(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - Commissioner Susan K. Bell of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development signed the Certificate of Incorporation of the City of Edna Bay on October 13th, completing the incorporation process and creating Alaska’s newest second class city and the becoming the first to incorporate since 2004.

Edna Bay is a small community on Kosciusko Island near Prince of Wales Island, about 90 miles northwest of Ketchikan. On October 3, 2014, the Division of Elections certified the results of an election on whether to incorporate as a city. The voters had approved the measure 33 to 6. Many citizens believe that incorporation will allow them to better manage their economic, environmental and political responsibilities. Incorporation provides the people of Edna Bay with maximum local self-government; it empowers residents by giving them the legal control of their harbor, roads, and refuse management.

The Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA), the State executive agency mandated by the Alaska Constitution to advise and assist local governments, will participate in the City’s organizational meeting on October 16th to officially seat the council by swearing in the newly elected officials, aiding the city in determining initial terms, and electing a Mayor from the council. DCRA will provide additional assistance in the coming months as the council begins to exercise the powers and duties of a city.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News: 

Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
http://www.commerce.state.ak.us

SitNews ©2014
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.