The Kenai Peninsula Borough introduced an appropriation ordinance for work associated with the Central Peninsula landfill leachate evaporator project and scheduled a public hearing for Nov. 18.

Borough staff member Mr. Hedges said certain support-service connections were removed from the public bidding documents because the evaporator manufacturer would not release proprietary design documents publicly. "They would they were, definitely didn't wanna release their documents publicly, which, prohibited prohibited us from demonstrating in our documents exactly, what all those connect connections would entail," Hedges said. Staff said the borough reworked the design to lower costs and negotiated a final value with the contractor while drawing on a portion of existing contingency funds to cover costs.

Assembly member Eklund noted the evaporator was previously purchased under Resolution 2022-31 as a sole-source purchase for the concentrator and shipping at $2,999,000 and up to $50,000 in shipping. Hedges said the evaporator was received last fall and had been staged for construction this spring; the project was rebid with a different design approach intended to reduce costs and to coordinate construction sequencing.

The ordinance was introduced as a consent-eligible item; staff said remaining work centers on connections and installation activities that were removed because of manufacturer confidentiality. The item will return for a public hearing on Nov. 18.