Borough Looks at Facilities Replacement

Erik Wander/KMXT

The Kodiak Island Borough’s engineering and facilities department presented its six-year wish-list for facility improvements at the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly’s work session Thursday evening. The plan includes safety, health and energy improvements to buildings and facilities owned and operated by the borough, including educational facilities.

Borough manager Rick Gifford said the last facility renewal and replacement plan was completed several years ago, and that the current study gives the Borough Assembly something to consider when making funding decisions for such projects in the coming years.

— (Borough 1 36 sec. "It’s an attempt to … what we’ve been working on.")

Woody Koning is the borough’s engineering and facilities director and was instrumental in preparing the report. He said the structure of the plan was based on a Department of Education model.

— (Borough 2 34 sec. "It’s crafted after … exceeded their useful life.")

Koning said the roughly 8-million-dollar price tag for 2010 improvements is an unrealistic figure, given the borough’s likely budgetary constraints. But he asked assembly members to use it as a guideline in making funding decisions.

— (Borough 3 19 sec. "We wanted to bring this to you … facilities point of view.")

Assembly member Pat Branson praised the efforts of the engineering and facilities department in preparing the plan, saying it functions as a valuable tool in the assembly’s future budgetary considerations.

— (Borough 4 30 sec. "I’m very glad to see this … but it’s a planning document for us.")

Koning made a distinction between a maintenance list and a renewal and replacement plan, which he says is more comprehensive in its scope. He also said the list does not include any projects funded through bonding or grants. The Borough Assembly will hold its next regular meeting January 22nd.

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