Borough assembly to debate $33 million budget

WASILLA — The assembly could decide Tuesday whether voters will get a swing at a $22.1 million improvement package for recreational facilities.

That amount is listed among several other big-ticket items on the borough’s Tuesday agenda. Other seven-figure items include a combined $10.7 million certificate of participation for new fire station construction, and a move essentially authorizing the borough to refinance $3 million in old certificates of participation for the construction of the animal care facility, potentially at a lower interest rate, according to assembly materials.

Between the fire station construction and the recreation bond alone, Tuesday’s meeting could determine some portion of the fate of $32.8 million in public money.

The recreation bond amount covers the Wasilla and Palmer pools as well as the Brett Memorial Ice Arena. As the draft legislation now stands, it also includes discussed projects for the borough’s more far-flung regions, including ice rinks and trails in Talkeetna and Big Lake.

Community Development Director Eric Phillips said the measure will start large, and assembly members will determine which projects are removed. However, the central issue is about $13 million needed for the pools and the Brett, Phillips said.

“For me, the big thing is the needed repair and renovation of our two pools and the ice rink,” he said. “That’s where the lion’s share of the money would be going.”

If the Assembly approves the bond issue Tuesday evening, the next step will be the Oct. 4 local election, where voters will have their say.

Unlike bond measures, which require voter approval, certificates of participation can be issued by a simple assembly vote. The larger, $5.7 million certificate will be for the construction of a West Lakes Public Safety Building and fleet maintenance facility near the present location of fire station 7-3 along Spring Drive. The building would serve as the headquarters for the West Lakes Fire Department, and replace a much smaller station located there now.

The facility would represent a sizeable upgrade, said Borough Emergency Services Director Bill Gamble.

“It’s a small building that was never intended to serve as a fire station,” he said.

The fleet maintenance facility would replace the borough’s current fleet facility along Main Street in Wasilla, which the must be vacated by August 2017, though the fleet maintenance facility component could ultimately be taken out by the assembly, Gamble said. The certificate will leverage $4.7 million in state grant money, though a smaller amount, about $3.7 million, is ultimately required just for the fire station, Gamble said.

The smaller $5 million certificate will join $3.3 million already set aside in the borough capital budget for the construction of a new fire station 6-2 on a 79-acre parcel of land already used for emergency services near the intersection of Knik-Goose Bay and Vine roads. The funds would add a warehouse and training facility, Gamble said.

“The majority of growth in population is in out in that area right now,” he said.

The full agenda and supporting documents are available at www.matsugov.us/assembly.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.