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The West Redoubt Avenue site has risen again as the preferred choice for a Soldotna city cemetery.

Soldotna City Council members on Wednesday voted unanimously to designate the Redoubt Avenue site for a memorial park, in accordance with an advisory vote of Soldotna residents last October.

Prior to this year's municipal election, the council had settled on buying several parcels of land known as the Knight Drive cemetery site after Mayor Peter Micciche cast a 3-3 tie-breaking vote.

One 2.83-acre parcel has already been purchased.

Displeased with that decision, four Soldotna candidates successfully ran on the Redoubt Avenue site preference platform Oct. 6 this year, giving the council the weighted majority needed to overturn the previous decision.

At their first council meeting Wednesday, Dale Bagley, Peggy Mullen, Nels Anderson and Brenda Hartman voted-in the Redoubt site and were joined by Councilman Ed Sleater, who earlier had sought to have the Redoubt site consideration "postponed indefinitely." Councilman Shea Hutchings was absent.

In October 2008, 608 votes were cast in support of the Redoubt site and 374 voters opposed it.

A number of residents from the adjacent Mooring by the River Subdivision voiced strong opposition saying a cemetery in their neighborhood would bring unwanted vehicle traffic and lower their property values.

One stipulation in the resolution approved Wednesday calls for the city manager to begin negotiations with the Kenai Peninsula Borough to acquire a 10-acre borough-owned parcel south of the 10-acre city-owned parcel to allow the cemetery to be accessed from Redoubt Avenue rather than have cemetery traffic come through Mooring by the River, which is to the north.

If the land acquisition attempt fails, the city manager is directed to try securing a 60-foot right-of-way to the city land.

In preliminary cemetery design plans, a buffer has been indicated to provide separation of the cemetery from surrounding neighborhoods.

Long-time proponent of a city cemetery, Barbara Jewell said Wednesday, "You know I'm in support of this location. It's a wonderful location.

"I ask you to support it," she said. "Our residents are aging every day."

Mooring by the River resident Jay Rohloff said he and his neighbors do not believe it is a good use of the property.

The 10-acre site, known as Crystalline Subdivision Tract 1, was originally given to the city by the borough to be used as a storm water sedimentation basin.

A large sedimentation pond in fact is on the lower portion of the property near the Kenai River's edge.

Rohloff said if the city uses the site for a cemetery, "you're abandoning this site for secondary storm water collection."

Councilman Anderson asked city Public Works Director Steve Bonebrake if the city currently has adequate land available for storm water collection.

"We have 3 acres for storm water below," Bonebrake said. "We have no plans for expansion. Everything is taken care of now."

Bagley then asked Rohloff if the city could do anything else to make the site selection more tolerable to his neighborhood.

"Access off Redoubt and the buffer are OK," Rohloff said.

The approved resolution also directs the city manager to proceed with a full site evaluation and if soil conditions are suitable for use as a cemetery, to proceed with development of a memorial park.

Following the decision, Sleater said he is "glad the cemetery issue has finally come to the next stage stage. Maybe it's called growing up."

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.