Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly held the first of two nights of deliberations regarding appropriating funds for Fiscal Year 2023. The ordinance presented to the assembly appropriates money necessary to fund the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s annual budget for FY23 (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023). Two public hearings are scheduled for the ordinance with one held this past Tuesday and the other for June 7.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly enacted an ordinance through consent agenda that would appropriate supplemental funding to complete the Air Conditioner Unit Replacement Project located in the emergency response center server room. The FY22 budget includes an appropriation in the amount of $25,000 to replace the air conditioning unit in the server room of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Response Center. Additionally, the total costs of the project exceed the estimate in the amount of $3,000.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly enacted an ordinance that would adopt the 2022 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and Board of Education Apportionment Plans and submit them to the voters on the ballot for the October 4, 2022, regular borough election. State law requires that the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly adopt...

The production of the local evening newscast is made possible by the generous support of Bay Realty and Duncan House Diner. Mail Truck catches fire with Peninsula Mail; M/V Kennicott is delayed, Homer and Seldovia stops cancelled; SE Alaska Pink Salmon Harvest; Golden Valley Electric Renewable Power Proposal.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted down a proposal to make the borough mayor’s part-time special assistant position into a full-time one, citing concerns about the timing of the resolution. Mayor Charlie Pierce wasn’t at the meeting last night to discuss. But his chief of staff, Aaron Rhoades, said...

The Kenai Peninsula Borough entered into an operating agreement with Central Peninsula General Hospital, Inc. for the operation of the hospital as well as other medical facilities, in addition to providing other healthcare programs and services, on a nonprofit basis to ensure the availability to service area residents. On Tuesday night, the Borough Assembly enacted an ordinance, which passed through consent agenda, that would provide for automated systems to process financial information for the organization including processing of payroll for 1,000+ employees and gross pay in excess of $90 million per year.

A federal judge doubled down on a decision to uphold restrictions on hunting and brown bear baiting in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The ruling squashes another attempt from the state of Alaska and hunting advocates to overturn a contentious Obama-era rule. Local conservationist groups cheer the decision. Nicole Schmitt...

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly recently approved an ordinance, through consent agenda, that would adopt the updated 2022 Kenai Peninsula Borough Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The Kenai Peninsula Borough is, and has been, vulnerable to damages from wildfire events which pose a threat to wildlife habitat, public health and safety and could result in property loss or economic hardship.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted to veto a petition to vacate a portion of Paper Birch Lane and associated utility easements at their Tuesday evening meeting. It originally was on the consent agenda, but it was pulled off by Assembly Member Jesse Bjorkman. In corresponding memorandum documents, the Planning Director writes to the assembly that in accordance with state statute, no vacation of a Borough right-of-way and/or easement may be made without the consent of the Borough Assembly. During the regularly scheduled March 21st Planning Commission meeting, approval of the proposed vacation was granted unanimously, based on the means of evaluating public necessity.

The Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD) is in the process of working on an economic resiliency plan for the Kenai Peninsula Borough. In recent years, the Kenai Peninsula economy has been challenged by a series of unanticipated shocks that ultimately impacted households and employers in the region. Of the greatest magnitude is the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to tremendous job losses and business closures. In addition, the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Southcentral Alaska in 2018, the 2019 Swan Lake Fire, and the recent volatility of oil prices.