Developer sought for Hatcher Pass

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough is appealing to developers once more, seeking companies interested in taking charge of the proposed ski area on borough-owned land in Hatcher Pass.

The borough assembly recently agreed to issue a request for qualifications from developers interested in constructing and running a ski and recreational area on about 3,000 acres of borough-owned land in the Hatcher Pass area.

Asking for a request for qualifications is a new step for the borough, but it's one Assembly Member Jim Colver said may help identify a developer who'll be ready to see the process through to fruition. By advertising the project and allowing companies to look over the parameters of the project and give them an opportunity to outline the resources they have that would make them a good candidate, Colver said.

Once the field of applicants is identified, the assembly plans to issue a request for proposals and narrow the field to one candidate. An advertising push is planned -- Borough Manager John Duffy said he planned to advertise in Alaska as well as in out-of-state publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Urban Lands Institute, and in newspapers in ski areas in the Lower 48, all over a one- to two-month period.

With the request for proposals ready, Duffy said last week work on Hatcher Pass is heating up. Matanuska Electric Association sits poised to install underground electricity to the borough's property, a more than $850,000 project.

In addition to that project, Land Design North is working to complete a master plan for the area and a working group, formed with representatives from the borough's Planning Commission and Parks, Recreation and Trails board was formed to work on a Hatcher Pass Special Use District. The district, Duffy said, will incorporate the Hatcher Pass Management Plan already in existence, and outline other decisions about what should be in the resort area. And new uses for the area are being looked at as well -- including a relatively recent decision to include cross-country ski trails into the land use plans.

"I think that's one thing that hasn't been given as much credit as it should have been given in the beginning," Duffy said.

While many already use trails in Hatcher Pass during the winter cross-country skiing season, some assembly members have said using the lower elevations of the borough-owned land as ski trails makes good sense.

But the push toward development on the borough's part has left some wondering how likely it is that a developer will be interested in the sprawling project.

Assembly Member Talis Colberg, who has voiced his concern numerous times about the borough moving forward on the project without a developer, said he was leery of the often-changing emphasis on aspects of the project that don't relate to the overall goal -- to create an alpine-skiing area for borough residents to enjoy.

"What bugs me more than anything is, the whole project is to build a ski area -- an alpine ski area; it's supposed to be about public recreation," Colberg said. "But the focus in the presentation [made at a recent borough work session discussing Hatcher Pass] was on development … We're taking land out of public recreational use at a tremendous loss."

Colberg said he was not in favor of the decision to issue a request for qualifications and opposed the vote. Although he was alone in his opposition, Colberg wasn't alone in his skepticism of the project.

"Let's see if there's some interest in it out there," Assembly Member Bill Allen said. "Quite frankly, I don't think there is, but I'm going to support this -- we'll test the waters."