusing ourselves from bedside to make our way to the back of the room when we did.

"This is a good family," a man in scrubs suggested as he walked by. "Excellent family," remarked a nurse a few minutes later, "Can I get you to visit some of my other patients?"

It is my Grandma Mom, our family matriarch, who is loosing her battle with cancer. After all the radiation her body would allow, chemotherapy, and two very radical surgeries they found the skin cancer had rapidly advanced into her lungs and chest.

"Not the answer I wanted to hear," she quietly exclaimed after the doctor delivered the bad news. "I was hoping it was an infection and they could treat it with sulfur." This Alaskan pioneer is no where near "ready to go."

Surrounded by a rotating nest of five children, and half a dozen grandchildren and great grandchildren, and friends she treasured for over fifty years, she spent her day answering the phone. A grandson came by to show her sonogram of his new daughter, his brother lost his child the same day.

The nurses remark about how bossy the women of our family are, a trait that we picked up from her. I laugh to watch my aunts using the same language to get her to eat that she has been using for all her life to get us to eat. She was a hell of a woman, she is a hell of a woman. One that will be sorely missed.

She is out of pain now, because of the morphine. That is a blessing. And we look at the silver lining in this dark cloud. There is time to say goodbye.

For as the creed of the Alaskan Pioneer has declared for over a hundred years, the trail ends not here. There is no death. What seems so is transition; death is an episode of life. It is closing dim eyes, for an instant, to open them with clearer, larger vision, as from a mountain top upon a wider horizon.

All those good and generous qualities which live within my Grandmother are immortal. They cannot die. Faith, love and hope abide.

Filed in: Seward Alaska culture girlfriends pioneer

Day in the Life

Sunshine streaming through the skylight wakes me up. Skylights are a great idea in a bathroom or closet, terrible idea in a bedroom. Especially in Alaska where in the summer Mr. Sunshine can be up at 4 am, after going to bed way after midnight. For cave sleepers like myself, it is a very painful proposition.

A coyote was in my driveway, which is only the second coyote I have ever seen here. A good sized animal with a beautiful coat, very glossy and thick. Possibly a small wolf. Decided it would not be a good day to let the turkeys enjoy the free range life. Buck and Miss Cuba have really enjoyed strutting around the yard all summer, and now that the berries are in season they are enjoying it just that much more. A berry-stuffed bronze turkey seems like to tasty a meal to pass up if I were a coyote - so decided to err on the side of caution and left them in the pen.

Black bears and moose in the yard are not uncommon, and an eagle's nest is located a couple hundred yards away so they are a regular fixture as well. This coyote is intriguing. I enjoyed them in Arizona, wonder if it will stick around in my woods. I have thirteen acres, a little triangle of Sitka spruce and hemlock that borders a marsh with a lone white swan. Pulled a small creek off an artesian spring last summer, which runs through a field that I am cultivating as a wildflower/fruit garden.

Spent the day going through a bucket of self-etching oil-based primer on the box car that I am using for a garage. The primer is a cobalt blue and makes the structure look like a child's toy. Better than the rusty silver that it started. I want to paint a mural on the long side - perhaps something that looks like a postcard from the Golden Age of Travel. I can paint only a gallon a day with all the distractions that come with the job and the time it takes to run up and down the ladder. Not that I mind the steady flow of neighbors that drop by to visit - enjoy them immensely, it is just that I wish I had more of Tom Sawyer's charm when it comes to painting.

Am three gallons into the project now, two more to go and I hope to have the boxcar covered. Then the fun part will start. My guesthouse is a 1940s troop car with 14x20 rooms built off the sides. I purposely chose not to have but one tiny window in the walls facing the street because I want to paint a scenic mural there as well, so it looks like the railcar is in situ instead of driving through someone's house. We are still on the tyvek layer on that project.

Visiting with the locals is a great experience. One 80 year old gent told me how he was a commercial fisherman in his prime, and sold a drift permit for $85,000 one fall. He had it made into $5k cashiers checks and stuck it in his bedroom drawer. Over the course of the winter he bought the first three stools at the local bar, and had more friends than he has ever had in his life. Come spring he had drank up $85k and had to take out a $10k draw at the local fisheries to outfit his boat. Hasn't even had a glass of wine since. I think his wife must really love him.

Rumor has it that another local boy has acquired a green card girlfriend that we are nicknaming "Swetlana". This is a greathearted guy, who has a difficulty with people skills at times, but always the best intentions. Local girls understand that the mail order bride thing is a business proposition for the Russians. They got cold hearted during the cold war, had to in order to survive.

