A motion asking for a public vote on the proposed conversion of Nikiski Elementary School into a community center did not receive any support from the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area board Monday night, and the motion died on the floor.
Board member James Price suggested that the board ask the Kenai Peninsula Borough to make the project a ballot proposition to be voted on by the people.
Price's motion questioned whether the recreation board has the authority to create a Nikiski Community Center and said voters should decide whether the board should spend $800,000 to convert the school into a community center.
None of the other three members on the board, however, would second Price's motion.
An estimated 50 community residents jammed the small entrance corridor of the Nikiski swimming pool Monday night to speak on the proposed community center project.
Most of the public comment favored the idea, said Rachel Parra, Nikiski recreation supervisor. Price said Tuesday the comments were evenly split.
Most of the meeting time was consumed by public comments about the community center, Parra said. Price's motion followed the public comment period.
Parra said the board now will go ahead with its plans without a vote of the people.
The plans call for installing a state-required fire suppression system in the former grade school at an estimated cost of $550,000, plus making other alterations to allow the community to begin using the building as its community center.
Karen Kester, recreation director for the service area, said earlier that the community has been surveyed repeatedly about whether it wants a community center.
She said the first survey, conducted by the Nikiski Community Council, identified a need for the community center.
Then, the recreation service area board did an exit poll at the two Nikiski polling places in 2002 with about 200 people responding. After that, a survey was mailed to residents.
In that survey, 108 people said they generally support having a Nikiski Community Center. Eleven people said they did not.
"I got elected to the board primarily to get the people back in the process on this issue," said Price, who became a board member after the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District announced last fall that it was closing Nikiski Elementary School and the building became available for possible use as a community center.
"I wasn't surprised by how the board felt about (the project), but I was a little surprised that they wouldn't allow it to be discussed," Price said Tuesday.
He said Nikiski residents displeased with the way Monday's board meeting on the community center went would submit an initiative to the borough assembly to put the matter on the ballot.
Gary Superman, the Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly representative for Nikiski, said earlier that the concept for the development of a community center has been unopposed within the community for many months.
The recreation service area board has budgeted $850,000 for Phase I of the project, which includes installing the fire suppression system and making access modifications required under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The project's $3.5 million Phase II, which would require a public vote, would involve converting the school into a community center rather than having community programs based in a school building.
Phase III, which carries an estimated price tag of $1.7 million, would include such amenities as computer labs and an assembly room with a platform for putting on community comedies or other performances.
