Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce took to social media to ask the question: what’s next for the borough as we enter the fourth quarter of the year?
COVID-19 was addressed during the conversation, as Mayor Pierce advised residents to follow Centers for Disease Control guidelines to better prepare themselves for safety. Also, he mentioned that CARES funding is available, with another round of applications starting later this month: “On a borough level, we’ve been working on the CARES Act funding. As you are aware, we picked up $37.4 million and we have a very, very talented team to put things together – led by Brenda Ahlberg and her team. I want to let you know that the second round of allocations is coming up. There’s an application period that starts on September 14 and the location where you can find additional information is KPB.US.”
The mayor also expressed his pride in his March announcement that the Kenai Peninsula was “open for business.” He said that the Kenai was open then, and is open now, and he feels that this attitude has helped the area: “We’ve been open since March! I, as your mayor, said we are open for business and I want to say to you today that the message made a difference. Our cities, our borough, was visited by multiple folks in-state this year and I think it’s made a difference on some of our anticipated lost sales tax revenue. The numbers were originally projected at 5 – 15% reduction, and we’re looking at somewhere between 3 – 8%. I said that we’re essential, I truly believe that everyone in the state is essential.”
Mayor Pierce discussed some ribbon-cutting projects in the area, as well as the North Road extension. Among other projects, he proudly discussed a new fire station in Nikiski: “The fire station #3 in Nikiski, it has come out of the ground very quickly and it is well on its way to a completed state. This fall, early-Winter, we think we’ll have a completed fire station in Nikiski. It’s exciting for the residents of Nikiski. We’ll have some additional protection there. You’ll have additional shortness of response-time, hopefully, as that station is completed in the near future.”
For those who have had trouble with Borough Assembly meetings online, Mayor Pierce advocated for finding a method of re-opening the chambers or finding alternative locations for making meetings more accessible.
