Borough has the power to make the right choice

To the editor:

I am writing (Larry DeVilbiss) with great respect and the position you hold as Mayor of the Mat-Su Borough, and I do believe in the same principals as you do.

The Mat-Su Borough needs a strong and sustainable economy, which is obtainable through common-sense leadership. That statement brings up some of the mistakes the borough has made in the past that has caused excess spending, such as the ferry. Planning is a very import part of the economic growth. Building the ferry before a deal to secure dockage put the taxpayers’ money at risk and now we are suffering the consequence.

“Open for business” is your statement, and we all understand the only way to grow is to develop. But in developing we need to attract the right kind of business that will employee more than a handful of people. We need public safety and health and business that require industrial locations to be placed in industrial zoned areas.

I would like to bring to your attention to the CMS Monofill that is becoming a major issue for a lot of people. It’s not to say we don’t want businesses to be developing in the Mat-Su or Palmer, but the right kind of businesses. I am sure you are well aware of the all the problems that are occurring (because of this) and the hardship on the people who choose to live in Palmer.

CMS is not a partner who I would say is on the “win-win” side of things. Just look at the problems it has started. Anchorage Daily News headline March 1 reads, “Recycler sues city over disposal discount for $100,000.”

In Palmer court, CMS was found guilty in six citations for illegal dumping. I’ve been in business and my rule of thumb is strong business ethics, trust and a win-win partnership. No matter what CMS promises and how they think they will take care of problems that arise, the records show it all.

Mr. Mayor I took the liberty to do some research to show you that this is a bad deal all based on how much the borough will lose in taxable income. Taxable income is a vital need to keep the Mat-Su growing, but if you start losing it, where will you find it to make it up? Raising taxes? Not good for someone in your position who wants to lower them.

I went to the online Mat-Su Borough Parcel Viewer to first see how many properties are located with in a one-mile area of CMS property boundaries. From my calculation, there are about 415 private property owners, some with million-dollar homes on them.

In my process, I took five random properties assessments from each subdivision (Canoe Lake, Crimson View and Sky Ranch). I worked out the loss of income that will generate if this dump goes through. Based on the assessment tax for these 15 properties, the loss will be from $270,126 to $675,315. That’s not good — not to mention the other loss of income to the borough’s own landfill. CMS will be dumping tonnage on its on property to avoid paying its fair share.

You have the power to make the right choice to protect the gateway of Palmer from the smell of leaking decomposing gas (same smell at Highland facility), unsightly trash, contaminating drinking water and to protect the 415 property owners of Palmer whose hard-earned investments are at stake.

None of this would have come to a head if the borough enforced the reclamation clause in the gravel pit agreements.

William Quantick

Palmer