By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
April 14, Hope Inc. President Shawn Butler and other volunteers sent out ballots to all Hope Inc. members and Hope residents. The first ballot is an advisory vote in support for a new Hope Post Office location. Although the Postal Service, at the March 5 Hope Inc. meeting, announced that the location had been selected. There was a feeling that the community had not had an opportunity to have a voice or vote in the selection of this location. At the 2005 meeting, the Postal Service heard from residents that if the Post Office could not remain at it’s current location, the preferred location was the EMS site located at Palmer Creek Road and Logman which is located just off the Hope Highway. In 2005, the Hope/Sunrise EMS was still using the location making the site unavailable to be considered. 2008 the Postal Service moved forward based on the 2005 offering of properties without a request for new sites for consideration.
The Postal Service agreed to allow extra time by extending the deadline to April 14 to the Kenai Peninsula Borough giving KPB time to submit a proposal to lease the EMS site to the post office. The Postal Service is willing to evaluate the Borough’s offer and determine which of the two lots provide the “best value”. In turn, Mayor John Williams asked that an advisory vote be done in the community to see if there was a majority vote in favor of the EMS site over the other site. Should the community’s vote show more support for the original site (the property owned by Chuck Graham), the Borough will remove their offer for the EMS site opening the way for the Postal Service to move forward in building the new Post Office for Hope.
It is very important to note that even if the residents of Hope vote the EMS site, as the location they would like, the Postal Service will have the final word for selection of the new building site and could select the original location in spite of this vote.
Hope Inc. President Butler must receive the ballot for this advisory vote by April 25 to be counted. (Not just postmarked by the date, but received). Your vote will remain anonymous and the results of this vote will be provided to the Mayor Williams on April 28. It will also be posted at the Post Office, Tito’s Discovery Café and Alaska Dacha. If a resident does not receive a ballot envelope by April 18, please contact Rochelle Morris at Alaska Dacha regarding this. Every effort is being made that all Hope residents receive this document. Hope property owners, but not residents of Hope, may send their comments to President Butler and they will be passed on to the Mayor’s office separate from the community’s vote.
At a recent Hope Inc. meeting a motion was made to poll the members of Hope Inc. to change the by-laws to allow the President to change the day of the week when a Hope Inc. regular meeting is to be held. The meeting is currently to be held on Saturday. There will be a second ballot mailed, in the same envelop, to all Hope Inc. members along with the advisory vote for the Post Office location ballot. There are often more members available for a Hope Inc. meeting during the middle of the week. This vote will require a two-thirds majority to pass. The results will also be posted.
To be a member of Hope Inc. a resident must live in Hope and be a registered voter in Hope. Meeting these requirements, the resident must sign up to actually be recognized as a member of Hope Inc. All qualifying residents are encouraged to join Hope, Inc. There are currently 72 members of Hope Inc.
Hope Inc. performs two functions for Hope. One is the ownership of public property e.g. the Hope Cemetery and the Hope Social Hall building. The second is that the organization is recognized by the State of Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and other bodies as a forum for the Hope community to voice their opinions e.g. a discussion for a possible new location for the Hope Post Office. It is our “voice” for Hope and important for residents to be members and to attend the meetings so their voices can be heard.
At Hope’s Advisory Planning Commission (APC) board meeting April 10 the 38-40 residents attending were reminded that a vote regarding a new Post Office location was not in order at this meeting. It is a function of Hope Inc. to take such votes. Crista Hisppchen representative of the KPB Planning Office and Mayor Williams’ Chief of Staff; Tim Navarre attended the meeting. Mr. Navarre was very clear that Mayor Williams is willing to do what the Hope community wants of the Borough. The property has been temporarily submitted to the Postal Service pending the advisory vote of the Hope residents. Should the majority vote be for the original location, KPB will withdraw the EMS site so not to confuse or delay the construction of the new post office.
If you have not yet paid the Hope Chamber’s annual $25 dues or turned in your information for the community brochure, this will be your last chance to do so. The dues and information must be turned in by April 30 to Susan Anderson. The 2008 brochure will be finalized and printed early May.
All are welcome to come for a free breakfast at the Hope Christian Church. Doors of the Church open every Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. for coffee and breakfast is served to 10 a.m. The last breakfast, until fall, will be April 30. Following breakfast, the Food Bank is open Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Any folks needing to take advantage of the food pantry, outside the regular hours, please contact Burgins at 782-1002.