Assembly - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening everyone. It's six o'clock. Today is October 6th. I'd like to call the October 6th regular meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to order. This meeting is also being conducted through the Zoom meeting platform. It can also be heard on KDLL FM 91.9, KBBI AM 890, and KIBH FM 91.7. If you would please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay, thank you. We will now receive an invocation offered by Central Emergency Services Chaplain Frank Alioto. Hi, Frank. Thank you for being here. You may either remain standing or be seated. No one is required to participate. Let us pray.

God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in this free nation of ours, and we thank you for the opportunities to live out justice. You say in your word to cast our burdens or our cares upon you, and just pray for everything on the agenda tonight and for... ways to represent our community in good ways to serve the best, even through disagreements. Pray for these men and women that are our leaders, that you would give them wisdom, and that you would also pray for our community, that it would be a place where justice and care is lived out. Thank you for this time, and bless those that participate in this meeting. In your name I pray. Amen. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you, Frank. Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll?

President Tunstead?

Here.

Vice President Cooper?

Here.

Mr. Dunn?

Here.

Ms. Eklund is excused. Mr. Eichard?

Here.

Mr. Hibbard?

Here.

Mr. Burka is also excused. Ms. Neeson, are you online? I'm here. Thank you. Mr. Truesdell? You have a quorum, Mr. President.

Excellent. Thank you. And good to see Ms. Neeson on with us as well. Okay. So that brings us to our agenda. Vice President Cooper. Oh, yeah.

Committee reports. Let's not skip that.

Okay. Let's back up a little bit. Okay, that brings us to committee reports. Our first is our finance committee that was chaired today by Assemblymember Eicher. Assemblymember Eicher.

Thank you, President Tenseth. The Finance Committee met at 3.15 this afternoon. The first order of business was Resolution 2026-047, which is authorizing the expansion of new Central Peninsula Hospital services for the development of an ear, nose, and throat service line brought to us by the Mayor. The local ENT is retiring, and so in order for the hospital to be able to create new service lines they need approval by the assembly so that's what this resolution is the next item up was resolution 2026-048 designating the investment allocation plan for the borough's land trust investment fund and establishing appropriate benchmarks to measure performance as of november 1 2026 and for the calendar year 2027 brought to us by the mayor We had a presentation by the Alaska Permanent Capital Management. It manages the Land Trust Investment Fund. The presentation was brought by Blake Phillips. And they are currently not recommending changes to the current asset allocation for account in the year 2027. If you have a copy of the memo, we've got the current allocation is listed on there if you would like to view that. The next item up was Ordinance 2026-19-13, approving a capital improvement project appropriating funds from the Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund for a new fire alarm system at Central Peninsula Hospital brought to us by the mayor. The hospital has, I believe, six buildings, and they all have different fire alarms currently. So this project is just to try to bring them all under one type of system. The amount of funds that are being requested is $3 million, and this is a not-to-exceed amount. The last item was a lay down ordinance 2026-19-14 appropriating supplemental funds from the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area Capital Project Fund for the Nekiski pool well replacement project. The current well at the Nekiski pool is failing. It is not able to supply the water that's needed for operations and so this would This would basically bring in a new well for that. There's currently $48,307.92 in the project funds. The project has a not-to-exceed amount of $80,000, and so this is just requesting the remaining $31,693. The finance committee adjourned at 4.02 p.m., and that's the end of my report.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Eicher, and thank you for chairing the Finance Committee meeting today. Our second committee was our Lands Committee. That was at 4 o'clock. That was chaired today by Assemblymember Hibbert. Assemblymember Hibbert.

Thank you, President. For new business, I have one item on the agenda tonight, and it is on the consent agenda. It is KPB-8011 that's approving the right-of-way vacation of KPB file 2026-092V, as in Victor. It was submitted by Joseph and Isabel Vesely, and they request to vacate Kairos Avenue, which is as dedicated by Petty Frauders Play. in the Coho area. And also I wanted to let you know that the Planning Commission unanimously approved the petition to vacate. The Vestleys will have to provide access to the DNR land that borders this. So there will be a little bit more work that will come with this. That's the end of my report.

Excellent. Thank you, Assemblymember Hibbert. The next committee was our Policies and Procedures. That was at 4.15. That's chaired by Assemblymember Truesdale. Assemblymember Truesdale.

