A new south beach access to the mouth of the Kenai River could be constructed by the start of the next dipnet fishery season.
At the September 16 Kenai City Council meeting, councillors will decide on the city’s purchase of seven parcels for the access road beginning at Royal Street.
City Manager Rick Koch and City Attorney Scott Bloom negotiated with the owner of the 11.7 acres, ARK Properties. All parties agreed on a $1.6 million deal for the parcels.
Koch: “Next summer, if this goes according to plan, the initial roadway would be constructed which would be a gravel road. Ultimately, not only will the new roadway be an asphalt paved road so that it minimized dust for the adjoining wetland and the other properties to the south but also Royal Street and Old Cannery Road.”
The legislature appropriated a $1.9 million grant for Kenai’s south beach access project in the 2015 State Fiscal Year.
The city plans to retain four of the parcels to construct the south beach access and sell the other three to finance the first portion of the road construction.
The resolution was postponed Wednesday night because of a 1984 charter provision that dictates revenues from the city selling property goes into a permanent fund.
Bloom is still working on how to bypass that provision.
