Anchorage

What to watch at Tuesday's Anchorage Assembly meeting: Fuel storage, homeless shelters

The Anchorage Assembly meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday on the bottom floor of the Loussac Library.

It has a full agenda. A proposal tied to fuel storage at the Port of Anchorage may draw the most heated debate among members of the Assembly.

Here's a rundown of what's up for a vote and what's on the horizon. 

Fuel storage at the Port of Anchorage

The administration of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz wants to make it easier for the Port of Anchorage to build fuel storage facilities than the city's newly rewritten land use laws allow. 

[Read a copy of the fuel storage ordinance as it was originally proposed] 

The proposal has drawn strong opposition from residents in neighboring Government Hill who say they're worried the proposed changes could affect health and safety.

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Assembly members are expected to debate a compromise version Tuesday night.

Expected Assembly action: Vote

Emergency cold-weather homeless shelters extension

The practice of opening more space for overnight homeless shelters in downtown Anchorage in cold weather may become year-round under another proposal from Berkowitz.

City officials say the measure, set to expire in two years, could curb illegal camping and direct homeless people to social workers and permanent housing, though some nearby business owners have voiced concern about concentrating services downtown.

[Read more: Anchorage's emergency cold-weather shelters may soon be open year-round] 

Expected Assembly action: Public hearing, followed by a vote

Lower costs for "cottage" food production

The Berkowitz administration has also proposed reducing permit fees for small-scale local food vendors, like those who sell baked goods and jams they make themselves. The goal is to lessen the expense and regulatory burden for people who make homemade goods, city attorney Bill Falsey said in a memo accompanying the ordinance.

Expected Assembly action: Public hearing, followed by a vote

Creating a 'survivor's fund' 

A resolution from Assemblyman Christopher Constant directs the Berkowitz administration to study whether Anchorage can provide health insurance benefits to the survivors of police officers or firefighters who die in the line of duty, an option created by a new state law set to take effect July 1.

[Read a copy of Constant's proposed ordinance]

Expected Assembly action: Vote

Lease for Davis Park 

In a memo to the Assembly, Berkowitz says the U.S. Air Force and the city have agreed to a no-cost, 25-year lease for Anchorage's Davis Park in Mountain View. The original lease expired some years ago. After the Air Force said the city would have to pay market rent, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski pushed last year for a new rent-free lease last year in the annual federal defense spending bill. 

[Read the background: After decades of free rent, JBER and Anchorage look for solution to Davis Park dilemma]

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Expected Assembly action: None required  

On the horizon: Prostitution immunity, bear cans, dog-barking restrictions

Here are three other measures being introduced to the Assembly on Tuesday:

A proposal co-sponsored by Assemblymen Felix Rivera and Fred Dyson to give prosecution immunity for prostitution crimes if the person comes forward to report a more serious crime to police, reflecting a similar statute adopted by Senate Bill 91, a state criminal justice reform bill.

A proposal from the Berkowitz administration that would make bear-resistant trash containers available to all city Solid Waste Services customers after a successful pilot program in Government Hill.

• A proposal forwarded by the Animal Control Advisory Board to limit the city's 20-minute allowance for dog barking solely to sled dogs in hopes of curbing nonstop barking that draws complaints from neighborhoods.

Expected Assembly action: None. Public hearings will be set once items are introduced.

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

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