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City leases dock to oil spill responders

L.Jay Barrett/KDLL

The specter of having the City of Kenai’s dock sit idle for the summer was avoided at the last minute during Wednesday night’s Kenai City Council meeting when a one-year lease was approved with CISPRI, the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response, Inc.

The $20,000 contract gives CISPRI non-exclusive use of the dock, the city’s three cranes, office space, the floats, moorings and operating area adjacent to the dock.

The contract for operating the dock was put out to bid twice, but receive no response, according to a memo from the city’s building official. As a result, three companies, CISPRI, the Alaska Fish Factory, and Copper River Seafoods were contacted about submitting a proposal. Only CISPRI responded.

“You know I just like to thank the administration to find a lessee for that in the summertime. It seems like a waste if it wasn’t used at all there," said Mayor Brian Gabriel. "And we’ll be able to generate some revenue off that.”

Previously, fuel was available to the fleet at the city dock. Councilman Jim Glendening noticed that was not mentioned in the resolution approving the contract.

“I would think than an outfit that specialized in spill prevention might be ideal for dispensing fuel, but that’s my view. No fuel this year at the dock?”asked Councilman Glendening.

“Fuel dispensing is not a part of the contract," replied City Manager Paul Ostrander. "CISPRI was not interested in using the fuel dispensary there, so there will not be fuel at the dock this year.”

CISPRI is a member-owned non-profit that is the first responder to oil spills in Cook Inlet. It is largely funded by the petroleum industry but counts as member organizations the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Coast Guard, Cook Inlet RCAC, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

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