Borough Assembly talks budget in Willow

WILLOW — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly began its week with a pair of meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

Monday’s meeting was a public hearing on the borough budget held in Willow. This is the fifth year that the assembly has come to Willow for testimony on the budget, and, as in previous years, the meeting drew a crowd, with around a hundred people from the Northern Susitna Valley turning out to speak and listen.

Before the public hearing on the budget, a handful of Willow residents asked that the borough find a way to work with the community to keep the old community center, built in the early 1960s, on borough land near the current library and community center. A dispute over the location of the building led to a court battle, resulting in a judgment ordering the building to be removed from its current spot by June 1st of this year. The Willow Historical and Wildlife Foundation is currently using the log structure as a museum. Former Iditarod musher and homesteader Mark Merrill asked that the borough, “Let our community of volunteers…and the Willow Historical and Wildlife Foundation do our job of bringing Willow a museum we can be proud of.” Merrill added all that is needed is a lease agreement or similar arrangement to allow the building to stay put.

Once testimony on the budget began, the topic that dominated discussion was the project to replace the current Willow Public Library and upgrade the existing community center. More than a dozen people asked that the assembly increase the amount of the Mat-Su’s contribution to the project in the current proposed budget. As of now, the budget has $1 million going toward the library and community center. Advocates for the project wanted to see that amount increased to $1.9 million.

Much of the testimony focused on the need for new and updated facilities. Parents, students, and library advocates from around the borough took their turns at the microphone to ask for the increased funding.

The intent is for the borough’s contribution to be paired with funding from the Mat-Su Health Foundation of nearly $1.7 million, the largest single grant the foundation has given. That would still leave a gap of almost $2 million before the project could be completed. Linda Oxley, chair of the Willow Area Community Organization, is in favor of the increased appropriation. She pledged WACO’s support in the continued fundraising, and emphasized the importance of the borough’s buy-in to attract additional funding. Oxley said, “A partnership of private and public monies is the expected means to fund public facilities.”

Elizabeth Ripley, Executive Director of the Mat-Su Health Foundation, also spoke on behalf of the project. She said a larger borough contribution would make it easier to secure a half-million dollar grant from the Rasmuson Foundation as well as national funders. Ripley challenged the assembly to “go big and bold” with the borough’s investment in the library and community center.

While no decisions were made on the budget on Monday, multiple assembly members struck a supportive note for the project. Assembly Member Randall Kowalke, who lives in Willow, said finding the funds in a tight budget could be difficult, but that he would see what could be done.

On Tuesday, the assembly held its regular meeting in Palmer. Discussion on ordinances was relatively light. Many of the ordinances dealt with accepting and appropriating money from sources outside the borough government. That included more than $14,000 in public donations to the Animal Care and Regulation Department as well as over $4 million in funds from the Alaska Division of Homeland Security for buyouts of property in eroding areas around the Matanuska River.

Public testimony at the meeting focused on the Williwaw area. For months, now, Williwaw residents have turned out for assembly meetings in significant numbers asking the borough for help with crime, litter, and other issues in the neighborhood. As part of an effort to reclaim the area, many residents recently conducted a neighborhood cleanup effort, which was attended by Assembly Members George McKee and Ted Leonard. They were there on Tuesday to ask for the assembly’s approval of a resolution that would waive the dumping fees for the trash gathered at the cleanup event. The resolution later passed without objection to cheers from the audience.

The assembly also discussed the issue of what ballot measures to put before voters this October. There was broad support for a road bond package and considerably less enthusiasm about a tax on single-use plastic bags. The discussion of police powers was put off, since the form those powers would take is currently unclear. Ideas brought up included traditional policing models as well as the hitch-style policing taking place in Sand Point, which is reminiscent of the schedule many North Slope employees work. Mayor Vern Halter advocated for an advisory vote on the issue, but a final decision seems unlikely at this point.

The assembly’s busy meeting schedule did not conclude with the adjourning gavel on Tuesday, with the first round of budget deliberations scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd.