Assembly helps north Valley

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly passed three measures on Friday assisting communities in the north Valley.

Ordinance 20-082 appropriated $100,000 for a Willow transfer station for the borough’s program of accepting spruce bark beetle kill trees for destruction to reduce the danger of forest fires. Borough Public Works Director Terry Dolan said that the program started in 2009 and went idle after funding dried up, but was resurrected after recent forest fires.

“It’s a pretty important region to support a wood drop of site and we would appreciate your support on it,” said Mike Klawitter.

Dolan said that beetle kill trees dropped off at the central landfill must be chipped, which is more expensive than burning the trees. At other transfer sites, the borough hires contractors to burn the wood on days that burn bans do not exist in the borough. However, Dolan said that he hoped to add a wood chipping apparatus in the budget next year to make it less expensive to chip the wood. The ordinance passed without opposition.

Ordinance 20-083 appropriated $550,000 for a new fire truck for the West Lakes Fire Department to replace a truck from 1985. Parts for the vehicle are not made any more and the cost of the truck includes two inspections. Ordinance 20-083 also passed unanimously.

“I think it’s a good investment and a newer piece of apparatus that will improve safety and make sure that we have a vehicle that will respond appropriately to fire,” said Assemblyman Dan Mayfield.

Ahead of the joint meeting between the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and the Mat-Su Borough School District on Tuesday, both bodies have discussed the status of Houston Middle School, condemned to be unsafe for students after the November 2018 earthquake. Capital Projects Director Jude Bilafer updated the assembly that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has yet to determine if their 50 percent rule applies, meaning if greater than 50 percent of the cost of the building was damaged, the borough would be reimbursed for the cost of a new school.

“We have very high chances of then the reimbursement beyond insurance funds for this to get an entire new school,” said Bilafer.

Bilafer presented information on Action Memorandum 20-093 approving a $213,728 change to demolish the administration wing. Original plans called for the demolition of the academic wing and repair of the administrative wing and gymnasium, but greater defects have been discovered in the administrative wing upon further inspection. Bilafer said that the total cost of construction would still be $790,000 less than rebuilding the entire school, but more will be determined at the joint meeting next week.

After the departure of John Moosey who became the Manager for the city of Palmer, Interim Manager George Hays, Attorney Nick Spiropolous and Human Resources Director Sonya Conant have been working with consultants at Baker Tilly to review applications to hire a new Borough Manager. The seven finalists for the position are Thomas Barry, Gene Green, Thomas Hutka, Scott Meszaros, Randy Robinson, Thomas Thomas and Jeanette Bower. The assembly will review recorded interviews with candidates at their next meeting.