Assembly - Regular Meeting

Okay, I'd like to call the September 15th, 2026 regular meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to order. This meeting is also being conducted through the Zoom meeting platform and can also be heard on KDLL FM 91.9, KBBI AM 890, and KIBH FM 91.7. If you could please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance is a flag of the United States of America and of the Republic for which it stands, Okay, at this time, I would just ask that everybody remain standing. This is the placeholder for our invocation. We don't have a chaplain today, and so I'm just going to ask that since our last meeting was 9-11, that we have a brief moment of silence for all the victims, families, first responders of the 9-11 attack on our country.

Okay, thank you.

Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll?

President Tunseth?

Here.

Vice President Cooper is excused. Mr. Dunn?

Here.

Ms. Eklund?

Here.

Mr. Eicher is also excused. Mr. Hibbert? Mr. Berga?

Here.

Ms. Neeson? Here. Mr. Truesdell?

Here.

You have a quorum, Mr. President.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Okay, we conducted our business today at the Assembly. We started at 345 today with our Finance Committee meeting. We then met at 415 for our Policies and Procedures Committee meeting. We'll take reports on each of those now. The first one was our Finance Committee chaired by Assemblymember Neeson. Assemblymember Neeson.

Thank you, President Tencif. The Finance Committee called to order at 345 this afternoon. We reviewed four previously introduced ordinances that are up for public hearing tonight. All were sponsored by the mayor and all are eligible for the consent agenda. Ordinance 2026-19-07, an ordinance appropriating funds from the general fund for the 911 comm room, air conditioner replacement project. This is to replace a 20-year-old cooling system at the Soldotna Public Safety Communications Center for the 911 communications radio room, which is a cooling requirement similar to network or server rooms. The existing system is experiencing periodic failures, which puts the radio equipment at risk, so replacement is sought out and it's estimated at $56,500, which allows for design, engineering, and inflation. Ordinance 2026-19-08, an ordinance appropriating and allocating commercial passenger vessel tax proceeds received from the state of Alaska to the city of Seward and to the city of Homer. The state of Alaska levies and collects a $5 commercial passenger vessel excise tax for each passenger. A portion of the proceeds is dispersed to the first seven ports of call each year, $250 per person, and if the ports are located in a city within a borough, $250 additionally is distributed to the borough. The Kenai Peninsula Borough's proceeds are passed through to Seward and Homer through grant agreements, and this ordinance approves the 2025 calendar year appropriations for this purpose. 2026-19-09 an ordinance appropriating supplemental funds from the plant replacement and expansion fund for the generator replacement project at south peninsula hospital sponsored by the mayor five million dollars in congressionally directed spending grant funds were appropriated in 2024 to be used for the replacement of the failing emergency power plant and support infrastructure at the south peninsula hospital Those facilities are owned by KPB on behalf of the South Peninsula Hospital Service Area. After applying cost-cutting measures, there's a deficit of $230,793 to ensure successful completion of the project. Today's ordinance appropriates funds for that deficit from the SPH Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund, and those were approved by the service area. Ordinance 2026-19-10, an ordinance appropriating funds from the general fund in support of the 2045 Homer Comprehensive Plan update. The City of Homer updated its 2045 Comprehensive Plan and that was adopted by the Assembly on March 17th of this year. Their total cost to develop the plan working through a consultant was $400,000 over two and a half years, and they're requesting that the CUNA Peninsula Bureau contribute $50,000 in financial support as a portion of that cost that is consistent with previous efforts of that magnitude. An ordinance is for introduction tonight. We looked at one ordinance sponsored by the mayor and a shortened hearing period is requested for this. It is eligible for the consent agenda. Ordinance 2026-19-12, an ordinance appropriating funds from the general fund for the Donald E. Gilman River Center Fire Alarm Replacement Project. The shortened hearing would make tonight the hearing for that. This ordinance requests an appropriation of $97,132 to complete the full replacement of the inoperable fire alarm system at the river center, which experienced a major failure of the main control panel and can't be repaired. The ordinance also includes the shortened hearing period. This is actually being reassessed, reevaluated, as the system may not need to be as large as the previous system. So we can continue to allocate the funds, to appropriate the funds, but far less money may actually be needed, and if it's not needed, it will not be spent. Under new business, we had one item, that was KPB 7994, authorizing the issuance of a letter of non-objection to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board regarding the new restaurant or eating place license as requested by Freddy's Roadhouse, Inc., DBA Freddy's Roadhouse, number 60681 in the Ninilchik area. This issues the letter of non-objection to the ABC Board for a liquor license. The restaurant is located in Anilchik. The borough has reviewed the application for unpaid taxes and for distance requirements from churches and schools and found that the establishment is in compliance with both. With our business concluded, we adjourned at 3.57 p.m. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Neeson. Excellent report. Our next committee was our Policies and Procedures Committee. That was at 4.15, and that's chaired by Assemblymember Truesdale. Assemblymember Truesdale.