Come to America, find someone who is hopefully tolerable and accommodating. Get your American degree, send enough money back home for the family to get by, learn English and find a job. When the two-years of indentured servitude is over, bring your little kids over - but not before in case your sponsoring husband is a perv. After you divorce the first husband, the one who was your mule, then you find the second and third boyfriends (hopefully at the same time) these are the guys who buy you a nest and feather it. Now, after the hell of making these social misfits happy, now you have time and resources to sit back and wait for love to arrive. It is not an easy way to live, and we don't begrudge them for trying to make a better life.

You have to wonder what is the guy thinking. Here is a beautiful, intelligent, articulate woman who is going to stay with you because you rescued her from poverty? You don't have the skills to make it with an Alaskan, so you are going to import - and she isn't going to notice that you are an insensitive bore? Guess you have to run the odds.

Not that our red-haired hero here is set up for failure, we are wishing him the best. We have another friend who picked up a honey from the Philippines, and they hit it off and are still together years later - you just never know.

Filed in: Seward Alaska wildlife livestockculture humor design fishing Russia girlfriends

Political Ideals vs. Political Realities

Name: Dorene M. Lorenz
Occupation: Creative Professional
Length of residency in Seward: Since 1965

1. Be specific about what motivates you to run for office (other than serving the general good of the public).

Never have had any political ambitions, I am more of a behind-the-scenes person. I was very honored that many locals whom I greatly respect asked me to fill Margaret Anderson's shoes. She is one of the most industrious individuals I have ever met, whomever fills her seat has their work cut out for them.

2. Do we have enough planning and zoning? Is there sufficient enforcement? Would you make any changes?

P&Z Commission puts great effort in determining what the best course is. Although I may not always agree with their choices, I give them credit for taking an honest look at what we need. We have to review our methodology to ensure we are enforcing codes in a fair, equitable, and reasonable way.

3. How do we pay for repair and improvement of Seward's aging infrastructure, i.e., water delivery system, sewers, streets, Lowell Canyon diversion tunnel, harbor facilities and sidewalks? How do we pay for capital improvements like a new library/museum and a replacement for Wesley?

We simply do not have the tax base to fund large capital improvements ourselves. Getting money for infrastructure development is just like getting money to go to college. If you do your homework diligently you can find grants and scholarships to pay most of your way. Those who don't end up paying for it themselves out-of-pocket or with loans.

We need positively market our needs in a way that would appeal to the scholarship committees.

4. Do you think Seward residents' quality of life is eroding, improving, or holding its own? Examples? What can be done to improve the quality of life here?

Ah, the golden memories of yesteryear. I grew up listening to the stories of what our forefathers went through, and let me tell you, in comparison we have it really cush.

More community pride and focused volunteerism could make our town more attractive. We could enhance our quality of life by opening up more recreational and family-oriented activities for residents, particularly in the winter months.

Fully funding education, with our priorities being students, teachers, and facilities - in that order - will make the largest long-term difference in the quality of life in our community. The spinoffs of an exceptional education system are exponential.

5. What is your vision for this community? What long-term goals would you pursue? How will our next generation be better off than we are?

According to a newspaper article he wrote, John Ballaine founded Seward expecting 500,000 people to live here. I don't want to see us grow larger than Anchorage.

What I do want to see is light industry and housing development across the bay, fueled by natural gas. Having natural gas as an energy source is the largest determining factor in what life is going to be like for future generations. Securing natural gas has to be a priority, we must actively lead the charge.

6. What can be done to make the local economy more stable, reducing problems that result from summers that are overly busy and winters that offer few options for work. Be specific.

We need to be significantly more sophisticated and savvy in marketing and developing ALL of our economic engines. Time and time again opportunity passes us by because we aren't open for business. It is going to take a lot of work to get us in a position where we can capitalize on our assets, we need to persistently prosecute that effort.

7. Will the multi-use facility help downtown? What do you think of losing private property to government ownership if the facility is built? Should city taxpayers help foot operational costs of conference/visitor center?

Properly built and marketed, the multi-use facility could be a godsend to downtown. It could foster visitors that keep our restaurants and hotels busy year-round. As a community we could use the space for events much like we have embraced the Alaska Sealife Center.

