After in December approving a nearly $400,000 contract with Anchorage-based MCG Explore Design to generate a design for consolidation of several Soldotna schools, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday appropriated around $82,000 from the borough’s general fund to cover elements of the work that fall outside of the scope of a 2022 school maintenance bond package.

According to an ordinance adopted unanimously by the assembly during their Jan. 21 meeting, MCG is tasked with exploring “alternative options related to the Soldotna Elementary and the Soldotna Preparatory projects that were part of the 2022 School Bond package.”

Because the scope of that work includes Skyview Middle School and Redoubt Elementary School, which weren’t included in the original bond, additional funds from the borough have to be provided for the work. The ordinance appropriates $81,706 for that purpose.

Borough administration have said repeatedly, including in December, that the funds in the bond package are insufficient to construct a new Soldotna Elementary and relocate other schools to Soldotna Prep. Borough Purchasing & Contracting Director John Hedges said then that the new design work is necessary to identify a path forward.

A memo by Hedges said that including Redoubt and Skyview in the new evaluation is “critical” because of their “direct relationship with the Soldotna elementary program.”

The ordinance was adopted on the assembly’s consent agenda with little discussion.

The full text of the ordinance can be found at kpb.legistar.com.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.