Kenai Peninsula Borough officials have begun the annual exercise of preparing a wish list of projects in need of federal funds.
Two draft documents were presented to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Jan. 8, one listing general federal priorities, the second specifically addressing federal transportation priorities. When adopted, copies will be sent to Alaska's congressional contingent and federal agencies.
The first document details borough positions on various subjects.
The borough reiterated its opposition to any change in federal law that would allow fish farming or marine aquaculture in federal waters beyond Alaska's three-mile coastal zone. The borough sees fish farming as a potential threat to the health, quality and sustainability of Alaska's wild seafood stocks.
The borough supports efforts by the oil and gas industry, and the state and federal governments to develop a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, and urges the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to assure than any federally regulated pipeline project provide the greatest opportunities possible for adequate capacity to provide for in-state use of North Slope gas.
In connection with that project, the borough supports a spur line to the Cook Inlet region, and in particular, supports the efforts of the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority to develop a commercially viable spur.
The draft priority list also notes borough support for developing the Chuitna Coal Mine, saying that if it were eventually sanctioned, it would generate several hundred construction and operational jobs. The borough has asked for "responsible and timely" permitting, as well as federal financial support for increased mineworker training programs and mine safety oversight staff.
The borough supports including Cook Inlet lease sales 211 and 219 in the 2007-2012 OCS oil & gas five-year leasing program. That support, however, includes caveats adopted by the assembly in 2001, including: no offshore loading of tankers; that there be plans to minimize and avoid conflicts with commercial fishing gear; that exploration companies have adequate spill prevention and response capabilities; that critical habitat areas be identified; and that there be provisions for local government revenue sharing.
The borough wants an annual federal funding mechanism for the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council to support vessel traffic oversight and other CIRCAC programs.
The municipality also seeks funding for research studies of Cook Inlet beluga whales, and a deferment of any decision to list the species under the Endangered Species Act until those studies are completed.
Other national priorities include:
* Full funding for federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, payments;
* Responsible natural resources development;
* Funding for federal mandates; and
* Continued funding for the Denali Commission.
The draft federal priorities list also notes several borough projects in need of federal funding. They include:
* Computer-Aided Dispatch System, $1 million;
* Flood Mitigation Improvements at Seward, $3 million;
* Kenai River Center Projects, $547,000;
* Kenai River Center Expansion, $2.282 million; and
* Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation, $5 million.
The document also lists the federal priorities of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, including funding for teacher housing at Nanwalek and Tyonek, as well as full funding for No Child Left Behind mandates and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Other projects for which the borough seeks federal participation include a coastal erosion study, long-term assistance to the Cook Inlet fishing community through salmon rehabilitation and enhancement, and continued cleanup of the gasoline spill at the Sterling ZipMart.
Among the federal transportation projects listed in that draft are requests for $2 million to pave numerous borough maintained gravel approaches to state highways, and $6 million for improving borough right-of-ways.
The borough also is seeking:
* $14.9 million for reconstruction of roads at Lowell Point near Seward;
* A total of $9 million for developing road, airport and dock facilities at Kustatan Ridge on the west side of Cook Inlet;
* $25 million for extending the Kenai Spur Highway to Point Possession;
* $5 million to construct Voznesenka Road;
* $6.23 million for the Island Lake Road upgrade and pedestrian path;
* $15 million to rebuild, realign and pave 8.5 miles of North Fork Road;
* $23 million to improve the Sterling Highway from Anchor Point to Baycrest Hill in Homer;
* $5 million for borough bridge improvements;
* $4 million for a ferry terminal and public dock at Nikiski; and
* $3.822 million for a dock at Williamsport.
A resolution to adopt the federal priorities will be on the Tuesday assembly agenda. According to the Borough Clerk's Office, the assembly needs to adopt them by Feb. 5.
Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.
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