Assembly committee forwards amendment to MOA for public‑safety services with Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida

City Manager Kester presented an amendment to the memorandum of agreement between Juneau City and Borough and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida that clarifies public‑safety service arrangements for tribal property, including the newly opened 2 Coppers Casino. Kester said the amendment builds on the 2024 MOA (originally focused on glacier‑lake‑outburst flood mitigation) to address police and fire protection and to provide a framework for negotiating compensation for those services.

Kester explained practical constraints: the casino is built on tribal allotment recognized as sovereign and sits roughly two miles outside the city’s fire service area, so operational protocols and compensation are needed to avoid depleting core service resources. The draft amendment specifies that compensation would be negotiated separately and includes reciprocal 30‑day notice provisions that allow either party to withdraw under defined conditions.

Kester noted the facility is sprinklered and that the city’s fire marshal conducted a non‑enforcement walk‑through. He said the city will work with the tribe to coordinate emergency access, response protocols and cost recovery. When Assemblymember Brooks asked whether the termination language requires mutual agreement, Kester described the intended effect: the tribe may give 30 days' notice if it decides to provide its own services; the city could renegotiate compensation and, if no agreement is reached, provide 30 days' notice to end the arrangement.

Assemblymember Brooks moved amendment #1 to the full assembly; the committee took the motion without objection and the motion was approved in committee.