Thank you, President Tunseth. The Policies and Procedures Committee met today at 4.15. We had the Mayor's Report, which you'll hear in full tonight. We had three ordinances for introduction. Ordinance 2026-33, amending Borough Code Title 22 regarding assembly meeting procedures brought to us by President Tunseth. Hearing for that will be on October 20th, 26. Ordinance 2026-33 amends KPB Title 22 to clarify several assemblies It establishes majority of the quorum as the default vote required for assembly action, clarifies who may sponsor legislative items, and makes minor changes to the reconsideration process. Overall, that ordinance largely codifies and clarifies existing procedures with a few minor changes. Ordinance 202634, amending borough code to enact a new section, KPB 2020, and to repeal KPB 22.30.060 regarding the appointment process for vacancies on the assembly. Also brought to us by President Tunset with a hearing on October 20th, 26. Ordinance 202634 amends KPB code to establish a new process for filling vacancies on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and repeals the existing vacancy provision. Under the proposed ordinance, if the assembly declares a vacancy within 90 days of the next regular election, that seat would instead be filled through the election process. It also clarifies the process used by the assembly when voting in a seat when more than one applicant is vying for the position. The ordinance clarifies the process and spells it out in borough code. Ordinance 2026-35, amending borough code to enact a new section, KPB 17.10.165 related to weather modification and geoengineering activities on borough lands. This was brought to us by the mayor with an October 20th, 2026 hearing. Ordinance 2026-35 amends the Kenai Peninsula Borough Code to establish requirements for weather modification and geoengineering activities conducted on borough-owned land. The ordinance requires applicants seeking to use borough property for these activities to provide information about the proposed operation and requires documentation following completion of approved activities. The ordinance established penalties for failing to provide required post-activity information, including daily fines and a temporary restriction on future commercial land use application. The measure is intended to provide the borough with greater transparency, oversight, and accountability regarding these activities on borough property while remaining within the borough's authority over its own lands. We had a couple of appointments to consider. First of all, KPB-7995 confirming an appointment to the road service area. The mayor says applicant Michelle Hartline, Northern Region, with the term expiring on September 30, 2029. spoke highly of her. And KPB-7996, confirming an appointment to the Resilience and Security Advisory Commission, also by the mayor, applicant Anna Rose Noel Phillips, the central seat, term expiring on September 30th, 2029. The Policies and Procedures Committee adjourned at 4.30 p.m.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Truesdale. Our final committee meeting of the day today is our Legislative Committee that's chaired by Assemblymember Dunn. Assemblymember Dunn.

Thanks, Mr. President. Legislative Committee met this afternoon at 4.45 p.m. We had one item of business to discuss, and that was Resolution 2026-046, urging the Alaska state legislature and the governor to enact legislation prohibiting weather modification or geoengineering activities or, as an alternative to a ban, to enact legislation requiring a permit for such activities and requesting Alaska's federal delegation review to strengthen federal law related to weather modification or geoengineering activities. introduced by Mayor Michicki. So this resolution does a few things and it kind of goes hand in hand with Ordinance 2026-35 that Assemblymember Truesdell just discussed. The mayor reported to us that Due to a missing body of law at the state level, the state has little to no oversight over weather modification activities and that this would ask the state to consider either prohibiting those activities or to enact some legislation requiring a permit. The federal government under the Federal Aviation Administration and National Oceanic atmospheric administration does have some oversight but there's a lack of communication between the federal government agencies and the local government and the local people so this would help to either further regulate those activities and hopefully increase communication between the state and the federal government and the borough. Two states have already banned those practices and other states have enacted regulations. So this is a request to both the state and federal government to take some action to improve the legislation around those activities. And then all the assembly members present this afternoon did request to be listed as co-sponsors on this resolution. And that was our only item of business, and we adjourned at 4.50 p.m.

Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Dunn. Okay, so at this point, I'd be looking for a motion to approve our agenda and consent agenda. Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to approve the agenda and consent agenda.

Thank you. Are there any amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. President. Ordinance 2026-1909 was updated to include the advisory board recommendations pursuant to KPB 2240-050F. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there additional amendments? Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to add ordinance 2026-19-07 to the consent agenda, and I request unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for ordinance 2026-19-07. Are there any objections? Okay, that's been added. Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to add ordinance 2026-19-08 to the consent agenda and request unanimous.

Unanimous has been requested for ordinance 2026-19-08. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, that's been added. Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to add ordinance 2026-19-09 to the consent agenda and request unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for ordinance 2026-19-09. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, that's been added. Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to add Ordinance 2026-19-10 to the consent agenda and request unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for Ordinance 2026-19-10. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, that's been added. Assemblymember Neeson.

I move to add Ordinance 2026-19-12 to the consent agenda and request unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for Ordinance 2026-19-10. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, that's been added. Are there any additional amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? Okay, Madam Clerk, could you please read the consent agenda?

September 1st, 2026, regular assembly meeting minutes. Ordinance 2026-1907, appropriating funds from the General Fund for the 911 Calm Room Air Conditioning Replacement Project, sponsored by the Mayor. Ordinance 2026-1908, Appropriating and Allocating Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax Proceeds Received from the State of Alaska to the City of Seward and to the City of Homer, sponsored by the Mayor. Ordinance 2026-1909, Appropriating Supplemental Funds from the Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund for the Generator Replacement Project at South Peninsula Hospital, sponsored by the Mayor. Ordinance 2026-1910, appropriating funds from the General Fund in support of the 2045 Homer Comprehensive Plan Update, sponsored by the Mayor. Ordinance 2026-1912, appropriating funds from the General Fund for the Donald E. Gilman River Center Fire Alarm Replacement Project, shortened hearing on 9-15.

That was also sponsored by the Mayor.

Resolution 2026046, urging the Alaska State Legislature and the Governor to enact legislation prohibiting weather modifications or geoengineering activities, or as an alternative to a ban, to enact legislation requiring a permit for such activities, and requesting Alaska's federal delegation review and strengthen federal law related to weather modification or geoengineering activities. Sponsored by the Mayor and the Assembly. Ordinance 202633, amending borough code title 22 regarding assembly meeting procedures, sponsored by President Tunseth, hearing on October 20th. Ordinance 202634, amending borough code to enact a new section KPB 223055 and to repeal KPB 223060 regarding the appointment process for vacancies on the assembly, sponsored by President Tunseth, hearing on October 20th. Ordinance 202635, amending Borough Code to enact a new section, KPB 1710.165, related to weather modification and geoengineering activities on borough lands. Sponsored by the Mayor and Ms. Neeson. Carrying on October 20th. KPB 7994, authorizing the issuance of a letter of non-objection to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board regarding the new restaurant or eating place license as requested by Freddy's Roadhouse, Inc., doing business as Freddy's Roadhouse, license number 60681 in the Ninilchik area. KPB 7995, confirming an appointment to the Road Service Area Board. Applicant Michelle Hartline, North Region seat, term to expire September 30th, 2029. KPB 7996, confirming an appointment to the Resilience and Security Advisory Commission. Applicant Anna Rose Noel Phillips, the Central seat, for a term to expire 9-30 with a correction of 2027. That is the consent agenda.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. As just a general reminder, you'll have an opportunity for the public to testify on any of the items that the clerk just read. Any of the items that are on the consent agenda will be approved at this meeting or set for public hearing, whichever is the case. So at this time, we'll open up public comment for any of the items that were just read on the consent agenda. I'll remind everybody, you have three minutes to speak. Please state your name clearly and the city that you're from and make sure that the little red light on there goes on. Madam Clerk, is there anyone signed up to give testimony on the consent agenda?