Thank you, President Tunseth. The Committee Policies and Procedures Committee met today, as the President said, at 4.15 p.m. We had the Mayor's Report and the Q&A with the Mayor. You'll hear the report First of all, Ordinance 2026-30, amending Borough Code KPB 5.18.900 regarding sales tax definitions. This was brought to us by the Mayor. This ordinance aligns the definitions of persons and seller in the Borough Sales Tax Code. with those used in KPB 5.19.280 for consistency in tax administration. The revised definitions clarify which individuals and legal entities are considered persons and which businesses facilitators qualify as sellers for sales tax purposes. There was an amendment to this that is in the packet today that shows those definitions and structuring It strikes one line, definitions for person and seller, and then strikes a line under seller. Ordinance 202631, amending KPB 2.56.060 to adopt the Seldovia Comprehensive Plan as the official comprehensive plan for that portion of the borough within the boundaries of the city of Seldovia. And this ordinance adopts the city of Seldovia's April 13th, 2026 comprehensive plan as the official Kenai Peninsula Borough Comprehensive Plan for the area within Seldovia city limits. The third ordinance for public hearing is Ordinance 2026-32, amending Borough Code KPB21.20.300 regarding motion procedures and hearing officer appeals. This ordinance clarifies the motion procedure for hearing officer appeals. The ordinance adds the requirement for a party who files a motion to submit a reply to the other party's response. It was intended to be included when Chapter 21.20 was amended, Ordinance 2025-03, but was inadvertently omitted. We had some new business, KPB-8012, approval of precinct boards, canvas boards, and absentee voting officials for the November 3rd, 2026 regular municipal borough election. This was brought by Ms. Turner, and there's 160 election workers that need to be vetted. And so we also had a couple of appointments to confirm. KPB-8028 confirming an appointment to the Resilience and Security Advisory Commission. Applicant Roland Byron-McChord with the central seat expiring in September 30th, 2028 and KPB-8027 confirming an appointment to the road service area for applicant Catherine Thomas with the Western Regency term expiring in September 30th, 2029. The Policies and Procedures Committee adjourned at 4.33 p.m. Thanks.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Truesdale. Our final committee meeting was our legislative committee. That was at 445 and is chaired by Assemblymember Dunn. Assemblymember Dunn.

Thank you, Mr. President. We had one item of business that we discussed, a resolution 2026-049, supporting the Eastland Trails Project in the Cottonwood Eastland Unit of Kachemak Bay State Park. So this is ongoing trails development on state park lands. out East End Road. It's the road accessible portion of Kachemak Bay State Park. And phase one of those trails has been completed and the assembly previously had given its support to the nonprofit organizations who are working on that trail development. And this resolution would help those organizations to secure additional funding for phase This is two and three of the trail development out there. There was some discussion about the need to clarify that the borough would not be providing any funds towards the trail development. And in fact, since we don't have trails and recreation powers in that area, we would not legally be allowed to do that but i've got a couple of amendments that are clarifying amendments to clarify the fact that the the borough will not and cannot provide financial support towards this trail development as well as a another amendment to clarify that the support of this development is in collaboration with neighbors nearby who have requested that the trailhead be located away from the neighborhood. So I will address those amendments a little bit later on in the agenda. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you. Chair Dunn. Vice President Cooper.

I move to approve the agenda and the consent agenda.

Okay, we have a motion. Are there any amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? Madam Clerk.

Thank you. Pursuant to KPB 2240-050F, Ordinance 2026-31 was updated to include the advisory board recommendations. Thank you.

Are there any additional amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? Let's start with Mr. Eicher.

I would move to add Ordinance 2026-19-14, an ordinance appropriating supplemental funds from the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area Capital Project Fund for the Kiske Pole Wheel Replacement Project to the agenda and consent agenda and would ask for unanimous.

Okay, unanimous has been requested for adding Ordinance 2026-19-14. Did I say that right? Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, that's been added. Are there additional amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? Assemblymember Dunn.

Thanks, Mr. President. I would like to make two amendments to Resolution 2026-049. I mentioned those a little bit earlier in the report, but the First Amendment would add a new whereas clause to be the seventh whereas clause and to read as follows. Whereas the trail development provides for adequate separation between the trailhead and the residential communities in the area of Raton Street and Elmer's Way. And just note also that the clerk has corrected a couple of clerical areas there with the spelling of Raton and Elmer's Way. and I would ask for unanimous consent.

