When Kenai Peninsula lawmakers head to Juneau in January, they’ll take with them a list of projects they want the State of Alaska to pay for.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members approved that list last week. It includes five projects that’d impact multiple borough communities and more than 20 projects specific to unincorporated communities. The borough’s incorporated cities put together their own legislative wishlists.
During last week’s meeting of the assembly’s finance committee, Borough Mayor Peter Micciche explained how the borough’s priorities are chosen.
“The ones that we prioritize on the top line are similar to the ones we've been pursuing because they're key issues in the Kenai Peninsula Borough,” he said.
Topping the list for the second year in a row is expanded cell and radio coverage on the peninsula’s main highways. The borough’s asking for just over $5.8 million to build six communications projects. They include a new cell tower in Turnagain Pass to reduce emergency response times and new infrastructure in Kenai, Soldotna and Nikiski.
The borough wants another $12 million to improve some of the peninsula’s roughest roads. And it’s asking for $5 million to bolster landfill services.
During their Nov. 12 meeting, assembly members added almost $10 million worth of improvements to South Peninsula Hospital to the list. The money would be used to remodel the hospital pharmacy and expand infusion and nuclear medicine services. They also added a request for almost $300,000 to improve the emergency shelter in Lowell Point.
Assembly member Willy Dunne represents the southern Kenai Peninsula. During the same finance committee meeting, he asked for more information about the relationship between the hospital's ask and the recent failed South Peninsula Hospital bond.
Micciche says the language included in the borough’s project list usually comes directly from the group requesting the money.
“When a service area votes on a capital project – if you see where it is in the book – we often have it in the service area language,” he said. “We have the choice of bringing it into the administrative language. But the bottom line is, they have capital needs. I don't necessarily judge those capital needs.”
Across unincorporated communities, the borough’s requesting more than $7 million in projects. There’s $53,000 for the septic system at the Anchor Point Library and $26,000 for the memorial garden in Funny River. That’s on top of $25,000 for a safety path along the Hope Highway and $1.5 million to replace the Alice Avenue bridge in Ninilchik.
As of Tuesday at 3 p.m., the outcomes of the Kenai Peninsula’s state legislative races were still unofficial. So it’s not clear exactly which lawmakers will be taking the borough’s wishlist to Juneau. The state division of elections is scheduled to tabulate final results on Wednesday evening.
The 34th Alaska Legislature convenes Jan. 21.