Yes, sir. I have Carrie Harris, who I believe is attending via Zoom.

Okay, we'll start with Ms. Harris.

Unfortunately, I don't see any mics unmuting.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. We can come back. Is there additional on the list?

Not for consent items.

Not for consent. Okay. Is there anyone in the room wishing to give public testimony on any of the items that the clerk just read? Go ahead. If you want to come up first, go for it. There's another opportunity after this where we have general public comment on any of the items. So this is specific to things that are on the consent agenda. Thank you for asking. Okay, anyone else? Yes, Representative Vance.

good evening representative sarah vance from homer and i'm here to offer my support on resolution 2026-046 urging the legislature and the federal government to introduce legislation for weather modification and also for the ordinance 2026-35 in the borough and i appreciate the mayor's leadership listening to the public and taking initiative on this issue. The weather modification that happened was directly over my district. And in fact, the FAA approval for drone usage covered the entirety of my district. This is something that I've been seeking answers on among the state departments for a couple months and was receiving no answers. In fact, there was very little knowledge that they were going to be doing any type of cloud seeding. What we were told is that this was drone activity research and development, and I didn't have any answers confirming cloud seeding until right before it. It became noticed in the public and by their social media posts and blogs. And so I requested that they cease and desist that activity because the public made an outcry that they did not want this type of activity without their prior consent. And so I appreciate the work that this body is taking up to make sure that the borough is able to exercise its authority over this type of activity and also encouraging more legislation at the state level. I already have something drafted. We've looked at what other states are doing and we want to make sure that we are in open communication with the federal government and all the municipalities and allowing the type of safety operations that weather modification does. I've heard from pilots that airports like to use that to remove fog off of the runways. So there are some safety measures, but for the most part, the public feel that this was too far without their consent. This was a violation in their mind. And so I'm going to continue to work on this issue and look forward to working with you as a local body on how we can make this fit best for the entire state.

Excellent. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else in the room wishing to give public testimony on any of the items on the consent agenda? Okay, so we'll close. Well, let's go back to who was the gal on the list? Ms. Harris, I think it was.

Yes. Can you hear me?

Yep, you have three minutes. Go ahead.

Okay, my name is Carrie Harris. I'm from Anchor Point, and I want to thank the borough for sending the letter to the state. of alaska asking for a ban on weather modification activity this was the right move but i would like you to take it to the next step and do a ban on the borough level to to stop rainmaker in any similar operations from conducting other modification activities inside the kenai peninsula and i'd like your letter to the state to please leave out any language about permitted use. We do not need to be permitting a pathway for this. We need to be prohibiting it. We already live at the edge of a rainforest. Every single day of sun we get is precious. From outdoor work to drying hay, which by the way is quite expensive. and maintaining the basic conditions of our communities, our gardens, our farms, our livestock to rely on. Weather modification companies do not have a track record of taking responsibility for damage they cause, and we should not be the testing ground for their experiment. I also want this body to acknowledge the seriousness of what happened during Rainmaker's operations. According to eyewitness testimony from an Inilchik resident, Philip Lopez, Rainmaker was running unmanned aerial operations with burning chemical flares in a plastic bucket in the forest with no fire plan, no suppression equipment, and no equipment. containment strategy according to phil a white hot chemical fire ignited miles from any help mr lopez and his service dogs were the only ones who stopped it using a small hell on bottle and two and two gallons of water to suppress a thermal chemical fire that could have cost people their homes and their lives the rainmaker employees did not step in Rainmaker left burning chemicals unattended in our forest. That's not an accident. It's negligence. It's also a Class C felony. I'm asking the borough to formally refer this incident for investigation. for prosecution. And if private residents behaved this way, lighting off chemical fires in the woods with no plan, they would be held accountable. So a corporation should not get a free pass on this. The borough already has the authority to act. You can prohibit weather modification, staging sites, dispersal equipment, and chemical release points through zoning. You can declare weather modification activity a public safety hazard under Title 10 when it threatens residents, livestock, hay, roof, roofs, you know, because I'm going to tell you, when they start trying to make snow, that's landing on our roofs. I'm asking you to use these powers now and to please give a straight-up ban. Don't put language in there permitting it because you might permit it on borough land, but it's on my roof that it falls. It's on my ground that my goats don't get to eat on, and it's on my dime. There's no excuse for me.

Ms. Harris, if you could, your three minutes are up. Could you please briefly wrap up?

Oh, yeah, that's all I have to say.

Okay, excellent. Thank you for your comments. Madam Clerk, was there anyone else on Zoom wishing to give public testimony on any of the items on the consent agenda?

I'm not seeing any hands raised.

Okay, one more time in the room. Anyone wishing to give any public testimony on any of the items on the consent agenda?

Yes, I have someone here who wants to give public testimony that's also on Zoom.

Okay, we can take one more if they'll please state their name clearly for the record in the city that they live in.

