MEMORANDUM

TO: Timothy Navarre, President

Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough

THRU: Dale L. Bagley, Mayor

THRU: Robert L. Bright, Planning Director

Max Best, Borough Surveyor

FROM: Roy E. Dudley, Land Management Agent

DATE: September 24, 2001

SUBJECT: Ordinance 2001-37 An Ordinance Authorizing A Lease With Option to Purchase to the United States Postal Service for Approximately One Acre of Borough Land in Cooper Landing for a New Main Post Office.

The existing post office in Cooper Landing is on leased property. The lessor has notified the United States Postal Service (USPS) that it will not be renewing the lease. The USPS has researched the Cooper Landing area to determine feasible sites for a new main post office. The USPS has determined that a one-acre parcel within Tract B, USS 5105, Section 28, T5N, R3W, S.M., Alaska at the intersection of the Sterling Highway and Snug Harbor Road is the most desirable site to meet the needs of the Cooper Landing Community. The proposed lease site is within land the Cooper Landing Land Use Plan recommends for centralized public facilities. The land is classified government.

The USPS desires a market value lease with an option to purchase at market value from the Borough. The USPS will assign the lease through a competitive bidding process, and the assignee will construct the new post office. The draft lease is attached.

The lease and ordinance are written to accomplish the Postal Service's methodology of marketing an option agreement. Please note that once the Postal Service executes the lease it is then free to assign the lease. The assignee may then apply to the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) for patent once the State of Alaska issues a patent. KPB Code of Ordinances 17.10.090 states that KPB land may not be sold unless the KPB has clear title to the land. In this case, clear title means a State patent. However, the KPB can issue a lease with an option to purchase prior to receiving patent.

The State of Alaska has issued the Borough a Final Decision, dated August 23, 1989 for Tract B, USS 5105, Section 28, T5N, R3W, S.M. Alaska. To obtain a patent the KPB will most likely need to complete an Alaska State Land Survey (ASLS). Issuance of patent is dependent on the State of Alaska.