The Kenai Peninsula Borough has a purchase agreement for property next to Chapman School but said negotiations remain incomplete because of assets and third-party interests on the parcels, the mayor told the assembly.

Assembly member Dunn asked whether the purchase had closed and whether plans were in effect to reroute traffic around the school. The mayor said the borough is negotiating with local cemetery and chamber groups about the adjacent property and expects the purchase to be completed shortly.

Borough project staff said an earlier request for proposals (RFP) to study Chapman School traffic and drop-off patterns produced unsatisfactory results and was rejected. “We went out for an RFP to start an analysis of what would be best at Chapman…We didn’t get really good results, so we rejected those proposals,” a borough project staff member said.

Staff reviewed a revised draft RFP to focus specifically on designing parent-student drop-off and parking improvements for the property the borough is pursuing. They said a new RFP release is targeted for February with a design process intended to be completed within the current construction season.

What it means: once the borough controls the parcel, staff said they will pursue short-term improvements and a longer-term construction solution; timing depends on resolving outstanding property complications.

Next steps: staff will release a revised RFP in February and start the design process, with a stated plan to complete design work in the same year, pending finalization of the purchase agreement. Specific acquisition timelines, purchase conditions, and project budget figures were not specified at the meeting.