Yes, hello. Natalie Case and I live in Anchor Point and I would just like to also say that yes, I do live in the area where all this rain is coming down. I have livestock and it is definitely affecting me and I have been noticing it the past couple months since they've been here in June. So I would like to just go ahead and

get my voice out and and thank you for uh for taking my statement okay excellent um thank you miss case was it was natalie case did i get that right yep that's right okay excellent thank you um okay so at this time we're gonna close um public testimony on the items on the consent agenda um and i would be looking for a motion assembly member neeson

I move to approve the agenda and consent agenda as amended and request unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for approval of the agenda and consent agenda as amended. Are there any objections to unanimous? Okay, seeing none, the motion to approve the agenda and consent agenda as amended passes. So we don't have any presentations today, so that brings us next to just general open public comment. I'll again remind all speakers you'll have three minutes. Please state your name clearly and the city that you represent. Make sure that the red light comes on. And again, you'll have three minutes, and we have an aggregate of 20 minutes. So we'll start with if there's anyone signed up on the list first. Madam Clerk.

Thank you. I do have Cassandra Nicholson.

Okay, Ms. Nicholson, yes, come up.

and just hold it down, okay. Well, first I would, my name is Cassandra Nicholson. I live in Kasiloff and I wanna apologize for my unruly toddler. For anyone that has children, they can relate and empathize, but I don't wanna take up too much of your time. So thank you for allowing me an opportunity to speak. I am coming to this body to discuss project 15423-00. This is the preliminary application that was submitted by Deep Green of Cook Inlet SVP LLC for the subsea data center that was submitted to the FERC, that is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The application was originally submitted on February 11th of 2026. It was then supplemented again on the 26th of June of 2026. And there's an opportunity for final comment or motion to intervene as of November 2nd, 2026 at 5 p.m. Eastern. I'll also note that on September 4th of 2026, the FERC formally accepted the application, noting that the paperwork was completed by way of deep green. Quick summary of the project as 330 to 350 turbines that they're proposing to install on universal docking cradle system and cook inlet. This will also include 66 data Center pods, as well as a three and a half mile long fiber optic cable. And at this point, I would just want to kind of pose a question. I don't know if there's opportunity for feedback, but my question as a resident of Alaska and of the community in Kaseelah is what is the borough's intention and overall proposed response to the FERC as well as timeline for such response?

Ms. Nicholson, I'll just let you know that during public comment, the assembly won't be commenting back to questions, but I know that this is on the mayor's report, and I know that he intends on addressing that specific issue and what the response from the administration will be. So that will be during the mayor's report.

Okay, and that takes place during this meeting, correct?

Yes, ma'am.

Lovely. Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you for your public comment. Okay, is there additional on the list?

Next I have Earline Lloyd.

Good evening, my name is Earlene Lloyd. I'm a little emotional tonight, so excuse me. I want to talk about housing. OK, I've lived here up and on in the pencil for several decades, different times, and I've been displaced twice. Once with COVID when all of our realtors decided to sell their rentals because of the housing was high demand for people leaving the lower 48 who couldn't work and could at least come to Alaska and get a job. have a decent life. I understand that. Now we're facing another situation with everything being, our homes being turned into vacation rental spaces for the summer. It is impossible. I've been trying to find a place since May and we are in a situation where everything is now seasonal and we have to move out in the spring again. And it's become a very big problem because a lot of these people do not live in Alaska nor have any investment in Alaska besides the properties that they're now renting out to us in the wintertime to pay their mortgages so that they can make a lot of money in the summer. I would like to see if there's some way, somehow, We can do something about it. We even tried buying a lot so we could build on. It's a three-year wait for a contractor. I'm done with it. I live here. I'm an Alaskan. I have my kids here. And I can't live here anymore because I have a chihuahua. And I don't want to leave every single spring so somebody can come and vacation here while I live in my RV, which I'm currently doing. I would like to see if we can put some kind of restrictions on out-of-state people, particularly Texans at this point, who are buying properties here and making them into vacation rentals. That's one of my concerns right now that's immediate. And I... The thing is, my daughter works for DOT. She did until just recently. She's now working at the courthouse. I'm just retired and we're sitting in a situation where we don't know where we're gonna live for the winter. So what I'm asking is that we can look Have some kind of committee or something to take a look at this. It's a statewide problem, not just here on the Kenai. Kenai is desirable. That's why it's worse. The other thing is I am not in favor of any data centers. I don't know about you, but last year I had 18 power bumps and went without electricity a lot already. Our system can't hold up to that kind of thing, and they are very expensive. and cost us a lot of resources. And putting one in the Cook Inlet, which has never been tested or tried as far as I know, sounds like a very unproven way to cause natural disaster. That's just my opinion, but I look forward to see what you guys come up with. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Ms. Lloyd. Madam Clerk.

I have no one else signed up.

Okay. Is there anyone in the room that wishes to give public testimony on anything? Yes, sir. Come up and please state your name clearly for the record, and you'll have three minutes.

Russell Clark, K-9. Attention to approach to give handouts.

Okay, thank you, Madam Clerk. We're just taking a brief moment here to get a packet passed out, so we'll start your three minutes now. Thank you, sir.

Okay, thank you. Good evening. My name is Russell Clark. I'm at 117 Deepwood Court, Kenai. I'm a Cook Inlet commercial fishing permit holder and president of the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance, a nonprofit representing Cook Inlet and Alaska commercial fishermen. I'm here about the Deep Green Cook Inlet project and fundamental engineering failure that its FERC application does not address. Deep Green Cook Inlet, SPV, LLC has applied for a preliminary permit to install 330 to 350 marine turbines and 66 underwater data center pods across 1,650 acres of Cook Inlet seabed west of Nookiski with a subsea power cable landing in the Nookiski Industrial Corridor within this borough. The data center pods are cooled entirely by passive seawater circulation requiring approximately 380,000 gallons per million of continuous flow. The application contains no thermal plume model and no assessment of what happens when that flow stops. and it does stop. Cook Inlet has mixed semi-dineural tide with up to four zero velocity slack tide periods every day. During slack tide, water circulation stops. The passive cooling collapses. 100 megawatts of continuous computing heat accumulates in the project area with nowhere to go. The application provides no fluid dynamics modeling this condition. The effect on salmon is unmodeled and direct. The East Forland Corridor is a primary migration pathway for cooking with salmon, Chinook, and coho salmon. A temperature increase of even one to two degrees Celsius in a migration corridor causes avoidance behavior and migration failure. Superheated thermal pockets accumulating during slack tides across a 1,650-acre migration corridor are a serious threat that the application does not model, analyze, or mitigate. On September 14th, ACFCA filed a motion to intervene with FERC in docket number P-15423-000. Submission IDs 179-1000 and 179-1227 demanding thermal plume modeling fluid dynamics analysis for slack tide conditions, and a full salmon migration impact assessment before this permit advances. I'm asking this assembly to direct borough staff to follow FERC comment in docket number P-15423-000 before November 2nd, 2026. The borough's voice carries weight that no private party can match. Eastport, Maine faced the same deep green proposal. Their city council enacted a formal 180-day temporary ban. Cook Inlet Salmon and the fishing families of this borough deserve the same protection. Thank you.

