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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
DECEMBER 21, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 70
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
‘No big scary monsters’ in Kenai budget City finances in good shape, audit finds By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
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A report by accountant Michelle Drew, of financial consulting service BDO USA, gave Kenai a good evaluation for its handling of municipal finance. Drew, who conducted an audit of the city’s finances for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, said that her company’s examination of its expenses and revenues discovered “no big scary monsters.” The report, presented to the city council on Wednesday, valued the city’s assets near $45.8 million, 93 percent of which were in cash or investments. Its liabilities were near $2.6 million, and its total equity — “the difference between what you have and what you owe,” Drew said — was $43 million. Analyzing the city’s sources of revenue, Drew said that the Airport Land Sales Permanent
Among friends
Group forms to support those who have lost a child
Top: Compassionate Friends of the Kenai Peninsula steering committee members listen to Kit Hill discuss the death of her daughter Amy Hill. Amy Hill died from a heart attack 15 years ago, Kit Hill said. “She was a recovering heroin addict and was working at Toys R Us and just loved it,” Kit Hill said. “She had moved in itting in the Joyce K. Carver Mewith two friends, am so grateful she morial Library conference room got that time of joy in her life. I live Saturday afternoon, five of the six every day for her for all the things that Compassionate Friends of the Kenai Penshe wasn’t able to do.” insula chapter steering committee met for Above: Steering committee what evolved into an open discussion on members discuss the first candle addressing the death of a child. lighting vigil the group hosted at Christ The five women said they are part of a Lutheran Church last week. The com“club no one wants to join.” mittee normally sits in an open circle Four months ago, committee leader so nothing is standing between each Leslie Boyd, Lisa Garcia, Vickie Herother when they have their discusrmann, Kit Hill, co-leader Brenda Zuck sions, member Brenda Zuck said. and Patsy Marston created a local chapter of the international Left: Leslie Boyd wears a vial of her son Seth Boyd’s Compassionate Friends organization. With the guidance of ashes around her neck. Seth Boyd was killed in a plane Lynette Knapp, the small coalition founded a long-term place crash four years ago when he was 29 years old. “It was See FRIENDS, page A-2 very sudden and very traumatic,” Leslie Boyd said. “He was my only son, he was an adventurer, poker play, fly fishermen, a lover of beautiful women, many of whom are still my friends.”
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Story and photos by Kelly Sullivan
Donlin mine has local implications By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
The future of Donlin Gold’s mining project was detailed in a presentation at the Alaska Support Industry Alliance luncheon held at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center on Friday. While located in western Alaska, the project has repercussions for the Kenai Peninsula, as a proposed pipeline would transport natural gas from the Cook Inlet to the site. The Donlin Gold mining project is located in Alaska’s Yukon Kuskokwim region, approximately 10 miles from the village of Crooked Creek. It is jointly owned by NOVAGOLD Resources and Barrick Gold Corporation. Donlin Gold estimates that the site has 33.9 million ounces of gold reserves.
“A project the size of ours is going to have benefits to the entire state, so I think it’s important for us to share (details of) the project,” said Kurt Parkan, the External Affairs Manager for Donlin Gold. Parkan said the mine will be one of the world’s largest — probably in the top 10 percent. He said the project will hopefully create up to 1,400 jobs each year during operations. The site will have a mine-life of an estimated 29 years. He said that the open-pit mine site will be like a small city and contain a campsite for 600 people. Despite already being nearly 20 years in development, the project needs to receive more than 100 permits before construction and mining can begin. See MINE, page A-5
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Fund was “the big winner,” contributing “just under two million dollars to the bottom line.” This fund is made of invested money earned from the sale of airport land. As a permanent fund, the city is unable to use the fund’s principal, but can spend the earnings it produces through interest and investment returns. “At year end, it had a little over $24 million in it,” said city finance director Terry Eubank, of the Airport Land Sales Permanent Fund. “And with the stock market and things doing as well as they’ve been doing lately, it had significant investment earnings this year.” Drew said that in total, the city’s revenue, which it had originally budgeted at $14.5 million, came to $14.2 million. The three biggest revenue contributors were the general sales tax, fish tax, and ambulance See AUDIT, page A-2
7 on Soldotna charter ballot By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
With seven home rule charter commission member candidates approved, Soldotna’s special city election will be held Feb. 3, 2015. City council members Pete Sprague and Keith Baxter, Kenai Peninsula Borough president Dale Bagley, Program Coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management Dan Nelson, manager of River City Books Peggy Mullen, Birch Ridge Golf Course owner Patrick Cowan and resident Jerry Farrington are the candidates voters will have the option of electing in little more than one month.
“This is a great group of people to be working on a home rule charter for the future of Soldotna,” said City Manager Mark Dixson. “It took them each considerable amount of time to get the 50 required signatures, and it will take a considerable amount of time for them to develop the charter.“ The commission filing period closed Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., but the required number of applications had been approved by Friday morning, said Soldotna City Clerk Shellie Saner. There is now “ample opportunity” for the people of Soldotna to decide if they want a charter commission, said city See BALLOT, page A-2
Soldotna, Kenai Central alumni to drop the puck By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
As they have done each winter for the past 19 years, alumni of Soldotna and Kenai Central high schools will lace up their skates and face each other in a hockey game at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. “It’s about helping the kids and making money for the program,” said the organizer of this year’s alumni game, Terry Eubank. The program that Eubank, a 1989 Kenai alumni, referred to is the Kenai Hockey Booster Club, of which Eubank is a member. Funds raised by the event’s $10 adult tickets, $5 child and senior tickets, and various raffles, games and C
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n The Soldotna-Kenai Central alumni hockey game is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
concessions will be put toward the mission of this club, which purchases equipment, practice time, travel expenses and uniforms for the Kenai Central High School hockey team. Rick Koch, an organizer responsible for player recruitment, said that in addition to Kenai and Soldotna players the game will include alumni from Skyview and Nikiski, distributed between the two teams to fill open spaces in the roster. As of Friday evening, Koch said he
had recruited close to 20 players. “But it’s always a last-minute deal. These old hockey players are pretty tough to teach to be organized,” said Koch. Hockey will not be the only opportunity for Kenai and Soldotna to compete. In between periods of the alumni game, the two schools’ current hockey teams will face each other in a tug of war, with a $250 prize for the winner. Intermission entertainment will also include a display of vehicles by sponsoring dealership Stanley Ford, which will also the opportunity to win a 2015 Ford Fiesta to a randomly selected ticket-holder, contingent upon that ticket-holder shooting a puck from the far See PUCK, page A-2