Riding a defense boom, Kodiak looks to send a member to D.C. for funds

Kodiak is having a moment with the federal government, and the borough wants to make the most of it.

Between two new Coast Guard icebreakers, a planned Coast Guard base, and a spaceport newly contracted for missile-defense test launches, the Kodiak Island Borough sees a rare opening to press Washington for infrastructure money. At a work session Thursday, members informally agreed to send Assembly member Bo Whiteside to D.C. in September to make the case.

"We landed in a unique scenario this year," Whiteside said, pointing to the icebreakers, the base and the roughly dozen missile-defense tests now headed to the Pacific Spaceport Complex through 2028. In Washington, he said, he would push for landfill, road, water and sewer money, and for finally getting the Coast Guard included in a federal defense-infrastructure program after repeated denials.

Not everyone was sold. One member balked at spending about $3,000, slightly over the borough's travel budget, to send a colleague who isn't running for reelection; another called it "quite a bit of taxpayer dollars." But the objections eased and consensus formed. A formal vote, required by borough code, comes at a later meeting, and the trip would fold into a joint city-borough delegation set for the week of Sept. 21.