Excellent.

Thank you, Mr. Clark.

Okay. Anyone else in the room wishing to give public comment? Yes, sir. Please come up.

Good evening. Thank you for your time.

My name is Colby Engstrom. I live in the Kiski. I'm a commercial set gillnet permit holder and director of the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance, as well as the commercial fisheries seat on the ADFG advisory committee for the Kenai Peninsula and the Cook Inlet. I fish Cook Inlet. I know these tides. I want to talk about what happens to Cook Inlet when we put 100 megawatts of continuous heat into waters that stop moving four times a day. Cook Inlet is not like other tidal environments. Our mixed semi-diurnal tides produce up to four zero velocity slack tide periods every single day. When slack tide hits, water circulation stops. The entire passive cooling system that Deep Green is depending on to keep those 66 underwater data center pods from overheating shuts down completely. 100 megawatts of computing heat has nowhere to go. Superheated water accumulates across the entirety of the 1,600-acre footprint that is proposed. Here's what makes it worse. The turbines also stop generating power during slack tides. At that exact moment, the heat is building to its maximum. There is zero electricity available to run any backup cooling system. Deep Green has no answer for this in their application. No model, no engineering solution, no address of it whatsoever. The environmental evaluation that AFCA filed with FERC documents the consequences for marine life. The East Forland Corridor is a primary migration pathway for the Cook Inlet sockeye, Chinook, coho salmon, as well as the protected Cook Inlet beluga whale population. Sockeye optimal temperature is 12 to 14 degrees Celsius. A shift of even 1 to 2 degrees in a migration corridor causes avoidance behavior and migration failure. These are not estimates. These are measured biological thresholds for species that have been using this corridor for thousands of years. Cook Inlet Beluga whales use the same corridor year-round. There are 331 of them left based on NOAA's 2022 survey, down from 1,300 animals in 1979. That is a 75% decline. Federal law requires ESA Section 7 consultation with NOAA fisheries before any federal action affecting listed species. Deep Green has not initiated that consultation. FERC cannot legally advance this permit without it. The seabed impact is also uncharacterized. 350 turbine anchoring systems across the 1,650 acres of Cook Inlet Seabed and water ranging from 45 to 166 feet deep will disturb benthic habitat that supports Dungeness crab, Pacific herring spawning substrate, and juvenile fish rearing. No benthic survey has been conducted. No sediment disturbance analysis has been filed, and nobody knows what the turbidity would be caused by this project. I fish the waters west of Nikiski. My gear works in those waters because the seabed and the current patterns are intact. This project proposes to permanently alter both. The application contains no commercial fishing gear conflict assessment and no acknowledgement that active commercial fishing grounds exist in the project area. If I could just finish up, ACFCA has documented 17 categories of environmental deficiency in this application. Not one of them has been addressed. We are asking this assembly to direct borough staff to file a formal FERC comment on docket number P-15423-000 before November 2nd, 2026. The borough has standing, the borough has grounds, the borough has an obligation to the fishing families and the marine resources of the peninsula. Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Mr. Engstrom. Okay, is there anyone else in the audience wishing to give public comment? Yes, come up please. Again, state your name clearly for the record the city and make sure the red light comes on. Thank you.

Hello, my name is DeLacy Lloyd. I'm of Kesilof. I was coming in to speak on the Deep Green Data Center. I hear so many amazing and well-thought-out comments so far, but I would like to mention Tidal Energy, while it sounds amazing, has not been approved. in any way. The best that I could find going back was 1966 in France. They have a 254 megawatt maximum output generator with 24 turbines. It puts out 54. I would love to be able to bolster our energy net. I understand that that's a problem. I understand that that's a potential draw to us to that program, but currently the science is not there yet. Last it's been addressed was in 2010 to 2014. It was a runaway project. They had 10 million, then they had 11 million, then they had 20 million, and a year and a half later at $38 million. They had to shut it down. They had nothing viable that had been produced. Aside from the heat and the salmon that run at our peninsula, the belugas in our inlet that leave once it gets above 58 degrees. They don't like it. We're already at 55 in the summer. That's why they're so rare. I think that this is just something that we can't put the genie back in the bottle. This isn't something that we can say, okay, we'll try it, and then seven years later when we're looking at our fish runs or any sort of scarcity, we can't just be like, well, I guess that didn't work. I guess we're shutting down a multimillion-dollar facility. I just don't think we have the infrastructure for this, and I don't think it's a risk that we are prepared to take. considering where Alaska's playground, I think it's something to be protected. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you for your comments. Okay. Anyone else in the audience wishing to give public testimony? Okay, Madam Clerk, is there anyone else on Zoom?

I'm not seeing any hands raised.

Okay, we do have another opportunity for public testimony, so I'm going to close public comment, our first public comment period. That brings us to the mayor's report. Mayor McChickey.

