Assembly gets earful on grant funds

WASILLA — There are years when public hearings on the Mat-Su Borough budget stretch into the wee hours, when dozens of citizens worried about school funding and possible cuts to various borough programs turn out.

That doesn’t seem to be the case this year, at least not Thursday at the first public hearing in Wasilla. Or at the Willow hearing on Friday, according to Borough assemblyman Jim Sykes.

Four people testified and all spoke about the same issue. Karen Nugen-Logan, executive director of Nugen’s Ranch substance abuse recovery program, was one.

“I’m here tonight to ask that the borough keep in the budget the Mat-Su Borough Human Services grant match,” she testified.

That particular piece of the budget is relatively obscure. Each year the borough puts aside funds to match grant money the state doles out to charities. To get the money, the charities have to have local matching funds. It usually pencils out to about $150,000. The local contribution is usually 30 percent of the grant, with the state covering the other 70 percent.

Each non-profit that testified talked about its contribution to the community. Nugen-Logan pointed out that Mat-Su residents put a high priority on addressing substance abuse.

Debra McGhan, with the Alaska Avalanche Information Center, said that Hatcher Pass is the borough’s backyard playground.

She said the group wants to build a warming hut in Hatcher Pass with an avalanche beacon tester and information about avalanches.

“In the last decade we’ve lost three people in avalanches in Hatcher Pass,” she told the assembly, pointing out that avalanches are a preventable cause of death.

Laurie Kari, executive director of Family Promise Mat-Su, a group that houses homeless families and helps connect them to services, told the assembly that the grant helps the organization work toward its goal.

“To end homelessness in Mat-Su: that would be our goal,” Kari said.

Talkeetna’s Herman Thompson, who is involved in a number of organizations and sits on the borough’s Health and Social Services board, simply urged the borough to continue the grant program.

“Please, put that money in the budget and leave it there,” he said.

No one at the assembly table disagreed with the four people testifying.

“I do think that is one that was an oversight. I’m glad that you caught it,” Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss told Nugen-Logan after she testified.

Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey said an amendment restoring the matching grant money to the budget is among a raft of amendments he’s preparing for the assembly.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.

The last public hearing for the budget happens at 6 p.m., Monday at the borough’s administration building in Palmer. This year the borough is also setting up a phone line to take testimony. Call 891-7133 to chime in, or attend in person.