The Kenai City Council last week extended a pair of agreements between Kenai and the State Division of Forestry and Fire Protection that both tackle mitigation of hazardous trees killed by spruce beetles.
Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank said that the first provides funding to the city to operate the slash disposal site north of the Kenai Sports Complex. The city has run that site for three summers, he said, and of original funding of $150,000, there’s around $85,000 remaining to run the site.
“The state is interested in us continuing to operate that site,” he said.
The other agreement is for removal of hazardous trees killed by spruce bark beetles. That “critical” memorandum is the source of $385,000 that Kenai is using to match a federal grant of the same amount.
“In order for us to continue to utilize the remainder of that federal grant we need this memorandum and that funding, or we have to come up with our own funds to provide that match,” Eubank said.
Both agreements needed to be extended at this meeting, Eubank said, because they were otherwise set to expire at the end of the month. The new agreements, attached to the resolution, now describe expiration dates at the end of 2025. Eubank said on Monday that the one-year extension was the state’s preference.
The memorandum for tree cutting, Eubank said during the meeting, is expected to be further amended to expand the scope of work and the areas where trees can be cut. Work so far has focused on the drainage areas near Forest Drive and by the Kenai Municipal Airport. Next for consideration is the drainage that extends behind Safeway and Home Depot up to Marathon Road.
Other work to fell hazardous trees in Kenai has been undertaken by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, including around Lawton Drive, the Oilers Ballpark and the Kenai Golf Course.
A full recording of the meeting can be found at “City of Kenai – Public Meetings” on YouTube. The text of both agreements can be found at kenai.city.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
