Kodiak Island Borough Assembly to weigh renewing five boards, one idle since 2022

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will consider keeping five borough boards and committees for three more years. One of them, the Emergency Services Council, has not met since March 18, 2022, according to the borough clerk's staff report.

The Assembly will hold a public hearing Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6:30 pm. Under borough code, boards not required by state law end every three years unless the Assembly reestablishes them. At that hearing, each board "shall have the burden of demonstrating a public need for its continued existence," the code says.

The ordinance would keep all five bodies in place from midnight Dec. 31, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2029. Borough Clerk Nova M. Javier wrote the staff report and recommends adoption. Her report lists the last meeting of each body:

• The Emergency Services Council last met March 18, 2022.

• The Parks and Recreation Committee last met June 23 of this year.

• The Architectural/Engineering Review Board last met Sept. 10.

• The Solid Waste Advisory Board last met May 20.

• The Borough Lands Committee last met Sept. 8.

Amy Williams described the council's role in borough code at a joint work session of the Assembly and the Kodiak City Council on Feb. 4, 2025. She said the City of Kodiak intended to change who serves as emergency services director, requiring updates to both city and borough code. "To be able to update both municipalities' codes, it falls to the Emergency Services Council, which is also in that same section," Williams said.

The Assembly introduced the ordinance at its Oct. 1 regular meeting and sent it to public hearing. Board and committee members received notice of the hearing Oct. 2, the staff report says. The borough's notice of termination is set to run Oct. 7 and Oct. 14. That notice says affected bodies "must present supporting data or testimony to justify their ongoing public necessity."

Residents may testify in the Assembly Chambers or by phone at 907-486-3231 or toll-free at 855-492-9202. Written comments go to [email protected] and are due by noon on the day of the hearing.