City Council to vote on Machini lawsuit settlement

KRBD file photo

The Ketchikan City Council will vote Thursday on a lawsuit settlement with Joseph Machini, who owned a building on the side of the downtown tunnel that was severely damaged in a fire in 2011.

After the fire, the city asked Machini’s company, Villa Machini, Inc., to take care of the damaged structure. When the owners took no action for a year, the city in fall of 2012 hired a local contractor to demolish it.

In 2014, the City of Ketchikan started the process of recovering the approximately $125,000 cost, which included asbestos removal. In 2015, the city filed a lawsuit.

The settlement agreement in front of the Council on Thursday calls for Machini to pay the city about $125,000 in return for the city dropping all claims against the company. Both sides will pay their own attorney and court costs.

Ketchikan Public Library. (KRBD file photo)

In other matters, the Council will vote on a proposal to start a strategic plan for the city’s library. Library Director Pat Tully writes in a memo that the estimated $4,500 cost of the project can be absorbed in the existing library budget.

The process would involve a community survey to find out what people want from the library, followed by a planning meeting with stakeholder groups. The plan that results from the meeting would be publicized and reviewed before implementation. In her memo, Tully writes that she would like to start the project by the end of July.

Also Thursday, the Council will vote on a motion to hire Sgt. Eric Mattson as the new City of Ketchikan Police Department lieutenant. That position was left vacant when Lt. Joe White was promoted to police chief in May.

In other personnel news, the city’s Museum Department now has an executive director. Anita Maxwell, who has been acting in that position since the previous director resigned this spring, was appointed to the job effective June 22^nd, according to a memo from City Manager Karl Amylon.

Thursday’s Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.