Okay, we're taking these two individually, correct? I didn't hear you say both of them.

Did you say both of them? Okay. I could also read the Second Amendment. So the Second Amendment would be, and Assembly members have this printed for them, amend Section 1 as follows. Section 1, the statement that the Assembly supports the development of Eastland Trails and the and add the sentence that says the Kenai Peninsula Borough supports the effort by non-profit organizations to develop the Eastland trails, cannot include borough funding support because the borough does not have general recreation and trails powers. And I would ask for unanimous consent on those two amendments.

Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Okay. Um, unanimous has been requested for the amendments on, um, 2026-049, specifically the seventh whereas clause, um, and, um, section one. Are there any objections? Um, Assemblymember Eicher.

I don't have an objection. I just have a question, if that's okay. Sure. Um, Should the wording on the Section 1 be changed to be proper English, or is this the way, the legalese way of writing it? Because it seems to me that it should say the Kenai Peninsula Borough supports the effort by non-profit organizations to develop the Eastland Trails, and then perhaps add but or and. Or you could write it as the Kenai Peninsula Borough recognizes that the effort. Just to make it read a little bit better.

Thank you, Assemblymember Eicher. I'll turn, I guess, to Mr. Kelly. Is the addition of the word and in there considered appropriate? Something that could be taken care of administratively after passage, or is it something that Mr. Dunn should try to fix now? Is it needed? I guess I'll pose that question to you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would recommend getting the wording right now as part of the amendment. So if we feel like there's a little wordsmithing that needs to be done, it would be best to do now.

Okay, thank you.

Mr. Dunn, do you feel like you have what you need?

Certainly, yeah. And I support adding the word and between Eastland Trails and cannot just to make it more proper. It did sound a little awkward when I read that. And I would ask for unanimous consent with that word and inserted.

Okay, excellent. So again, we have amendments suggested to 2026-049, specifically the seventh warehouse clause, and then amending section one as follows that the assembly supports the development of the Eastland trails and the Cottonwood Eastland unit of the Kachemak Bay State Park. The Kenai Peninsula Borough supports the effort by nonprofit organizations to develop the Eastland trails and cannot include borough funding support because the borough does not have general recreation and trails powers. Are there any objections? Seeing none, it's been added. Are there any additional amendments to the agenda and consent agenda? I think that's it. Okay, in a moment, the clerk will read the titles of the items on the consent agenda and consent agenda. After she reads them, you'll have an opportunity to testify about them. All items that stay on the consent agenda will be approved or set for public hearing, whichever is the case, when the assembly approves the agenda and consent agenda. Madam Clerk, could you please read the consent agenda?

September 15th, 2026, regular assembly meeting minutes. RESOLUTION 2026047, AUTHORIZING THE EXPANSION OF NEW CENTRAL PENINSULA HOSPITAL SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT SERVICE LINE, SPONSORED BY THE MAYOR. RESOLUTION 2026048, DESIGNATING THE INVESTMENT AND ALLOCATION PLAN FOR THE BOROUGH'S LAND TRUST INVESTMENT FUND AND ESTABLISHING APPROPRIATE BENCHMARKS TO MEASURE PERFORMANCE AS OF NOVEMBER 1ST AND FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2027, SPONSORED BY THE MAYOR. Resolution 2026049, as amended, supporting the Eastland Trails Project in the Cottonwood Eastland Unit of Kachemak Bay State Park, sponsored by Mr. Dunn. Ordinance 20261913, approving a capital improvement project and appropriating funds from the Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund for a new fire alarm system at Central Peninsula Hospital, sponsored by the Mayor, hearing on October 20th. Ordinance 2026-1914, appropriating supplemental funds from the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area Capital Project Fund for the Nikiski Pool Well Replacement Project. Sponsored by the Mayor. Hearing on October 20th. KPB 8011, approving a right-of-way vacation, KPB file 2026092V, submitted by Joseph and Isabel Vesely. The request is to vacate Quiros Avenue as dedicated by Pettyfogger's Place Subdivision, Quiros Edition, Platte Cayenne, 2005-16, in the Coho area. KPB 8012, approval of precinct boards, canvas board, and absentee voting officials for the November 3rd, 2026 regular municipal election, sponsored by the Borough Clerk. KPB 8028, confirming an appointment to the Resilience and Security Advisory Commission. Applicant Rollin Myron McCord, central seat, term to expire September 30th, 2028. KPP 8027, confirming an appointment to the Road Service Area Board. Applicant Catherine Thomas, West Regency, term to expire September 30, 2029. That is the consent agenda.

