Borough reinforces wall just in time

PALMER -- Meetings generally held at the Mat-Su Borough building's assembly chambers are being temporarily moved to other locations while the east wall of the meeting room is straightened.

The wall has been tipping inward for several years, but borough Public Works Director Jim Swing said it worsened perceptibly after the Oct. 23 earthquake centered near Denali National Park headquarters.

"The problems were exacerbated by the quake," Swing said. "You could definitely see it had gotten worse."

Swing said the building was not further damaged after Sunday's quake -- likely because action to shore up the building had been taken.

The long walls of the borough building are concrete foundations up to the base of the basement windows, where the wooden walls begin. While the load-bearing outer walls are reinforced by perpendicular walls in most areas of the basement, the assembly chambers are a long, open room with no cross-walls to help keep the outer wall straight. Assembly members have commented on the bowing wall in the past and, during the last budget cycle, renovation plans were discussed. At that time, $20,000 was set aside for renovations to the chamber next summer.

The added damage after the quake, however, stepped up the schedule. A structural engineer was asked to assess the damage shortly after the Oct. 23 quake and borough staff were told there was probably no danger of the building falling in -- unless another earthquake of that magnitude rocked the building.

"That wasn't acceptable," Swing said.

So a wall of four-inch by six-inch beams was put up inside the building, taking on the load previously borne on the bowing wall. Excavation took place over the weekend to remove dirt around the base of the building. That excavation, Swing said, was likely the reason the building did not experience further damage after Sunday's 7.9 quake -- exactly the type of quake the structural engineer had mentioned.

Once the dirt was removed, F-E Contracting plans to return the outside wall to its vertical position. A secondary wall, Swing said, will be built inside the outer wall to provide extra support.

Anyone who has ever remodeled a room knows the story doesn't end there. The new wall will decrease the amount of space available for the horseshoe-shaped desk that provides seating for the assembly and other groups who use the chambers. Of course, the gigantic desk will have to be moved toward the other wall of the chamber, but that small task isn't as easy as it sounds. The desk -- and the floor beneath it -- is wired for telephones, recording devices, amplification and the voting board. Moving it as little as a few inches may mean ripping up carpet and relaying wires.

"Moving that horseshoe is not that easy," Swing said.

Depending on the extent of the renovations involved, the project could take from two weeks to a month, Swing said, and it's already cost more than the amount estimated earlier in the year for renovations in the meeting room.

"Right now we're at probably about $22,000," Swing said.

Borough Manager John Duffy signed off on an emergency declaration that will provide the funds needed to shore up the building, and if more is needed, Swing said it may come from the emergency fund created during last year's budget cycle. As part of an effort to keep the borough finances stable in an often unstable environment, the borough assembly approved the creation of a reserve account, stocked with $750,000, to be used in emergencies. And the assembly, Swing said, will be asked at an upcoming meeting to approve any money appropriated for the project.

In fact, that appropriation may be done while the assembly is locked out of its chambers. While the renovations continue, meetings of the Planning Commission, Platting Board, Board of Adjustment and Appeals and any other meetings that would generally be held in the assembly chambers will be held elsewhere. Mat-Su Borough Clerk Sandra Dillon said those larger boards will, along with the assembly, be meeting at the Palmer Depot instead.

"The city of Palmer was gracious enough to allow us to schedule in there," Dillon said. The assembly's Nov. 7 meeting, however, will be held at the Mat-Su Borough gymnasium.

Dillon said she and her staff will still tape assembly meetings -- the recording equipment has been set up to handle the new locations. And while her staff is still working to perfect the amplification equipment, that, too, should be ready for use by Nov. 7.

Smaller meetings, such as those of the Animal Care and Regulation board, may be held at other locations. The ACR board, for example, Dillon said, would be meeting at the Public Safety department's building in Wasilla. She suggested that board members and those interested in attending meetings of any borough board check the borough notices to see where to go for meetings.

"The public should make sure, when they read that notice to … look at the location of the meeting as well," Dillon said.

Dillon said the meeting schedule is all prepared through December. If it appears the remodel will not be finished by that time, Dillon said she'll plan out more locations for January. All the scheduling, Dillon said, has driven at least one point home.

"This amplifies the consistent use of that room," Dillon said.