Very excited about the prospects and possibilities, and thankful that we have tenacious citizens who won't let go of a good idea even if they have to hang on to it for decades. We need to determine how we are going to spend the profits from the conference center, because if we are smart in our business plan we can funnel a lot of dollars into our economy from this new economic engine.

The property issue is a wash, since the buildings the Forest Service and Park Service are currently in will be available for private sector purchase.

I look forward to seeing a building erected that we can all be proud of, that will be a benchmark for historic period influenced architecture in the downtown business district.

8. How should lodging tax money be spent? Tourism enhancement, infrastructure repair/improvement, etc.?

Simplicity is sometimes the best course, perhaps splitting the pot between marketing to tourists and making Seward more attractive to tourists. Would want to consider the percentages based on a well thought out long-term plan rather than the whims-of-the-day.

9. Do you see any need to expand Seward's boundaries to accommodate housing development, for example, or to bring city services to the rural areas?

I firmly feel that when outlying areas come to us asking to be annexed we should welcome them with open arms. In the meantime, we should do all we can to make Seward the kind of place that people want to live in.

10. Where do you stand on harbor expansion issues? Recreational use, charter/tour boat use, commercial use? Which proposed east harbor expansion plan do you favor?

I am big on harbor expansion, much bigger than any of the plans currently being considered.

We need a beautiful first class marina that will attract private vessels from all over Alaska because of the exceptional restaurants and amenities that are associated with it. We need a convenient first class harbor area dedicated to the charter/tour boats, with gift shops close at hand. Both of these areas need adequate parking.

We need a practical first class harbor area dedicated to commercial fishing interests, with lots of uplands for fish processing and a close tie to the airport so eventually we can fly out our branded catch to markets all over the world like Copper River does. We need to be the destination location in Alaska for maintaining vessels, and for getting product to market. Our docks are our lifeblood and we need to be respectful of them.

Seward needs to embrace its heritage as the Gateway to Alaska. The City of Seward needs to actively assist private enterprise in developing these economic engines so that we can all benefit. There is room at the table for everyone, there is plenty of food to go around. We need to set the table and say grace.

11. Schools offer sports but no music, little art, no Quest classes, etc. Any way the city can help?

Yes, firstly as citizens we can get out and vote on school issues. Our voting record on borough school issues is shameful.

As a city we can encourage and facilitate volunteerism, school-business partnerships, school-artist partnerships, and similar programs to enhance the quality of our schools by drawing on our most underused resource - our amazingly skilled, talented and generous populace.

12. Where would you cut expenses to balance the budget or would you increase taxes to cover shortfall and, if so, which taxes?

Taxes are offensive, especially sales taxes, which any economist worth his salt will tell you are the most repressive to the poor. I think there are specific instances where the city could save money via better choices - locally renting a mini-excavator instead of buying and maintaining one, for example.

I think we have cut to far, and are paying for putting off hard decisions and maintenance of our assets. We have demoralized our city employees. We need to stop trying to suck the marrow out of our bones and invest our time in putting the fat back on them.

Am interested in seeing the numbers in letting out management contracts to private industry. How much is the private sector willing to pay to offer us a stipulated level of service, what enhancements are they willing to offer, and what percentage of the profits should we expect to receive? Lets talk to the city employees to discover their recommendations, and then actually follow through on those that pencil out.

More important to the long-term, because I am very much a "big picture" person, let's get more savvy in our state and federal politicking. Let's encourage reasonable economic development. Let's empower our people and wonder at the amazing things they are able to accomplish.


The Seward Phoenix Log asked me these questions when I was running for office, and in reviewing my answers half way through my term, I am happy to say that my opinion hasn't changed a whit.

Filed in: politics Seward Alaska preservation history

What to do about the Wesley?

NOTE: At a Special Meeting held last night the City Council voted 7-0 to not keep the facility at its current location; 2-5 not to purchase the Schafter Property (Valdetta/Lorenz pro); and 5-2 to place it on the city owned Ft. Raymond track (Valdetta/Lorenz con).

While I am glad that my fellow council members finally got the hint that the current location is a terrible choice, the spurned Schafer property was ideal. The administration advised us so, their only concern was the 6 months they felt it would take to purchase the property.

Overlapping the timelines on the project, it was easy to see that we could hire a project manager/file our certificate of need (2 months) and do preliminary design (4 months) concurrent with purchasing the property. Both sites offered blue sky design, and are located on adjacent blocks.

