Story last updated at 9/1/2008 - 1:20 pm
Communities seek state funds: Assembly may certify 26 unincorporated areas for '09 money
More than two dozen unincorporated communities within the Kenai Peninsula Borough may be in line for state revenue sharing money in fiscal year 2009.
At its Sept. 2 meeting, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will consider a resolution officially certifying 26 Census Designated Places as meeting criteria necessary to participate in the Division of Community and Regional Affairs program.
The Legislature has approved funding to municipalities and unincorporated communities through the Community Revenue Sharing Program. The borough submitted an application on behalf of those communities on July 24.
Resolution 2008-074 will include the following 26 communities: Anchor Point, Bear Creek, Clam Gulch, Cohoe, Cooper Landing, Crown Point, Diamond Ridge, Fritz Creek, Funny River, Happy Valley, Hope, Kalifornsky, Kasilof, Lowell Point, Moose Pass, Nanwalek, Nikiski, Nikolaevsk, Ninilchik, Port Graham, Primrose, Ridgeway, Salamatof, Seldovia Village, Sterling and Tyonek.
In each case, a village council or incorporated nonprofit agency would be the recipient of the funding. In some communities, there is more than one eligible entity.
Bonnie Golden, borough grants manager, said where that is the case, one entity may be tabbed to receive and distribute the entire payment, or the payment may be shared between two or more qualified entities. The assembly would determine which, she said.
Resolution 2008-074 must be submitted to the Division of Community and Regional Affairs before Sept. 15. According to Golden, the Division of Community and Regional Affairs will determine the amount of funding each unincorporated area would receive. The funds would be sent to the borough for distribution to the various entities.
"It is the administration's intent to conduct community meetings in late October or early November to determine the use of the funds for the communities and the most appropriate recipient to receive and spend the funds," Golden said in a memo to the assembly. "The meetings will be held in concert with the assembly's meetings to discuss legislative priorities for 2009."
The borough would receive just over $2.07 million for distribution through the program, Golden said.
Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.






