Gravel pits, West Susitna Access bring critics to Tuesday assembly meeting; plan for using road rehab money also approved

The Matanuska Susitna Borough Assembly ticked through its Dec. 7 agenda accepting state and federal grant including a $10 million appropriation from the Legislature for road work in the borough.

However, two important and controversial measures related to gravel extraction were shunted off to the borough planning commission after assembly members heard blistering reactions from homeowners who don’t want larger gravel pits in their neighborhoods and disliked the idea of a gravel conveyor being built adjacent to a greenbelt.

Meanwhile, a proposed gravel extraction tax, which was supported by many, was pulled off the assembly’s agenda earlier.

The assembly held a special meeting earlier Tuesday afternoon to hear out citizens on the two gravel propositions.

A regular assembly meeting convened later. to do routine business as well as to hear a report from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA on the proposed West Susitna Access Project, a 100-mile road that would open western parts of the borough to recreation and development, including for mining.

That agenda item triggered more heated comments from opponents to the road who don’t want ore trucks from a gold mine being explored by Nova Minerals, of Australia, disturbing their solitude.

On a more immediate matter the assembly formally accepted the $10 million from the state for road improvements and decided to allocate the money for projects recently approved by voters for road bonds.

By using the state funds the borough can reduce the amounts needed to be borrowed through bonds and lessen impacts on taxpayers who will pay for the bonds, Assemblyman Rob Yundt told the assembly.

Yundt proposed the amended road plan that provided for use of the money for the bond priorities. Brown, the borough manager, cautioned that the state money can only be used for improvements to existing roads, and not new ones.

He and other borough staff presented two other alternatives for using the money, one for improvements to high-use and high-traffic roads; another a distribution of the money to Road Service Areas in the borough for local road improvements, and the third being to the priority projects approved by voters for the bonds.

A $1.5 million allocations was made for a Felton Street improvement and a proposed Multi-Modal Wasilla Depot was removed, with the balance of the $8.5 million in state dollars allocated to the bond road projects.

On other routine business, Brown, the borough manager, said a revised schedule for borough rates and fees has been developed and posted, and it will be up for a public hearing Dec. 21.

The assembly approved the use of $574,786 in state motor vehicle registration fees, which are shared with municipalities, which was in exces of what had been estimated and budgeted. The money will be used for upgrades to roads and bridges.

Approval was also given for installation of an underground water storage tank and vehicle pad at the Willow fire station. The lack of water storage, and 33,000 gallons is considered the minimum needed, is a negative factor in insurance ratings in the area.

In another action, the assembly approved a plan to rely mainly on electronic solicitations for service and commodity bids in procurement and to drop the procedure requiring publishing of solicitation in general circulation newspapers.

It costs roughly $225 to publish a legal advertisement compared with $77 for making the same information available online through an online provider. Going online, which is done now along with the publishing, has also brought in far more bids including from the Lower 48 with very competitive prices.

Concerns were voiced about lower-cost bids from out-of-state undercutting suppliers and vendors from Alaska and from within the borough. There is a local-bidder preference provision that allows, if the local bud is $2,000 higher than an offer from outside the region, that the higher-cost local price be approved.

However, this doesn’t make for much of a differences, others said. Anchorage allows for a $50,000 cost differential in its local preference, it wa said.

The assembly approved the electronic publishing proposal and left the $2,000 differential intact, but Assemblywoman Dee McKee said she will investigate the matter further and may propose an increase in the differential.

The West Susitna Access Project review and the gravel proposals took up most the meeting. AIDEA mainly wanted to update the assembly on the road, and said it was completing gathering of information and preparing to retain a contractor to submit applications for federal permits.

That action will trigger a required federal Environmental Impact Statement process, which will involve extensive public hearings.

Brian Emerson, one property owner in the Trail Lake area, near the proposed road route, was the first of the road opponents who voiced concerns Tuesday.

He said he feared industrial traffic on the road will spoil solitude and scenic qualities, devaluing his property.

The most heated commentary came during the earlier special meeting, on the gravel issues. Several homeowners objected to the proposal to increase the amount of gravel that can be extracted without a borough permit from 7,000 cubic yards per year to 20,000 cubic yards.

Without the borough approval there is no way for homeowners near gravel pits to be informed or to be able to voice opinions.

Gravel operators have promised to do land reclamation but it never happens, several people complained. The usual practice is to mine gravel and sell the property, now a “wasteland” for use as a storage yard, including for junked autos, others said.

There are also worries from some that the gravel pits are deep enough to be damaging ground water, which could affect drinking water in nearby wells.