Big projects keep borough busy

It's been a year of change and progress for the Mat-Su Borough and, once again, growth can be listed as the primary catalyst.

An election year, it was just a few months into the year that names began showing up as candidates for borough seats or the mayorship in March. About that time, a five-year assembly veteran Sara Jansen announced her plans to step down from her seat as deputy mayor on the assembly. Taking a newly created job with the City of Palmer, she said, would place her in a position of conflict on the assembly.

Former Fairbanks Mayor and director of the Alaska U.S. Department of Agriculture office, Bill Allen was selected to hold Jansen's seat for the remainder of the term, with the condition that he had to run for reelection in October, and again the following year when Jansen's original term would have expired. Allen was reelected in October, after running unopposed.

Many months before the election, however, the borough began addressing its core area comprehensive plan, outdated due to the incredible growth being seen in the area. Public workshops coordinated by New York-based borough contractor Peter J. Smith and Associates began in April, asking residents what they would like to see included in future planning efforts relating to the core area. Although the meetings were attended by fewer than 100 people, a variety of views were presented and will become part of the development of a new core-area plan. A few informational meetings have been held since then, but borough planning department staff said public meetings should begin in the first few months of the coming year.

Generating as much comment throughout the year has been the increasing cry for increased police protection in the more densely populated areas of the borough. Residents, tired of having houses broken into or property stolen, have banded together in several neighborhood watch groups in an effort to combat rising crime in the area, and some residents asked the borough to be part of the solution. One scenario would have set up an agreement between the borough and Alaska State Troopers, in which the borough would pay for electricity and a phone in a borough-owned location, and troopers could choose to work in the office, located in the Butte Fire Station. That suggestion was voted down by the assembly, with members commenting that other communities would want the same opportunity if it were granted to Butte. To further address the problem and develop alternative solutions, a task force was set up by the mayor.

Movement was made on several big projects borough officials have been laboring over for years. In May, NPI LLC, a company hoping to export wood chips to Eastern markets, agreed to pitch in $3 million to the borough in hopes of getting a deep-draft dock built more quickly at Port MacKenzie that would allow the Panamax-sized vessels used to transport the chips to load and off-load at the borough's port. NPI also agreed to build an $8 million conveyor system that will allow numerous items to be loaded and unloaded at the port. Before sealing the deal with NPI, however, the borough needed to secure funding for the remainder of the deep-draft dock construction. And to do that, they had to win the approval of Mat-Su voters. They did, with 500 votes to spare, allowing the borough to sell $10 million in bonds for construction of the deep-draft dock and the now-gravel road leading to it.

The proposed ski facility at Hatcher Pass got a boost this year as well. After a year-old lawsuit challenging the transfer, the borough gained title 3,000 acres of land formerly owned by the state this year. Along with geotechnical studies, water testing and other data compiling done by the borough -- and a newly paved road leading up to Independence Mine, significantly more is available to developers now than was available a few years ago. After obtaining title to the land, the assembly agreed to issue a request for qualifications, asking firms interested in developing a ski resort and residential area to submit their qualifications. In November, JL Properties, along with a group of contractors who have been involved in other ski resort ventures, submitted their qualifications and a general outline of what they'd like to see at Hatcher Pass. The company will be presenting more formal plans to the assembly in the coming weeks.

Fall brought election season into full swing at the borough and, with four assembly seats and a mayor's seat open, there were several races to watch. Allen, as previously mentioned, ran unopposed, as did Assembly Member Talis Colberg. But Assembly Member Jim Colver, representing the Fishhook Road area, was pursued by candidate Sherry Pinckley-Trboyevich, who stood on opposite sides of the fence from Colver on several issues -- zoning, land use and, later in the election, coal-bed methane drilling. Colver won by more than 400 votes. Assembly Member Kelly Lankford-Ladere, representing the Susitna Valley, was challenged by two candidates -- former Meadow Lakes fire chief and owner of the Mile 49 Cafe Tom Hood and espresso stand owner and community volunteer Betty Vehrs. The three had widely separated views, but Vehrs won the vote in the end, with nearly 300 votes in her favor. The most contested race, however, was that of the mayor. Incumbent Tim Anderson faced down two candidates -- Steve Menard, son of past Valley legislator Curt Menard, and Charlie Fannon, former Wasilla police chief. On election night, the vote was too close to call, and it remained that way for nearly a month. Finally, after a record number of absentee votes were counted and a recount was lodged, Anderson was declared the winner by a record-breaking five votes.

Spurred on, some say, by the election season, another big issue has come before the borough assembly -- that of coal-bed methane drilling in the Mat-Su. The first widely attended meeting took place at the end of August and, in the months following, it's nearly impossible to go to a public place without hearing someone discussing the merits or dangers of drilling for shallow natural gas. Although the state is the primary regulating body when it comes to shallow-gas drilling, several borough assembly members have raised concerns about things the borough may have jurisdiction over -- setbacks, noise levels and other requirements. Under direction of the assembly, the Mat-Su Borough Planning Department is working to develop an ordinance that would govern shallow-gas drilling within the borough. Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy, along with Planning Director Susan Dickinson, have been taking part in meetings with several state agencies working to develop a list of existing gas-drilling guidelines and prepare for public workshops planned to begin in mid-January.