Photo courtesy of Teal Hetrick
A drift boat slowly floats down Middle Kenai River.
Compiled by Willow Hetrick
Turnagain Times
Moose Pass Correspondent
Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Meeting Report
By Sue McClure
East Peninsula Assembly Member
Our day began with committee meetings at 2:30 p.m.. This is a time during which we address each item on the evening’s agenda, and can ask questions of the staff. We also heard a report from our General Services Director, Mark Dixon, on his priorities in that department. At the regular meeting, an important item on our consent agenda was the resolution certifying the results of the October 4 Borough election.
The three incumbent assembly members who were on the ballot retained their seats, Propositions 1 and 2 failed, and Proposition 3 retained the 9 member Assembly and Board of Education. We also confirmed the service area board seat elections and Proposition 4, abolishing the Lowell Point Emergency Service Area and Proposition 5, establishing the Seldovia Recreational Service Area. However, there will be a runoff election on October 25 for Borough Mayor. Voting may begin on October 17 at select locations, including Seward City Hall. Information on both the runoff election and the final results of the general election are available at the borough website: www.borough.kenai.ak.us.
Mayor Carey read two proclamations, declaring October as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” and “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”. We heard a presentation from Bill Steyer concerning the Homer track situation, and their request for help in its repair. In his report, Mayor Carey spoke about the recent Cooper Landing community meeting, at which it was announced that they now have the required 10 students to keep the school open.
In addition it was noted at committee that the Seward High School and Auditorium re-roof projects are slated for 2012 construction. We had five ordinances up for public hearing, and passed 4 with unanimous consent, including one accepting and appropriating $5,235.72 for installation of Smart Boards at Seward Elementary.
We also unanimously enacted Ordinance 2011-34, which establishes an enforcement process for violations of Title 21. Ordinance 2011-35, adjusting our code to set an 8-year consecutive limit to an assembly member’s term was postponed to the November 1 meeting. We moved several ordinances on to public hearing at the December 6 meeting, including Ordinance 2011-19-25, accepting and then allocating the 2009 and 2010 Cruise Ship Passenger Tax proceeds to the Cities of Seward and Homer. Ordinance 2011-19-24 which would appropriate $100,000 from the general fund to the Kenai Watershed Forum to fund restoration projects at anadromous stream crossings will have public hearings Dec. 6 and also Jan. 3, 2012. We moved Ordinance 2011-41 to a shortened public hearing on Nov. 1, providing for the apportionment and composition of the assembly and board of education seats, and establishing a committee to determine the boundaries.
Also coming up at our next meeting on Nov. 1 is Ordinance 2011-19-22 which accepts and appropriates $99,272 for stream channel and elevation modeling under the Coastal Impact Assistance Program.
This was one of the projects approved in 2009, and will provide tools to identify channel migration zones in the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area. As always, I can be reached at 224-6784 or smcclure@borough.kenai.ak.us. The Seward Annex Office in SeaView Plaza is a great source of information, as is the borough’s website.
Kenai-Russian River Collaborative Public Process: Working to Reduce Human-Bear Conflicts
Public Forums will be held at the following locations on the Kenai-Russian River Collaborative Public Process: Working to Reduce Human-Bear Conflicts:
October 25 - Soldotna from 6 to 9pm in the Gilman River Center, 514 Funny River Road
October 26 – Cooper Landing - from 4 to 9pm in the Cooper Landing Community Center
October 27 – Anchorage – from 6 to 9pm in The Commons, or UAA Room 106
The purpose of these meetings are to hear comments on the wide range of management actions proposed by involved agencies developed from suggestions made at public meetings in April including; options for management of fish waste, continuing and improving visitor education, temporal and spatial closures, changes in management of bears, regulating bear attractants, enforcement, new or improved facilities and infrastructure, and other topics. To read the summaries of April meetings, go to https://projects.ecr.gov/kenai-russianriver/default.aspx. For more information, contact Jan Caulfield Consulting at janc@gci.net or 907-523-4610. You are also invited to email your comments to: comments-alaska-chugach-seward@fs.fed.us. Please put “Kenai Russian River Comment” in the email’s subject line.
Seward’s Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance 5th Annual Beer and Wine Tasting Event
The 5th annual beer and wine tasting event will be held on Nov. 5 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Alaska SeaLife Center. This fun event will again feature local brewers and vintners from Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Talkeetna, and Anchorage. This year’s line-up will include even more tasty Seward brews and a variety of door prizes. The night will include savory appetizers and desserts donated by creative regional and local chefs competing in our annual Chef-Off and Dessert Challenge cooking contests. We are looking for more local participation in the food contests and auction contributions. Contact Pam Parker at pparker1313@hotmail.com or 422-7124 for more information on contributions and contest participation. Proceeds benefit RBCA’s community projects. For more information on this volunteer-driven organization and the projects that the Seward community has made possible, go to www.rbca-alaska.org.
