Kenai council welcomes new staff

  • By DAN BALMER
  • Thursday, September 18, 2014 9:54pm
  • News

The Kenai City Council welcomed its newest student representative, received a check from a fundraiser and addressed four ordinances on their agenda in a brief meeting Wednesday.

Allison Ostrander, a senior at Kenai Central High School, was sworn in to office to begin her one-year term as student representative.

Joseph Jolly, representing Kenai Senior Connection, presented a check for $18,479.86 to the city of Kenai for a Meals on Wheels fundraiser.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Mayor Pat Porter thanked Jolly and all the volunteers who dedicate their time to provide service to seniors in need.

“I know how dedicated you all work in helping others in need,” Porter said. “You provide an extremely important service to our community and we all appreciate your tireless efforts.”

In August, the Kenai Senior Center counted 2,291 home meals served. In addition 65 individuals donated 685 hours of volunteer service for various senior issues, according to a report from Rachael Craig, Director of the Kenai Senior Center.

Porter introduced the newest addition to administration, Matthew Kelly, hired as Kenai City Planner. Kelly, from Fort Bragg, California, started work on Sept. 11.

The council postponed two ordinances indefinitely regarding zoning for group care facilities and emergency shelters with the intention of holding a Planning and Zoning commission work session to review and finalize the code with the city planner.

The council passed an ordinance to re-appropriate state funds in the capital project fund in the amount of $2,302 to complete the boiler replacement and heated sidewalk project at the senior center.

The council passed an ordinance to accept and appropriate federal and state grants for repair of South Spruce Street following the October 2013 flood damage. The city received $27,605.04 from federal emergency management grants and $9,201.69 in state grants after the flood was declared a national disaster.

In other business, the council approved travel for council member Brian Gabriel to accompany Kenai City Manager Rick Koch to petition the members of the Alaska Board of Fish, who are meeting in Juneau for a work session, to conduct its 2017 board meeting on the Kenai Peninsula.

The council also appointed and confirmed Kenai resident James Glendening to the Harbor commisison.

The meeting adjourned after 30-minutes. In his closing comments, council member Mike Boyle welcomed Ostrander to the council with a word of caution.

“This will be the shortest meeting you will be a part of,” he said.

Reach Dan Balmer at daniel.balmer@peninsulaclarion.com

More in News

Concert-goers listen to The Discopians at Concert on the Lawn on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Karen Hornaday Park in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
‘Dancing at the end of the world’

KBBI AM 890 hosted their annual Concert on the Lawn Saturday.

Lisa Gabriel unfurls a set beach seine during a test fishery for the gear near Clam Gulch, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seine test fishery continues after board of fish calls for more data

The east side setnet fishery has been entirely closed in recent years to protect Kenai River king salmon

Jason Criss stands for a photo in Soldotna, Alaska, after being named a qualifier for the Special Olympics USA Games on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna athlete to compete in 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

Thousands of athletes from across all 50 states will be competing in 16 sports.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna OKs $395,000 capital plan

This year’s list of capital projects is “nominal compared to some past years,” according to officials.

A map of areas proposed for annexation by the City of Soldotna. (Provided by City of Soldotna)
Soldotna adds annexation proposal to ballot

The proposed annexation is split across five small areas around the city.

Nets are extended from North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, during the first day of the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘A really good day’

Kenai River personal use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery opens.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough assembly to consider ordinance to increase residential property tax exemption

If approved by voters in October, the ordinance would increase the tax exemption by $25,000.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in