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Having received only one bid, the city of Soldotna is expected to award a $98,300 contract tonight to an Anchorage architect for the design of the Soldotna Creek Park expansion.

Considered to be "both responsive and responsible," the bid by the Koonce, Pfeffer, Bettis architectural firm is being recommended for award by Soldotna Parks and Recreation Director Andrew Carmichael.

The Soldotna City Council also is slated to set a priority list of capital improvement projects to be considered by Alaska's congressional delegation for possible grant funding.

Heading the list are water and sewer system improvements totaling $1.3 million. City Manager Larry Semmens said the projects include well-house work and water transmission line improvements at various locations around the city.

Also on the list are the relocation of Funny River Road and phase one of apron construction at Soldotna Municipal Airport. Estimated cost of the two projects is $3.2 million, according to the resolution up for consideration tonight.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has told the city to think $1.5 million in considering the cost of installing a traffic light at the intersection of Birch Street and the Sterling Highway. That's the third item on the city's proposed wish list.

Semmens said the $1.5 million price tag is for much more than just a traffic light.

Factored into the sum is reconstruction of the roadway to install pressure sensors to trigger light changes only when traffic dictates. Synchronizing the light with traffic signals all the way back to the Kalifornsky Beach-Sterling Highway intersection also is part of the $1.5 million cost.

"When the city had it on the list before, we figured on $350,000," Semmens said.

A representative of residents along Keystone Drive, Will Madison, is scheduled to make a public presentation to the city council asking that the city complete improvements to the road, which runs from East Redoubt Avenue along the Kenai River.

Semmens said it is his understanding that when the road was improved and paved, a walkway alongside a section of the road inside the city limits did not get built.

Semmens said the walkway was put in up to a small creek, but funding was not available for an expensive study related to any impact on anadromous fish in a stream culvert under the path.

A public hearing will be conducted on an ordinance authorizing the purchase of the Troy Hodges' home at the northwest corner of the airport, making way for rerouting Funny River Road and adding hangar and aircraft tie-down spaces at that end of the airport.

Hodges, who had previously sold a large tract of land to the city to allow for the road rerouting, had held onto his home site, but he changed his mind and is now willing to sell, according to Semmens.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough assessed value of the property is $258,000. Because about $240,000 remains in a Federal Aviation Administration grant for land purchases needed for the airport expansion, the ordinance seeks a $65,000 appropriation to pay the balance of the purchase price plus any transaction costs.

The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.