 (Who live outside the Cities of Ketchikan and Saxman) Published: Aug. 27, 2002
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough was recently notified by the State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOTPF) that the State will no longer provide snow removal service on roads other than Tongass Highway. This means that when the snow flies everyone who lives outside of the City of Ketchikan or the City of Saxman, and is not in the Forest Park, Waterfall or Gold Nugget road service areas, or does not live along Tongass Highway, may wake up to find they cannot get out of their driveways. Specific roads that will lose their State snow removal service include: Cemetery; Cranberry; D-1 Loop; D-2 Loop; Knudson Cove; Knudson Spur; North Point Higgins; North Point Higgins Spur; Old South Tongass; Pond Reef Circle; Pond Reef Road; Potter Road; Power House; Roosevelt Spur; South Point Higgins; South Point Higgins Spur; Sunset Drive; Totem Bight; Whipple Creek; White Road Spur; and Wood. Even if you believe the State is acting inappropriately by declining to provide winter maintenance, the Borough must address the loss of snow removal service for the coming winter and plan for it. There are three basic courses of action we have explored to meet this challenge:
Below are more detailed explanations of these three basic courses of action. 1. Do Nothing This option is not a recommended approach. It risks the safety and health of citizens and would impair the ability of emergency vehicles to respond. While it would have the advantage of putting the most pressure on the State to change or reverse its decision, serious injuries or deaths could occur before any policy change is seen. This is especially a concern when you consider that many of the affected roads are used by our school buses and one of the roads directly serves North Point Higgins Elementary School. 2. Homeowners' Associations Homeowners' associations are a common way for neighbors to collectively organize to manage affairs of their neighborhood. They are voluntary organizations usually supported by some sort of homeowners' association dues. It is not uncommon for homeowner's associations to be formed in neighborhoods to take on collective services such as road maintenance. No governmental involvement is needed. Neighbors organize themselves and contract for services to be provided. A homeowners' association approach may be the only effective method that could be put in place before snowfall this year. They can be organized rather quickly and simply. One weakness of this approach is that they are voluntary. If some neighbors refuse to pay, they may end up getting a free ride because there are no "teeth" to force them to participate. Homeowners' associations are often eventually replaced by service areas. Forest Park is a good example. Originally formed as a homeowners' association, it is now a service area. 3. Borough Snow Removal The third option, Borough action, can be accomplished in several ways. These include: a) Formation of road service areas; b) Exercise of non-areawide local service roads and trails powers; c) Adoption of areawide public works road powers; or d) Adoption of areawide public works powers such as exercised by the City of Ketchikan at this time. For each of these there would be the option of having the work performed by Borough employees or performed on a contract basis.
The Borough could place the issue of road service areas on the ballot at a future regular or special election. The service area formation process may be initiated either by a public petition from affected neighborhoods or by an Assembly resolution. This is followed by a review of the proposed service area by staff, a report, and public hearings. Next an ordinance must be approved and placed on the ballot. (There are more detailed steps, but this is a summary of the main parts.) Normally this process will take 4-6 months from initial proposal to the election approving creation of a service area. A service area has the advantages of being the most limited in scope and area. This can also be a disadvantage if residents want more services in the future. Service areas that are too small tend to have a much higher percentage of their costs taken up by administrative activities. The most administratively efficient arrangement would likely be one service area North and one South. A service area is not a practical short-term solution because realistically one could not be formed before the snow flies. However, it presents a viable long-term strategy.
Many Borough residents believe that the Borough has no road powers apart from the Forest Park, Waterfall and Gold Nugget service areas. This is not completely accurate. Under state law, AS 19.30.251and AS 29.35.210(9), the Borough has authority to participate in the construction and maintenance of local service roads which are defined as those with an average of less than 750 vehicle trips per day. The Borough has not exercised this authority in the past. In order to exercise this authority the Borough would need to adopt appropriate ordinances to guide the process. This method could be approved before the snow flies. It would not apply to any roads that carry more than an average of 750 vehicle trips per day. The tax levy for non-areawide services has already been imposed for this year without budgeting funds for this service. If it were to be performed as a non-areawide function there would be a budget shortfall for this fiscal year to be made up later. There is an argument that the state may not abdicate responsibility to maintain any local service roads that are state constructed. We are working with ADOTPF to identify which roads fall into this category.
These would entail going through the process for adoption of additional areawide powers. The process includes initiation by a petition or assembly resolution, a study and report by staff, an ordinance, and an election. The process can be anticipated to take about 6-12 months, so it is definitely not a short-term solution. If this process were followed it would result in the transfer to the Borough of the City of Ketchikan's and City of Saxman's street maintenance functions, assets and liabilities (under 3c) or full assumption of public works powers by the Borough, including sewer, solid waste and streets (under 3d). While 3c and 3d are indeed options, the political and economic implications are much larger than the other options. The transfer of the powers without an accompanying shift in the sales tax revenues would cause an increase in the mill levy to pay for services. How Should We Solve It? Sincerely,
Steve Corporon
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