Bond on ballot for Mat-Maid block

PALMER — The city is putting on the ballot the long-debated question of what to do with the old Matanuska Maid property.

City Manager Bill Allen said the way the plan will work, if voters decide in the October city election to approve a $3 million bond question, the city will use the money to buy the land on that entire block, which includes the Matanuska Maid property, a small retail shop and a fuel hauler site.

There are seven parcels in all, most with different owners. Allen said the city has tallied it and believes $3 million is a good estimate of how much all seven will cost.

“If it’s more than that then the city’s going to have to come up with extra money from the general fund,” Allen said. If it’s less than that, the city won’t draw as much out of its bonds.

The city will go into the deal with all the information on the table and won’t move ahead with a purchase that’s not in its interest, Allen said.

“If I put this together it will be to have clear title without any encumbrances and clouds,” Allen said, sounding a note of uncertainty because his tenure as manager is up in September. He defined “encumbrances and clouds” as things like tax liens, loans drawn against the property or judgments against its owners.

“The second and really important thing is it all has to be environmentally clean,” Allen said.

Which is always a worry with land used for industrial purposes. All of these caveats don’t mean the city won’t buy the land if contamination or tax liens are found. If it’s something the seller is willing to solve, that will be worked out.

But contained within those seven parcels is one building with historical significance, which also happens to be structurally sound, and the iconic Palmer water tower.

“Is it worth $3 million to buy the iconic image of the city?” Allen asked.

As for what the plan is to do with the land, Allen said the idea of putting a convention center there is still on the table. But there’s enough space to do a number of things. If developers come, the money they pay the city will eliminate some of that bond debt. While waiting for a developer to materialize, the city could do a quick rehabilitation project there.

“What I told the council the other night was if development plans don’t materialize immediately we could go in there immediately for little or nothing and throw some dirt down, plant some grass and have a nice little park there,” Allen said.

Such a quick fix-up would be better than what’s there now, the city manager said.

“To me, I’ve said it openly, I think the site is an eyesore.”

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