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Assembly approves full-time manager for Seward flood area

The view of Resurrection Bay from Seward.
Riley Board
/
KDLL
The view of Resurrection Bay from Seward.

The flood service area for the Seward and the surrounding region will soon have a full-time manager. The new manager will oversee mitigation work in an area that’s prone to big floods.

The Seward-Bear Creek Flood Service Area was created in 2003 to provide flood mitigation services in the areas of Seward and Bear Creek, north of the Seward city limits. When it was established, the area had recently seen five major floods, and the borough was looking for a solution that would examine the watershed as a whole and prevent future damage to property as a result of flooding.

The Seward-Bear Creek area responded to severe flooding events in 2018, in 2020, and as recently as last October. The October floods damaged an embankment and impacted 33 properties in Bear Creek.

The service area has so far been overseen by a part-time program leader. The current program leader is Stephanie Presley.

However, the service area’s board re-evaluated the role in February and unanimously approved the creation of a full-time program manager position. Last week, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved setting aside $20 thousand to cover the wages and benefits for the position for the rest of the fiscal year.

The new program manager will be responsible for administering all flood mitigation programs and projects in the service area, and the management of the other flood area staff member, an administrative assistant. According to a job application, the program manager answers to the borough mayor and the service area board.

Riley Board is a Report For America participant and senior reporter at KDLL covering rural communities on the central Kenai Peninsula.