Borough is not your investment partner

To the editor:

I have a problem with people who buy or build homes along the river, then run to the government to “do something” when the river does what rivers do — it meanders, it eats into banks, it makes new channels and it occasionally floods.

The Matanuska River bed in and around Palmer and Sutton is a designated special flood hazard area — a floodplain. This designation, as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, means the river has a history of flooding and there is a predictable likelihood it will flood again. Flood insurance is available. Oh, I bet you’re thinking that you can’t afford flood insurance. Then move. We taxpayers cannot keep bailing people out of their decisions to live in a floodplain.

If you build or buy your home in a floodplain you accept the risk that you might lose property, property value or both. Real estate is an investment, and with every investment there are risks. Taxpayers are not your investment partner. The Mat-Su Borough is not your investment partner.

If you want to live in a floodplain, fine. Buy flood insurance. If you can’t afford flood insurance, perhaps you can’t afford to live in a floodplain. Don’t come crying to government to bail you out when the river comes knocking at your back door. You made the decision, you took the investment risk and now you need to deal with it.

Residents of the Mat-Su Borough, just say no. Members of our borough assembly, just say no. This matter is a homeowner’s problem, not the taxpayers’ problem.

Vicki Kluever

Palmer