The House chambers are seen on Friday, May 13, 2022 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon
The House chambers are seen on Friday, May 13, 2022 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska State Legislature is planning a brief session without taking any action on Tuesday, and legislative leaders say they’ve already completed their intended work for the special session, which ends on Aug. 31.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy called the 30-day session, which began on Aug. 2, for legislators to address his education policy priorities and to create a new Alaska Department of Agriculture. The Legislature convened — one senator flying back from U.S. National Guard duty in Poland — and within hours voted to override two of the governor’s vetoes. Lawmakers then adjourned until Tuesday.
Legislators voted to leave the session open and not officially close out the special session to prevent Dunleavy from calling them into another one.
On Tuesday, just “a handful” of legislators are expected to be present for what’s known as a “technical session,” said House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, reached by phone Monday in his district.
Edgmon said he was planning to fly back to Juneau to facilitate proceedings in the House on Tuesday, but said it will be brief.
He said the Legislature’s votes to override two of the governor’s vetoes, including restoring $51 million for K-12 schools, was a success – and their only goal for the special session.
“But the specter of the governor calling us right back in seems to be very prominent,” Edgmon said. “And we had to do what we had to do in terms of allowing members to go back home, go back to their districts, not being Juneau, drawing per diem, costing the state money — with the stated intention, of course, of looking at the governor’s bills, continuing to consider the governor’s bills and the subject matter next session, as we started to do last session.”
The governor introduced three bills on Aug. 2, related to education policy, and Edgmon said they have been referred to related committees.
Edgmon said he’s had no communication from the governor’s office since the veto override votes.
“I wish we had a better relationship with the governor, to where we could plan things out, work jointly in terms of any outcomes for a special session. The governor is acting unilaterally, which, of course, is his prerogative, should he choose. But that does not bode well in terms of any kind of a positive result for special session,” he said.
Jeff Turner, the governor’s communications director, said by email Monday, “lawmakers should not need an incentive to improve public education policy,” and that it was the Legislature’s decision to not take up the governor’s bills during this special session.
Turner pointed to the governor’s comments on an Anchorage-based commercial radio show on Aug. 14, where Dunleavy criticized the Legislature’s veto override restoring school funding, and said additional funding is “not going to change the performance outcomes.”
The House and Senate are scheduled to gavel in at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
A new joint legislative education funding task force is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Aug 25, where its six members are expected to examine how the state funds schools, as well as Dunleavy’s educational policy items.
This drone image provided by the City and Borough of Juneau shows flooding from a release of water and snowmelt at Mendenhall Glacier covered some roads and threatened homes along the Mendenhall River in Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (City and Borough of Juneau via AP)
This drone image provided by the City and Borough of Juneau shows flooding from a release of water and snowmelt at Mendenhall Glacier covered some roads and threatened homes along the Mendenhall River in Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (City and Borough of Juneau via AP)
Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon provided more details following a damage assessment of the city’s recent glacier lake outburst flood, revealing that 16 houses experienced minor water damage while six homes suffered major impacts, primarily on View Drive.
“16 houses were affected, and what affected means is they had water in their garage that they could just vacuum up, or water in their crawl space, but there was no damage to insulation or sheet rock or anything like that.” Said Mayor Weldon, “25 minor, so that means water in their house or their garage affected something besides just being able to shop Vac, but did not go up past outlets in the wall.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says temporary flood barriers helped protect Juneau neighborhoods during last week’s flood.
The Corps shipped more than 37,000 feet of barrier wall, 112,000 sandbags, and other materials from Illinois to Juneau, where they were placed in phases along 2.5 miles of the river.
Floodwaters peaked at 16.6 ft., the highest on record.
Of the 751 homes above the 17-foot flood line, most remained unaffected by recent flooding. The city’s HESCO barriers largely performed as intended, though some areas experienced water seepage and tree damage.
Mayor Weldon says there were about 6 homes with major damage. “of those six major, five are on View Drive. So we know that View Drive is still a dilemma for us.” she also stated about 23 homes were unverified.
