The Kenai City Council on Wednesday redirected additional funds to the assessment of Kenai’s Emergency Services Facility. The council then authorized a contract to Soldotna-based K+A designstudios, who will complete the assessment work for not more than $172,300.
The move follows a work session last April where the council acknowledged that it needed to identify a path forward for Kenai’s Emergency Services Facility — whether the answer was maintenance, renovation or replacement.
Kenai Police Chief Dave Ross told the council that the building on South Willow Street, shared by Kenai’s police and fire departments, hasn’t kept up with the needs of both departments over 50 years since it was constructed.
In that time, Ross said, the population of Kenai has more than doubled from roughly 3,500 people to around 7,900. To serve that population, the number of police officers employed went from eight to 18 and fire personnel from 11 to 19.
Today, the building faces significant heating, storage and security issues. None of these issues are urgent, Ross said, but are adding up over time. He spotlighted issues with storage of police evidence, fire department living quarters, and an aging roof.
The city’s budget for the current fiscal year included $150,000 for evaluation of the needs of both departments, the conditions of the current facility and an exploration of possible courses of action. That preliminary design work, according to Kenai’s enacted budget for this year, would then be used to seek grant opportunities.
A pair of resolutions, first appropriating additional funds for the project and then authorizing the contract to K+A, were adopted by unanimous consent of the Kenai City Council this week. They say that of six proposals received to complete the survey, K+A’s was the highest ranking, but still came in above the budget.
Because the budget was insufficient, $60,000 was appropriated from a project to replace fire department flooring previously authorized by the council in June 2024. Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank told the council that the flooring repair was on hold pending the results of the study — Kenai may not be putting more maintenance funding into that facility if the better course of action is to construct a new one.
“That facility is looking at some significant maintenance issues that it has coming on the not-so-distant horizon … likely to cost millions of dollars,” Eubank said. “Is it best to go ahead and complete those repairs, or is that facility not going to meet our current needs or future needs of the city?”
There is $40,000 remaining for the floor replacement project that Eubank said would either be transferred to other small projects in the fire department or simply returned to Kenai’s general fund.
Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel said the possibility of replacing the emergency services building is coming at an opportune time, as the city in 2024 finally began its long-gestating Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project and now is looking at what major undertaking to consider next.
A full recording of the meeting is available on the City of Kenai Public Meetings YouTube channel.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
