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Borough wants state to extend grant deadline for K-Selo school

Renee Gross, KBBI News

The Kenai Peninsula Borough wants the state to extend the deadline to use a valuable grant for a new school in the rural village of Kachemak Selo, giving it time to come up with the required local match.

The Legislature appropriated about $10 million toward a new school for the village near the head of Kachemak Bay back in 2016. The borough is required to come up with about $5.3 million before it can use the grant, which is set to expire at the end of June.

The borough initially asked the state for an extension in late October after a bond proposition asking property owners to pay for the borough’s match failed at the ballot box earlier that month.

However, Borough Community and Fiscal Projects Manager Brenda Ahlberg said the borough will need to accept and appropriate the state’s grant before it can formally request an extension.

“The intent is to have the funds accepted and appropriated by way of the assembly so it authorizes the administration to in turn request an extension through the state Department of Education and Early Development,” she explained.

Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce said he is unsure whether the state will grant the borough the seven-year extension it is requesting, but he said it’s necessary in order for the borough to come up with its match.

Both Pierce and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Member Willy Dunne, who represents the Kachemak Selo area, say there haven’t been any discussions so far about how the borough plans to move forward if it does receive an extension.

“I don’t see any attempts to put another bond proposition on the ballot, but we may come up with some other source of funding,” Dunne said, “perhaps grants or some other way to come up with a match. We still need to provide a facility for the children down in Kachemak Selo.”

The assembly will vote whether to introduce the ordinance allowing Pierce to move forward with the extension request Tuesday.

Aaron Bolton has moved on to a new position in Montana; he is no longer KBBI News Director. KBBI is currently seeking a News Director, and Kathleen Gustafson is filling in for the time being.
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