On the June 8 Bethel City Council agenda will be vaccine cash incentives, police body cams, and taxes on senior citizens.
In the meeting, Bethel City Council is expected to vote to accept a $45,000 grant from the State of Alaska. The funds must go towards vaccination efforts. City Manager Pete Williams has proposedincentivizing unvaccinated residents with $100 worth of cash or gift cards if they agree to get vaccinated.
The Bethel Police Department also recently won a grant from the state. It has requested approval from the city to use $21,930 of its $127,174.50 grant award towards the purchase of 30 new body cameras. The proposal is on the agenda for discussion and a vote during the June 8 meeting.
The city council will also look at a proposal that would grant a sales tax exemption to all senior citizens. Currently, only senior citizens who are Bethel residents are exempt from the tax. As this item is on the consent agenda, the council is not expected to discuss it or vote on it until the following city council meeting. However, any council member could pull the item from the agenda for discussion.
Also on the agenda isan ordinance that clarifies who is responsible for maintaining privately-owned sewer tanks in Bethel. If passed, the ordinance would exempt the City of Bethel from any legal or monetary responsibility that could accompany a tank overflow. The proposed ordinance says “the customer is responsible for maintaining and monitoring the collection of waste in their holding tank, and shall ensure prevention of overflow, leakage, and discharge of waste onto the ground.”
