Kenai city council holds dipnet work session Tuesday

  • By DAN BALMER
  • Monday, March 3, 2014 10:06pm
  • News

The Kenai City Council will hold another work session to discuss the dipnet fishery at 6 p.m. tonight at City Hall.

City Manager Rick Koch said the work session is a continuation of discussion from the previous work session on Jan. 6 in which the council reviewed the 2013 Dipnet Fishery Report and heard public testimony on citizens’ concerns as the City of Kenai prepares for the 2014 season.

Koch said the two main issues for the council to consider is how to manage public safety and cleanliness in dealing with the thousands of people that arrive at the mouth of the Kenai River for the July 10-31 dipnet season.

In an attempt to receive help on both matters, Koch attended the Board of Fisheries meeting in Anchorage last month on behalf of the City of Kenai and requested an end to the 24-hour opening of the Kenai River dipnet fishery. The BOF denied that request.

Koch said he would make a recommendation to council to close the beach between the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. to allow the city time to clean the beach. Because the city owns the land, it is within its authority to close the beach as a measure of safety and public health, he said.

Koch said the city needs time to clean up the fish waste left by dipnetters, service toilets and pick up Dumpsters and the best opportunity to do so is in the evening. The council gave administration the authority to close the beach during 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. last year in July.

The Parks and Recreation Department uses heavy equipment and trucks in the clean up process and if people were fishing at night, there is a risk of people getting hit, he said.

“Whether there are 100 people out fishing in the middle of the night is 100 too many to cleanup safely,” he said. “It is a safety issue that has little effect on the fishery.”

The Kenai Watershed Forum has concerns if the city goes forwards with a proposal to close the beach for a time during the dipnet season.

At the Feb. 19 Kenai City Council meeting, Kenai Watershed Forum Executive Director Robert Ruffner addressed the council on the unintended impact of beach closure. He said if the city restricts access to the water at night, potentially people could try to gain river access upstream and disrupt wetland vegetation, rather than migrating to the traditional fishing areas on the sand.

Ruffner said he was disappointed with the state’s lack of protection of the Kenai River.

“We spent a lot of time and energy to help take care of the river,” he said. “(The state) needs to get it together.”

Ruffner said the impact of people walking on wetland vegetation could be devastating. He said it takes 10-15 years to get the natural vegetation to come back if the damage is severe enough.

Among other items of discussion during the dipnet season, Koch said the city is considering the elimination of on-street parking in Old Town and in-park parking without a permit in Municipal Park to alleviate traffic congestion and parking problems. The city is also looking to eliminate on-street parking along South Forest Drive to make the roads safe and passable, he said.

Koch said one of the items they did not get to at the last work session is an amendment in the fee schedule. In 2013, parking and camping fees to the north and south beaches increased to help offset the costs of garbage removal and cleanup efforts, according to the report from Kenai Finance Director Terry Eubank.

The time period for parking fees was changed from 12 hours from the time of payment to 24 hours beginning daily at 5 a.m. Camping fees were charged per night and required campers to vacate their site by noon. The report said, “significant confusion occurred with this fee structure and the department will be recommending a change in fee structure for the 2014 fishery.”

Revenues for 2013 were $673,292, nearly $43,000 less than the budgeted amount, according to the report.

At the Jan. 6 work session, the council heard complaints from several citizens on the enforcement in the south beach area off Old Cannery Road. Koch said ATV four-wheelers were common in the area given the distance to walk from parking to the water. He said people may try to convince the city to close motorized traffic in south beach and step up enforcement of camping and campfires, but if such events do not occur on city property, there is nothing the city can do, he said.

“Trying to catch four-wheelers is like trying to catch water in your hand,” he said.

Following the dipnet work session, the council will also discuss expenditures from miscellaneous Legislative funds and discuss a change in council travel policy.

 

Reach Dan Balmer at daniel.balmer@peninsulaclarion.com

More in News

Alaska State Troopers logo.
State Trooper convicted of attempted sexual abuse of a minor

Vance Peronto, formerly an Alaska State Trooper based in Soldotna, was convicted… Continue reading

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna moves ahead with staff recruitment strategies

Soldotna City Council members last week gave city administration a thumbs up… Continue reading

State representatives Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, and Andi Story, D-Juneau, offering competing amendments to a bill increasing the per-student funding formula for public schools by $1,250 during a House Education Committee meeting Wednesday morning. McKay’s proposal to lower the increase to $150 was defeated. Story’s proposal to implement an increase during the next two years was approved, after her proposed amounts totalling about $1,500 were reduced to $800.
Borough, Soldotna call on Legislature to increase school funding

The City of Soldotna last week became the latest entity to call… Continue reading

Kenai River Brown Bears goalie Nils Wallstrom celebrates winning a shootout over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Brown Bears sweep Ice Dogs, move into 3rd place

The Kenai River Brown Bears earned a two-game sweep over the Fairbanks… Continue reading

The waters of Cook Inlet lap against Nikishka Beach in Nikiski, Alaska, where several local fish sites are located, on Friday, March 24, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Unprecedented closures threaten setnet way of life

Setnetters have been vocal about their opposition to the way their fishery is managed

Legislative fiscal analysts Alexei Painter, right, and Conor Bell explain the state’s financial outlook during the next decade to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Legislators eye oil and sales taxes due to fiscal woes

Bills to collect more from North Slope producers, enact new sales taxes get hearings next week.

Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park

Bruce Jaffa, of Jaffa Construction, speaks to a group of students at Seward High School’s Career Day on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward students talk careers at fair

More than 50 businesses were represented

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

Most Read