Here is last night's correspondence on the issue:


Dear Kerry Martin,

Thanks for your input on this important issue. I agree with you that the current location is a bad choice, I wish Linda Amberg understood that. The advantages that I see to using Mr. Schafer's property are thus:

1) We have to buy some of it anyway, as you pointed out, for the levee. This allows us to purchase at at lower rate ($20k/acre for all, $50k/acre for some) land we have to buy anyway.

2) We can start developing faster, important in our current situation where every day of construction counts, as the Schafer property is already cleared and filled. There is $900k budgeted for land acquisition and Schafer is offering his property at less than half of that amount.

3) We have space to create a campus, the city-owned parcels are not big enough for that. This includes replacing the hospital there in 8 years when the bond is paid off, a location which allows the hospital and the Wesley to grow with our community. This includes someday having ambulances based there (important when you are the guy at 5 Mile having a heart attack). Parcels could be sold to private developers for elderly housing. Lots of close parking, which is key with elderly/handicapped.

4) One less intersection to cross before the airport, that much less chance of a mishap. Less chance we are going to need a stop light.

5) Allows for future growth of rec camp facilities - if you have noticed the Armed Forces have been investing in their facility, there is no reason to believe that in the next 50 years they won't want to expand it more...perhaps keeping it open year round.

6) Possible opportunity to relocate city shop/fire in location previously suggested was prime for those buildings. This would free up key property downtown.

I am not opposed to using the city land, but to me it is second choice. I am STRONGLY opposed to keeping the Wesley in the current location. Thank you again for your comments, would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the five reasons for Schafer that I outlined above.

Warm regards,

Dorene M. Lorenz
Seward City Council

-----Original Message-----

Dear Councilmembers,

I have been quiet for 6 years now, but it is time to present an opinion or two. With regard to your upcoming decision tonight on the location of the Wesley Nursing Home, considering your time frame, of your three choices, I have a hard time understanding why there is any discussion of any site other than the city owned parcels in the Fort Raymond Subdivision.

As Marianne Kiel stated at your Monday meeting, locating the hospital in its present location was a mistake. Everyone in town was rushed and manipulated by former City Manager Ron Garzini. It is in a hazardous location should the Lowell Creek Dam be breached.

It is in a congested location, hemmed in by the mountains, streets and residences. No one is happy with the helicopter operations above the residential neighborhood. And lastly, as you are now discovering, there is no room for proper expansion.

The Fort Raymond site is encumbered only by a seasonally used and minimally developed campground; and the short term lease with the Army Resort for a possible, bowling alley. The community can easily give up the campground revenue in favor of the benefits of a new residential nursing home and proper hospital location. We can easily give up the idea of a possible bowling alley. The site is otherwise undeveloped and under utilized.

It has access to the highway, SeaLion Ave and Hemlock. It is not within a residential area. It is close to the airport for fixed winged medical transport. There is adequate room for the nursing home, future relocation of the hospital and the heliport. There is also an additional city lot on the north side of Hemlock that could be used for parking etc.

The idea of purchasing private land in Forest Acres when you have an adequate site available, makes not sense whatsoever. Additionally, if you look at an aerial view of the property proposed by Mr. Shafer, a good percentage of it is in or on the other side of Jap Creek/Resurrection River channels. One advantage of acquiring it, is that it includes the route you need for the North Forest Acres Levee / road. Purchasing this parcel also ups your development costs as opposed to property the city already owns.

Thank you for your time and commitment to this major decision.
Kerry Martin, City of Seward Community
Development Director (retired)

-----Original Message-----

Mayor & City Council
City of Seward,
Seward, Alaska 99664

Dear Members:

Regarding the site selection for the development of the new nursing home, I would like to offer my thought on the matter. Recognizing the time crunch and the frustration of some members of the council in that their concerns and ideas have not been addressed, it appears our backs are against the wall and a decision must be made tonight.

I was on the council when the City authorized the construction of the new hospital. There was a proposal then to relocate the hospital on the City owned property between the Army Recreation site and the Seward Highway. Basically the City administration was opposed to that idea and it would have delayed the project, however there seems to be a "NOT IN MY BACK YARD" attitude on new development or visionary land use plans. We must look ahead and plan for an expansion of the future health care needs in the Seward area. Presently this area is used for camping sites, which I don't consider the highest and best use for this property.

There is no room for Hospital expansion at the present site, unless we go into a multi-story building. We still have the helicopter landing pad issue, which was a source of great debate when it was proposed. Moving the Hospital to a site adjacent to Forest Acres would provide our health care facilities being more centrally located to serve the growing needs of the Seward area.