Thank you, Mr. President. A few things to report here today. We've been pretty active on both of these projects. Maybe some of you have seen some of the stories with some of our community members that have been interviewed as well. It's nice to see some coverage, particularly since the borough was not notified as required by FERC. They thought the city of Kenai was the proper place to reach out. Nobody does their jobs anymore. And that's not how FERC permitting works. But we received their first notification. And I'll talk about that in just a moment. Let's see. You may have noticed some of the new things that are coming out from OEM because we have a new director or manager there, Kalina Barnes. And she's done a really great job on the graphic she's putting out on prepping for winter and um, energy interruptions and the kinds of things that occur in Alaska periodically. I feel like we have a lot of new people that are not prepared. And when I hired her, I told her that was the primary objective. I mean, we're always ready for forest fires and earthquakes and the big things that happen. But 90% of the things that we face as Kenai Peninsula Borough residents are, uh, more every day. And I feel like old Alaskans have, uh, are aging out somewhat, and some of the new folks have no idea. And they're depending on utilities as though they'll be there every day forever. And when it's minus 36, that causes a problem right away. So we've been pretty active on that and really proud of what OEM is putting out. We had a legislative briefing with our local legislators, Representative Vance and Representative Refridge and staff of with Commissioner Bates and the Deputy Commissioner. That letter is on the docket today for the two documents that I put out. Interesting letter. We have work to do on a missing body of state and federal law. Thank you for passing and introducing the ordinance, passing their resolution. We will get to work on that. I know there's a... bill in draft by Representative Vance's office. Others are very interested as well, so hopefully we can get that across the finish line as a pre-file prior to this year's session, and then we'll be working on our federal delegation on that as well. I met with AEA, Curtis Thayer, the executive director, and his team came in the other day. We talked about Bradley Lake expansion, Cook Inlet, Power Link, who also had never been notified. by Deep Green that they plan to use the power link in this project. So they are also filing a motion to intervene, as we have already done on September 11th. Talked about critical transmission upgrades. But really what we talked about is the fact that we have enough gas for this winter, which was made clear last week when Hex and 2Gatch and others talked about the fact that they have available gas to cover. as we might possibly have. So, some gamesmanship happening here, and I find it unacceptable to cause constituents to worry unnecessarily. Panic is never the answer. And every effort associated with AKA LNG includes temporary small volume imports to cover the gap when necessary. That's been interesting to watch. We brought the build-up board to CPL with Director Grebel and Eric and Brian and the board from build up about the public multi-use building as we're doing a redesign we'd like to bring build up to CPL that is the single most significant way that we can reduce utilization of very expensive construction and demolition space They're pretty excited. We're pretty excited. Just wanted to get an idea, like square footage, what their thoughts might be on what would work and that kind of thing. So kind of cool. We're trying to expand reuse wherever possible, not only for saving space, but for providing useful building materials for Kenai Peninsula Borough constituents. Yesterday, the ADF&G Director of Sport Fish came in to introduce the new King Salmon Revitalization Plan. It's kind of coming out as they're having a switch in administration, so we'll see where that goes, but it was interesting. They promised that I could release it once it's published, and I will share it with all of you once that occurs, which I expect to happen pretty shortly. We already moved past the resolution, but didn't really get a chance to talk about it with the public here. I don't like to use the word offended because I don't think it gets to that point, but I will tell you that I did not get the opportunity to represent my constituents with the weather activities that took place with Rainmaker Technology. I'm not okay with it. They weren't required to tell us about it. There's two agencies that sort of regulate rainmaking activities. The FAA regulates the flight of the drones, but they could be dropping anything on anyone and the FAA doesn't seem to care. And NOAA regulates the reporting after the fact. So there's no requirement for local notification, and that's missing. A couple of states have done state law. And if you read the Department of Environmental Conservation's letter, I agree with them. There is missing statute that would give them the authority to do so. So we hope to stop that problem from occurring in the future. I'm a little upset because Rainmaker was dishonest with us. they'll answer very basic questions, no details. But they were dishonest. They were asked by our land management department if there would be a payload. They did not give the rainmaker name. They said essentially they were going to be testing military-grade drones. They were asked the question if there was a payload, and they said no. It was simply a drone test. So a little shady. That seems to be the way they operate sometimes. And I hope if they plan to do any further business in Alaska, that there's a system to regulate that activity at the very least. But my constituents deserve to know before something rains down on them. I think it's unacceptable that We have not moved faster. Of course, this is our first real experience here, and maybe that's how we often make laws is we first have the experience and we recognize maybe a little regulation would be nice. We did file a motion to intervene on Deep Green on September 11th, and I did receive a letter from Louis Wolfson. at SPV, we're also concerned. For those of you inexperienced with FERC permitting, there will be bodies of data if this goes anywhere, If you've been around here a long time, there's probably been 50 projects like that that have come and gone without any forward motion because once they learn about the inlet, also a drifter, also ran a pipeline system for decades in Cook Inlet. There are Volkswagen-sized boulders that roll around unimpeded because there's nothing on the subsurface. It's scoured away every day, so there's nothing for which those items can bond to. They crash through pipelines and into other structures and things like that. It's I'm not going to lose sleep about deep green because I think the probability of it occurring is essentially zero.

But we will stay in touch.

We will read every filing. We will determine if it looks like there's any forward motion and we will get involved. If it looks like there's any legs and we sense that as FERC demands different pieces of data, if it's insufficient, we will absolutely engage in this project. With that, one final thing. Maintenance and projects has done an amazing job on our memorandum of understanding that we are going through with Otis Elevator. We are very frustrated by elevator maintenance. Some of you are as well. And we are looking at an overall agreement that includes 16 Kenai Peninsula borough elevators and lifts, 11 CPH hospital elevators, local colleges, two private commercial buildings, three for a combined regional inventory of 32. This will have a governance structure. It'll have a governance team. It's clear what the expectations are, and it really has been needed for a long time, but the recent Act actions on elevator repairs have, in my view, are unacceptable and embarrassing. So we plan to pen that agreement as soon as possible and put an elevator company in charge of elevators on the Kenya Peninsula Borough. That's another thing we run into problems and we find ways to solve them that work and looking forward to not waiting for over a year for an elevator repair as we've recently had to do by trying to use a local company that struggles. With that, I'm just available for any questions, Mr. President.

