The Homer City Council kicked off its meeting last night by marking 20 years since the Homer Public Library opened its Hazel Avenue building through a mayoral proclamation. Then council members honored Jenny Carroll, the outgoing Special Projects and Communications Coordinator, for her work on everything from the harbor expansion study to the city’s COVID response.
The council adopted its consent agenda without making any changes. That included a $7,000 state grant to buy new books and materials for the library and a three-year contract renewing the city’s outside general counsel with the Anchorage firm Jermain, Dunnagan and Owens following the city’s longtime city attorney's retirement last spring and a resolution urging the FCC to keep the E-rate program in place, which helps schools and libraries pay for internet and phone service.
The first public hearing item council members discussed was over a paved pathway at Karen Hornaday Park. The ordinance would use $50,000 from the Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails Fund to build it. The city’s ADA board and several council members said the proposed route wouldn’t actually connect accessible parking to the restroom or pavilion. They voted against the plan. Their discussion pointed to a need to figure out funding and a better design.
Three other ordinances passed without opposition. One shifts $20,000 from the Kachemak Swim Club account to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District to help cover operations at Homer High School’s pool. Another sets aside $6,000 to get information out to voters ahead of the ballot measure renewing the HART roads and trails sales tax. A third rezones four East End Road properties from rural residential to residential office.
The council introduced two ordinances that will come back for a public hearing at the next meeting. One rolls back developer bond requirements from 150 percent to 100 percent, reversing a 2023 change. The other would let short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO collect and remit city sales tax directly.
The council then adopted a resolution asking state and federal aviation officials to look at safety and noise from floatplane traffic on Beluga Lake. Members cited a sharp jump in air traffic this summer and recent fatal plane crashes elsewhere in the state, including Seldovia, as reasons to act now.
The council’s next regular meeting is September 28 at 6 p.m.
