City of Palmer seeking community input to discuss area wide plan and ideas on redevelopment

PALMER —The public is invited to provide input at the city of Palmer’s area wide discussion Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Palmer Train Depot.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good downtown going and we just ended to keep going right?” Brad Hanson, director of community development for the city of Palmer, said.

Hanson said the main goal of this development project is to see how to attract more private and public investments in the downtown area and how to improve both motorized and nonnotarized mobility in and around town.

The city of Palmer is currently working with the Mat-Su Borough and the U.S. EPA through a Brownfields Area Wide Plan. Hanson said that this public meeting will serve as an opportunity for input on ideas for future projects to improve the city. The discussion will build off existing research, policies and community studies to identify redevelopment needs looking forward.

“We’re going to be talking about a lot of things,” Hanson said. “Hopefully we get a good turnout and we got a lot of good input and consensus.”

They will discuss the existing conditions and issues in the downtown areas to develop a vision for redevelopment projects and public and private investment opportunities.

In 2016, the borough received a $400,000 EPA Brownfield CWA Grant, which will help fund area wide planning efforts in the borough. Palmer was allocated $54,876 to fund their area wide plan, according to a project scope. Hanson said that the city of Wasilla is also working on similar an area wide plan with the borough and EPA.

The grant was awarded to clean up and reuse hazard substance and petroleum brownfield sites through the borough, according to a project overview. Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities that are available for repurpose.

Area wide planning was considered an important part of the grant program. The city of Palmer’s project overview indicated the redevelopment efforts will focus on the Mat-Maid Block and “think proactively about the future of downtown as the beating heart of the city.”

“It’s all just a part of tying to increase the vibrancy downtown,” Hanson said.

Hanson said that some potential projects would be improving and connecting bike paths and how the railroad corridor could become a, “more useful downtown attraction.”

“Currently, the Alaska Railroad runs through the city of Palmer, bisecting the community. For future redevelopment to occur, it is likely that connectivity in the area will be a necessary byproduct of that change,” stated in the city of Palmer’s area wide plan.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com