Erosion control plan on hold

March 13, 2007

BY DIMITRA LAVRAKAS

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - After two community meetings last week that provided an earful to borough officials, Murph O'Brien, director of planning, said the borough will pull back from further discussion on a proposed Matanuska and Knik River erosion control ordinance.

At the meetings Wednesday at Butte Elementary School and at Palmer High School on Thursday, home and property owners said they were concerned that, if their property along either river were declared at risk for erosion, the land would become worthless.

On Monday, Sheila Fritz, a mortgaged property owner in Butte who attended Wednesday's meeting, said when people asked those running the meeting, &#8220If your house sat on the Matanuska or Knik River, what would you want the borough to do?” The answer was: &#8220We're not tasked with that.”

Fritz also pointed out that the two meetings were scheduled in a week crowded with borough and city

meetings.

O'Brien conceded he missed the Butte meeting because he had a conflict with another borough meeting.

&#8220We've heard we could do a better job of getting the word out, and we'll definitely do that,” he said.

The borough has been put on notice by the feds to control development along the rivers in areas prone to erosion, and the proposed law was to be a first step.

Perhaps a misstep, said O'Brien.

&#8220We can do better and, certainly based on the comments we had, we're stepping back on the ordinance.” O'Brien said Monday.

The borough is caught in a bind, O'Brien said, and with an unclear directive from the feds to address the problem without &#8220structural solutions,” meaning dikes, rip-rap or maybe dredging, said O'Brien.

&#8220The feds say, hand-in-hand with structural improvements, you have to look at the land,” O'Brien said. &#8220You have to use controls to lessen the impacts of future development.”

One approach considered would require disclosure on plats and at the time of sale of property that erosion has or could occur. That might satisfy the feds, O'Brien said.

They borough will regroup for now to analyze the recommendations and comments, he said.

&#8220We're going to take the feedback from the meetings and kind of take it easy,” said O'Brien. &#8220No more meetings are planned, we're going to step back.”