Excellent. Thank you, Madam Clerk. OK. At this time, we'll take public testimony on any of the items that the clerk just read on the consent agenda. Is there anyone wishing to give public testimony on any of the items on the consent agenda? Madam Clerk, did you have anyone on Zoom?

I do not see any hands raised.

Okay. At this time, we'll close public testimony on the consent agenda. Vice President Cooper.

Yes, I request unanimous approval to approve the agenda and consent agenda as amended.

Okay, are there any objections to approving the agenda and consent agenda as amended? Okay, seeing none, we have an agenda. And the motion to approve the agenda and consent agenda is passed. That brings us next to, today we don't have any commending resolutions and proclamations. We also don't have any presentations. So that brings us to our first opportunity for public comment on any of the items not appearing on the agenda. Madam Clerk, is there anyone signed up?

No, sir. I have no one signed up.

Okay. Is there anyone in the room wishing to give public comment? Okay, we will close our first opportunity for public comment. That brings us directly to the mayor's report. Mayor McChickey.

Thank you, Mr. President. You can see on the front page a couple of fun things about agreements and contracts. Of course, we have the personal property supplement assessment role, TARs report, revenue expenditure, and budget revisions. Bruno Road Bridge, that notice has gone out to the people in the Seward area that Bruno Road Bridge will be repaired. There will be some outages and we gave them advance notice. We'll give them a refresher as the project moves forward and they'll do the best they can to make the road passable. Bear Creek has been notified and they have some response solutions for that area as well. Also notice the Central Peninsula landfill transfer site dumpsters have been awarded and that is going to be the new, instead of using the building, there'll be an ergonomically efficient, comfortable way for people to dump their trash at a level that makes sense at CPL, as opposed to lifting over and having the parking bumpers and all that stuff. Those are going to be where packer trucks can come in and dump those very quickly. And the Packer truck just goes up to the landfill face itself to dump.

So kind of cool.

