Update 3/15/2023: This meeting was cancelled and has been moved to April 13th.
The Kenai River Special Management Citizen Advisory will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 16th at 5:30 p.m. at the Gilman River Center on Funny River Road.
The Rotary Clubs of Kenai and Soldotna will be making a presentation with the request of a Special Use Permit to host the Kenai River Rotary Ice Classic on the Kenai River.
In the application submitted by the Rotary Clubs, they request the ability to place simple teepee-style tripod constructed with 3 or 4 natural spruce poles, placed on river ice at approximately 60°28’35.22″N 151 °4’29.13″W.
A 7.5 inch Crab Buoy will be nested on top “basket” of the tripod. In the Crab Buoy is a GPS Locator device which will sense movement of ice. The buoy is attached to approximately 150 foot of 5/16th polyethylene crab pot rope extending back to the shore. It is secured/tethered to an existing infrastructure above ordinary high water. A video camera, placed on private property directly south of the unit, will show current conditions and help alert when movement occurs.
Retrieval is enabled by the rope attached to the buoy. The design is such that the buoy will separate from the tripod as the ice moves. The natural material tripod will breaks-up and move down river. If the safe retrieval of the tripod material is possible, then it will be recovered and not float down the river. However, if the safe retrieval is not possible, the tripod will break apart and become normal wood debris associated with the river.
Safety: The rope will be buried under snow as much as possible to minimize any tripping hazard to humans and/or animals. The spruce poles to be painted high visible, water-based paint.
View the Rotary Clubs application here
The meeting will be hybrid with attendees having the option to attend the committee and regular meetings in person at the Gilman River Center and/or through the Teams meeting option.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Pamela Russell at pamela.russell@alaska.gov or 907-714-2471. Witten comments on any item can be submitted to the board prior to the meeting.