Applications are coming in from members of the public looking to be on the Assembly Mining Committee, and the current members of the committee met Wednesday to better examine candidates.
The Mining Committee currently consists of Assembly members Norton Gregory (the chair of the committee), Maria Gladziszewski and Beth Weldon. The committee will add two members of the Planning Commission and two members of the general public.
The formation of the committee sprang from a proposal this April to reexamine the current mining ordinance. A group of businessmen suggested that Juneau’s ordinance is unnecessarily duplicative of state and national standards, which is discouraging companies from pursuing mining in the borough.
[Mayor appoints three Assembly members to start mining ordinance subcommittee]
The purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to determine a process in picking the new members and determine the details of how the committee will operate. Weldon opened the meeting by suggesting that the three Assembly members should be the only ones to vote in the committee, and that the additional four members will be there in only an advisory role.
Gregory agreed with that suggestion, but Gladziszewski did not, saying that the three Assembly members will get a vote eventually anyway because any suggestions that come from the Mining Committee will go to the Assembly for final approval.
At the next Assembly meeting, which is scheduled for Nov. 27, Gregory will recommend that the three Assembly members on the committee remain the only voting members while Gladziszewski will offer her rebuttal.
The selection process for additional members of the committee will take place prior to that Assembly meeting. The deadline for people to apply for a spot is 4:30 p.m. Nov. 20, and the committee will meet the following day at noon in the Assembly Chambers to announce its selections.
As of Thursday morning, seven members of the public and two members of the Planning Commission had applied. Dan Miller and Paul Voelckers are the two Planning Commission members to have applied thus far.
The seven members of the public to have applied are:
• Guy Archibald, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council science director
• Sam Dapcevich, webmaster for the state
• Chris Dimond, Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Representative
• Christine Hess, consultant and developer
• John Kato, retired United States Forest Service Employee
• Kyle Moselle, public administrator for the state
• Murray Walsh, self-employed consultant
In addition to the general application to be on a CBJ board, applicants will now also have to report how familiar they are with the current mining ordinance and permitting process, how they would evaluate the proposed changes to the ordinance and how familiar they are with conditional use permits.
To apply for a spot on the committee, people can fill out a CBJ Board Application available on the city’s website and submit it either at city.clerk@juneau.org or in person at City Hall, 155 S. Seward St.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.
