2005-28 Construction of Marine Fiber Optic Cable LinkingKODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
RESOLUTION NO. FY2OO5 -28
Introduced by: Mayor Selby
Requested by: Assembly
Introduced: 06/02/2005
Adopted: 06/02/2005
A RESOLUTION OF THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH ASSEMBLY
SUPPORTING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MARINE FIBER OPTIC CABLE LINKING THE CITY OF
ANCHORAGE TO THE CITIES OF KENAI, HOMER, AND KODIAK AND SUPPORTING THE
EXTENSION OF THIS CABLE TO LINK IT WITH THE CITY OF SEWARD THEREBY PROVIDING
REDUNDANT, HIGH - SPEED, ALL - WEATHER, BROADBAND FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATIONS
FOR THE KENAI PENINSULA, ANCHORAGE, INTERIOR ALASKA, KODIAK, AND SEWARD
WHEREAS, the Kodiak Island Borough along with its schools, institutions of higher learning,
industries, hospital, businesses, Fish Tech Center, Coast Guard base, fishing industry, tourism
industry, federal government offices including those of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is, in this technological age of high -speed data
transfer, increasingly in need of reliable, all- weather, high speed, secure broadband communications
with the rest of Alaska and the world for its economic, education, and medical well- being, its
opportunities for growth, the quality of life of its people, and its future; and
WHEREAS, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964 destroyed much of the infrastructure of Kodiak and
other parts of Alaska, severely disrupting communications with the remainder of the nation, and
Alaska's frequent earthquakes are stark reminders that the state's communication links to the rest of
the nation and the world must be made as reliable, redundant, and robust as feasible; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, some communications between the lower 48 states and Alaska have
been upgraded from technologies burdened by the interferences of weather, electromagnetic activity,
and time - delay, to the greater reliability and capacity of fiber optic cable technology; and
WHEREAS, a preponderance of the fiber optic cables and facilities currently connecting interior
Alaska with the lower 48 states is co- located within a single narrow utility corridor at the foot of the
Chugach Mountains along Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, and thus such cables and facilities are
inherently vulnerable to landslides, earthquakes, and other natural disasters; and
WHEREAS, terrorism has become a major threat and poses a real and present danger to our nation,
to its people and to its increasingly interdependent state, national and global economies, and Alaska,
by virtue of its location, is particularly dependent upon communications with the lower 48 states
that are potential targets of terrorism; and
WHEREAS, missile testing and missile defense in Alaska are of critical importance to the national
defense and are dramatically assisted by reliable, high- speed, secure, all- weather fiber optic cable
links to the rest of the nation with adequate redundancy incorporated; and
WHEREAS, the operations of military installations in interior Alaska, as well as communities and
municipalities, the Trans - Alaska Pipeline, Prudhoe Bay facilities, and the oil pipeline pumping
facilities, the oil termination transfer and oil spill response facilities in Valdez, Alaska, have been
significantly aided by secure, high- speed, communications technology provided by fiber optic cable
links; and
WHEREAS, advances in telemedicine and distance learning to serve rural Alaskan areas are directly
dependent on the speed and reliability of secure, all- weather, broadband communication technology
that can be constructed for Kodiak and other cities along the cable route linking Anchorage, Kenai,
Homer, and Kodiak with fiber optic cable; and
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Resolution No. FY2005 -28
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WHEREAS, a marine fiber optic cable link between Kodiak and Seward would:
• provide a practical and, over the long -term, highly beneficial redundant cable link connecting
Anchorage and the Alaskan interior to the Kenai Peninsula, to Kodiak, and to Seward,
• complement the planned fiber optic link being constructed from Anchorage to Kenai, to
Homer, and to Kodiak;
• enable a robust and truly diverse SONET telecommunications ring; and
• enhance the security and reliability of communications from Alaska to the lower 48 states;
and
WHEREAS, the 23r Alaska Legislature in a concurrent resolution, voiced its strong interest in and
support for the "development of information infrastructure" to provide "Alaskan communities with
access to broadband connectivity and provide for improved telecommunications, health care,
education, homeland security, and economic development opportunities;" and
WHEREAS, in its resolution, the Alaska Legislature recognized that "public- private partnerships have
been used successfully around the globe to facilitate information infrastructure development" and
sought to "address the state's long -term information needs by encouraging industry and government
to take action...to meet those needs:" and
WHEREAS, because the people of the Kodiak area recognize that having fiber optic cable technology
brought to Kodiak is critical to the Island's economic development, its quality of life, and its ability to
create and sustain jobs, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly would like for the current telephone
and data carriers, as well as those who seek to enter the Kodiak Archipelago telecommunications
market in the future, to understand and appreciate the overarching importance of this new
technology to residents and the economy of Kodiak and the surrounding communities: and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly joins the Municipality
of Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the cities of Kodiak, Kenai, Soldotna, the Southwest
Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC) and the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation (Kodiak
Missile Launch Center) in strongly endorsing and supporting the construction of a marine fiber optic
cable finking the City of Anchorage to the cities of Kodiak, Kenai, and Homer and further supports
the extension of this cable to link it with the City of Seward thereby providing redundant, high
speed, all- weather, broadband fiber optic communications for the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage,
Interior Alaska, Kodiak, and Seward;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Kodiak Island Borough Clerk shall ensure
that current and prospective telecommunications carriers for the Kodiak Archipelago be sent a copy
of this resolution to apprise them of the sentiments and wishes of the people of Kodiak regarding the
need for this critical technological advancement and to encourage facilitation of making this
technology available to the Kodiak community as soon as possible; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly seeks to
convey to its Congressional Delegation and the Governor of Alaska the importance and immediacy of
the need for funding assistance to facilitate the construction of this redundant national defense -
enhancing fiber optic cable SONET telecommunications ring, and directs that a copy of this
resolution be sent to Alaska's Congressional Delegation and the Governor of Alaska.
ADOPTED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
THIS SECOND DAY OF JUNE 2005
ATTEST:
h A. Nielsen, C
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
rough Clerk
KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
J,Alome M. Selby, Borough Maysr
Resolution No. FY2005 -28
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