NE19 vessel visit and Power Creek Road improvements

Heavy rains for 10 days contributed to a severe road washout on Power Creek Road, which unearthed about 50-feet of Cordova Electric Cooperative’s hydroelectric transmission cable to Cordova. As of Aug. 20, the road remained closed to through traffic while repairs were underway. Photo by Cinthia Gibbens-Stimson/The Cordova Times

As the U.S. Pacific Command and Alaskan Command’s Northern Edge 2019 exercise approaches, steps to address community concerns have begun.

After NE17, the city and community members requested that for the next exercise they do a vessel visit to Cordova with an open house, an observer boarding of the boats during the exercises, a site visit and use Cordova’s local fuel vendor, in hopes of bringing money into the city.

“They showed us figures like $15 (million) or $18 million that they spent in communities, zero in Cordova,” Cordova Mayor Clay Koplin said during his mayor’s report at the May 1 city council meeting.

Two days prior to the city council meeting, Northern Edge inquired about getting four Cordova community leaders, specifically those in the community who expressed concerns about the exercises, to take part in a fleet visit.

Koplin, Vice Mayor Melina Meyer, Councilman Jeff Guard and City Manager Alan Lanning will be participating in a fleet visit during the exercise, scheduled later this month.

They will be flying from Anchorage to the vessels to witness activities for the day.

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Also, on the agenda, the Power Creek Road improvements went out to bid on April 29 with a construction estimate of up to $2.5 million.

Koplin stated that the construction is able to be done locally and that two of Cordova’s construction firms are currently working on the bid.

All city council meetings are streamed and uploaded to the city’s YouTube page. To watch previous meetings, go to youtube.com/user/cathyrhs.

Visit cityofcordova.net/government/mayor-council/council-meetings to see city council agendas, packets and minutes.

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