Kenai Peninsula Borough

The borough thinks its stranded 2,000 acres could be turned into a residential development. Housing availability on the eastern peninsula is notoriously limited.

The program is an effort to make it easier for peninsula residents to buy land. Under the guidelines, the borough will knock off a quarter of the successful bid amount.

The borough mayor says it's rare for the school district to get maximum funding – it’s only happened once in the last two decades. And he says it’s unsustainable.

The petitioners say board members should have done more to push back on a health clinic that was proposed for the high school in Nikiski.

Now that borough code matches state law, the assembly will still need to pass an ordinance if it wants to spend public money promoting a ballot proposition. But, they won’t need to go around their own rules first.

The program will give discounts and special financing terms to eligible participants who bid on qualifying pieces of borough land.

On today’s episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re joined by Brenda Ahlberg, the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s emergency manager, to talk about emergency preparedness amid an eruption advisory from Mt. Spurr.

Since the catastrophic failure of the bailer at the Central Peninsula Landfill last year, the commission’s been the sounding board for community members wanting to share their concerns and ideas about the problem.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members on Tuesday formally asked the State of Alaska to increase and inflation-proof the base amount of money school districts get per student.

Borough Mayor Peter Micciche says the borough’s interest in the land is directly tied to housing shortages.