Okay, excellent. Thank you, Mayor. Are there any questions from the assembly for the mayor? Not at this time, no. Again, any questions for the mayor? Okay. Thank you, mayor. Oh, yes, of course.

This borough does not regulate FERC projects, and you guys have brought some incredible testimony. Please get your comments in by November 2nd. So withstanding, we can interject at any time as a borough. With this intervention, that's how it works. The local body, now that it's been properly reported and we've filed for an intervention, but for the general public, please make sure that people comment to the right body, and that is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They take them seriously. Trying to kill a project has no effect. Giving really good, sound data on what you'd like to see in the research. if anything moves forward, is very important. And they do evaluate those requests and process them in the permitting structure.

So really important that you do that. Thank you. Okay, thank you, Mayor. Again, one last time for the Assembly, any questions for the Mayor? Okay, so we don't have any unfinished items from our previous agenda, and I don't believe we have any hearings at this time. Is that correct, clerk? So I think that that brings us all the way to our second opportunity for public comment. And so at this time, again, public, you'll have three minutes to speak on anything you'd like. I'll remind you just to hit the button so that the red light comes on, state your name clearly in the area that you live in. Is there anyone wishing to give public comment? Okay, Madam Clerk, was there anyone on Zoom wishing to give public comment?

I do not see any hands raised.

Okay, one last time in the room. Okay, we'll close our second opportunity for public comment. I believe that brings us to assembly comments. So let's start, I guess, on this end. We'll start with you, Mr. Dunn.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thanks, everybody, for coming out and participating tonight. Very helpful comments and testimony and information received. I am the assembly liaison with a number of organizations, and over the past couple of weeks since our last meeting, I did meet with the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the community council, which I'm a member, and that's always a very informative meeting, lots of good stuff going on with the research reserve. It made my head spin, all the projects they've got going. It's a very amazing group of people, some dedicated scientists and educators and outreach folks who are doing long-term monitoring of the Kachemak Bay estuarine and the marine environment. not only tracking long-term climate change issues, but also the health of the bay, harmful owl blooms that happen, just tons of things. They also reported that the Kachemak sponge project, which did include borough properties that have been in discussion for being included in that project off of Kachemak Drive, that is just about to cross the finish line, and it's been a long process, but really happy that the borough could participate some of the wetlands mitigation there on Kachemak Drive through transferring properties for that project. I also see that Vice President Cooper is not here, so I did attend the South Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, at least the Committee of the Whole meeting last week. Vice President Cooper is the liaison to that board, but I often attend those board meetings. And I listened carefully to the ongoing community discussion over the ownership and governance and operation of the South Peninsula Hospital. Of course, it's a borough-owned hospital, borough-owned facility, but it's operated under contract by South Peninsula Hospital Incorporated and lots of... community discussion on the best ways to operate that and how the governance can be coordinated with the borough. And I want to thank the two returning members who have filed for election to that service area board and one new community member. Those are all uncontested seat so thank you to those three for serving on the on the service area board and then lastly I did also attend the RSAC meeting the Resilience Security Advisory Commission and thank you Noel Phillips for applying for that and I'm glad the assembly confirmed your membership there today looking forward to working with you on that lots of good work and discussion and and ideas regarding solid waste and reducing the waste stream into our landfills and reusing materials that have been discarded by people. The Homer Drawdown Project continues to do some really great work at the Homer landfill up at the CND Center. Two days a week now, they've got volunteers that are intercepting materials that would be thrown away and useful materials that then are brought down to the reuse tent and typically picked up and used by, taken by residents for recycling. for their use in whatever projects. They're not just construction materials. I know one friend who actually built his entire shop out of construction materials salvaged from the dump, but also furniture, clothing, things that some people seem like they think they need to be thrown away, but other people find them very valuable. So thanks to Homer Drawdown for continuing that work. And I think that's it for me, and I'll see you all on October 6th.

Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Dunn, Assemblymember Dunn, from District 9. We have these fancy little things telling us which district now, so I really appreciate that. Okay, Assemblymember Neeson.

Thank you, President Danza. The main thing that's happened since our last meeting for me was that I attended the local CAP grant meeting last night. It was hosted by the Nikoski Community Council and it's obviously to benefit the community of Nikoski. There's only, I think it's like $15,000 and change in the whole fund for a community and Nikoski had seven non-profit entities that applied for that and in keeping with their have it in past years, they elected to share it equally between all of those organizations. So I wish there were more money in that. I think one of the reasons that Nikoski benefits so much from things like that is because we're not a city and we don't have any other way to have funding sources other than grants. So this is much appreciated money coming into the Kiske those organizations all seven describe what their work is and they do very much needed work that benefits the community. So excellent meeting there and next meeting I think I'm going to probably be on zoom or if I can't do that, then I'll be absent. So everyone have a good time while I'm gone and I'm going to enjoy some more summer weather hopefully. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Assemblymember Neeson. Assemblymember Hibbert.

Thank you, District 1. District 1, yes, sir. Tonight, I'd like to recognize Representative Vance. Thank you for showing up tonight. And also, former Assembly member and Assembly President, Mr. Johnson. Good to see you. Also, we have two candidates for District 1 here tonight. Glad to see that. And I'd also like to recognize the public that came out tonight and testified. It's always important, and we enjoy that. Thank you. And then our borough employees. Thank you. And our staff here that keeps these meetings running smoothly. I appreciate all of that. And with that, good night.

Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Hibbert. Assemblymember Berger.

I just wanted to thank everyone that came out. A lot of you put a lot of time into Yep, sorry. Thank you for the effort you put into your presentations and the packets that you handed out. And I do hope that you continue to encourage others to go to the FERC website on social media and help get that word out and educate them.

Okay, excellent. Thank you, Mr. Berger. Assemblymember Truesdale.