President Donald Trump greets Russia's President Vladimir Putin Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin kicked off their Alaska summit with a warm handshake on Friday, greeting each other like old friends before heading into hours of discussions that could reshape the war in Ukraine and relations between Moscow and Washington.
After descending from Air Force One, Trump applauded as Putin approached along a red carpet. They gripped hands for an extended period of time, with both men smiling, and Putin eventually grinned and pointed skyward, where B-2s and F-22s — military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the Cold War — flew overhead to mark the moment at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Reporters nearby yelled, “President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?” and Russia’s leader put his hand up to his ear but didn’t answer. Trump and Putin then both climbed in the U.S. presidential limo, with Putin grinning widely as the vehicle rolled past the cameras.
The pair’s chumminess, while not altogether surprising considering their longtime friendly relationship, was striking given the bloodshed and suffering in the war Putin started in Ukraine — the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. It was likely to raise concerns from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, who fear that Trump will primarily focus on furthering U.S. interests and fail to press hard for Ukraine’s.
Zelenskyy and European leaders were excluded from Friday’s meeting, and Ukraine’s president was left posting a video address in which he expressed his hope for a “strong position from the U.S.”
“Everyone wants an honest end to the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to end the war,” he said, later adding, “The war continues and it continues precisely because there is no order, nor any signals from Moscow, that it is preparing to end this war.”
The summit was a chance for Trump to prove he’s a master dealmaker and peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close — something he used to boast he could do quickly.
For Putin, it was an opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.
Not meeting one-on-one anymore
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the previously planned one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin was now a three-on-three discussion including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin was joined by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov.
The change indicates that the White House is taking a more guarded approach than it did during a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, when Trump and Putin met privately just with their interpreters for two hours and where Trump shocked the world by siding with the Russian leader over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign.
Trump and Putin began their discussions Friday by sitting with their aides in front of a blue backdrop printed with “Alaska” and “Pursuing Peace.” Putin and Trump are expected to hold a joint press conference at the end of the summit.
There are significant risks for Trump. By bringing Putin onto U.S. soil — America bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for roughly 2 cents per acre — the president is giving him the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago. Zelenskyy’s exclusion is a heavy blow to the West’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and invites the possibility that Trump could agree to a deal that Ukraine does not want.
Any success is far from assured since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine’s mobilization efforts, which are conditions rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
Trump said earlier in the week there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail, but he also floated the idea that if the meeting succeeds he could bring Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent meeting with himself and Putin.
Trump has also expressed doubts about getting an immediate ceasefire, but he has wanted a broad peace deal done quickly. That seemingly echoes Putin’s longtime argument that Russia favors a comprehensive deal to end the fighting, reflecting its demands, and not a temporary halt to hostilities.
Trump has offered shifting explanations for his meeting goals
Trump said before arriving in Alaska that his talks with Putin will include Russian demands that Ukraine cede territory as part of a peace deal. He said Ukraine has to decide, but he also suggested Zelenskyy should accept concessions.
“I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision. And I think they’ll make a proper decision,” Trump told reporters traveling with him to Alaska.
Trump said there’s “a possibility” of the United States offering Ukraine security guarantees alongside European powers, “but not in the form of NATO.” Putin has fiercely resisted Ukraine joining the trans-Atlantic security alliance, a long-term goal for Ukrainians seeking to forge stronger ties with the West.
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, is in Alaska to provide “military advice” to Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to a senior NATO military official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. His presence is likely to be welcomed by European leaders who have tried to convince Trump to be firm with Putin and not deal over Kyiv’s head.
Potentially far-reaching implications
Foreign governments are watching closely to see how Trump reacts to Putin, likely gauging what the interaction might mean for their own dealings with the U.S. president, who has eschewed traditional diplomacy for his own transactional approach to relationships.
The meeting comes as the war has caused heavy losses on both sides and drained resources. Ukraine has held on far longer than some initially expected since the February 2022 invasion, but it is straining to hold off Russia’s much larger army, grappling with bombardments of its cities and fighting for every inch on the over 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line.
