The Kenai Municipal Airport is getting some new snow removal equipment after the purchase was approved during Wednesday night’s city council meeting. The move follows a grant offer from the Federal Aviation Administration to Kenai’s Airport Improvement Program.
In a rare move, the council approved a double reading of the grant receipt and equipment purchase ordinance because the FAA requires acceptance of this grant no later than August 11, which falls before the next council meeting. Typically, an ordinance is introduced during one council meeting, then re-read and voted on in another.
According to the memorandum accompanying the ordinance, the $1.17 million FAA grant covers more than 90% of the purchase cost for the new equipment. “This represents 93.75% of the projected cost and requires a local match of $78,659 (6.25%) for a total project cost of $1,258,543. An additional match of $11,799 is being requested to cover subsequent change orders and ineligible grant expenditures like maintenance manuals,” the memo states.
The funds will go toward the purchase of two new snow removal apparatus: a 2024 CAT 980 wheel loader and a 2026 model plow and sanding truck. The wheel loader comes with a $769,983.00 price tag from NC Machinery, and the plow truck/sander from Bob’s Services, LLC, comes in at $440,000.
Vice Mayor Henry Knackstedt expressed his appreciation for Airport Manager Derek Ables’s role in securing the grant funding: “I’d like to thank Mr. Ables, our airport manager, for this and the previous one, the two grants that we’re getting for the equipment and for the airport master plan, [and] the work that you’re doing there. Thank you very much for doing that.”
According to ordinance documentation, $1,720,000 was previously appropriated in the Airport Snow Removal Equipment Capital Project Fund for the purchase of equipment. A subsequent ordinance will transfer the remaining balance back to the Airport Special Revenue Fund.