The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly at their last regular meeting on Nov. 12 unanimously approved the purchase of property adjacent to Anchor Point’s Chapman School for future school use.

According to Ordinance 2024-19-18, Chapman’s existing school campus consists of a 4.51-acre parcel that is bounded by private land holdings, which limits future management and potential expansion of the school facility. The approved land purchase acquires four additional parcels consisting of 6.6 acres in total immediately adjacent to Chapman School to the north.

The total land purchase will cost the borough $850,000 — $800,000 for the four parcels and up to $50,000 for closing and due diligence costs — to be covered by the general fund.

The borough Planning Commission previously recommended approval of the land purchase during its Oct. 28 meeting.

During the Nov. 12 meeting, assembly member Ryan Tunseth, who also chairs the finance committee, which reviewed Ordinance 2024-19-18, said that the reasoning for the purchase was due to “an increase in both use and growth” at Chapman School, as well as safety issues occurring during student pickup and drop-off.

Traffic is a major concern for many Chapman parents and Anchor Point community members. During student drop-off and pickup times, vehicles and buses waiting to turn into the school parking lot may be backed up on the Sterling Highway, causing delays and creating hazards particularly in winter conditions. The parking lot is also too small for the current use demand.

“It seems like there will be sort of a phased approach to how this would get planned out and be done, but it would be the hope to have some immediate attention given to that pickup and drop-off area,” he said.

Lindsay Bear, speaking on behalf of the Chapman School Site Council, read out a resolution of support for Ordinance 2024-19-18 during a public hearing.

The site council’s resolution stated that the current Chapman School building was constructed in the 1950s and had additions constructed in the 1970s and 1980s. The school is at capacity, Bear said, yet enrollment is continuing to grow and long-term facility plans are necessary.

The school has already taken some measures over the years to address growth and traffic and parking hazards. According to Bear, Chapman installed a fourth portable classroom in 2022 in the playground, because that was the only available space on Chapman’s campus. Additionally, in an attempt to alleviate congestion issues in the parking lot and on the highway, a second parking lot was created west of the school, again utilizing existing playground space.

“Staff also instituted two drop-off and pickup zones to maximize the space available on campus and on adjacent property roadways to ensure student safety,” she said. “But these remedies have not been enough to resolve problems.”

Bear wasn’t the only one to raise concern about the unsafe traffic conditions in the school parking lot and on the Sterling Highway, which Chapman fronts. Jessica Williams, another Chapman parent, spoke on the “constant vigilance and extreme caution” that every driver entering or exiting campus must utilize and said she wonders daily “if we’re on borrowed time before disaster occurs.”

“This opportunity to expand our parking lot, I just feel strongly, cannot be passed up. We’ve applied short-term solutions. Those are not meeting our needs. We are putting our students and our families at risk,” she said.

Chapman Principal Heidi Stokes told the assembly that passing Ordinance 2024-19-18 would make good on the promises made when the school improvement bond Proposition 2, which previously identified Chapman School parking as one of the schools in the KPB school district to receive student drop-off improvements, was passed in 2022.

“In the two years since its passing, enrollment has grown to over 170 (students), and the hazards have only increased with even more families having to wait on the highway in the morning and afternoon,” she said.

In addition to public comments given during the meeting, more than a dozen written comments were submitted to the assembly, with the majority expressing support for the land purchase and future Chapman expansion.

Borough Mayor Peter Micciche compared the land purchase, which was criticized by a Homer resident for being priced well over the assessed value of $164,000, to the price of the new Kenai Central High School concession stand that was approved in June for $733,000.

“This became very important to me when I went down there (to Chapman School) and watched one morning and two afternoons,” he said. “I know there are other situations we need to look at as well, we have money in the bond for that, but this problem needs to be solved.”

During the Finance Committee meeting preceding the assembly meeting on Nov. 12, Micciche said that the Chapman expansion project will be done in stages — the first being a “short-term, bare bones” opportunity to facilitate pulling vehicles off the highway and have room for student drop-off.

“We’ve got some dirt work to do. There’s a trade that we are working on as well that would make the property a lot more usable,” he said. “Then there’s an all-out site council land management long-term plan that we’ll put together that will include future development of additional space within the school itself.”

Depending on costs for the short-term project, Micciche said, there is approximately $5 million available in the 2022 bond budget for parent drop-off and pickup studies and solutions. He also said that his goal would be to have a drop-off location off of the highway before the 2024-2025 school year.

Find Ordinance 2024-19-18, as well as supplemental materials, in full on the KPB Assembly website at kpb.legistar.com.

Casey Eberle speaks to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Amanda Friendshuh, a 3rd Grade teacher from Chapman School, speaks to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

A map provided by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly shows the location of four land parcels adjacent to Chapman School recently approved for purchase in Anchor Point, Alaska. Screenshot.