Borough assembly votes to move funds from trail projects to pool redesigns

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly voted to move over $1,050,000 from the 2016 recreation bond from trails projects to a pool redesign.

About $250,000 of that will go the Wasilla Pool, which is getting a new locker room and handicap accessible 10-person hot tub. The Wasilla Pool is scheduled to be finished in April, with the Palmer Pool at 65 percent design that may see construction by late July 2019. The Wasilla Pool construction is half completed.

“We decided to move a big chunk of that over to the pools where we could spend it,” Mat-Su Borough Capital Projects Manager Jude Bilafer said.

Two road projects were unusable for bond money. One of the Big Lake Trail bridges that had originally been slated for two bridges was determined to only need one bridge. Disagreements between Department of Natural Resources and Alaska Department of Fish and Game over whether to allow motorized vehicles or not zeroed out the Brazil springs project. Big Lake saw a $350,000 reduction, as did the Wasilla Creek Headwaters Trail. The shuffle of finances worried Mat-Su Borough Assembly members Ted Leonard and George McKee, both of whom voted against Ordinance 18-090.

“It appears to me that there’s no such thing as a design that’s ever completed until you get the keys back. Then, in fact, you're designing as you’re building and you're adding costs as you’re going along,” McKee said. “I think you folks are abusing the public trust.”

The redesign came on the heels of public comment from pool users.

“The changes suggested at those meetings were implemented we wanted to be responsive to that crowd they were very vocal they were very passionate,” Mat-Su Borough Recreational and Library Manager Hugh Leslie said.

Last minute changes caused complete redesign of both projects.

“I support the idea of making those improvements because it maximizes the number of users that can truly use that pool with our fastest growing population, the senior population,” Assemblywoman Barb Doty said.

Borough Manager John Moosey defended his staff, saying that projects are managed based on the finances available. Moosey lauded road projects that had all been finished on time and under budget, to which McKee took offense.

“We have now cut the two trails and said gee whiz we were really fooling you. We’re going to use the money somewhere else. That money should go back to reduce the bond it should not be used for another project,” McKee said. “It is time for government at all levels to stick to the word they tell the people and in this case that didn’t happen.”