Public hearings will be held Monday for several ordinances introduced by the Homer City Council at their last regular meeting on Nov. 12. Members of the community are invited to attend the meeting in person or via Zoom on Monday, Nov. 25 starting at 6 p.m. and provide comments on six ordinances.

Ordinance 24-58 will amend the capital budget for fiscal year 2025 by accepting and appropriating a $328,943 grant award from the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. The award funds will support the development of a formal cybersecurity plan and other infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing the City of Homer’s cybersecurity resilience. No local match is required for the grant funds.

Ordinance 24-59 will appropriate an additional $100,000 from the city’s Sewer CARMA fund for improvements to the Beluga Lift Station, a major piece of Homer’s sewer system that transports all sewage from the Homer Spit and the Lakeshore Drive and Ocean Drive neighborhoods.

The project is partially funded through a $500,000 loan through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s State Revolving Fund Program, which comes with a principal forgiveness subsidy and means that the loan effectively functions as a grant. Previously in August, the council also passed Ordinance 24-36 which appropriated an additional $208,000 for the project — a figure which was based off a recent $708,000 project cost estimate.

The new appropriation through Ordinance 24-59 comes from a bid received by the city from East Road Services for $765,194, an overage of $57,194. According to an Oct. 30 memorandum to the council from city engineer Leon Galbraith, there isn’t enough time to rebid the project to stay within budget because the critical Beluga Lift improvements must be completed before Memorial Day, owing to the needed construction of a temporary sewage bypass while the project is ongoing.

The previous cost estimate of $708,000 included a 25% contingency to “help account for unexpectedly high bid results,” the memo states. However, the reason behind the higher bid is due to increased cost for project materials. While the current overage is $57,194, Galbraith recommended that the council appropriate $100,000 from the Sewer CARMA fund to cover unanticipated construction expenses and allow for funding change orders that may arise. Any remaining funds at the completion of the project, Galbraith wrote, will remain in the Sewer CARMA fund.

Ordinance 24-60, if passed, would amend Homer city code that regulates operation of motor vehicles in beach areas by changing the time frame listed in HCC 7.16.020 allowing access for coal and sand collection from the Mariner Park Beach. Currently, the time frame stated in city code is Oct. 1 through March 31.

Ordinance 24-61 would amend the FY25 capital budget by appropriating $2 million from the HART Fund to the Ohlson Lane and Bunnell Avenue road reconstruction project. In addition to needed road improvements, the project entails replacing the 59-year-old water main and constructing a new storm drain.

Planning commissioner Heath Smith spoke at the beginning of the Nov. 12 meeting during an open public comment period and cautioned the council against severely depleting the HART Fund.

“If we’re going to spend at this rate from the HART, there needs to be an adjustment there, otherwise it’s going to become insolvent,” he said. “We’ve seen how that happened with the HAWSP, and I think that there needs to be some kind of correction sooner than later if this is going to be an appropriation you’re going to move forward with.”

Council member Donna Aderhold said later in the meeting that the impetus for the Ohlson Lane and Bunnell Avenue road reconstruction is the water main replacement and storm drain construction.

“We’re repaving behind that and adding a sidewalk on one side of Ohlson Lane,” she said.

Conducting all aspects of this project at the same time allows the city to replace aging infrastructure without having to dig up newly constructed road in the near future to repair or replace the main.

The city received two loans, with 100% principal forgiveness subsidy, totaling $815,400 from the ADEC for the water main replacement and storm drain construction. The city is directly responsible for funding the remaining project costs, which are currently estimated at approximately $1.5 million. Public Works recommends the appropriation of $2 million to cover anticipated project cost increases.

Ordinance 24-62 was pulled from the consent agenda in order for a substitute ordinance to be introduced. Ordinance 24-62(S) would authorize the city manager to execute an equipment lease purchase agreement with Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation to allow for the lease purchase of a road grader. The ordinance would also amend the FY25 capital budget for a current-year lease payment from the General Fund Fleet CARMA Fund.

The city seeks, should Ordinance 24-62(S) pass, to lease purchase a 2024 grader to replace E164, a 1994 model grader that is currently functioning as a backup grader and, according to a Nov. 7 memo from Public Works Director Daniel Kort, “has had and continues to have significant transmission issues and requires continual maintenance to serve as a backup grader.”

With the new grader purchase, Public Works would move E168, a 2002 model grader that has passed its 20-year lifespan mark and is “showing its age in transmission leakage,” to the backup grader position. E164 would be sold through surplus at the next available opportunity.

Kort noted in the memo that Homer has three winter plowing routes within city limits, and a typical snow event requires 14-16 hours of operator time to complete.

“With the addition of new subdivisions within the City over the past few years, the requirement for plowing is growing and Public Works will likely be establishing a fourth route soon. Reliable equipment is necessary for the operators to complete their routes safely, timely and efficiently,” he wrote.

Finally, Ordinance 24-63 would accept and appropriate a $330,628 State Homeland Security Program grant from the Alaska DHS&EM to purchase for the Homer Police Department a new radio console dispatch system and a virtual law enforcement training system. According to a Nov. 4 memo from HPD Chief Mark Robl, the operating system that currently controls HPD’s three dispatch consoles is obsolete, and the system would be inoperable without work-arounds should parts of the system fail.

Find the ordinances scheduled for public hearing on Monday, as well as backup informational materials, on the city council website at www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/citycouncil/city-council-regular-meeting-324.