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Slightly more than one year into the process, the Soldotna city planner presented the preliminary half of a four-chapter update on the city's Comprehensive Plan.

During the Soldotna City Council meeting Wednesday, Planner Stephanie Queen gave local lawmakers the introduction and background chapters of what is to be a four-chapter Comprehensive Plan -- the first update to the plan since 1995.

Repeatedly mentioning the importance of community input to the planning process, Queen told the council one-on-one interviews were conducted with 50 members of the community; 40 respondents completed community surveys; 46 participated in student projects; 45 attended an open house on the plan entitled "Envision Soldotna 2030"; and 23 participated in focus group discussions.

Queen explained the necessity of city planning, first of all stating it fulfills a legal obligation in that Alaska statutes mandate that cities have comprehensive plans. Land use regulation authority in Alaska comes from Title 29 of the state statutes.

She also said a comprehensive plan serves as a basis for zoning within a city and can be required when cities apply for state and federal grant funds.

"It provides a vision for the future," Queen said. "And, it serves as a decision-making tool.

"It will forecast a need for services," she said.

A great plan, according to Queen, has a comprehensive collection of data, has clear and comprehensive goals, has action-oriented policies for implementation and has local official and community support.

Chapter one of the plan addresses Soldotna's economic development, neighborhoods, natural resources, health care, culture, infrastructure and regional growth and development as well as general land use.

In Chapter two, the plan recites Soldotna's history and presents demographic as well as economic statistics. Because the bulk of city revenues is derived from sales tax, a good deal of the chapter is devoted to reporting taxable sales by area, taxable sales by fiscal quarter and taxable sales by line of business.

Chapters three will deal with Soldotna's goals and policies for economic development, general land use and other subjects touched on in the first chapter. The fourth chapter is titled "Implementation," and suggests goal prioritization and possible funding sources for achieving the goals.

Queen said she anticipates discussing the two remaining chapters during Planning and Zoning Commission work sessions in November and December.

In February, public hearings will be conducted on the draft Soldotna Comprehensive Plan with the final plan being submitted in March.

After that, city council public hearings will be scheduled and during the spring and summer of next year, the plan will be presented to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission as well as the borough Assembly.

In other business, the city council:

* Adopted portions of the 2006 International Residential Code as part of the city's building code. Public Works Director Steve Bonebrake said the residential codes for building, mechanical and fire are adopted for single-family, two-family and three-family structures. Responding to a question from Councilman Dale Bagley, Bonebrake said the 2006 International Code does not include a requirement for sprinkler systems in residences.

* Appropriated $25,000 in the library expansion fund received through a bequest from the Freddy LeRoy and Marion Ann Miller estate. The Sterling couple were long-time patrons of the Soldotna library.

* Approved a $110,297 contract with A-1 Industrial Machine and Welding for extending the gravel Kenai River Centennial trail and building three elevated walkways and three new stairways to the river.

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.