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Dave Conrad, Kodiak Island Borough’s engineering and facilities (E&F) director and administrative officer, was formally appointed as interim borough manager Thursday, retroactive to July 28.

The borough assembly approved the decision unanimously as the borough continues its hunt for a permanent replacement for former manager Roxanne Murphy.

The assembly terminated Murphy’s contract in late July following a six-month review. She was the second manager fired in less than a year. The assembly dismissed Michael Powers, who served five years, on Sept. 2, 2021.

Conrad has served in the interim role before, shortly after Powers was fired.

His appointment comes with specific stipulations similar to those he submitted to the Assembly when he served as interim manager following Powers’ termination. The stipulations include being in the position for 90 days, with a performance evaluation 10 days prior to the end, the ability to return to his role as E&F director if his performance isn’t adequate and his pay rate is increased to $140,000 per year while serving in the interim position.

The borough opened the manager job application on July 28 and received at least 11 applications in a two-week period, including four re-submissions from a previous recruitment effort. Assemblymembers are in the process of scoring applications, to be discussed at an upcoming meeting.

The assembly approved an amended resolution that allocates $100,000 for tuition assistance to Kodiak College and the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center (KSMSC).

Kodiak College requested $100,000 for its tuition assistance program (up to six class credits) for first-year Kodiak and continuing students. ASMSC requested $50,359 to cover course and travel fees for three workforce training programs.

Meagan Christiansen, the borough’s grant/special projects coordinator, said the borough has an additional $36,500 Kodiak College had to return from the previous fiscal year. The assembly would be able to allocate that amount separately when the borough’s first budget amendment comes up in a future meeting.

The assembly discussed the resolution at a July 14 work session, bringing up concerns about how the funds would be divvied up. Another concern at the work session was that the borough lacked proper forms; instead, both colleges had to submit grant request applications generally used by nonprofits when requesting annual grants from the borough.

Assemblymember Scott Arndt had concerns about paying for travel costs from the island villages, specifically covering the cost of meals while in town. He voiced opposition to paying for KSMSC students’ travel off-island and “training the trainer.”

Arndt proposed allocating about $67,000 to the college and $33,000 to KSMSC.

“I have no problem with bringing them (village students) in and helping with the lodging and airfare, but not the meals,” Arndt said.

Assemblymember Jared Griffin agreed with Arndt, while Assemblymember Joe Delgado partially disagreed with not covering food. Delgado noted village students already have an economic toll.

During public comment, former Assemblymember Duane Dvorak expressed some frustration, adding a proposed ballot measure for the October 2021 election would have provided a funding mechanism.

“It would have provided a one-tenth mill funding source from annual revenue that would have provided a more predictable funding level and created a fund that could take money that wasn’t used up in a given year and provide additional predictable funding level,” he said.

The Assembly last August voted down the proposed ballot question in a majority vote.

• Up to $8,000 to fund a part-time interpretive specialist/secretary position a The Kodiak Fisheries Research Center for six months.

• Awarded a $675,000 contract to NC Machinery for a complete certified rebuild of the borough’s 2006 CAT D7 Bulldozer. The rebuild was compared to a complete overhaul.

• Approved a contract for Service Area 1 maintenance to AIM Maintenance. The contract, which hasn’t been renewed in years, provides a cost-of-living adjustment to offset increased prices over the years.

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