Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to revisit Nikolaevsk school transfer Tuesday

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will reconsider Tuesday its June 16 approval of a school property transfer that would give a Russian Old Believer village on the southern Kenai Peninsula control of its own K-12 building.

The Assembly approved the conveyance of the Nikolaevsk School to Alaskan Homestead Education, Inc. on June 16, 6-2, with Assembly Members Willy Dunne and Cindy Ecklund opposed. Dunne then moved to reconsider the final vote, placing the ordinance back before the full Assembly as a notice to reconsider under unfinished business at the July 7 meeting in Soldotna.

The property is valued at nearly $8 million. Under the deal, the borough would defer and eventually forgive the purchase price if the nonprofit spends roughly $200,000 annually for 10 years on maintenance and operation. A separate ordinance on Tuesday's agenda would appropriate general fund money for utilities, maintenance, and insurance at Nikolaevsk and three other surplus school facilities through fiscal year 2027. That measure is being introduced Tuesday and has a public hearing set for Aug. 4.