A K-Beach property trade from the Kenai Peninsula Borough to land owners affected by 2013 flood mitigation efforts remains on hold after being discussed for over a year.
Tim and Paula Keohane own a parcel in the Kingswood Estates Subdivision, a portion of which was used by the borough as a drainage easement during the 2013 flooding.
The borough has discussed a property trade with the Keohane’s for over a year: a portion of the 4.3 acre Kingswood parcel be retained for drainage easement in exchange for a 1.8 acre bluff lot currently owned by the borough.
Mayor Mike Navarre said the borough will reserve a portion of the 1.8 acre lot for a drainage easement.
Mayor Navarre: “There’s not a lot of drainage that goes through there, there’s no drainage built to it that will funnel additional water to it so it may or may not ever be needed. And what we did in this case is maintain the drainage easement, a 60-foot drainage easement plus some additional property that could be staged on if it ever had to be built by someone so that the option is still available if that drainage is ever needed.”
Essentially, the 1.8 acre parcel is being offered to the Keohane’s in exchange for the amount of their homestead that the borough would like to retain for drainage purposes.
The issue was up for discussion at Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting but was postponed again due to the involvement of multiple agencies involved.
The Department of Transportation wrote a letter to administration requesting a drainage plan and the assembly said that may affect the exchange.