After more than 300 absentee votes were counted, Tim Navarre and Henry Knackstedt received the most votes for the two at-large Kenai City Council seats.
The results of the election will be certified at tonight’s city council meeting.
Unofficial results on election night had Navarre and Knackstedt with the most votes while incumbent Mike Boyle trailed by 20 votes. Knackstedt’s lead grew with 100 of the 311 absentee votes, while Boyle received 67 additional votes.
Navarre won re-election with 649 total votes while Knackstedt received 604 votes. Boyle, who has served on the council since 2004, finished third with 551 and came up 53 votes short for re-election. Votes for Holly Spann totaled 281.
Out of 5,101 registered voters in Kenai, 28 percent voted in the election.
Navarre said Boyle and Spann ran a good race and clean campaign. He said he looks forward to another three years and will continue to work on what he believes is Kenai’s No. 1 priority – bluff erosion.
Knackstedt said he has a good working relationship with Navarre on the Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission and will approach the job with common sense.
“I’m a hard working person and my strength is my energy and knowledge,” he said. “I appreciate the support of the public. Nothing is worth having unless you have to work for it.”
Boyle said he was a little surprised he didn’t get re-elected because he felt he has always made an emphasis to listen to the citizens. He thanked the people that expressed faith and confidence in him to represent them.
He said he enjoyed his time in public service and found it to be an interesting experience. As a retired teacher, he said he is unsure of what will consume his time next.
“There is a whole world out there,” he said. “We will see what happens.”
The council has three resolutions on tonight’s agenda. One resolution is a capital improvements priority list for state funding requests for the state fiscal year 2016.
Kenai City Manager Rick Koch listed street paving and improvements as the No. 1 priority with a state-funding request of $1.5 million. Among the requests made of less than $100,000 include $75,000 for new restrooms at the Kenai Little League Facility and $50,000 for lighting at the Kenai Ski Trails located at the Kenai Golf Course.
Another resolution is the city’s recommendations for statewide projects. Koch listed the No. 1 priority as the Kenai River South Shore Access for the personal-use fishery with a request of $400,000 from the state.
The council will also discuss a permanent protection of the field of flowers along Lawton Drive in the wake of damage done to the field by an intoxicated driver who was arrested Monday.
