Kenai City Council postpones vote on Mission Street bluff erosion contract until Oct. 7

The Kenai City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote on Resolution 2026-63 to Oct. 7. The resolution would authorize a contract award for the Kenai Bluff Erosion and Stabilization Mission Street Erosion Control Project.

Bids were due Sept. 29, the day before the meeting. The city's bid listing calls for relocating a water service, building stormwater control structures and placing erosion-control materials. It also requires performance and payment bonds and falls under Alaska Title 36 wage and hour requirements.

At the special meeting, Vice Mayor Victoria Askin moved to adopt the resolution. No one from the public spoke. A council member then moved to postpone it to the Oct. 7 regular meeting, and no one objected.

City Clerk Shellie Saner brought a postponement request memo as a laydown item, a document added to the meeting materials at the last minute. No one stated a reason on the record. Council members Glenese Pettey and Deborah Sounart were absent, and the mayor said the council had a quorum.

Alaska News previously covered the scheduled award. The work is separate from a larger Kenai River bluffs project. In 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $19.3 million contract to Western Marine Construction of Seattle for a rock berm along about 5,000 feet of the river's north bank. That project uses 42,400 cubic yards of armor rock, plus crushed rock and gravel base. The federal government covers 90% of the cost, and the city covers the remaining 10%. The bluffs had been receding about three feet per year, the Corps said.