The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will take public comment Tuesday on a plan to buy four properties in Homer for South Peninsula Hospital.
The ordinance totals just over $2.1 million, paid from the hospital’s Plant Replacement and Expansion Fund.
A borough memo says one property would house behavioral health services. Hospital CEO Ryan Smith says owning the property gives the program stability.
“We have been looking for a place to relocate our Serene Waters Behavioral Health Services, since the building that they were located in flooded and we had to abandon that building,” Smith said.
The memo also lists three other acquisitions: a Bartlett Street office the hospital already leases, a Fairview Avenue property that Smith calls strategic, and nearly five acres of hillside behind the hospital.
Smith says the hillside has long-term value and could be used for parking expansion or hazard mitigation.
“First and foremost to make sure the hill behind the hospital is secured, and that there's not development on that hill that would put the hospital at any risk of landslide,” Smith said.
The ordinance is set for a hearing and final vote Tuesday, but it could be added to the consent agenda and passed in one motion.
