Hornaday back in the saddle

• Tanned, rested Mayor spars with Enstar, serenades council members

by Aaron Selbig
Homer Tribune
It didn’t take long for Mayor Jim Hornaday to break out with his trademark ukulele.
After presiding over his first Homer City Council meeting since beginning prostate cancer treatments in California nearly three months ago, a tan and healthy-looking Hornaday thanked council members for holding down the fort in his absence.
He then serenaded them with a few bars of John Denver’s “Back Home Again.”
“It feels really, really good,” said Hornaday of returning to Homer. “My first great-grandchild (Emma Joy) was born and I got to hold her today. There are now four generations of our family living here. I never would have expected that when we first moved to Homer.”
Physically, Hornaday said he feels great. The series of 45 treatments he experienced at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California involved the use of non-invasive, high-proton beams that were directed into his hips. Apart from some minor skin irritation in the area and a small amount of weight loss, Hornaday said he was fine.
“It’s always a shock when you find out you have cancer,” he said. “I decided to attack it aggressively and I’m glad I did. So far, so good. I haven’t had any problems, but I’m not out of the woods yet. There are still a lot of tests going on.”
Hornaday said his stay in Loma Linda wasn’t pure drudgery. In addition to making many new friends – more than 150 men were undergoing the same treatment regimen at the same time – he had time to do a little sightseeing around the Inland Empire region of California, visiting Death Valley National Park, the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Presidential Libraries and even Las Vegas.
“I think we sort of failed at Las Vegas because most of us were ready for bed by 9:30,” Hornaday admitted.
Hornaday said the medical facility itself was welcoming and supportive, and he took advantage of its extensive athletic facilities, including a hot tub, swimming pool and weight room. Although he will miss his new friends – who dubbed him “the Mayor of Prostateville” during his stay – Hornaday said he is glad to be back in Homer.
“It feels really good to be home,” he said. “I want to thank everyone for all the thoughts, prayers and e-mails.”

Enstar official urges patience
In his testimony Monday, Enstar spokesman John Simms said the natural gas company is “closer than ever” to fulfilling its promise to bring natural gas to Homer, and council members should remain patient while infrastructure is built to ship gas to Anchor Point from a new well in the North Fork area.
Hornaday didn’t appear convinced.
“I’m sure you’re a fine young man, but it’s been at least three or four years since anyone from Enstar has even come down here to talk to us,” said Hornaday. “With all due respect, I have no confidence in Enstar.”
At their Oct. 12 meeting, the council unanimously passed a resolution “expressing our concern and displeasure regarding the failure of Enstar Natural Gas Company to deliver natural gas to Homer.” Disappointed with Enstar’s decision to ship North Fork gas to Anchor Point – and not to Homer as had been suggested last year – council members called on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to review the “certificate of public necessity” that Enstar has held since 2000.
“It’s easy to see why the city and the people of Homer would be frustrated with Enstar,” said Simms. “There’s been a lot of promises made and I’m not here to make promises. I’m just here to let you know the situation we’re all in.”
Simms said the amount of natural gas necessary to “responsibly” serve Homer – about 35 to 40 billion cubic feet – has not been found at North Fork.
At least not yet. With new pipelines in place to carry the gas to the existing infrastructure in Ninilchik, however, and a commitment to build two additional North Fork wells in the next four years, the possibility of getting a gas supply to Homer looks better than ever.
Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, said he still thinks Enstar’s RCA certificate to serve Homer should be rescinded and he has asked the RCA to do just that.
“I just don’t think that Homer is going to be able to get gas from anybody else who might want to explore in this area as long as there’s this service contract with the RCA,” Seaton said.

New city Web site closer to reality
The City of Homer’s official Web site, www.ci.homer.ak.us, might soon get a makeover thanks to council approval Monday of a resolution authorizing a request for proposals to redesign, develop and implement a more user-friendly site.
Council member Kevin Hogan wondered what was wrong with the present Web site, which was designed and implemented in 2000.
“People have said the connectivity between the departments is cumbersome,” said City Manager Walt Wrede. “What we need is a unique type of Web site … that has special functions like interactivity with the public.”
Wrede estimated a new Web site would cost a maximum of $15,000.