We're looking forward to improvements there, which will open up the building for other things. And I already told you we had a visit with build up for large-scale reuse center at CPL once we get these other pieces operating and There's also a k-beach elementary septic and lead field redesign contract Some interesting meetings we met with Kevin Richard He's the director of the alcohol marijuana control office just to kind of ask him like what the heck's going on was creep Creek Bend and hope and We hope the community continues working together. I feel like the operator is operating in good faith. Certainly there are no licensee issues, but I often, as I often do, I can see both sides of that issue of a little extra noise and some additional traffic, yet an operator that's trying to make a living. So I hope the control office can work with that community. We're certainly willing to, to try to find the sweet spot. Um, it's funny because we have other events that happen in the Kenai where, like, pretty much the entire community is upset, particularly a couple times a year. And, um, that's not a licensee issue. I'm not sure this one should be, but hopefully they'll work it out. We met with Commissioner Bates, Deputy Commissioner Kohneman, and, uh, Sean to discuss PFAS issues. The reality of it is we should be protected from that issue. And the department was supportive of working with us. We don't have a final resolution, but I think things are moving in the right direction. That's associated with the Kiske Fire Service area. Old Station 3. We had interviews for our North Peninsula Rec Service area, and then we brought the two leaders back, and we came to the unanimous decision to hire Mr. Mark Smith as the director. He's starting, I think, the 26th. And I really want to recognize Nigel Lerikiefer doing an amazing job. What we also discovered during that, and I'm always looking for a continuously improving process, is that Nigel's really focused on infrastructure issues out at North Penn Rec. And we're going to meet this week with the board, next week, 12th, with the board to restructure that leadership team a little bit. Nigel can kind of get to work a little bit more on the infrastructure stuff, and the director can really focus on the community issues that we've seen over the last year and a half or so. Had our monthly update with CPH, who was here tonight. That was one of the subjects that we discussed. Got to fish in the Rainbow Challenge. John... Hendrix puts on the Hex Rainbow Challenge every year. It's a fundraiser on the river for the Boys and Girls Club. And usually it's a very uncomfortable morning. It was very warm this year. I caught a 23 inch rainbow. The winner was 30, but we caught probably 60 fish, very few large ones. So the 23 was like the third, but it was fun. Beautiful day. We met with Soldotna Montessori Principal John Duvall with Mr. Stein, who's our asset facilities guy now, looking for solutions. For those of you in Soldotna, you know that Binkley is backed up for a quarter mile in the morning with the way they changed around, where the Montessori kids are dropped off. There really wasn't a plan. And we think we have one. Greg is meeting. We marked up a map. Mr. Hedges was very helpful in completely reversing the process until we got back to the original plan. And as is one of John's specialties. And we think we have one minimal investment, second exit, a double lane coming in, changing the lighting a little bit. So we'll be moving forward on that. Just again, it's just apparent when these schools are built, nobody was there and Very few people live in the neighborhood, and it's changed. So where we have room to navigate, we are. Where we don't, it can continue to be challenging. But Chapman's great. We've paved that entrance. Nobody's on the highway anymore. We're working on West Homer, who has a very challenging location, to hopefully improve that, get people off the highway. Okay. I met with BDO on Tuesday, the 29th. That's our CPA firm that does our annual audit, and they are very appreciative of our finance team and the way that they perform. That was like the number one. It took us a while to get to the actual business of the pre-audit meeting, but we're very proud of our finance team. Brandy, all of her folks do an amazing job. We expect a very good outcome. Joe and Dana and I went, and so the borough had a storage unit in Homer, which was hitting my bill, and we went down and emptied it out. We thought we'd easily do it, maybe a load or two, and it was an all-day effort. I think we got back about seven. The people in the Quonset hut are a little mad on the quantity we brought back, but we did two loads to the landfill. gave away some file cabinets and so saved the borough $143 a month. I'm pretty proud about that. Let's see. We met with Clayton and Kevin Lyon on October 6th about the prep school renovation discussion just making sure we're all staying on the same page it's a very good meeting and we are on the same page so what the discussion was is we have a contingency that if the entire school can't be completed by you know in time for the district to move into that school that there's six classrooms In the back, it'd be the fourth through sixth graders that would likely stay at readout for one more year in case we don't make it. We just wanted to make sure that we were prepared. The rest of the school will be ready. It'll be beautiful and it'll be open. At our ACOM, Alaska Conference of Mayors, monthly call and the chair of that group, part of AML, and this week on Monday, really focusing on new administration priorities. We want to come be ready right at the onset from whomever is the new governor to kind of discuss some of the things that we've been experiencing the last eight years and how to improve on some of those things. Just little things like school funding realities and muni tax encroachment and the kinds of things that we've been seeing that we need to be at the table for all of it. It cannot be negotiated out from under us. And the sewered elevator is operating, inspected by the state. The sewer gym floor is complete, being coated. I think the logos are down and it's being coated. It should be ready for, I think, the 12th. We talked about deep green in the... earlier meeting which meeting was that policies and procedures we will stay in close communication with the assembly we formally um intervened on the project which gives us a priority instead of having a november 3rd deadline we can comment all the way along the way so we'll be collecting kind of our common concerns and making sure that FERC is aware of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's position on that project and our specific concerns and next meeting we'll do a FERC reporting 101 for 10 minutes just so folks and probably give you a handout so you can share with your constituents because it is somewhat mysterious so that's it for my report unless you have questions Mr. President

Excellent. Thank you, Mayor McChickey. I don't have any questions. Assembly members may. Are there any questions for the mayor? Okay. Looks like you got off easy this time. Okay, so that brings us to, we don't have any items that are not completed from our prior agenda, so that brings us to public hearings on ordinances. We have three tonight. The first one is Ordinance 2026-30. This is amending Borough Code KPB 5.18.900 regarding sales tax definitions. This was brought to us by the Mayor and referred to Policies and Procedures Committee. Chair Truesdell.

Yeah, I move to an act and committee report. Ordinance 2026-30 amends KPB 5.18.900 to align the definitions of person and seller in the borough sales tax with those used in KPB 5.19.280 for consistency in tax administration. The revisited definitions clarify which individuals and legal entities are considered persons and which businesses facilitate qualify as sellers for sales tax purposes.

