Borough to ask for $34M

WASILLA — A pair of Mat-Su Borough ballot questions will ask voters to green-light $34 million for school security and road improvements.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly approved the bond requests this past week. The group unanimously OK’d a $15 million question for road improvements and split 5-2 in favor of $19 million for security upgrades at area schools. Assembly members Lynne Woods and Tom Kluberton cast the opposing votes.

The road bonds include eight projects that are “too small for the Department of Transportation to take on but too big for a [local road service area] to take on,” Borough Planner Brad Sworts said.

But the Borough doesn’t intend to tackle the projects by itself. According to the ballot question, each project would only move forward if and when the state Department of Transportation comes on board with grant money to fund 70 percent of a project. The $15 million price tag represents the Borough’s 30-percent contribution.

The projects include:

• A connection between Jenson and Soapstone roads to provide a more northerly connection between Palmer-Fishhook Road and the Glenn Highway as well as a secondary access for a number of area subdivisions.

• An upgrade for Outer Springer Loop to repave a deteriorated road. There’s a connection between Bodenburg Loop and Sullivan Avenue, providing a shorter route between Bodenburg Loop and the Old Glenn Highway.

• An extension of Seward-Meridian Parkway to bring the road farther south to meet up with Fairview Loop and provide better access to those subdivisions.

• An extension of Hermon Road to create another north-south connector between the Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways.

• An upgrade for Vine Road to widen and repave the road between the Parks Highway and Knik-Goose Bay Road.

• An upgrade to widen and reconstruct Seldon Road and slated to be a piece of the Seldon-Bogard corridor touted as an alternative to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway

• An extension of Seldon Road from Church Road to Beverly Lake Road.

Borough Finance Director Tammy Clayton said should one project be funded by the state and another not, the Borough will hold off on the unfunded project but move ahead with those that receive state funding.

Security

School security has been discussed by the school board and assembly for several months, and the bond issue would provide things like security cameras, fencing, fire hydrants and keyless entry to numerous schools throughout the Borough.

Like the road bonds, the state has agreed to reimburse the Borough 70 percent of the cost of these projects, the district reports

School district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said the $19 million price tag for the bond package may seem high to some residents; however, given the average home price in the Valley, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, is $200,000, passing the security measure would mean a $12 tax increase for average homeowners.

Should both measures pass, taxpayers will have raised their annual property taxes by $21.96 per $100,000 of assessed value — $15.89 for roads and $6.07 for school security.

The amount of the school security package has escalated from initial estimates of $9 million to $19 million since March mostly because the Borough requested the school district beef up the bond package to make it more cost-effective, Esary said.

“When you look at $19 million, yes, that’s huge, but when you look at it per family, it’s a dollar a month,” Esary said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.