The City of Kenai’s new slash disposal site is up and running, and already seeing a lot of use, city officials said Wednesday.

The site was identified as a goal of the city’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan and gives locals a place to get rid of their personal slash, including trees killed by spruce bark beetles. Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Brad Walker said Wednesday that there have been 112 visits to the disposal site since it opened on June 2, with about 16 acres of land treated.

Kenai City Council members formally accepted during their Wednesday night meeting $150,000 in grant funding from the State of Alaska Division of Forestry for the project. The city was approved for $50,000 per year for three years to reimburse expenses incurred to complete the project, Kenai Fire Chief Tony Prior wrote in a May 25 memo to council members.

Prior wrote that the city will continually consolidate the slash pile through the year, but will close the facility for the year if the pile reaches 1.5 acres in size before the end of September. The site is currently scheduled to close on Oct. 2.

The slash disposal site is located at Mile Marker 13 of the Kenai Spur Highway heading north, near the soccer fields. The site is staffed and open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Commercial companies are not allowed to dump at the site.

More information about the site can be found on the city’s website at kenai.city.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.