With an eye towards future development, we could still work with Mr. Shafer on the possible purchase of his land. We need developable property -- not merely for parks and campsites. We have the levy project, the transfer station service road, the relocation of the City Shop, the electric equipment storage yard (located outside city limits on the highway) could be sold and relocated.

The City Shop (which is a disaster waiting to happen), a Dog Pound, and a Vehicle Impound Yard is not the highest and best use of this valuable city property. This property should be developed into home sites which would increase the tax base in Seward. An example is the Leirer development project in Bayview, and all the new homes being built in that area.

The present site on First Avenue could be developed and expanded into a Senior Housing complex. Not all "old people" end up in nursing homes, as a matter-of-fact most prefer to live independently as long as possible and I feel there is a growing need for upscale independent living facilities for our aging population.

Yes, this project is probably going to be more expensive, but in the long run it will meet the future needs of the Seward area.

Sincerely,

Margaret Anderson

-----Original Message-----

Dear Council Members:

I would like to voice my support once again for an off-site location for the new LTC and Hospital facility. In particular, I would like to state my support for the purchase/trade agreement was proposed by Steve Schafer and Al Schafer of the 53.06 acres located west of the Seward hwy and north of the rec camp.

I believe this parcel of land offers the City of Seward the opportunity to devlop a state-of-the-art health care center which might include not only a beautiful new longterm facility but also:

1. Expanded revenue resource departments such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapies.
2. Fully equipped radiology departments
3. Top-of-the-line lab/testing department
4. Adequate and private physician clinic services
5. Expanded physician specialty services
6. Private and personable well baby and woman's services
7. Collaboration and co-location of other health services in town currently operating in competition or off site from the current hospital services such as Glacierview and possibly Seaview Community Services.

It also offers in the trade agreement with the Schafers:
1. Expanded tax base by allowing a private developer to create increased and much needed "in-city" housing in the 400 acres requested in trade in this agreement.
2. More cost effective site preparation than the currently proposed rec camp location secondary to the ground elevation levels of the re camp being below that of the Schafer's property.
3. Would allow for other city use for the remainder of the property at the 53.6 acre site such a City Maintenance facility.

Most Sincerely,

Tina E. McLean
Owner/Executive Director
Active Alaskan Physical Therapy
13080 Seward Hwy
Seward, Alaska 99664

Filed in: politics Seward Alaska

Expatriate New Yorkers

The closest that I have come to dating a New Yorker in New York is going out to Rascals with a boy from Greenwich, Conn. I am convinced it is not the same thing.

I have dated several New Yorkers outside of New York, mostly in Tucson. The three men that immediately come to mind were all also Italians who had wonderful families. They had their dating quirks. I am not about to discern if it was because they were from NY, Italian, or had such an amazing family that outsiders were a distant second.

Boy One was my first Valentines Day day date, and to this day is the only guy who showed up at my door with a red Amazon rose, taken me out to a fantastic dinner, and said the magic words "Happy Valentines Day." He also brought to my flat two of every kind of single-serving bottle of beer and wine they carried at the local liquor store - not realizing that I don't drink. I appreciated the gesture immensely.

It was our first date, and our last. After he gave me an impromptu fashion show of the red fishnet thong he was wearing for the occasion, it became very clear that we were more cut out to be friends than lovers. Great friends, I love him dearly and he has been a peach to me.

He rang me up on Thanksgiving one year, and discovered I was home alone. He advised me that his brother (whom I hadn't met) was in my area (which was a lie) and he was going to ring him on the cell and have him pick me up and take me to their parents for dinner (which he did). It was incredibly thoughtful.

What the boy failed to mention was that he was not at this Thanksgiving dinner, he was in California. So there I was in a room filled to the brim with family and friends, me not knowing a soul. His family was very gracious, after his mother introduced me to the group as the only female friend that her son had never slept with there was plenty to talk about.

The other two New Yorkers had their quirks as well. I invited the one to attend the symphony with me, he accepted and then promptly forgot about it. In his brain my follow up call to arrange to meet him for dinner prior to the symphony was a separate date, and he did show for that - but had made other arrangements for the symphony slot. Obviously not an evening he was looking forward to as much as I was.

