On Sunday lawmakers in Juneau passed a $2.2-billion dollar capital budget that includes over $75-million dollars for projects in the Bristol Bay region.
The budget includes $25-million dollars for renewable energy projects. The Kokhanok Electric Utility is getting $185-thousand dollars for continued improvements to their high-penetration wind energy project, which initially came online back in 2010. The Lake and Peninsula Borough is getting $60-thousand dollars for a wind feasibility study in Egegik. The project will feature the installation of a wind tower in Egegik that will collect data for a year. The Lake and Peninsula Borough will get another $10-thousand dollars for a wind reconnaissance study in Levelock. Another funded project is the heat recovery project at the school in New Stuyahok. The Southwest Region School District is getting $486-thousand dollars that will allow for the installation of heat exchangers at the AVEC power plant and the school boiler. The project also includes 700-feet of underground piping between the plant and the school, which was built in 2007. Another of the renewable energy projects included in the capital budget is the Knutson Creek hydroelectric project near Pedro Bay. The Pedro Bay Village Council will get $290-thousand dollars that can be applied towards the total project cost of $3.4-million dollars for a 150-kilowatt run-of-river hydroelectric project that is anticipated to provide most of the electricity for the village. The renewable energy grants are managed by the Alaska Energy Authority which notes that there are substantial licensing challenges with the project because about 1-mile of Knutson Creek is home to fish. The biggest Renewable Energy Fund grant in the Bristol Bay region is $2.6-million dollars for the Waterfall Creek hydroelectric project down in King Cove. Last year the city of King Cove received $200-thousand dollars to complete permitting and final design. The $2.6-million dollars in new funding will be added to $1.3-million dollars in matching funds to build the 1 megawatt run-of-river project, pending the completion of the final design. The approved capital budget also includes money for municipal projects around the state. The city of Dillingham is getting $1.9-million dollars to help bring the landfill back into compliance with DEC regulations and $200-thousand dollars to help pay for critical upgrades to the cities E-911 system. While the city received funding for those 2 projects they were not funded for the most pressing project to make upgrades to the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant. Governor Parnell included just over $3-million dollars for the project in his proposed capital budget but that money was cut from the final version of the budget approved on Sunday. Currently, the Dillingham Wastewater Treatment Plant is out of compliance with its DEC permits. The City has about $2.8-million dollars in available funding that will allow for the first phase of the upgrades to go forward this year, but the loss of the $3-million dollars means the city has to try and find another funding stream to pay for phase 2 of the project, which is anticipated to have a total cost of upwards of $10-million dollars. Loera told the council the city will reapply for the funding next year. The approved capital budget includes $60-thousand dollars for a new backhoe for the community of Newhalen and "SAFE" in Dillingham will be getting $42.5-thousand dollars to help pay for facility repairs and upgrades. Levelock is getting $50-thousand dollars to help pay for housing for the local VPSO and health aid and the community of Port Alsworth is getting $50-thousand dollars to complete their fire hall. One of the largest appropriations in the capital budget is $25-million dollars to pay for a new school in Kwethluk. The Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka is getting over $1.8-million dollars to pay for deferred maintenance and the state intends to spend $150-thousand dollars on deferred maintenance at the Manokotak Armory. The capital budget also includes $125-thousand dollars for the development of a sea plane base master plan in Dillingham and $4-million dollars for the runway reconstruction project at the airport in King Salmon. The budget also includes $1.5-million dollars for a sand and chemical storage building at the King Salmon Airport. There's $400-thousand dollars in the budget to pay for dock repairs in Cold Bay and $6-million dollars for completion of the Iliamna-Nondalton Road. The approved capital budget for fiscal year 2014 totals $2.2-billion dollars, which is about a billion dollars less than last year's capital budget. The budget has been sent to Governor Sean Parnell for his consideration. The Governor has line-item veto authority, which means he can veto specific projects out of the capital budget.