A total of nearly $150,000 will be spent to replace the water line to the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area pool this fall, after appropriation Tuesday of additional funds to see the project completed.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8, adopted via the consent agenda an ordinance appropriating an additional $96,000 to a project seeking to replace a 2-inch water service main that supports the pool.
According to a memo from NPRSA Director Eric Eleton, attached to the ordinance, the borough’s budget for this fiscal year included $52,000 for replacement of the line.
After “further investigation,” Eleton writes, elements of the project were found to be “more complicated than originally understood.”
Peter Ribbens, the chair of the borough Finance Committee and also the assembly representative for Nikiski, said Tuesday that the water line is supposed to operate at 50 gallons per minute — it’s running at “about 16” gallons per minute.
During a meeting of the finance committee earlier that same day, Borough Purchasing & Contracting Director John Hedges said that the increased complexities stem from a lack of information about how the pool’s water systems are put together.
“Once we completed the design and did the estimate, we realized that there wasn’t enough funds,” he said.
Further challenging the project is the arrival of freezing temperatures, as Hedges said they’re “expediting” the work. Borough Mayor Peter Micciche said during that meeting that the hope is to complete the project “in time to avoid an interruption of service.”
Hedges said that a call for bids went unanswered, as contractors are “pretty busy this time of year,” but the borough is meeting directly with contractors in hopes of completing the work this year.
The assembly adopted the ordinance by unanimous consent on their consent agenda.
A full recording of the assembly meeting and finance committee meeting, and the text of the ordinance, can be found at kpb.legistar.com.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