I think that's it. Excellent. Thank you, Chair Truesdale. So at this time, we'll have a public hearing on Ordinance 2026-30. Is there anyone, Madam Clerk, that's signed up to give testimony?

No, sir.

Okay. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to give testimony on Ordinance 2026-30? Okay. Anyone on Zoom?

I'm not seeing hands raised.

Okay, excellent. At this time, we'll close the public hearing, and that brings us back to assembly discussion. Is there any discussion by the assembly? Okay, are there any amendments? Assembly Member Truesdell.

Yes, there is an amendment. It's in the memo, and amendments to Section 2 are as follows. The definition of person means an individual, trust, estate, fiduciary, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity. And under seller, seller means a person making sales of property, products, or services, and this, the following piece was struck, or a marketplace facilitator facilitating sales on behalf of a seller. I vote, or I, oh, I'm sorry, never mind, go ahead. Do I request unanimous? Okay, I request unanimous.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Truesdale. Okay, so are there any objections to the amendment? Okay, so that brings us, seeing none, that brings us back to the original move to enact. Do we take a roll call vote on that one, Madam Clerk? I don't remember if he Request unanimous for the motion to enact.

A roll call is not necessary. If someone wants to ask for unanimous as amended.

Okay.

Chair Truesdale.

I would ask for unanimous as amended. Excellent. Are there any objections from the assembly?

Okay. Seeing none, ordinance 2026-30 is enacted as amended. That brings us to our second item for public hearings. This is Ordinance 2026-31. This is amending KPB 2.56.060 to adopt the Seldovia Comprehensive Plan as the official comprehensive plan for the portion of the borough within the boundaries of the City of Seldovia. This was brought to us by the Mayor, referred to the Policies and Procedures Committee, Chair Truesdell.

I move to enact and the committee report. Ordinance 2026-31 adopts the City of Seldovia's April 13, 2026 comprehensive plan as the official Kenai Peninsula borough comprehensive plan for the area within Seldovia city limits. It replaces the previously adopted 2014 plan in KPB 2.56.060. The ordinance updates the borough's planning documents to reflect the plan adopted by the Seldovia City Council and will take effect immediately. Excellent.

And was your motion to enact requesting unanimous?

Yes, I'd like to request unanimous. Thank you, Chair Truestel.

Okay, so at this time, we'll have a public hearing on Ordinance 2026-31. Madam Clerk, is there anyone signed up?

No, sir.

Okay, is there anyone in the audience wishing to give testimony on Ordinance 2026-31? Okay, anyone on Zoom?

I am not seeing any hands raised.

Excellent. Thank you. Okay, so that brings it to assembly discussion. Is there any discussion from the assembly? Okay, I'm not seeing any. Unanimous was requested to enact Ordinance 2026-31. Is there any objections? Okay, seeing none. The motion to enact ordinance 2026-31 is passed. That brings us to our third and final public hearing on ordinances tonight. This is ordinance 2026-32, amending borough code KPB 21.20.300 regarding motion procedure in hearing officer appeals. This was brought to us by the mayor, referred to policies and procedures committee, Chair Truesdale.

Yes, I move to an act and committee report. Ordinance 2026-32 amends KPB 21.20.300 to clarify the motion procedure for hearing officer appeals. The ordinance adds a requirement for a party who files a motion to submit a reply to another party's response. These reply provisions were intended to be included when Chapter 21. 0.20 was subsequently amended by ordinance 2025-03, but was inadvertently omitted. And I will request unanimous.

Excellent. Thank you, Chair Truesdale. So at this time, we'll have a public hearing on ordinance 2026-32. Madam Clerk, is there anyone signed up?

No, sir.

Thank you. Is there anyone in the room wishing to give testimony on ordinance 2026-32? Okay. Is there anyone on Zoom?

I do not see any hands raised.

Thank you. Okay. So at this time, we'll close the public hearing on Ordinance 2026-32. That brings us to assembly discussion. Is there any discussion from the assembly? Okay. Unanimous was requested for Ordinance 2026-32. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, ordinance 2026-32 is enacted. We don't have any unfinished business or new business to take care of today. And we had one ordinance for introduction that was eligible for the consent and made it on consent. And so I believe that brings us all the way to our second opportunity for public comment. I'll just remind speakers that they have this is for public comment on anything that you want to give testimony on. I'll just remind speakers to please state their name clearly for the record, the city that they live in, and remind them that they have three minutes. Madam Clerk, is there anyone signed up?