Alaska is separated from Russia at its closest point by just 3 miles (less than 5 kilometers) and the international date line.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It continues to play a role today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into U.S. airspace.
Scott Turner, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday in Anchorage. With him is U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska. Turner is one of several Trump administration cabinet members who have traveled to Alaska this summer. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, visiting Alaska this week, said he hopes to learn about challenges facing both the state’s urban centers and remote rural communities.
“I came here to be a great listener, to understand the needs of the people of Alaska, to understand the challenges of the people of Alaska and particularly when it comes to homelessness and affordable housing,” Scott Turner, the Trump administration’s HUD secretary, said at a news conference Tuesday in Anchorage.
Turner is among several Trump administration cabinet members touring Alaska this summer.
He spent part of Tuesday meeting with Anchorage municipal officials who discussed the challenges of homelessness in the state’s largest city.
It is a national issue, Turner said.
That 770,000 people identified as homeless in the nation “is unacceptable to me, it’s unacceptable to my colleagues and I know it’s unacceptable to you,” he said.
In Alaska, he said, almost 2,700 people are homeless, with about 1,700 of them in Anchorage. “That’s something that we want to attack and eradicate,” he said.
Those numbers show that past efforts by HUD to address homelessness have not been effective, said Turner. To make his point, he referred to his background as a professional football player.
“One of the things that holds you accountable in the NFL is called game film,” he said. “You can say what you want to on Sunday during the game. You can say, ‘Well, I did the right thing,’ but on Monday, the film will tell the story, and the film does not lie.”
On Wednesday, Turner was touring Bethel, in Western Alaska, to learn about rural Alaska housing problems.
Crowding is a dire concern in rural communities, according to the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., a state agency. Conditions are most severe in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, where Bethel is located, according to AHFC. Crowded conditions are linked to poor health, including transmission of respiratory diseases like COVID-19.
Turner said HUD wants to add 7 million more units of affordable housing to the national supply and is focused on reducing regulations that reduce housing access in rural areas as well as in urban areas.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, accompanied Turner and asserted at the news conference that overregulation by HUD is one of the major impediments to housing availability and quality in rural parts of the state.
“You can send all the money you want to rural Alaska, but it’s so smothered in red tape that it costs a million bucks to build a duplex. One duplex. A lot of that, I think, is self-inflicted,” Sullivan said.
Other analysis identified different problems for rural Alaska housing.
The high cost of energy in rural communities, which are unconnected to larger power grids, is one problem that for years has been cited as a key factor making rural Alaska housing unaffordable.
However, the budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress at the end of June, along with various actions by the Trump administration, has created new barriers to renewable energy development in rural Alaska and elsewhere.
Climate change has also exacerbated rural Alaska’s housing crisis, according to reports by government agencies.
A 2019 statewide assessment by the Denali Commission found that 144 rural communities are threatened by increased erosion, flooding, permafrost thaw or some combination of those factors.
More frequent flooding in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, for example, is attributed to climate change and has affected housing quality and safety.
But the Trump administration is seeking to halt in-state policies intended to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including those in Alaska.
The administration also abolished the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resistant Infrastructure and Communities program. The program provided grants to help communities prevent damage from natural disasters, many of which are linked to climate change.
NOTN- Water has begun spilling from Suicide Basin, prompting a flood warning for the Mendenhall Lake and River.
The National Weather Service confirmed the release began at about 9:30 a.m. after coordinating with science partners monitoring the basin.
“As of this morning, we noticed that the totals for the basin were starting to drop a lot more, very exponentially. So we looked into the Mendenhall Lake as well as the laser gage, and we sent someone up there to ground truth it in a helicopter.” Said the National Weather Service, “As of the past hour, we have decided to call it and send out the warning for the glacial release.”
Suicide Basin, a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier, has produced annual glacial lake outburst floods since 2011, including a record event on Aug. 6, 2024. The most recent release before this week occurred Oct. 20, 2024.
