The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly held an emergency session Friday afternoon in order to look at three emergency ordinances. All three passed during the meeting.
- Emergency ordinance 2020-12 aims to extend the payment deadline for 466 Special Assessment bills, mailed out on March 1. Previously, the payment deadline was set March 31 each year, but is now extended to June 30 this year. Its proposal is due to “numerous difficulties many of our citizens are experiencing” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ordinance.
- Emergency ordinance 2020-13 allows an exception to the operating agreement the borough has with South Peninsula Hospital. The borough received a request from SPH to retain cash in excess of 90 days. The plan is to “support anticipated cash outflow that the hospital anticipates experiencing during the next three months.”
- Emergency ordinance 2019-19-31 is a budget ordinance allowing $125,000 to be available for the Office of Emergency Management due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which they estimate will be the funding needed to cover expenses through April 21.
Dan Nelson of the Borough’s Office of Emergency Management and Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce made statements during the meeting, both praising the Borough’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as encouraging residents to continue making adjustments to their lives as-necessary to keep themselves, and the entire community, as healthy as possible.
Due to Health Mandates restricting meeting sizes, the session was held electronically using the online platform Zoom.