After dismissing the Borough proposal, the Commission chose not to address a recent request by the City of Manokotak to consider two competing annexation petitions side-by-side.
The Local Boundary Commission considered and quickly dismissed a state-driven proposal to create a borough in Western Bristol Bay during a meeting Wednesday. The proposal was born out of competing annexation petitions from Dillingham and Manokotak.
The commission was split 2-2 on whether or not to advance the petition (one Commissioner was absent).
Commissioner Darroll Hargraves was among the opposition, saying there is no precedent for the LBC to consider a Borough formation petition that comes from the state:
"One of the concerns is if the Commission takes this action, is -- does that prejudice future efforts in the considerations of a petition?" wondered Hargraves. "I have a concern, why would we do it here and not do it in some other places? I think if we did it here, we could find other places in the state where such action would be just as justifiable."
Representatives from Manokotak said they did not support the proposal for Borough formation, but the idea did have support from City of Dillingham. Mayor Alice Ruby spoke:
"Our council looked at it and the city has long been supportive of borough incorporation, and would be more than happy to cooperate and provide info, because we continue to think the borough should be looked at," said Mayor Ruby. "Our only concern is we would hope this wouldn’t indicate that the LBC has pre-determined that Borough formation should be instead of our annexation petition."
Ruby has long said that Borough formation and Dillingham’s annexation should be able to move forward simultaneously.
It’s unclear where the state’s proposal for a Western Bristol Bay Borough will go next.
The Commission did not take up Manokotak’s request to consolidate the two competing annexation proposals; that request was on the meeting's agenda, but none of the Commissioners moved to address it.