No, sir.

Okay. Is there anyone in the room wishing to give public testimony? Okay. Is there anyone on Zoom?

I'm not seeing any hands raised.

Okay, so at this time, I will close public comment for the second time. Gosh, cooking right along here. I guess that brings us to assembly comments. I guess we could start on this end, Mr. Dunn, if you want to go first.

Sure, thank you, Mr. President. Thanks, everybody, for a well-run meeting. As far as some closing comments, I am the assembly representative on a couple of councils. And I did attend the National Estuarine Research Reserve Community Council earlier in September. And lots of exciting things happening there with the research reserve doing excellent work, including continuing to work on the Ketchumack sponge project to mitigate wetlands in the Ketchumack Drive region of Homer. Also, a lot of discussion and planning on a shared facility with the Ketchumack Bay campus of Kenai Peninsula College, some movement towards potential getting funds to potentially expand that facility on Pioneer Avenue to include the National Estuarine Research Reserve since they are part of the university. So we'll be following that closely. Resilience and Security Advisory Commission, I'm also assembly liaison there. Next meeting will be next Wednesday, October 14th. I want to thank Byron McCord for applying to continue to serve on the RSAC. And for some excellent work he's done in the past and continuing to do. And I know Byron's been looking at some efforts to get more efficient backhauls with recycling materials between Homer and Anchorage. The Resilience and Security Commission is looking at some of those things that then can advise the mayor's office and the assembly on how we might be able to move forward on some more efficient projects and reducing the waste stream into our landfills. And then finally, I just wanted to say I attended a really wonderful gathering September 20th in Homer. It was the International Day of Peace, and it was coordinated by the Brother Isaiah chapter of Veterans for Peace. And there were lots of veterans there, lots of moving speeches and live music. Lots of veterans appeared, but the one in particular to mention and thank is Michael LeMay. He's a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and he's been working really hard with Veterans for Peace organization It helped create a really beautiful community event there. Thought-provoking talks. There was a walking meditation with about 40 folks that did about a 20-minute walking meditation. Live music, group declaration of peace, lots of local groups and collaborations. There were several churches there. The Floating Leaf Sangha was there. City of Homer Sister City Project with the City of Homer Sister City in Teshio, Japan. So a real moving community event, and patriotism at its best. So that was really good to attend, and thanks to Michael LeMay and all who participated in making that event a really, really powerful community event. Thank you very much.

Excellent. Thank you, Assemblymember Dunn. Okay, so I'm going to move next, I guess, to Assemblymember Neeson. I would normally do Zoom first, but I guess I kind of forgot that. So, Assemblymember Neeson.

Thank you. Can you see me here?

I can't see you, but we can hear you.

Here you go. Wait, let's see. All right, I'm back. I just wanted to let you know that I've been in South Carolina for the last couple of weeks, visiting family and enjoying myself. And for the last couple of days, I've been in the mountains of North Carolina with some gorgeous fall weather and some fall colors. So that's been very nice and I've enjoyed the break. But it's good to be here tonight to see everybody. And I'm really glad to hear from the mayor that we got a director out of the North Peninsula Rec Center. I'm also happy to tell you that my son is back from the Middle East, so I'll be cutting my trip short and coming back very soon. So hopefully I'll see you at the next assembly meeting. Thanks, everybody.

Okay, excellent. Enjoy your time on vacation, for sure. Okay, Mr. Hibbert. I have nothing. Thank you. Okay, thank you, Assemblymember Hibbert. Assemblymember Eicher.

Thank you, President Tunches. You know, it snowed here the other day, so winter is coming. Maybe I need to be thinking about changing some of my tires out pretty soon, so instead of waiting until the last minute, maybe just a reminder. That's all I have for the night. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Eicher. Assemblymember Truesdale.

