Church wants to purchase Palmer street

EOWYN LeMAY IVEY-Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -- St. John Lutheran Church wants to buy a street from Palmer -- South Eklutna Street, to be precise.

Church elder Bill Allen approached the Palmer City Council this week with a request to buy the portion of South Eklutna between Fireweed and Elmwood that runs past St. John Lutheran and pay for the cost of moving the city water line underneath it to a nearby street.

If the city were to eliminate this portion of South Eklutna Street, he said, it would allow the church to join its current lot with several acres of lawn and trees across the street that it recently purchased from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Allen said the church is also interested in purchasing the adjacent UAF agriculture experiment building, known as the "Kremlin" by longtime Palmer residents, if it were to become available.

This is all part of the church's expansion efforts, and South Eklutna is in the way.

"The street is not used very much … but we're concerned about the kids and older folks going back and forth," Allen said. St. John Lutheran plans to add on to its current church as well as build a new 10,000-square-foot facility on the other side of South Eklutna that would house meeting rooms and a gymnasium.

With the street and city water line out of the way, the church would have more options for the location of these construction projects and the concern for pedestrian safety would be addressed, Allen said.

The city council was amenable to the plan, including Councilman Tony Pippel, who lives nearby.

"It will be a big change for the neighborhood … but we feel good about an institution like the church taking it over," Pippel said.

Before finalizing the deal, however, city officials said they wanted to find out what the effect on the downtown water grid would be if the South Eklutna line were eliminated or moved. Also, City Manager Tom Healy said he would determine a price for the property and the related costs of moving the water line. He expected to take the final tally to the church within a few days to see if they could afford it.

"We wouldn't expect the city to give it to us," Allen told the council.

The major problem the city faced Tuesday night was the fact that a contractor was already digging up South Eklutna to replace old water pipes as part of a grant-funded project in the area. Healy said he would halt the work the next morning until a decision was made about the church's request. This, too, would come with a cost that could be passed on to the church, city officials said.

While the water-line project in the neighborhood required the council to make some quick decisions Tuesday night, Healy said the entire process of the city vacating a street takes time. He said it is his understanding that the proposal would have to go before the Mat-Su Borough as well as the city council.

"This is going to take a while," he said, adding that it could be a month or longer before it is all said and done.

Allen said this should not be a problem for the church -- construction of the addition and new building is not set to begin until next spring.