Gravel pits Point Mac resident against borough

WASILLA — The Mat-Su Borough planning commission is set to consider approving a large gravel pit in the Point MacKenzie area this week.

In a public hearing scheduled for Monday, March 7, planning commission officials will consider whether to grant the borough an interim materials district near the Goose Creek Correctional Center on Alsop Road. The materials district would require borough assembly approval if the planning commission votes to support it.

Borough officials say the gravel pit would serve a dual purpose, but at least one neighborhood resident argues the pit will compound development in the area and threaten nearby watersheds and wildlife habitat, and says clearing the land during an anticipated busy fire season would be a mistake.

Proponents say the pit would lower the cost of construction projects in the area as population density, and the need for infrastructure, increase. Right now, the options of those seeking gravel materials are limited, meaning development for infrastructure, including the Port MacKenzie rail spur and other projects, is primarily trucked in from other locations, said Ryan Johnston, a land management specialist who filed the application for the borough. A nearby pit, known as the Alsop Pit, has been tapped out, and some of the material for the proposed Alsop East Pit would be used to backfill the Alsop Pit, Johnston said.

“There’s a need for gravel in that area both publicly and privately,” he said.

At the same time, removing about 6.3 million cubic yards of gravel over about 30 years would create a large, flat space ideal for development at the center of the proposed Point MacKenzie town site, Johnson said. The town site is an attempt to plan ahead of anticipated development, driven in part by hopes for a Knik Arm Crossing bridge to Anchorage.

“It’s kind of two birds with one stone,” he said.

Borough officials are seeking permission for the pit to be in operation 24 hours per day because the land surrounding the proposed pit is largely undeveloped, Johnson said. Operation would run from March 1 to November. A 300-foot buffer would protect surrounding properties from noise or light disturbances.

The borough would hand over operation of the pit to a private contractor, who would be responsible for developing documents usually included in a gravel pit application, including environmental impact statements, monitoring for nesting bald eagles, and the implementation of a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan. Contractors would also be responsible for mitigating impacts to borough roads, Johnston said.

“They (contractors) usually do a very good job on that,” he said. “It’s part of their contract, and they stand to lose the contract, or bonds they put up, if they don’t maintain the roads to our standards.”

Johnston said the borough is looking at several potential contractor candidates.

Garvan Bucaria was the lone recipient of a public notice on the sale (which was advertised in January in the Frontiersman) to submit written comments. In his comments, Bucaria lists a number of projects he says have degraded the Point MacKenzie area: port development, a state agricultural project, a liquid natural gas processing facility now owned by the state, the prison, the Point MacKenzie railroad spur, biosolid use and the Knik Arm Crossing, which Bucaria labels as “essentially failed.”

Allowing a contractor responsibility for the surrounding area would be a mistake, Bucaria said. He cites other gravel pit controversies, including the contentious B & E unpermitted gravel pit and landfill, as examples where contractors let local residents down.

“Too much reliance seems to be placed upon the good-faith performance by contractors,” he wrote. “A criteria of low bid competition for selection may result in poor performance.”

The primary focus should be on potential negatives, including fire risk, Bucaria said, but in general, the public should pay attention to development in the area.

“This is a super high fire hazard,” he said. “This needs more exposure to the public at large.”

The planning commission meeting is set for 6 p.m. in the assembly chambers located at 350 E. Dalia Ave. in Palmer.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.