The Kenai Peninsula Borough will enter into short-term user agreements with the Boys and Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula and an interagency agreement with Central Emergency Services, who will use spaces within the Soldotna Prep School building.
The building was vacated by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in the summer of 2019, according to a memo sent to the assembly from the borough’s Land Management Officer Marcus Mueller on behalf of the So Prep Interim Facility Management Team. The vacancy resulted in the building being returned to the borough, which established a team to make recommendations on its management.
While the building has been under borough management, it has been used as an Incident Command Post during the Swan Lake Fire, for public safety training and for COVID-19 backup facility planning.
The borough originally received three proposals: one from the Boys and Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula, one from Love, INC and its partners and one from Central Emergency Services.
The Boys and Girls Club proposed using 10 of the building’s classrooms and gyms for children’s programs. Love, INC proposed using the building’s gyms for a cold weather shelter. Central Emergency Services proposed using two of the building’s classrooms for a training center.
According to the memo, all proposals were given “due consideration” by the facility’s management team, and the borough will not be extending a use agreement to Love, INC for the cold weather shelter.
The building costs about $200,000 according to the memo, which is paid for by the borough’s general fund.
The agreements will last through the current school year and will be month-to-month after. Discussions are ongoing with regards to the building’s long-term future.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
