Borough readies for bumper drag

MAT-SU -- The annual Mat-Su Borough Bumper Drag is running on schedule, and there is still time for people who have property littered with junk cars to sign up and have the vehicles towed away.

As has been the case for the past four years, the borough has teamed up with the Alaska Army National Guard and several local towing companies to haul out junked vehicles and

other scrap metal from areas around the borough.

This year, the collection sites will be at Trapper Creek (mile 107 of the Parks Highway), at the old Department of Transportation maintenance facility in Willow and at the Houston septage facility. The locations differ from last year's schedule, Mat-Su Borough Solid Waste Engineer Jane Dale said, primarily because of applications for pick-up received in 2001.

"Applications were received from Trapper Creek, Willow and Talkeetna," Dale said. "There was a lot of interest in doing cleanup in the core area as well, and Houston will serve that area."

Junk vehicles, scrap metals and appliances -- including refrigerators and freezers -- will be accepted at the three sites from May 2 through 4. Two salvage yards -- Alaska Night & Day Recovery & Towing at Parks Highway and Vine Road, and Grizzly Towing & Wrecking, at Mile 12.5 Old Glenn Hwy. outside of Palmer -- will be extending their hours to be open the same times as the borough drop-off locations.

As has been the custom at Bumper Drag events for the past four years, the Alaska Army National Guard will be using the event as a training exercise to locate and remove junked vehicles from hard-to-reach areas.

Applications for vehicle removal are still available through the Mat-Su Borough, Dale said, although time to take advantage of the free removal is limited.

"We'll accept applications until the day before we start the program," Dale said, "but you have a better chance of being incorporated into the Army National Guard's pickup the sooner we get the application."

What started out as a bit of controversy over this year's Bumper Drag has ballooned into an outcry of support for the event. National Guard staff received two letters a few weeks ago, opposing the event, which led to a discussion within the guard about the training mission. As soon as word got out there were doubts about whether the event was well-received in the community, Valley residents took up a letter-writing campaign and inundated the guard office with opinions about why the guard should continue the event in the Valley.

Seventy-eight letters were received in support of the program, Staff Sgt. Mike Grunst said Tuesday, and there's little doubt that the community supports the program.

"There's always a chance that situations are going to change," Grunst said. "Were we going to cancel the Bumper Drag? No. Is there a potential for change? Yes."

Grunst said no changes were planned for this year's event; the training mission will proceed as usual.

Dale said a little lead time is necessary with the guard's involvement because it is a training mission. Prior to the event, the license plate number of each vehicle scheduled to be picked up is called in to the Alaska State Troopers, who check it against lists of stolen cars before accepting it for drop-off. Then, a week prior to the event, guard troops undertake a reconnaissance effort, visiting the sites of the junked vehicles and determining what types of equipment will be needed to extract and haul them away.

The weekend of the cleanup, Dale said, they head out to the remote locations with their various types of equipment, recover the vehicles and haul them away.

"That's all part of their training exercise," Dale said. "As a result of the training exercise, they clean up the Mat-Su Borough."

Although the guard's recovery missions are being performed at no cost to the landowners, Dale said there isn't a guarantee that guard members will get to all the sites on the list. Property owners who have vehicles or scrap metal on their land and want to ensure it will be taken away that weekend, she said, can call one of the several tow companies who are participating in the event.

Many are offering discounts on vehicle recovery and towing. The list below shows the companies who have agreed to take part in the effort, but Dale said additional towing and recovery companies are welcome to sign on.

"For anybody that reads about it in the newspaper and wants to jump in, they're welcome to do so," Dale said.

Dale said she's also looking for more volunteers -- people to help residents dropping items off to fill out intake sheets about their vehicles, appliances or metal, as well as people to check license plate numbers with the troopers to verify the vehicle had not been stolen. No stolen cars have come in through Bumper Drags in the past, Dale said.

For information about the Bumper Drag, to volunteer or to pick up an application to have vehicles hauled away, call 745-9838 or e-mail Dale at jane.dale@matsugov.us.