Assembly, school board want site donation policy

June 16, 2006

By DARRELL L. BREESE

Frontiersman

PALMER - Confusion surrounding the donation of 13 acres to the borough for use as a school site led the borough assembly and school board to agree that site selection criteria were needed for future donations.

Developer Chuck Spinelli had responded to a November 2005 request from the Mat-Su Borough seeking land donation for the site of an elementary school along Kink-Goose Bay Road, and donated land in the Settlers Bay subdivision. In May, voters approved a $39.7 million school bond package, many assuming the school would be built on that property.

Problems with developing the site led to its elimination as the top choice.

&#8220I fear without a set criteria establishing a clear guideline, some developers will be scared away from donating land,” school board member Linda Menard said. &#8220Chuck (Spinelli) put a lot of work into the project and had things change overnight. That is not a good way to do business.”

Assembly member Cindy Bettine, who requested the discussion, also expressed concern with how the donation and site selection process was handled with the Spinelli land.

&#8220We asked for donations of property in the area and Mr. Spinelli came forward,” Bettine said. &#8220Then we turned our back on his offer. We need to have a plan or something in writing other than just drawing a circle on a map when seeking land. All the confusion and ill will generated by turning away from this deal could be avoided with a set criteria.”

Borough director of community development Ron Swanson called the issues over the Spinelli parcel a learning process.

&#8220It would've been beneficial to have a criteria in place when we began the process with the Spinelli parcel, but that isn't the case,” Swanson said. &#8220Sitting in a room and talking about the criteria for infrastructure and site cost benefit analysis now is useless. Having something in the future will be helpful.”

While the borough does not have a set standard for school site selection, the Alaska Department of Education does. The guidelines describe the ideal school site as a generally level parcel with complete utilities, well drained soils, road and pedestrian access, protection from excessive weather patterns, and ample space for school facilities, playgrounds and sports fields.

&#8220We either need to establish a criteria for site selection and donation, or the borough needs to mandate that any developer who wants to put in a development of over 400 lots designate some of the land for schools and parks,” Menard said. &#8220The process needs to start at the site selection committee and should be done before we ask voters to approve a bond for a new school.”

Assembly member Lynne Woods turned the discussion to the projection for the future needs of the school district.

&#8220The assembly has planned for future fire stations, is there any plan for future schools?” Bettine asked.

School district chief administrator Bob Doyle responded that the district had no projections.

&#8220Eventually, we will be needing a new high school and middle school in the Knik-Goose Bay Area, plus additional elementary schools throughout the district,” Doyle said. &#8220As long as the population continues to grow, there will be a need for multiple schools, but where they will go is unknown.”

No official site donation plan emerged from the meeting, but Bettine summed up the feelings of the joint meeting.

&#8220This needs to be fixed,” Bettine said. &#8220People and developers should know how they will have to deal with the borough regarding the donation of sites for future schools. The current process is clearly broken.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@ frontiersman.com.