President Biden's visit to Alaska in September marked a historic moment for Serve Alaska. During the president's trip, he met with Katie Abbott, Executive Director of Serve Alaska, and engaged with current AmeriCorps members at the 9/11 ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The president's trip follows a visit from Michael Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps, who visited in August.

LBC Updates: Hoonah and Eagle River

Local Boundary Commission (LBC) staff received a borough incorporation petition from the City of Hoonah in July. The petition must meet additional requirements before the filing is considered complete. If accepted, Hoonah's petition will be the first borough incorporation petition to be filed since the Petersburg Borough petition in 2013.

LBC staff have also been working with residents of Eagle River who are interested in detaching from the Municipality of Anchorage and forming a new Chugach Regional Borough. LBC staff have performed an informal technical review and provided substantive feedback to the Eagle River residents.

AVEC to Secure Easement in Twin Hills

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) acquired an electric transmission line and power utility lines in Twin Hills from the Twin Hills Village Council. AVEC is required to secure an easement to allow the power utility to satisfy Regulatory Commission of Alaska requirements. The easement would also resolve a long-standing issue where improvements were constructed on municipal trust lands without site control.

MLT staff have negotiated an easement agreement with AVEC that was approved by the appropriate village entity, the Twin Hills Village Council. Public notice was issued, with the comment period ending at 5:00 pm on October 11, 2023. Upon the successful completion of the public notice, the easement agreement will be signed and recorded.

Harmony Curtis, Alaska's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coordinator, delivered online presentations to the Utqiagvik city zoning commission and North Slope Borough (NSB) planning commission in July and August to address concerns and provide information regarding entry into NFIP. Both commissions provided letters of support to the NSB Assembly, encouraging the borough to join NFIP. Curtis was subsequently invited to make an in-person presentation to the assembly during a work session and to participate in a question-and-answer session for the assembly and the general public. Following this session, the assembly voted in favor of passing an ordinance to pursue NFIP membership.

On August 30, all required documentation was submitted to Curtis and approved at the state level, then forwarded to FEMA headquarters for final approval. Pending FEMA approval, official notification of NSB's membership in NFIP is expected prior to the end of the calendar year.

At the request of the Newtok Village Council (NVC), DCRA staff is assisting with the update of the Newtok to Mertarvik Master Implementation Plan. On September 27, staff held a work session with NVC to review the Tribe's relocation needs section of the plan and to prioritize needs. On September 28, staff organized and facilitated a Newtok Relocation Steering Committee meeting to discuss the status of the relocation effort and to present the NVC's relocation priorities.

In addition to NVC and DCRA staff, representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Denali Commission, Lower Kuskokwim School District, Association of Village Council Presidents, Department of the Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, NVC's attorney, and NVC's relocation contractor were present.

Rural Utility Business Advisor (RUBA)

The RUBA program completed the fall 2023 cycle for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Best Practices scores. Out of 197 communities that are measured for their managerial and financial capacity, there are 41 deemed high priority by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. High priority communities are those that are unserved, underserved, or considered in dire need of a water/wastewater project.

In spring 2023, the high priority communities averaged 20 out of 100 possible O&M points. This increased in the fall 2023 cycle to an average O&M score of 23 out of 100 points, an average score increase of 15 percent. RUBA staff continues to work with local utility staff across Alaska to improve their managerial and financial capacity.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

Last quarter, NFIP made significant progress with completing a detailed budget and scope of work, which was approved by FEMA for the next budget year, while successfully transitioning the NFIP grant to the new FEMA GO online grant management system.

In addition to the program's base federal funds, additional funding was secured for Floodplain Administrator Training in Anchorage for NFIP community officials and for reimbursement to DCRA's Mapping, Analytics, and Data Resources team for technical assistance to create an NFIP statewide GIS-powered resource. NFIP's ongoing commitment to effective flood management and enhancement of community resilience was accomplished by the securing and effective management of FEMA grant funds.