Assembly approves emergency funding for schools, denies proposal to waive dump fees

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly approved more than $10 million in emergency funds following the Disaster Declaration signed by Deputy Mayor Matthew Beck on Nov. 30.

The assembly can call an emergency meeting if they have given at least 24-hour notice to their members, but the vote to approve emergency funds requires three-quarters of the voting body or a unanimous decision of an established quorum. The assembly voted to appropriate $10,110,756.49 in emergency funding. An amendment did not require three-quarter majority vote. Assemblymember Jesse Sumner sponsored the initial amendment to leave $4,095,473 in the Paving and Calcium Chloride Fund and reduce the amount transferred from that fund to $2 million. The borough appropriated $5,817,599.49 from the school bond interest income fund and $2,302,157 from the school site acquisition reserve fund.

“I don’t understand the rush to transfer all $6 million dollars to the emergency fund when you don’t have in mind projects to obligate this money towards at this point you could always have another emergency during this emergency and appropriate that money at that point,” Sumner said.

The funds become immediately available for disaster relief following the earthquake, and will be presented for public comment at the Dec. 18 assembly meeting, then voted on at the Jan. 15 assembly meeting. The funds can be used for a period of 60 days, but would require further legislation for a permanent draw to be spent after the beginning of February. If appropriated funds are left unspent, they return back to their specified fund in February when the 60 days are up.

The borough does not know exactly how much money needed to repair damages yet, and assessments are ongoing. The borough has a $25 million policy from XL Insurance for earthquake coverage. In stark contrast to the large number of $25 million, the Houston Middle School building, which suffered the most severe structural damage during the earthquake, was previously valued at by insurers at $32 million.

The building built in 1985 saw tours of elected officials through the weekend where they even discovered newly damaged areas that had shifted during one of the thousands of aftershocks. Mat-Su Borough School District Assistant Superintendent of Businesses and Operations Luke Fulp said that engineers making initial assessments of the damaged building were not yet ready to write off the building as a total loss, but that rebuilding entire concrete masonry unit walls would be tricky. Walls within HMS were so fractured that the school has been deemed unsafe for the remainder of the school year, and possibly next year as well. The $32 million assessment on the building would not cover demolition costs. If the MSBSD and the assembly were to appropriate every dollar available, that number would only be around $25 million. Not only did HMS suffer extensive damage, Colony Middle and High, Houston High, Finger Lake Elementary and Knik Elementary schools also sustained severe damage.

Of the $10 million appropriated emergency funds, $8 million of that is specifically targeted for school repairs. Insurance companies do not insure roads, as Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey reminded the assembly. Moosey met with FEMA on Tuesday, and disaster funds that are available will be applied for, but the borough is still waiting on FEMA funds from the 2012 flooding to arrive. The assembly did not wait to approve the funds needed to repair schools and roads at the emergency meeting.

“I think it’s important to send a strong message to the public that we are an organization that can act with agility in responding to this emergency,” assemblymember Dan Mayfield said.

Mat-Su Borough Public Works Director Terry Dolan gave updates on what initial estimates were for fixing damaged roads. Moosey said that Vine Road would cost an estimated $4 million just to fix. Crews began work on demolishing the remnants of Vine Road on Tuesday for the new construction of a gravel road on that site as a temporary fix. Dolan did clarify that FEMA was willing to pay for not only the temporary fix, but the removal of the temporary road and the eventual long-term construction to fix the damaged road. Some of the fixes on Point Mackenzie Road were done quickly to allow plow trucks to run over them without catching a blade.

Palmer Pool also suffered damage that has not yet been fully assessed. Engineers began assessing the structure on Tuesday. Moosey said that he would provide updates at every meeting on the damage and what the fixes will cost.

Many assembly members were uneasy about appropriating money for damage that had a cost with no estimate.

The issue before the assembly at the emergency meeting that did not pass was a waiver on dump fees following the need for cleanup after the quake. Members amended the date of the ordinance to Dec. 9, giving residents only five days of proposed waived fees. Dolan let the assembly know that there was $1 million more in revenue this year than expenses, and the proposed loss in revenue from lack of fees was less than that. Assemblymember Tam Boeve said that this issue affected her district in particular, and that if it was not funded she believed people would dispose of waste improperly. The ordinance failed with assemblymembers George McKee and Jesse Sumner in opposition.

Mayfield voted for the amendment, and also hinted that he would like to sponsor legislation to allow the borough manager to waive dump fees without having to come to the assembly.

“We should’ve done this on day one,” Mayfield said.