At Sept. 16 meeting, the LBC will also consider a potential third petition to form a Borough in the Dillingham Census Area.
In the City of Manokotak’s ongoing efforts to annex a section of Nushagak Bay, the City has asked the Local Boundary Commission to consolidate the competing petitions from Manokotak and Dillingham.
The LBC will take up that request in a public meeting next Wednesday.
Brent Williams is a local government specialist with the LBC.
"What Manokotak is seeking is to pause the Dillingham chronology, put it on hold, wait in effect for Manokotak to catch up," explained Williams. "And then the two would have the same schedule, the same hearings, the same public comment period… So everything would be aligned and looked at together. That’s what Manokotak is asking for."
Melvin Andrew, the Mayor of the City of Manokotak, says he sees this as a way for the two cities to cooperate throughout the LBC process.
"Our hope, like I stated earlier, is to work with Dillingham - agree to some things, disagree to some things - but ultimately work together," said Andrew. "And this will work between the City of Dillingham and Manokotak, if we consolidate our annexation petitions to LBC."
In addition to the question of consolidating the two petitions, the LBC will consider asking for a third option – a petition to form a Borough in the Dillingham Census Area.
"There’ve been many studies in the past discussing Borough incorporation in that area," said Williams. "So in order to have the full range of information for the Commission, given those prior interest and studies, it's possible the Commission could designate a person to bring forward a petition for Borough formation, so that it has the full information before it."
If the LBC decides to ask for that 3rd petition – for the formation of a Borough – it could also choose whether or not to consider it side-by-side with the petitions from Manokotak and Dillingham. That would result in further delays; Williams says if the Borough formation petition is proposed, the first public hearing might be a year or so away.
Manokotak's proposed annexation would allow the city to levy a two percent raw fish tax, which they say would fund the provision of potable water, solid waste disposal, and other services to commercial set net operations at Igushik beach. The petition has been posed as an objection to paying a 2.5-percent raw fish tax to Dillingham if Dillingham’s annexation goes back into effect.
The public meeting of the LBC will be held Wednesday, September 16 at 9:30 a.m. in Anchorage.