“Now that it’s releasing, it’s going to release a lot more right off the bat, and then kind of level out more as it gets less full.” Said a National Weather Service representative, “The crest height is expected to be around Wednesday afternoon, and because of all the rainfall that we’ve had recently, we are expecting to have either near record levels or record levels.”
Residents in flood-prone areas are urged to follow the latest advisories from local officials and the National Weather Service.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, await an address from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, await an address from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s move to establish a state Department of Agriculture during the ongoing legislative special session appears to be turning into a fight over executive power, and it could be ultimately decided by the courts.
Last week, as the special session opened in Juneau, Dunleavy signed an executive order intended to establish the Alaska Department of Agriculture by moving parts of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources into a separate agency.
Alaska is one of only two states without a cabinet-level agriculture department, and Dunleavy has said he wants to create one in order to help the growth of farming in the state. Creating a cabinet-level agriculture department was the top priority of a state “food security” task force in 2022 intended to encourage farming here.
The governor’s order would take effect Jan. 1 and is almost identical to one Dunleavy issued this spring.
Under the Alaska Constitution, lawmakers can stop an executive order if they vote to dismiss it within 60 days. Legislators did just that with the spring order, voting 32-28 in March to deny the governor’s original order.
At the time, and since then, legislators have said that they prefer to enact a state department via law because it allows them to include their own ideas and comments of the public.
“The problem with an executive order is that we can’t amend an executive order,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, “and there’s some things that I think folks want to do.”
This month, when Dunleavy repeated the order, legislators refused to accept it.
Stevens and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said in a letter to the governor that introducing an executive order during a special session is unconstitutional, and that repeating an already disallowed order is also unconstitutional.
“This falls in the category of so many things during Dunleavy’s tenure as governor, where he has tried to push the boundaries with the Legislature. And we’re at the point now where we’re tired of being pushed around,” Edgmon said by phone on Friday.
Jeff Turner, the governor’s communications director, said by email on Friday that the letter still stands as the governor’s view and nothing has changed since then.
“His sort of threat to go ahead anyway is a little disconcerting,” Stevens said. “The legislative process, though long … winds up with a better answer because the public will have a chance to testify in the committee hearings, and we’ll all have a chance to discuss it and try to figure out the best way going forward. Unfortunately, an executive order is really sort of a ham-handed way to organize a new department. I really hope the governor allows us to move ahead and do it on our own through the legislative process.”
Legislators could meet in joint session and again vote down the governor’s executive order, but doing so would be an implicit acknowledgement that the governor has the ability to issue a valid executive order during a special session.
“We’ve heard that from our legal folks,” Stevens said, “that establishing a precedent like that could be dangerous in the future. Any governor then could do something without the Legislature really being involved. … and so we’re really concerned about precedents.”
Those differing positions have created a standoff: Legislators are refusing to accept the order as valid, and the governor’s office has said that if legislators don’t vote it down, Dunleavy will take that as acceptance. He said he will go ahead with plans to create the department on Jan. 1.
If he does that, Stevens said that the issue is likely to go to the courts.
Edgmon said that lawmakers are prepared to stand their ground.
“The Legislature believes its decision to send the executive order back to the governor is based on firm ground, and we fully intend to defend our institution’s ability to do its work,” he said.
The entrance to the Glory Hall shelter on Teal Street. (Photo courtesy The Glory Hall/Feed Juneau)
The Glory Hall shelter says it will stop offering dayroom services to non-residents starting August 26, citing worsening safety conditions around the facility.
In a letter to patrons, the shelter’s leadership said staff and clients have faced continuing assaults, criminal activity, and “general chaos” near the Teal Street site, including sales of illegal drugs and stolen goods. Despite more than a year of meetings with residents and city officials, the board says the environment is no longer tenable.
Going forward, only individuals staying overnight at the shelter will have access to the dayroom. Others will be allowed inside only when meeting with a case manager, clinician, or outreach worker.
The board says the decision wasn’t made lightly but is necessary to protect patrons, staff, and neighbors.
