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Further action on a natural gas utility special assessment district planned for south Kalifornsky Beach Road was delayed Tuesday by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, which wants time to answer questions about the USAD itself, and about the borough's program in general.

The assembly postponed action of Resolution 2008-089, which would authorize the USAD, as well as Ordinance 2008-19-37, which would appropriate funding to the USAD, until the March 3 meeting.

The borough has had the power to create special assessment districts for utility lines since voters approved the non-areawide power in 1991. Gas line USADs have proved successful in getting natural gas to residential communities where no lines had previously existed. Beyond benefiting residents, Enstar Natural Gas, the only local supplier, also benefits from the extension of its customer base and from the financial aid assessments provide in defraying the costs of trunk line installation.

Property owners along the stretch of Kalifornsky Beach Road submitted a petition Nov. 17 looking to form a USAD. The petition was signed by the owners of 53 parcels, 71.6 percent of the 74 parcels that could potentially benefit from installation of the gas line, barely enough to meet the required 70 percent threshold.

The borough owns three of the parcels, but even without those, the percentage is still 70.4 percent, according to Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship. Three other signatures were filed, but lacked supporting documentation and could not be included in the clerk's certification process.

Nevertheless, at this point, sufficient signatures have been submitted to launch the gas line project.

The project is estimated to cost $219,500, amounting to a per-parcel cost of just under $3,000. It would involve installation of 7,350 feet of 2-inch pipe and 6,830 feet of 4-inch pipe.

Some property owners facing the hefty assessment say they do not need or want natural gas.

"Not everybody in the area wants this to happen," said Tammy Weste, a resident of K-Beach Road, whose property, listed as the Kehl Family Trust, is on the USAD assessment roll. "It would not be a benefit for me at all."

Weste said she felt as if she was being strong-armed, and worries that the borough could put a lien on her home to compel payment of gas line assessments.

"It doesn't seem Alaskan. It doesn't seem American," she said.

Heath Duncan also opposed the USAD.

"I am going to get increased property value, but I'm not in the market to sell. I'm just going to get taxed higher on my property for something that I don't want," he said, adding later, "I shouldn't have to pay Enstar to run a distribution line. That's their business, not mine."

Paul Zimmerman, who has issues about the borough's involvement with USADs in general, said the proposed boundaries were arbitrary.

"I have reams of information and irregularities and problems I have with this," he said.

Vern Cummings, who worked to gather signatures on the petition, said the gas line was needed in an area facing high costs for oil and other energy sources. He said property owners who want gas were anxious to get the USAD approved this year because Enstar had promised to hold costs at current levels if the project could be started by the next building season. Enstar, too, was looking to avoid significantly higher costs for materials that a lengthy delay might entail.

Shirley Cummings, Vern's wife, said she and her husband had launched the USAD effort because they are on fixed incomes and need a cheaper source of energy.

"We had bills last year on oil like $1,000 a month. We're not the only ones, I know a lot of older people that I know of that are dealing with that as well," she said, adding that gas would cut their energy costs to one-third its current level.

She said she agreed that people who don't want the gas shouldn't have to be charged for the gas line.

"But that's the way it goes and there is nothing we can do about that," she said of the USAD requirements. She said Vern had tried to draw the USAD to avoid some of those who did not want gas, but with others, avoid their properties was impossible if the gas line was to reach them and others who want gas.

Assemblyman Gary Superman, of Nikiski, said the USAD process had raised red flags, and noted problems that must be ironed out, including a lack of oversight by the borough. He said he thought the original intent of the USAD process had been left behind, and newer USADs have become contentious. Recent USAD efforts have seen residents for and against gas lines voice valid reasons for their positions, he said.

Superman has voted for some USADs, though he said he has opposed the borough's involvement philosophically. At the heart of his objections is whether the borough should be involved in a process that essentially helps a private corporation, Enstar, expand its business enterprise. Prior to 1992, Enstar brought gas to consumers itself, a practice that might bear revisiting, he said.

Superman suggested that for the K-Beach USAD it might be fairer for the 70 percent to pay 100 percent of the cost to get the line installed, and that property owners who did not want to participate would pay nothing. Should they wish to hook up later, they would be obligated to remunerate those among the 70 percent.

Ron Long, of Seward, said the way the process was structure "seems to penalize the small guy and reward the bigger developer" who could replat property and reap benefits without an increased USAD assessment. He also took some issue with the USAD map.

"This is about a gerrymandered a looking map as I've seen on the USADs that have come before us," he said.

Long said comments both pro and con had raised serious concerns that the assembly and borough should be dealing with.

"Enstar's economic urgency, however, is not," he said.

The assembly said fairness was at the heart of the debate - both to those who did not want gas as well as to those who led the effort to form the USAD by following the existing rules. Members said the whole USAD program needed a thorough review.

Assemblyman Gary Knopp said he was opposed the borough's participation in USADs. Extending trunk gas lines should be Enstar's business, he said.

Bill Smith, of Homer, said that it appeared that under the rules, residents were "gifting" the gas line to the utility because they are not entitled to refunds.

"How long would it take us to fix this? I would say two or three months," he said.

Hal Smalley, of Kenai, said he thought the process was repairable.

Pete Sprague, of Soldotna, said the USAD in question should be a separate matter from a discussion about general repair of the USAD program. He said people had worked a very long time under the existing rules to get gas to their homes and shouldn't be penalized by problems in the USAD program.

Assembly President Milli Martin acknowledging the work that has already gone into the USAD effort. She proposed the postponement. The assembly agreed 6-1, with Sprague in opposition.

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