Colette Czarnecki, Author at KSTK

Wrangell’s borough manager decommissions barge ramp

A barge visits Wrangell once a week to deliver goods, including essentials like food. It docks at the 40-plus-year-old ramp at the downtown waterfront. Borough officials have expressed concern on the ramp’s condition though. To make sure it’s structurally sound, the borough hired PND Engineers to assess it in early March.

Phillip Mach joins Wrangell Borough Assembly

Wrangell’s Borough Assembly welcomed Phillip Mach to a seat on the governing body February 11. He’ll finish out the term for Assembly member Anne Morrison, after she moved out of town. He submitted a letter of interest, along with three other candidates, who were Scott McAuliffe, Steve Murphy and Nicholas Cage. Assembly members voted on who to fill the seat until the term is up in October.

Talk on the Rock: Kiley Prinz on the upcoming Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor Course offered in Wrangell later this month

Episode 50: Kiley Prinz, with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association based in Sitka, spoke with KSTK’s Colette Czarnecki about the organization and its upcoming Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor Course that will be held in Wrangell on March 30 and April 1. AMSEA was founded in 1985 with the intention of minimizing fatalities and accidents while out at sea.

Unit Souzou kicks off six-city Alaska tour in Wrangell

“I am from Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. I am Japanese,” Toru Watanabe said, as he opened up for Unit Souzou’s performance called Constant State of Otherness – which exposes the depths of identity through the multimedia production . Unit Souzou is a Portland, Oregon, based Japanese theatrical musical performance group. They kicked off their Alaska tour with a show in Wrangell last Saturday.

Borough assembly transfers grinder pump station responsibility to private property owners

Grinder pumps are small sewage pumps that serve residential areas, usually one to two households. When Wrangell’s public works department began maintaining just five decades ago, it’s now up to 30, and most are on private property. And that is a huge problem, according to Borough Manager Mason Villarma. While figuring out what to do with this dilemma last month at a Borough Assembly meeting, the assembly voted to transfer the responsibility of 23 grinder pump stations on private property to the respective property owners, even though community members disapproved of the transfer.