Tomorrow is the first day of early voting ahead of Cordova’s municipal election next month – and this year voters will decide more than only council, school board, and hospital service board seats.
On March 3 Cordovans will be faced with a ballot proposition to decide whether or not the city accepts a loan of up to $870,000 to build an electric bear fence at the landfill.
The Alaska Department of Conservation (DEC) has mandated the city to install a fence at the Cordova Mile 17 Landfill, which over the years has become a dangerous hotspot of bear activity. Over the last eight years or so the bear population at the dump has dramatically increased, according to officials, to the point where the city’s sanitation crews have real safety risks while on the job.
City officials estimate the project will cost between $500,000 and $650,000. The fence will be about eight to 10 feet tall, buried three feet underground to block the bears from digging their way into the landfill. The city says electrified wires will run along the entire outside of the fence, which will hopefully keep the bears away.
Cordova would receive the loan of up to $870,000, with an interest rate between 1% and 2%, to build the fence if voters pass the ballot proposition next month. That money has already been green lit through an Alaska loan initiative called the State Revolving Fund Program – and now just awaits voter approval.
Of that amount, the city says $500,000 will be forgiven and does not need to be repaid. That means the city would be responsible for up to $370,000, plus interest.
City officials are urging locals to vote “yes” on the ballot proposition. If the measure fails, they say the city will have to scramble to come up with funding to build the bear fence in order to comply with DEC regulations.
“Essentially, after last fall’s budget cuts, we do not have the spare cash,” Mayor Kristin Smith told The Cordova Times.
If the city doesn’t build the fence the DEC could impose fines – or in serious cases even rescind the city’s permit to operate the landfill.
In addition to the ballot proposition, Cordova voters will also decide who fills two City Council seats.
New council candidates include local macramé artist Sonya Hagmüller, veteran commercial fisher John Renner, and Cordova Community Garden Manager Lee Collins. Kasey Kinsman, who currently serves on the council, is also running for re-election.
The four are running for two seats – Kinsman’s seat and Council Member Cathy Sherman’s seat, who is term-limiting out.
City Council members are elected for three-year terms.
Longtime Cordovan Malani Towle, a local fisher and board member of the Cordova 4H Music Camp, is the sole candidate for the school board’s only open seat – which will be vacated next month by current board President Dave Glasen.
Kelsey Hayden – operations director and SERVS fishing vessel administrator of Cordova District Fishermen United (CDFU) – is also running uncontested for the city’s only open Hospital Services Board seat.
The early voting period is between Feb. 10 and March 2. Eligible voters can cast their ballots any time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Cordova Center during the early voting period – except for the Presidents’ Day holiday on Feb. 16.
Election Day is March 3.