Thank you, President Tunseth. Last night was a school board meeting and pretty upbeat school board meeting. The support employees, teachers, and admin had their negotiated agreements approved. So there was lots of celebration from those groups, including the district side of that, who have been negotiating for almost two years, I think, on those negotiated agreements. Several parent testimonies, and I too would like to thank everyone who came tonight to speak up. Since I've been on the assembly, I've told lots of people who come to me with thoughts and ideas, and some of them are city, and some of them are borough, and some of them are school district, to take advantage of that opportunity to speak to the boards and don't leave it up to somebody else. And so I appreciate those of you who came tonight. I appreciate the parents who spoke up last night at the school board meeting. The superintendent's report last night, it wasn't him, it was the assistant superintendent, one-time funding money didn't speak to what that's being spent on but that they did receive some state one-time funding and that they're going to put that to use and so all in all a pretty upbeat school board meeting yesterday with some with some pretty good stuff going on there and I just wanted to say I was at Salatna High School on Friday as a substitute teacher when they did a right as school started kind of 25 year 9-11 thing, I guess you would say, with Lucy Machicki saying the national anthem over the PA system. It was great. It was absolutely a great start to a Friday in one of our public schools. I'm a public schools advocate, so I really appreciated seeing the kids there that day and listening to Miss Machicki sing. That's all I've got.

Excellent. Thank you, Assemblymember Truesdell. Thank you for the update on the school board as well. Assemblymember Eklund.

Thank you, President Townsend. First, I want to just thank the public. This is probably the largest audience we've had in a while and very important topics that you have given us your documents and your concerns and Again, I encourage you all to post comments to FERC on the deep green. And I think that we've got a good start on the issues with the weather modification resolution and ordinance. So hopefully that comes to fruition and we have some control or stop them altogether. I attended the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area, sewered floods not like the rest of the peninsula you get floods once in a while but we have a service area and there's some good things happening over there very excellent organization handled by nick chapman who has a lot of experience in the area in the rivers in the roads and keeping things going we He and his assistant, Samantha Allen, put together a chart of how much rain has fallen on what days over the last 25 years and which months had the worst and where the sediment was worst. shifted to and it's it's amazing work that they're doing the newest form community council bear creek community council is in my district and they met and had four non-profits come forward for their capital expense from the state and that's exciting news i've been trying to get their cooperation for years, and that was great. And I just want to thank everybody that's out there substituting at the schools. Sarge and I, I think I spent 10 days in the last three weeks at subbing. So if you ever want to sub, just, it's an easy application. Please go on the school district website under employment and under substitute. It's a pretty easy form to fill out. You can pick an age group, a class, and be pretty specific. You can block out days on the calendar that you don't want to be asked. You can say no if you're asked. But please, help out right now. It's a really hard time for the schools because a lot of the people that sub are still finishing up their summer jobs. And so this is a really important time to be out there on that sub list. Thank you and good night.

Thank you, Assemblymember Eklund. Mayor McChickey.

Thank you, Sarge. I appreciate you bringing up the National Anthem with Lucy. I've taught her everything I've known about singing. But actually, seriously, 9-11 is important to our family. My cousin Johnny was lost on that day. And the only reason I bring it up is I hope we continue to share that experience. There's so many young people that have no idea what our country went through. And it's the last time we were completely unified as a country. So we need to find the things that we have in common instead of fighting about the little stuff. And since I saw remembrance for those lost and that was kind of heartwarming. So through the ashes, hopefully can bring unity back to our great country. And it's a good meeting. I appreciate everybody coming out. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Okay, just a couple things for me quickly. First off, just want to thank the mayor and his staff for Staying on top of the issues with Rainmaker, the issues with the subsea data center, in addition to all the other things going on in the borough right now. All of our remaining school bond projects that are getting completed and just a lot of work that's going on. Appreciate all the effort that you guys are putting in. Next, just want to say recognize our clerk's office and the staff. We have an election coming up. It's a combined election this year on the same day as the state election. And so some issues caused by that, but I know that they're working through a lot of those and working really hard to have a really good election. So thank you guys for all the work that you've been putting in. To the public, thank you for showing up and giving public comment. I'll echo what Mr. Hibbert said. Thank you, Representative Vance, for your work and being here. In addition, former Assemblymember and President Brent Johnson, also a candidate for office here as well. But everybody who's given comment on this issue, helped with this issue, really appreciate it. Both issues. I think I'll echo just briefly what the mayor said on the subsea data center. Having a fair bit of experience in subsea conditions and Cook Inlet working with pipelines and Platform structures and all of the stuff that goes along with that I have a really, really deep rooted pessimism about the likelihood of a project like this even getting off of the ground. That's, I guess, buttress by the fact that I see how sloppy and poorly they went about actually applying for it so I don't have a lot of feeling that this is going to go anywhere. But that said, we're going to keep an eye on it. I can promise you that. And I know that the mayor is as well. So thank you again for everybody that took the time to comment on both of these issues that we had in front of us. Lastly, I'd just like to say thanks to, I guess, anybody and everybody that's involved in the phase two completion or working towards completion of our Spur Highway project. It's not ideal. I know it's like taking a really long time to get to Sildotna and if you go the cave each way, it takes a long time that way. But this has been a treacherous stretch of road that's needed to get fixed for a long time. And so seeing it actually moving forward has been I'm normally like really upset when I'm in those lines, especially if I'm like the guy that gets the stop sign turned to him right when you're at it, you know. But this one I feel just happy. I'm just waving at people and just I couldn't be happier. There's a lot of other state roads that need work, too. So we'll keep doing as much as we can there. But it's good to see that project moving forward. So that's really all I have for now. Again, thank you, everybody, who took the time to show up to write letters, provide thoughtful comment. Really appreciate it. Our next assembly meeting will be October 6th. That's the regular assembly meeting right here in the Betty J. Glick Assembly Chambers in the Borough Administration Building. Remote participation is available through Zoom on meeting ID 897-1694-8642. And the passcode is 075938. And with that, we are adjourned.