The Soldotna City Council may soon pause development on the former Davis Block property for 5 years.
City Manager Mark Dixson said the resolution came from a work session discussing the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce’s desire to build a visitor center near the river.
Dixson: “It directs me to start working on the agreement and as we are working on the agreement it will be brought back to council and either accept it, reject it, or recommend changes to it. Inside the resolution those benchmarks I referenced in there, that was the intent was to give the council the ability to say if it’s not moving forward at this rate you would have the ability to then cancel the agreement .”
The chamber would like to combine a visitor and convention center but thus far only the visitor center has been supported by Soldotna administration.
Soldotna resident Daniel Lynch questioned the motion to hold development on the valuable property…
Lynch: “Sitting on a property for up to five years when it’s already been noted that a convention center is a black hole for the sole purpose of the Chamber of Commerce to shake down the tax payer does not fall under the heading of fiduciary responsibility.”
To which Chamber President Ryan Kapp replied…
Kapp: “Hundreds maybe thousands of hours looking at the options and opportunities and at the end of the day a new visitor center on that location or anywhere else, really serves nothing to benefit the chamber itself, it serves to benefit the chamber members and the city of Soldotna and the community as a whole which is really our goal.”
The resolution authorized the city manager to enter into negotiations with the chamber to fully design, secure funding, and commence building the visitors center which would also include offices for chamber employees.