Alaska

Standoff over planning fee appointment continues

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce stated he’ll let Seldovia fill a emptiness on the borough planning fee meant for Soldotna if town doesn’t present a listing of beneficial candidates for that emptiness by Dec. 1. That’s based on a Sept. 10 letter from Pierce to Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney, which was obtained by the Clarion by way of data request.

The ultimatum comes amid a monthslong conflict between the Metropolis of Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula Borough over whether or not or not one identify might be thought of a “list of recommendations” as described by the part of Alaska statute describing membership apportionment on the borough’s planning fee. Pierce says that town’s submission of a single identify doesn’t represent a listing, whereas town says it’s in line with previous apply.

The borough’s planning fee is accountable usually for planning the “systematic development and betterment” of the borough. Amongst different issues, the planning fee has approval and rejection authority over plots of land and may examine public buildings or constructions.

Present borough statute says that representatives from 5 of the borough’s integrated communities — Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Seward and Seldovia — are given seats on the 11-member fee. Representatives from these communities rotate amongst 4 seats on the fee, with Soldotna subsequent up within the rotation.

The opposite seven seats are at-large seats, representing Anchor Level/Ninilchik, Northwest Borough, Sterling, Ridgeway, Kalifornsky Seashore, East Peninsula and Kasilof/Clam Gulch.

At the moment, cities promote for his or her vacant seat on the fee, with functions forwarded to town council for assessment. The council then compiles a listing of suggestions to ahead to the borough mayor, who then forwards his candidate of option to the meeting for approval.

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The Soldotna Metropolis Council has already voted twice to suggest that metropolis council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings fill town’s seat on the borough planning fee, first on June 9 and once more on Aug. 28 after Pierce had the borough promote for the emptiness once more.

The Soldotna Metropolis Council will contemplate for a 3rd time whether or not or to not suggest Farnsworth-Hutchings for Soldotna’s seat on the borough planning fee throughout their Nov. 10 assembly, however this time she gained’t be the one identify on the record. Whitney has additionally thrown his hat within the ring.

The Metropolis of Soldotna marketed the emptiness for a second time, based on a memo from Soldotna Vice Mayor Lisa Parker to the council, after Pierce wrote within the Sept. 10 letter to Whitney that he won’t appoint Farnsworth-Hutchings to the fee. Pierce went on in that letter to criticize Soldotna’s “apparent unwillingness to follow the law” and reiterate his stance that one identify shouldn’t be a “list of recommendations.”

“It appears that the City of Soldotna was unwilling to even consider the applications of the two other qualified applicants for the vacancy on the borough’s planning commission,” Pierce wrote in that letter. “Given this apparent unwillingness to follow the law, I will not be appointing Ms. Linda Hutchings to the borough’s planning commission.”

Farnsworth-Hutchings, who ran towards Pierce within the 2017 and 2020 borough mayoral races, was the one candidate to use for the seat when the emptiness was marketed the primary time. Three functions had been acquired after the borough marketed the emptiness, which included Farnsworth-Hutchings. After town marketed the emptiness a second time, two folks utilized: Farnsworth-Hutchings and Whitney.

By means of all of it, Pierce has maintained that it’s finally his prerogative to decide on who he needs to place earlier than the meeting.

“Your letter suggests that the intent of (state statute) is that the borough mayor must appoint the single candidate recommended by a city council,” Pierce wrote within the Sept. 10 letter. “I disagree. Under the law, appointment authority is vested with the borough mayor.”

Pierce additionally set a Dec. 1 deadline in his letter for the Metropolis of Soldotna to submit a “list of recommendations” and stated if town doesn’t present a listing by that date, the borough will permit the Metropolis of Seldovia to fill that emptiness as an alternative.

“In good faith, based on an informal rotation of city seats which is not a codified process or formal borough policy, the City of Soldotna was given the first opportunity to fill the current vacancy,” Pierce wrote. “In good faith, that opportunity will remain in the hands of the City of Soldotna until December 1, 2021 … If a list of recommendations is not received on or before December 1, then the City of Seldovia will be afforded the opportunity to fill the vacancy.”

When requested Friday whether or not he had particular issues about Farnsworth-Hutchings as a candidate for the fee, Pierce declined to remark and stated his letter to Whitney speaks for itself.

Amid the tumult, two meeting members are attempting to forestall related arguments from holding up fee appointments sooner or later.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Meeting members Tyson Cox and Lane Chesley are the sponsors of laws that may make clear borough code to say {that a} record of suggestions should embrace no less than one applicant from their respective metropolis.

“Over the past several years most cities have only submitted one applicant for their designated planning commission seat, as neither borough code nor state statutes designate the specific number of applicants required to be considered a list,” Cox and Chesley wrote in an Oct. 14 memo to the meeting. “Several KPB Mayors have accepted lists with only one city seat applicant, including our current KPB Mayor.”

That memo goes on to say that one applicant is the easiest way to outline a listing as a result of few folks apply to fill vacancies on the fee.

“This ordinance would specify that the list of recommendations given to the borough mayor as approved by the city council would consist of at least one applicant from the respective city,” the memo says. “In this case one applicant seems the best definition for a list because we often have very few people who choose to apply to serve as a commissioner.”

If the meeting amended the laws to require two or extra suggestions, the memo says, a separate course of could be wanted to make clear what would occur if a metropolis solely had one keen applicant.

The identical laws would additionally bump up borough planning fee membership from 11 to 13, which Cox and Chesley wrote would permit every of the 5 cities to all the time have a consultant on the physique and subsequently remove the borough’s “rotation dilemma” by fixing arguments between the borough and cities about who will sit out.

Cox stated throughout testimony offered to the Kenai Metropolis Council that his purpose in sponsoring the laws is to forestall the identical conversations which have held the appointment up this 12 months from occurring sooner or later. The Kenai Metropolis Council unanimously handed laws supporting Cox and Chesley’s ordinance on Wednesday. The Metropolis of Seldovia has handed related laws, which will even be thought of by Soldotna and Homer at upcoming council conferences.

“My goal with this was to not create in our own borough a situation, where we are repeating the same conversation every year and not getting anywhere,” Cox informed town council. “Let’s make some solutions. Whether (they’re) exactly what’s on here, or something close to it, at least we’ll have some of these things defined and we won’t have to do this again next year.”

That laws will likely be up for a public listening to and vote by the borough meeting through the physique’s Dec. 7 assembly.

Attain reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

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