Thank you, President Tunseth. It was a school board meeting last night that I attended virtually because it was in Seward. It was maybe the fastest school board meeting I've ever witnessed. It took just right around an hour. There was some good public comment from Seward high school students talking about the consolidation of the middle school and very positive comments. As a matter of fact, there was a member of the teachers union from Seward who also spoke about the consolidation and praised uh dr burns their principal there at seward high for all the preparation making the consolidation uh go very seamlessly uh to this point and uh a couple interesting things superintendent's report included an recommending any consolidations for the school year 2027-28 next year. Interestingly enough, that announcement kind of started leaking into public comment where some people of the public were saying, oh, thank you for not considering any consolidations and that'll be good for our community and blah, blah, blah. In the board comments at the end, a couple of board has not been made that's just a recommendation by district leadership and that the board has not had any opportunity to discuss because uh we're a long ways away from budget season or maybe not a long ways away but we're a ways away from it now um final piece of the school board that i think they had an attachment on their 2026 enrollment. And currently it looks like they're about 230 kids short of what they had expected. And the math on that's around $1.5 million from the state funding. And I just thought I would mention that here. Otherwise, I'm heading down to see my son in a couple weeks. I haven't seen him in over a year. And it's his birthday today. He's 25 and he's

working on his his CPA testing so I was gonna be down there today but he has a test coming up that he's studying for and so I'll make my way down there in a week or so so thanks that's all I've got all right excellent Thank You assemblymember Truesdale we won't sing Jersey happy birthday here but happy birthday to Jersey if he's out there listening and have fun visiting him for sure vice president Cooper thank you mr. president the only thing I'd like to comment on tonight

because it's such a heavy lift. So on our consent agenda, we approve precinct boards, campus board, absentee voting officials for our November election. I can't tell you what a heavy lift that is for that department. Thank you for all of your hard work and not letting anything else by the wayside while you're trying to do all of that. I've received multiple comments in the last couple of weeks about how wonderful the interactions have been with you, They don't understand how you are able to do all that you do. And what a wonderful office you guys are. So thank you very much for all of your work. And I'll be thinking of you from now until 3 in the morning on election day after. Have a good evening.

Excellent. Thank you for mentioning that, Vice President Cooper. Let's see. That brings us to Mayor Machickie.

I think I'm okay tonight, Mr. President. It was a great meeting. If anyone else wants any two tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines fly for Triumph Red Theater, I'm not too proud to sell more tonight. Thank you to the two of you that purchased some, but $25 apiece, and any member of the public can purchase them as well. The drawing is October 30th, so that's my short report.

Okay, excellent. Just a couple things for me tonight. Kelly hit on the first thing on my list, which was, again, just duplicate it, recognizing the efforts of the staff during all of the efforts to get this election ready. I think it's worth noting on the record how difficult combining our elections has made things for finding spaces, for finding election workers. All of the logistics that goes in is tremendous. You guys have done a have done in your office, it's really shown. Another thing that you guys saw that our clerk had sent out was our schedule for community assistance meetings and capital improvement meetings. I would just say that in looking at that list, there's certainly a lot of them that fall in outlying areas and sometimes fall disproportionately on assembly members. So I just want to make myself available. If there's ones that people can't make, would like somebody there to attend, just let me know. If I can make it, I certainly will. And thank you for sending that out. And then finally, just real briefly, I just want to say thanks to the mayor and his project staff, you know, managing all of these projects that we have going on, going all the way back to the bond approval for all the school projects and stuff. I know it's been really difficult. It's difficult because we can't do everything that. we wanted to do or was spelled out. But we're trying to do all the things that we should do, the best things that make the most impact. And that's a bit of a triage sometimes. And I think that you guys have done a really good job navigating that and continue to do a good job. So thank you for not only the updates, but the work that you guys have put in. I think I'll just stop there. It's been a tough year for the Kenai area specifically. We've lost some people. I don't know how published some of this is, so I'm just going to refrain from using names at this time. But just ask that there are people in this community that we've lost, make a tremendous impact in our community. Just ask that you think of them, their families, whoever they may be. Probably more to come on that later. I'm just a little unsure if I should say something at all. But okay, so that's all I have for now. Again, thank you to all assembly members. Good meeting tonight. Good collaboration. Appreciate everybody's work on the items we had on our agenda. And that's all I have. So our next assembly meeting will be October 20th, 2026 at 6 p.m. That's a regular assembly meeting. this room remote participation is available through zoom meeting id 897-1694-8642 and the passcode is 075-938 and with that we are adjourned