Borough's Montana Creek timber sale deal delayed

April 22, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Mat-Su Borough's plans for a timber sale on land in the Montana Creek area were put on hold Tuesday as the Assembly voted unanimously to postpone discussion of the proposed deal until Aug. 2.

The proposal involves the sale of harvesting rights for 902 acres of timber to NPI in the North Sheep Creek Forest Management Unit near Montana Creek. Tuesday's action is the latest in a series of delays and postponements to the deal.

Originally before the Assembly for public testimony in February, action on the agreement was postponed to March 1 and revisited for the third time Tuesday. NPI plans to process the wood into chips and export the chips to South Korea and Japan through Port MacKenzie.

The most recent postponement stems from a pair of key issues. NPI is currently in default on two contracts with the borough and details of the agreement remain unsatisfactory with some Assembly members and people who live near the site of the proposed timber sale.

"[The borough] can't move forward until we resolve the default issues," Assembly Member Betty Vehrs said. "And the agreement is a mess. I would like this to go away until the matter of default is settled and we have a fair agreement in place."

Noting the two issues, Vehrs suggested tabling the planned sale indefinitely.

Assembly Member Jody Simpson noted that the project could help offset the cost of several borough projects in the area and suggested delaying the process until the Aug. 2 meeting, allowing time for NPI to resolve its contract issues and the Assembly to rework the agreement.

Terry Nininger, project manager for NPI, expressed both disappointment and satisfaction with the delay.

"We would have liked to have settled this issue tonight," Nininger said. "We also have no time waiting. We want to be accommodating to the community and at the same time move ahead with a plan with the borough to harvest timber."

NPI expects to ship its next load of wood chips sometime in early June and Nininger indicated the company should have the default issue resolved before the boat comes in.

The most recent agreement allowed for around-the-clock chipping and transporting, and for trucks to be on the road at the same time as school buses and road maintenance.

"Most of us who live in the area are not opposed to harvesting the trees," Bill Bouterse said. "Dust is a big concern, we've come to expect the taste of dust every time we barbecue."

Bouterse also expressed concern about safety on the road, which would experience increased traffic, and the detrimental effect the sheer volume of harvesting would have on the habitat.

"I am not against cut trees for money," Bouterse said. "I just don't understand this plan to grind and chip. It just doesn't make sense from a forestry standpoint."