Scope of Operations

SCOPE OF OPERATIONS

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Maintenance Department consists of forty-six full time craft employees and an additional sixty to eighty part time employees during the summer construction season.  The department is divided into two geographical areas.

The Soldotna headquarters staffs our administrative personnel: Purchasing, Contract Coordinator, Data Input, and Central Warehouse.  A full time Project Manager also coordinates insurance claims, maintains the six year plan, and basically prepares plans and specifications, all major projects over $15,000, as well as numerous minor projects.  This position also works closely with our Public Works Department in grant writing and preparation.  Our Contract Coordinator is in charge of water testing, our concise AHERA program, snow removal and sweeping contracts, our in-house landscape program (12 employees in summer months), and our in-house asbestos abatement program (4 employees in summer months).

The Soldotna shop superintendent oversees twenty-eight permanent craftsmen during winter months and approximately sixty five temporaries during the summer construction season.  The permanent work force is distributed as follows: 4 auto mechanics, 2 carpenters, 1 electronic technician, 4 electricians, 6 general maintenance mechanics, 4 HVAC technicians, 3 painters, 1 roofer, and 1 locksmith.

These workmen migrate between facilities along 210 miles of road system communities from Hope in the north, to Seward in the east, the central areas of Kenai and Soldotna, to Ninilchik in the south.

The Soldotna facility is also the hub of our vehicle maintenance and painting departments, which covers the entire peninsula, including the Homer areas, an additional 60 road miles. The Maintenance Department in Soldotna is also the base of our area wide Safety Coordinator.

The Homer Maintenance facility is a scaled down version of the Soldotna complex.  It employees nine personnel full time during the winter school season and approximately fifteen temporary employees during the summer construction season.  The Homer foreman oversees 1 data input/clerical employee, 1 electrician, 3 general mechanics, 2 HVAC technicians, 1 locksmith, and 1 plumber.  The Homer operation maintains thirteen facilities that range from Ninilchik in the north to McNeil Canyon in the east, to remote communities of Seldovia, Port Graham, and Nanwalek sixty miles to the south, accessible only by water or air.  The location of secluded schools in a rain forest in Alaska poses unique challenges from the maintenance point of view.  Often in the winter, adverse weather prohibits transportation into and out of the area for days and sometimes weeks at a time. Occupants of the facilities rely heavily on the assumption that their buildings will remain functional until the storms pass.

The Borough Maintenance Department oversees one hundred and ninety-five buildings which includes: 41 schools, 46 support buildings, 77 storage buildings, and 31 classrooms. On an area of 894 acres, 125 acres are paved, and 160 acres have lawns.  We maintain 32 general fields, 32 baseball fields, 35 soccer fields, and 8 football fields.  Paved areas include: 42 tennis courts, 5 hockey rinks, and 8 running tracks which are on an annual maintenance patching contract.

The buildings in our district require maintenance on 2.3 million square feet of floor space, 50 acres of roofs, 120,000 square feet of glass, nearly 5 million square feet of painted walls, 7,000 door locks, and 130 overhead doors.  Requiring special attention are: 7 swimming pools, 8 elevators, 100 fan rooms, 5 auditoriums, and 17 wood gym floors.

Electrical components require maintenance on 43 fire alarm systems, 1,300 heat and smoke detectors, 2,500 motors, 80 scoreboards, 800 battery pack emergency lights, and over 40,000 light fixtures.

Mechanical and plumbing systems require servicing of: 110 boilers, 500 circulating pumps, 30 hot water booster heaters, 32 domestic hot water heaters, 340 exhaust fans, 60 air compressors, 20 energy management systems, 1,300 sinks, 1,300 toilets and urinals, and 450 showers.

Servicing of special equipment includes: 900 fire extinguishers, 130 gym bleacher sections, 130 basketball backboards, 7 auto hoists, 550 lunch room tables, 30 walk-in freezers and coolers, and over 580 pieces of specialized kitchen equipment.