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Meeting in Seward on Tuesday, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted to adopt new road design and construction standards.

By a 5-2 margin, the assembly passed Ordinance 2008-05 (substitute) establishing new criteria for road construction meant to ensure new roads are well-built and that the Roads Service Area accepts only good roads for maintenance.

Assembly members Gary Knopp, of Kalifornsky, and Grace Merkes, of Sterling opposed the measure. Assembly members Gary Superman, of Nikiski, and Paul Fischer, of Kasilof, were absent.

The new road standards, which take effect immediately, are expected to reduce maintenance costs, Roads Director Gary Davis has said. Among other things, they increased the amount of gravel used on certain categories of road; defined when roads in wet areas would require geotechnical and hydrological analyses and engineered designs; and required developers to make financial guarantees equal to 10 percent of the construction cost.

The ordinance is the second major piece of roads legislation passed this spring. On April 1, the assembly adopted Ordinance 2008-03 laying out permit requirements for building crossings over anadromous streams.

The assembly also named members to the borough's new Equitable Assessment Methodology Task Force, which will look at alternatives to the "full and true market value" system required by the state.

Assembly members Milli Martin, of Homer, Gary Superman, of Nikiski, and Homer resident John Fenske were named to the panel. Assembly President Grace Merkes, of Sterling, and Homer resident Judith Lund were named as alternates.

At its April 15 meeting, the assembly voted unanimously to create the task force to consider optional approaches to assessing real property and make recommendations to the Alaska Legislature. It was scheduled to meet for the first time Wednesday in Soldotna.

The assembly also approved Ordinance 2007-19-22, appropriating $850,000 in interest earned on bonds to pay capital improvement costs for the South Peninsula Hospital expansion project.

In other business, the assembly:

* Enacted Ordinance 2007-19-41, appropriating $60,000 for a scissor lift and trailer needed for school maintenance work;

* Enacted Ordinance 2008-08 amending borough code to reflect a decrease in the telephone surcharge for E911 expenses from $1.35 to $1.15 per month;

* Enacted Ordinance 2008-09 authorizing a negotiated lease of about 90 acres of borough land to Kachemak Nordic Ski Club Inc. The organization will develop, manage and maintain the Lookout Mountain Trail System near Homer;

* Postponed further action on Ordinance 2008-10 until May 20. That measure would require documented legal access to subdivisions;

* Enacted Ordinance 2008-12 adopting an amendment to the Final Plan Amendment of the borough's Coastal Zone Management Plan; and

* Postponed until May 20 further action on 2008-19, the FY 2009 budget measure.

Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.