Borough inks agreement for Government Peak chalet useage

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough has hammered out an agreement for how it will rent out its Government Peak chalet.

The contract, approved at the assembly’s May 20 meeting, puts the Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation in charge of marketing and scheduling rentals of the facility.

“What this agreement represents is a real win-win situation for the borough and for nurturing our parks and trails foundation,” said Jim Colver, the assemblyman who brought the proposal to the assembly.

Rachel Greenberg, who runs the Palmer Senior Center but also is chair of the Mat-Su Parks and Trails Foundation, also lauded the agreement.

“In addition to the partnership with the Mat-Su Borough, partnerships with trails and parks foundation will be developed with cities, with community councils, with non-profit and for-profit user groups, the volunteers, etc, etc,” she said. “We really look forward to working with all of the different user groups in this community.”

According to the staff report accompanying the borough’s resolution approving the agreement, the foundation will occupy office space in the chalet as soon as the contract is signed.

Then, the facility will rent for $250 for a four-hour half-day and $500 for a full eight-hour day. Fifty percent of that will go to the foundation, the other half to the borough.

“Knowing how frugal you all are here and that you would not be wanting to incur any maintenance costs or upkeep costs, we reached out to the foundation, and they were very amenable,” Colver said.

The agreement also allows renters to consume and serve alcoholic beverages provided they have the right insurance and agree to hold the borough harmless if anything goes wrong.

“I think it’s a win-win for the borough, for the public,” Colver said. “I simply wanted to see us reach out and try to create something for how we could long-term manage a facility like this without it being a burden.”