MEMORANDUM

TO: William Popp, Assembly President

Members, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

FROM: Drew Scalzi, Assembly Member

Chris Moss, Assembly Member

DATE: September 28, 2000

SUBJECT: Ordinance authorizing the long-term lease of a ten acre parcel located at Baycrest Hill, Homer, Mile 168 Sterling Highway, to the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club at less than fair market value.

The Kachemak Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) was formed in 1980 and currently has 316 paid members. In 1999 KNSC received its 501(c)(3) certificate. KNSC maintains trail systems at McNeil Canyon Elementary School, Lookout Mountain and Baycrest Hill. KNSC also sponsors ski events. The Baycrest system began in 1984 when Club volunteers worked with the Alaska Division of Forestry and the Soil and Water Conservation District to develop a small trail system in the Homer Demonstration Forest for use primarily by Homer Middle School students. Since then it has grown to a 25-km system of trails stretching from Baycrest to Diamond Ridge Road. With the access just four miles from downtown Homer, it is used daily by students and adults from November to March.

More recently work has started on making the Baycrest trails usable year-round. They are the first part of a Club vision to create a trail system from Anchor Point to Cottonwood/Eastland Park on East End Road. That idea earned the first TRAAK Award from Governor Tony Knowles in 1999.

Since 1984 the primary access to the Baycrest trails has been down an unused, 60-foot right-of-way off Roger's Loop Road. In 1999, however, a 160-acre subdivision on Diamond Ridge received preliminary plat approval that will use the same right-of-way, eliminating skier access and parking at the site. There is no other developed public access to the Baycrest trail system, and the Club cannot afford to buy a private parcel to provide access or parking.

The Club proposes to lease approximately ten acres of Borough land at Mile 168 Sterling Highway for use as a permanent foundation for Club activities at Baycrest. The land would:

provide long-term stability to the Baycrest trail system by creating permanent public access, parking and an event "stadium" in which to start and finish tours, practices and competitions;

facilitiate other amenities the Club could never provide before, including a small system of lighted trails for night skiing, a warm-up building and restrooms, a small maintenance shop for its current inventory of some $25,000 worth of trail grooming equipment;

bolster the Club's grant-writing position;

create a buffer between existing residential and industrial areas along the Sterling Highway; and

establish a recreational opportunity across the Sterling Highway from the Alaska Division of Parks' headquarters for Kachemak Bay State Park that helps bolster Homer's image as a tourist-friendly destination.

Ordinance 99-19 authorized a similar lease to the Tsalteshi Trail Association. With the failure of the South Kenai Peninsula Recreation Service Area, it falls to volunteer organizations such as Kachemak Nordic Ski Club to provide recreation for Borough residents. For 20 years the Club has proven its dedication to Borough residents by volunteering thousands of hours. The proposed lease could ensure that that effort continue in the future at Baycrest Ski Trails.