Growth, sales tax and coal-bed methane heat up forum

MAT-SU -- There are several hot issues before candidates seeking a Mat-Su Borough Assembly seat on Oct. 5, and these candidates had a chance to discuss a few of them Tuesday.

Four candidates for Assembly District 1 and 2 seats took part in the Frontiersman Candidate Forum, held Tuesday at Colony High School's theater. A fifth candidate, Tom Bergey, said Wednesday he did not receive a mailed letter of invitation to the event, and no follow-up call to Bergey was made prior to the event.

The assembly candidate lineup present at the school on the snowy day were: Bruce Bush, incumbent District 1 assembly member; Lynne Woods, challenging Bush in his bid for re-election; Bill Allen, District 2 incumbent, and Helene Antel, who is challenging Allen.

The four answered questions on a variety of topics, but audience members seemed to focus on a few specific topics in the questions they posed -- coal-bed methane, the proposed one-percent sales tax and a perennial favorite, Valley growth.

Antel said the three are linked, and the borough assembly needs to begin addressing some of the problems now.

She said she wants the assembly to begin planning for the future, while it's still possible. And to raise money for future needs, she said, will mean finding new sources of revenue.

Allen said he believes the most significant impact of the ongoing growth is on the school district. The rapid rate of development in the Palmer area is placing more pressure on the school system, Allen said, and expenses to the borough from incoming families far outweigh the property taxes they pay.

"It's $24,000 in expenses, and about $2,000 in income," Allen said. "We can't do that."

When asked by the audience if they would vote to protect private-property rights of borough property owners by regulating and closely monitoring the coal-bed methane industry, every answer was "yes."

Antel said she supports regulating the coal-bed methane industry, and has held that stance since she decided to run for office.

"The assembly regulates land use, and it's important for the assembly to be sure hydrochloric acid is not pumped out of the ground onto people's land," Antel said.

Bill Allen said he sees the coal-bed methane issue as a blessing in disguise, but not for the reasons some may assume.

"It calls on the assembly and the mayor to sit down and do some planning -- and that's scary," Allen joked.

He said neighborhoods should, through planning, have some say in deciding whether drilling is appropriate for them.

"It's a balance of quality of life and industry," he said.

Woods said she supports local control. She pointed out that she's from Sutton, where the discussion got its start, and said she believes the assembly needs to take a stronger stance in dealing with development.

"The assembly should start being more actively involved in the development of the borough," Woods said.

Bush said he, too, supports regulations -- and has throughout the CBM discussion. But, he said, input into those regulations should come from many parties.

"The state owns the subsurface, at least on private property," Bush said. "We're going to have to work with the state."

Bush said he's been working with the state on another issue -- that of illegal behavior taking place on public land in the Jim Creek area.

Although the assembly voted down a measure that would have set up a field office for use by Alaska State Troopers within the fire department building in Butte, Bush said he's worked with troopers to find ways to patrol the area more often.

"It's not just about this issue," Bush said. "If we stop it in the Butte, it'll spread to another area."

Woods said she, too, has spoken with people in the area about illegal activity, and some asked her to be sure the area isn't closed altogether.

She said while she's not interested in closing the area, she does support action already taken by borough staff.

During his closing statement, Bush told the approximately 40 people assembled that it was crucial that both he and Bill Allen keep their seats on the assembly at this time.

"Let's not have this assembly change right now -- we can't let environmentalists and user groups have control of the borough right now," Bush said. "Get the word out there -- we've got to keep my seat and Bill Allen's seat on the assembly; it's very important."

Woods, as she wrapped up her comments, said she wasn't aware she was a user group. She said she sought the assembly seat because she hoped to represent the people of the borough, not any particular group.

Allen didn't reiterate Bush's plea in his closing comments. He restated his qualifications and asked people to get out and vote -- if not for him, then for Antel, who he said was a worthy opponent.

Look for more candidate information, along with where candidates stand on the proposed one-percent sales tax, in Sunday's edition of the Frontiersman. Absentee and early-in-person voting has begun, and voting in the municipal elections will take place Oct. 5.

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.