KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
After years of work by scores of volunteers, professionals, committee members and innocent bystanders, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly last night included the Kodiak Road System Trails Master Plan into the borough’s Comprehensive Plan.
The trails plan identifies existing and potential trails and corridors that lead to recreational lands, and seeks to protect that access and expand it where possible. The Parks and Recreation Committee worked on the plan over the years. Mike Sirofchuck had been on the committee for much of the last decade, and asked the assembly to approve the plan.
Assemblywoman Chris Lynch also voiced her support for the plan and her appreciation for those who worked on it.
Though he voted for it and the plan passed unanimously, Assemblyman Mel Stephens had some words of caution. He said he likely would not support demanding trail right-of-ways through new subdivisions.
Also at last night’s meeting, the assembly voted 5-to-1 to donate $1,000 to the Alaska Sea Party, which is trying to get the Alaska Coastal Management Program reinstated. Assemblyman Stephens was the lone dissenting vote. The group will lobby the State Legislature, which convened on Tuesday. Failing that, they will seek to put an initiative on the ballot this fall, which if passed, would compel the state government to reinstate the program. Borough Mayor Jerome Selby was one of the prime sponsors behind the Alaska Sea Party.
The assembly also voted unanimously to add hoop-houses to the borough’s building code. A hoop-house is a form of light-weight greenhouse structure which would extend the growing season for the plants and vegetables planted within. That ordinance passed unanimously.