The Mendenhall River, which flows out of Mendenhall Glacier, is seen on May 14, 2025. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Suicide Basin, the glacier-dammed side basin above the Mendenhall Glacier, may reach capacity around August 12 according to the National Weather Service.
The basin, which has released annual floods into Mendenhall Lake and River since 2011, has risen 20 feet in the past week and currently sits at 1,350 feet, according to a status update released Wednesday.
The most damaging flood occurred one year ago yesterday, August 6, 2024, causing record damage in Juneau.
Once the basin reaches its estimated capacity of 1,368 feet, it typically takes 4 to 6 days before an outburst begins, according to officials.
Officials are urging residents to stay informed and monitor updates from the National Weather Service and local emergency management.
The City and Borough of Juneau has plentiful resources, including emergency alerts, vehicle registration and Mendenhall inundation maps.
The most recent flood event from the basin occurred on October 20, 2024.
More information and updates will be shared as conditions change.
Protesters hold signs and chant outside the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium where U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Alaska Native leaders, in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, shortly after the Department of Health and Human Services announced its plans to cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Protesters hold signs and chant outside the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium where U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Alaska Native leaders, in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, shortly after the Department of Health and Human Services announced its plans to cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
AP- The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be halted.
Kennedy’s decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic’s doubts about shots into full effect at the nation’s health department. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened.
The health secretary criticized mRNA vaccines in a video on his social media accounts, explaining the decision to cancel projects being led by the nation’s leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, that offer protection against viruses like the flu, COVID-19 and H5N1.
“To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we’re prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate,” Kennedy said in the video.
Infectious disease experts say the mRNA technology used in vaccines is safe, and they credit its development during the first Trump administration with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Future pandemics, they warned, will be harder to stop without the help of mRNA.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations.
He noted mRNA technology offers potential advantages of rapid production, crucial in the event of a new pandemic that requires a new vaccine.
The shelving of the mRNA projects is short-sighted as concerns about a bird flu pandemic continue to loom, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It’s certainly saved millions of lives,” Offit said of the existing mRNA vaccines.
Scientists are using mRNA for more than infectious disease vaccines, with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer immunotherapies. At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer.
Traditionally, vaccines have required growing pieces of viruses, often in chicken eggs or giant vats of cells, then purifying that material. The mRNA approach starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Scientists pick the protein to target, inject that blueprint and the body makes just enough to trigger immune protection — producing its own vaccine dose.
In a statement Tuesday, HHS said “other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement.”
The mRNA technology is used in approved COVID-19 and RSV shots, but has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna, which was studying a combination COVID-19 and flu mRNA shot, had said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with traditional vaccines.
The abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development priorities,” the health department said in its statement, adding that it will start “investing in better solutions.”
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Kennedy said in the statement.
Speaking hours later Tuesday at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, alongside the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, Kennedy said work is underway on an alternative.
He said a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity” is the administration’s focus.
“It could be effective — we believe it’s going to be effective — against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.
Photo of phase 1B of the Pederson Hills Subdivision II subdivision, courtesy of the City and Borough of Juneau
NOTN- The City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission will meet virtually on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. to review a proposed housing subdivision and continue discussion of a long-term development plan for the Downtown Douglas and West Juneau neighborhoods.
Commissioners will conduct a final plat review for Phase 1B of he Pederson Hill Subdivision, a project by the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority. The proposed phase includes 30 residential lots, two public use lots, and designated rights-of-way, including a pedestrian path called Wild Rose Walk.
The commission will also continue deliberating a proposed text amendment that would formally adopt the Downtown Douglas / West Juneau Area Plan into the city’s Comprehensive Plan. If approved, the amendment would update land use policies and guide future development in those neighborhoods.
The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. Residents can join online or by phone.
Those wishing to testify virtually must state their name and place of residence before speaking and remain available for questions from commissioners.
Written public comments are encouraged and must be submitted by 12 p.m. on Aug. 8.
