MEMORANDUM

TO: Pete Sprague, Assembly President

Members, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

FROM: Dale Bagley, Mayor

Gary Superman, Assembly Member

DATE: January 8, 2004

SUBJECT: Resolution 2004-005, transferring the Nikiski Elementary School building to the borough and granting management authority of that facility to the north Peninsula Recreation Service Area

At its meeting of November 3, 2003, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education unanimously supported declaring the Nikiski Elementary School facility as surplus property on August 31, 2004, provided that the borough administration grant the district the right to reoccupy the building in the following 24 months if there is a significant increase in the area student population. This action is the culmination of community and school board meetings occurring during the last couple of years.

In anticipation of this action, the North Peninsula Recreation Service Area ("NPRSA") formed a committee to evaluate the potential use of this facility by NPRSA. The facility is immediately adjacent to the administrative offices of NPRSA and all of the facilities it manages.

The capital projects department has been working with NPRSA to develop preliminary plans regarding potential use and redesign of the facility to accommodate NPRSA's uses. The facility has a gymnasium, office space, and other rooms that could be used for assorted recreational purposes. Additionally, the facility could provide space for community meetings in the same way that other borough facilities are occasionally used for such ancillary purposes. As shown in the attached memorandum from Karen Kester, Recreation Director for NPRSA, the committee adopted a plan of three phases for transitioning into the facility. At its November 24, 2003, regular meeting, the NPRSA board voted to proceed with the request to occupy Nikiski Elementary and fund the monies necessary to complete Phase 1 of the plan.

At this time, the population in Nikiski is not expected to increase within the next two years. However, this resolution provides that if it does, the school district may reoccupy this facility upon recommendation of the school board and planning commission and approval by the assembly. Your support of this resolution would be appreciated.