Borough assembly: Legislature good to Mat-Su, and Arctic Winter Games planning kicks into high gear

The Legislature was pretty good to the Mat-Su Borough, thanks to the region’s influential delegation in Juneau.

State Sen. Shelley Hughes was able to engineer a $30 million appropriation for local roads which will provide one-fo-one matching funds required for borough road bonds approve by voters.

This effectively means $60 million will be available for new road work.

Borough manager Mike Brown credited Hughes and other Mat-Su legislators for delivering the goods at the July 19 borough assembly meeting.

Besides the road money, $38 million was included in the state budget to help pay school bond debt service that was pledged to the borough but not paid over the last few years, Brown said.

There was also $2.1 million paid in port debt reimbursement that had been pledged but not paid. In the state capital budget, $8 million was paid to help fund the new emergency first responder training center in Palmer and another $1 million to support the planned 2024 Arctic Winter Games, a major sporting event that is expected to bring 4,000 visitors to the Mat-Su in March, 2024.

Funds were also appropriated to complete the rebuilding of Palmer’s wastewater treatment plant.

On the Arctic Winter Games, the pace is picking up for planning the big event, Amy Spargo, Arctic Winter Game board president told the assembly in an update.

Kerry Quade, general manager for the event, appeared with Spargo.

The Arctic Winter Games International Committee announced April 28 that a proposal to host the 2024 event by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough had been accepted.

Spargo told the assembly that a Request for Proposals is out for local advertising and public relations services, and preparations for games-related merchandise are also underway.

“We appreciate your support, and we consider the borough as a co-sponsor of this event,” Spargo told the assembly.

The games are held every two years in different locations among the polar nations, but without Russia in light of the war in Ukraine. This year there will be about 2,000 participants and another 2,000 volunteers.

This year the event will be from March 10 to March 16, 2024, which are also the dates set for spring break by the Matanuska Susitna School District. The district has agreed to allow four schools to be used to house participants.

Spargo said a new web page for the game, sporting the event’s splashy new logo, is now set up to provide information including how to contribute and volunteer.

The first large in-kind corporate contribution is in hand, from Kimik Ltd., a Canadian software company that is providing an information system for the game at a reduced rate.

Contributions will also be coming through Fred Meyers’ customer reward system, where shopper can make a contribution when they purchase groceries or other goods, Spargo said.

Fairbanks was the last host for Arctic Winter Games in 2014. Mat-Su has long been interested in being a host but it wasn’t until winter sports facilities were built in recent years that the community resources were in place.

Now the Skweetawk ski resort is available as well as the growing cross-country ski area at Hatcher Pass and the Curt Menard Sports Complex that has both an ice rink and soccer field, with the capability to seat 5,000.