Homer City Council

Homer Mayor Ken Castner campaigned on the promise that he would not cast votes to break a tie when the city council split their votes evenly. He said he wanted council members, who often split on issues, to not depend on him to decide. At Monday night’s council meeting, in response to Castner casting tie-breaking votes on a couple of issues, Councilmember Rachel Lord brought forth an ordinance that would have required the mayor break ties.

At Monday night’s Homer City Council meeting, the council failed to approve a measure it had been discussing since March that would have allowed properties outside the city to connect to city water. 

The ordinance, amended  city code pertaining to water rules and regulations. It was introduced in April and had been postponed twice.
It would have allowed residents and businesses outside the city to connect to water if their property was adjacent to the city’s water line, as is the case in many areas of Kachemak City.

Two seats on the Homer City Council are in contention for the October 1, 2019 Municipal Election. The seats are currently held by Shelly Erickson and Tom Stroozas who were elected in 2016. Those seats are being challenged by first time candidates, Joey Evensen and Storm Hanson-Cavasos. KBBI’s Kathleen Gustafson sat down with Shelly Erickson to talk about her time on the council and her goals for the upcoming year.

When the Homer City Council starts to wrestle with an issue, candidate Storm Hansen-Cavasos says she’s ready to go to the mat.
KBBI’s Kathleen Gustafson has this profile of Hansen-Cavasos.

Two seats on the Homer City Council are in contention for the October 1, 2019 municipal election. The seats are currently held by Tom Stroozas and Shelly Erickson. Both have filed for reelection. There are two new candidates for city council, Joey Evensen and Storm Hansen-Cavasos. 
 

The Homer City Council responded to the current state fiscal debate with a letter sent to the Alaska legislature and Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, outlining the impacts currently budgeted cuts would have on the city and region.The letter, approved unanimously by the council Monday night, noted that job losses from the $444 million in vetoes to the state operating budget implemented by Gov. Mike Dunleavy would impact the region’s property and sales tax revenues, which make up 72 % of the city’s general fund budget. 

Even on a slow day, the Homer Boat Harbor is a busy place. But if you are captaining one of the many 100-plus-foot vessels berthed there, navigating in water that is barely deep enough while avoiding dozens of small skiffs as you turn around, it’s far from ideal. Bryan Hawkins, port director and harbormaster for the City of Homer, addressed the Homer City Council Committee on the Whole meeting on Monday night.

The Homer City Council allowed a Kachemak City low-income housing project to access Homer’s water system via a waterline on East End Road in March. The move spurred a conversation about how similar requests should be handled.

Homer’s council members will need to make a decision soon because the Kachemak City Council is now asking Homer to provide water services to other properties along East End Road.

A low-income housing complex coming to Kachemak City will be able to hook up to Homer’s water and sewer system. The Homer City Council’s decision Monday night conflicts with a city policy prohibiting non-Homer residents from utilizing the city’s water and sewer system. Council members were divided on the issue but Mayor Ken Castner cast his tie-breaking vote in favor of the one-time deal, breaking his campaign promise to never settle a tie vote.