Kenai council discusses maintenance needs of public safety building

The need to identify a path forward for the maintenance, renovation or replacement of the City of Kenai’s Public Safety Building — which houses both Kenai Fire and Kenai Police Departments — was the central theme of a Wednesday work session of the Kenai City Council.

The council didn’t question whether work needed to be done at the facility, but deliberated how best to assess their options and determine a path forward. They discussed a proposed study that would seek to answer those questions, particularly a proposed budget of up to $250,000.

A presentation by Police Chief David Ross illustrated growing pains felt by the two departments as their size has grown and their needs have shifted in the 50 years since the facility 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.

“A lot of little things,” Ross said.

He explained to the council that the Police Department is required to maintain and store evidence for up to 50 years in certain cases — indefinitely for cases unsolved. That collection is growing larger every year and straining the limits of available space.

There also isn’t adequate room for dispatch services, who have too small a lobby and an office in a supply closet. Ross said this is an issue for members of the public who may be communicating sensitive information without enough space for reasonable privacy.

The fire department’s living quarters, essential to support the 24-hour shifts that its people work, have after years of renovations and adjustments come to be located right next to workspaces that make noise around the clock.

“An important part of their shift is getting rest before the next call,” Ross said. “If they can’t sleep, they can’t be as effective as they ought to be.”

There are also challenges with accommodating both men and women in the space with private showers and locker rooms.

Lastly, a potentially costly need anticipated to arise in the coming years is roof repair or replacement — Ross said he consulted with Public Works Director Scott Curtain and the pair couldn’t find any record of repair being done since construction in the 1970s.

Central to the discussion on Wednesday was a proposed study intended to evaluate the different options and determine a path forward for the facility. Solutions could take different forms, renovating and expanding the existing location or building a whole new facility, based on factors including current and future needs for the services being provided.

Such a study, Curtain said, could gather information to help the council make “an informed decision,” potentially avoiding erroneous spending on something like roof repair before pursuing a larger project like construction of a new facility.

“We have expenses coming on the building,” Curtain said. “It’s going to incur large maintenance costs one way or another.”

Council member James Baisden said that he wasn’t supportive of spending too much money on the assessment effort — saying he’s unconvinced that a proposed budget of $250,000 for the study is “the right number.”

Henry Knackstedt, vice mayor, said “we have to do a study,” to understand what needs to be done and why.

City Manager Terry Eubank said that they can explore a reduced scope of the study, but that the information that can be gleaned is significant to finding “the most cost-effective” way to address the needs and can contribute to pursuing grant funding when it comes time to implement a solution.

“I would like to chart our path forward,” he said. “Is that the facility that we’re going to focus our efforts on — remodeling and making work for the city for the next 10, 15, 20, 30 years? Or is that facility not going to meet the need and we need to look at something else?”

Eubank said he would ask Public Works to reevaluate the budget for the study before the council can discuss further.

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