The third made some unfortunate comment about how I was staying too far away from him and was inconvenient to pick up for a date. Keep in mind, I was visiting from Alaska and had just traveled two hours by car to get to the Anchorage airport, a 12 hour flight to Arizona, a half hour from the the Tucson airport to my girlfriend's house - and fifteen minutes was too long for him to have to drive to pick me up. Way to make a girl feel special.

Hints to those wanting to date Alaskans: if you agree to go out with her, show up. Show up appropriately dressed in a timely manner. Be there when she meets your family for the first time, especially if it is a formal dinner in your home on a national holiday. Don't whine about the commute, and lose the thong.

Filed in: NY Arizona girlfriends humor wack-a-do culture Alaska

Date DC

Have been reading Ann Coulter's How to Talk to a Liberal, If You Must, and about lost it cracking up at the George article entitled "Capitol Punishment". For those of you who haven't enjoyed this read, this particular article is a little out of the normal subject area for Coulter, she describes her dating life in Washington DC.

DC men, she concludes, and from my first hand experience totally agree, don't know how to ask a woman out. What they do is ask the woman to ask them out. She suggests this may be because the men of DC make no money and therefore have no self esteem.

I don't really hang around the poor crowd when I am in DC, but have the same experience. My conclusion was that DC men are generally of the delusion that they are Masters of the Universe and Captains of the World's Destiny and are under the impression that they have the burden of immense power during the work day and want someone else to take over after they clock out. I came to this conclusion after having the "What the hell?" discussion with several DC men and that was generally their answer.

I am mystified about the DC dating rituals. Let me give you an example. Am in bed, sleeping, at 10 p.m. on a weeknight. DC boy calls.

"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Sleeping." I answer.
"I am just finishing up a meeting with some clients and wanting to go out for a bit. Get dressed and the driver will meet you in 20 minutes." (This is as close as you get to being "asked" for a date, it is really being "told" that you are going on a date. This ONLY occurs if the guy forgets that he is not scheduling a business lunch with you.)

Driver arrives, we go to the Jockey Club, he orders a drink. I don't drink, but am hungry, and the kitchen is closed. We sit, we wait. I am looking for the clients to join us at any moment. They never show. Who does show is a very interesting chap who used to be a speech writer for Reagan. Find his conversation fascinating, to the expressed disapproval of my date.

The Jockey Club is where DC boy and I met half-a-dozen years before, but because they have remodeled and I am half asleep and hungry, it isn't ringing any bells with me. There is a dance floor in the back part of the bar. This is a bit odd, I am thinking, but hey, I am always up for an impromptu swirl in the closed section of a restaurant.

"This is the song that was playing when we first met." He suggests. I have absolutely no idea. Was there music playing when we first met? I recall his friend playing the piano, but I don't remember what song. Could it have really have been Frank's "I Did it My Way"?

I remember being very tired the night we met as well. It was after an event that I was working, my first 24 hours in our nation's capitol, and we were restaurant hopping to find the best tiramisu in DC with a Monica Lewinski look-a-like during the hey-day moments of the DNA stained dress being released. Another story for another day.

Still hungry, now my stomach is loudly complaining the Spanish olives that I nicked from the bar were not going to cut it - we depart. For food? No. For the Lincoln Memorial.

I have driven past several monuments, never occurred to me to stop and visit. Monuments are like mountains, best viewed from a distance. Getting up close and personal with the guys smoking a joint on the stairs, the urine-smelling hall, and the chilly chamber did nothing to endear me to Lincoln. Shivering, damp from the rain, I listened as DC boy read the Gettysburg Address out loud for me.

Some part of me sensed that there was some underlying thing going on that I was just missing, but I was so hungry, and starting to get the first red flags of hypothermia, that I just couldn't bend my brain around what I was missing.

I announced that I was ready to leave, now.

DC boy finally clued in that I was hungry, and thereby grumpy, and took me to a restaurant that was of unknown ethnic origin and ordered some food that had such a frightening presentation that I decided that it just wasn't worth the risk. After he grew tired of pushing I still don't know what around a paper plate, we departed.

A painstaking towncar ride around to look at the lit up buildings, (Would this hell ever end?) and I was home to a newly beloved refrigerator.

Next day I made inquiries about the nature of my "date" the evening before, and was told by those who would know that this was not just a date, but an exceptionally romantic one. Apparently, I am truly dense when it comes to courting rituals of this nature.

Notes for any boys wanting to successfully date Alaskan women: Feed them first. Keep them warm. Give them some rough idea of what the expected schedule is for the evening.

Filed in: DC Alaska girlfriends culture wack-a-do politics