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            The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will take a closer look at its capitol improvements project priority list for the 2013 legislative session in the days and weeks to come. The assembly invited Representative Alan Austerman and Senator Gary Stevens to review the borough’s CIP list during last Thursday’s work session and received some critical feedback.
            Both Austerman and Stevens questioned a number of items on the assembly’s list, some for the project as a whole or concerning the amount of money the assembly was requesting for it. Number two funding priority for the assembly is $8.5 million for Kodiak High School Voc-Ed renovations, a project that Stevens said received funding last year and keeps coming back for more.

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    The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will hold a regular meeting tonight (Thursday) and introduce an ordinance that aims to improve transparency on borough contracts. The ordinance will require the borough manager to notify the assembly about certain contracts that may pose a conflict of interest between the borough and assembly members or their immediate family. This will be a first reading of the ordinance and a public hearing will be held at the assembly’s next regular meeting on January 17.
    Also on tonight’s agenda is approval of the communities of Kodiak capitol improvement projects list for the 2013 legislative session. This is the list of prioritized projects in the villages around Kodiak that are seeking state funding during the upcoming session. The borough will submit a separate list for road system projects in the near future.
    Tonight’s meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in the borough assembly chambers and will be broadcast live on KMXT. 

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            As of early this morning the grounded Shell Exploration drilling rig Kulluk is reported as remaining stable with no oil spill pollution observed. That word from the Unified Command office at 6:50 this morning. It echoes the latest situation reports from the Command, made up of industry, state, federal and local agencies. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s situation report concurs.
            The floating, mobile drill rig Kulluk is called a “conical drilling unit,” or CDU. It was being towed from Unalaska back to Seattle when its tug experienced engine problems southwest of Kodiak on Friday. The Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley and two other private ships responded to assist, but after a series of tow lines snapped, the Kulluk went aground Monday night on Sitkalidak Island, just off the southeast quarter of Kodiak Island. The exact location is between the north end of Ocean Bay and Partition Cove. (Lat 57⁰ 5' 28.099N, Long 153⁰ 6' 23.546W)
            Commander Shane Montoya, the federal on-scene coordinator, said during a briefing Tuesday the tow ships tried to direct the Kulluk to a position that might minimize the impact to the environment and damage to the rig.
            The Kulluk carries 136,240-gallons of diesel fuel and over 10,000 gallons of various lubes and oils. Shell’s Susan Childs says the Kulluk’s fuel tanks are encased in very heavy steel and located at the center of the rig.
            The DEC’s Allen Wein says crews are ready to respond if any fuel is spilled.
            Oil spill response equipment was staged on the Kodiak waterfront yesterday. Crews are waiting for favorable weather conditions to fly salvage personnel out to the Kulluk. There is a gale warning in the marine weather forecast through tonight, with seas to 15 feet.
            Childs says it may take weeks or months to determine the sequence of mishaps that led to the grounding.
            The area of the grounding is in critical habitat for endangered sea lions and the Kittlitz's Murrelet, and near a number of salmon streams.

Waves crash over the mobile offshore drilling unit Kulluk where it sits aground on the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island, Alaska, Jan. 1, 2013. A Unified Command, consisting of the Coast Guard, federal, state, local and tribal partners and industry representatives was established in response to the grounding. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg

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The Royal Dutch Shell floating drill rig Kulluk went aground on Sitkalidik Island around 9 p.m. Monday (Dec. 31) night. The crew had previously been evacuated and brought to Kodiak by Coast Guard helicopters. Severe weather continues to hamper the towing, and now recovery, of the Kulluk.

The latest updates from the unified command put together to address the situation here.