It's been a long time coming, but the availability of natural gas for Homer area residents is getting closer. Pipe to bring natural gas from Anchor Point to Homer is being stored by Enstar Natural Gas near the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club's Lower Baycrest-D.O.T. trailhead.
So close that Enstar has stacked pipe in a fenced-in storage area near Kachemak Nordic Ski Club's Lower Baycrest-D.O.T. trailhead.
So close that Charlie Pierce, southern region manager for Enstar Natural Gas, is sharpening his focus on his own goal: delivering natural gas to former Homer Mayor Jim Hornaday's residence.
On several occasions, Horna-day has publically shared his uncertainty that natural gas would ever make it to the southern peninsula.
"I do remain skeptical from a history of about 40 years of hearing about natural gas to Homer," Hornaday said during his campaign for mayor in 2010.
Pierce is out to prove Hornaday wrong. "The first meter I want to set is on Mayor Hornaday's house. I want to see him smile. That's my goal. To have him smile and look at me and say, 'Charlie, I'm sorry. I had the wrong opinion of you.' That's a personal goal of mine. I don't know if I'll achieve it, but I'm going to try," Pierce told the Homer News recently.
Before that meter or any others can be set, however, some steps have to be made. Namely, Homer city residents have to decide if they want natural gas enough to pay for it.
Cost to construct a 22.3-mile pipeline to deliver natural gas from the Anchor Point area, through Homer to Kachemak City is estimated to cost $10.6 million.
A state grant approved in 2012 by Gov. Sean Parnell provided $8.15 million. The remaining $2.5 million will come from a $1 per mcf (thousand cubic feet) tariff paid by southern peninsula users over an estimated 10-year period.
City residents are currently weighing in on formation of the Natural Gas Homer Special Assessment District proposed by the city.
"What the (Homer City) Council is talking about is doing the entire town," City Manager Walt Wrede said at a Dec. 20 meeting of Homer-Kachemak Bay Rotary Club. "That way everybody gets it, everybody gets it for the same price and we do it as a community."
Constructing the distribution lines throughout the city is estimated to cost $12,657,147. That includes $12,160,632 for Enstar to lay the distribution lines at $31.55 per linear foot; a $316,515 administrative fee; and $180,000 costs directly associated with project, such as seasonal inspectors, utility locates, project management and equipment. The proposed boundaries for the HSAD, Homer special assessment district, are Homer city limits, with the exception of about 10 percent of the lots within the city due to access or land use restrictions. The remaining 3,855 lots would be assessed an estimated $3,283.30 to be paid over 10 years with annual payments of $405.
"If we do nothing and if you want natural gas, you contact Enstar for your estimate and you pay them up front in full," said Wrede.
City residents have until Jan. 25 to submit to the city clerk's office written objections to formation of the HSAD. If 50 percent, or 1,928, of the 3,855 property owners within the HSAD objects, the council may not proceed with the project unless the plan is revised.
"There were 191 objections at the last tally," said Katie Koester, community and economic development coordinator for the city.
On Wednesday, Enstar will hold a public meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. at Homer High School to answer questions about the project.
"We're bringing a large map so people can see the exact routing," said Pierce. "It's essentially following the old highway to the new highway, then takes the new highway down the hill on the (uphill) side, on the edge of the state right-of-way, into town."
At West Hill Road, the route makes a jog to will follow the city's water-sewer right-of-way, continues along Fairview to the high school, jogs out the entrance to East End Road and continues to Kachemak City.
John Sims, Enstar's manager of corporate communications and customer service, will be on hand at the Wednesday to answer questions about natural gas supplies on the Kenai Peninsula, gas costs and contracts in relations to various producers, said Pierce.
The meeting also is an opportunity for the public to meet Chet Frost, Enstar's manager of the southern peninsula pipeline project.
"He'll be managing the schedule and making a determination when it commences," said Pierce.
Pierce also will give an update on the location of and personnel for Enstar's Homer office that he plans to have open by Feb. 1.
"We don't have the space firmed up yet," said Pierce. "We should be able to give good information at the (Wednesday) meeting, and we'll hold some additional meetings after that to let people get to know us."
To be addressed in those additional meetings are requirements for homeowners converting to natural gas.
"It's going to take some time to share that information. It's not something you can just talk about and walk away. There are code issues that, if you're doing your own conversion, are complicated at best. I'd like to save folks trouble, time and a waste of money in doing something that might not be acceptable," said Pierce. "But the (Jan. 9) meeting is a get-to-know-you meeting to talk about the trunk line, the application process, gas supply and cost components of gas. We have a lot of ground to cover in an hour and a half."
Enstar is preparing videos on meter installation to have available on the company's website soon. Information on the southern peninsula natural gas line project also is available at Enstar's Soldotna office, 36225 Kenai Spur Highway, about two miles toward Kenai from the "Y," and the public is invited to stop in.
"We're excited about coming to Homer," said Pierce. "I didn't think I'd see it in my career, coming down there and actually opening an office and setting up a shop, but I'm buying desks and office equipment and putting it all together."
As it turns out, even Hornaday is beginning to change his mind.
"We're closer than we've ever been," he told the Homer News on Monday regarding availability of natural gas on the southern peninsula. "I guess I've moved over to cautious optimism."
For more information about the Natural Gas Homer Special Assessment District, visit the city of Homer website, www.cityofhomer-ak.gov.
This story first appeared in the Homer News. McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@hjomernews.com.