Hatcher Pass — Show us the trails

Over the past 20 years, the Mat-Su Borough has spent millions studying a downhill ski area at Hatcher Pass, yet you still can’t take a ride up on a chairlift.

Based upon my experience with the Borough and the multitude of ski area plans, a Nordic ski trail system at Hatcher Pass is the most feasible and most accomplishable project for the Borough to undertake at this time. I am a tireless advocate of enhanced skiing opportunities at Hatcher Pass, but I am also a realist with private sector experience. Financing ski lifts has always been, and continues to be, the 800-pound gorilla that keeps lifts from ever getting off the ground. The private sector has determined the alpine development is too risky of an investment. When the time is right, the ski lifts will be eventually built.

As part of its plan, JL Properties designed a Nordic trail system on the south facing slopes of Government Peak at the entrance of Hatcher Pass. The Borough owns these trail plans designed by engineer and Olympic skier Bill Spencer. When I was on the Borough Assembly, my colleagues and I reasoned that if the project started out with building the Nordic trails, the public would have something lasting to use even if the alpine area again ended up just another study on the shelf.

We successfully pitched that idea to our congressional delegation. Senator Stevens was especially supportive of the Nordic “geezer trails” we proposed and $1 million was later appropriated. Former assemblywoman Betty Vehrs and I were also successful in advocating for a $3.4 million federal earmark for the westerly extension of Seldon Road. I also worked to successfully secure and set aside $500,000 in Borough funds to use as a match for the federal funds.

What happened after I left the assembly? In February the assembly accepted $850,000 in federal funds, appropriated $84,000 in Borough general funds and awarded an environmental impact study (EIS) to an Anchorage firm for $374,000. To spend federal money on a project, an environmental study has to be completed first.

In June — oops, the Borough hit a pothole; the Alaska Department of Transportation wouldn’t release the federal funds because DOT was enforcing an arcane federal rule. The assembly then requested Congress reauthorize and bundle the earmarks for Hatcher Pass, Point MacKenzie Road and Seldon Road for a retooled Hatcher Pass ski area development totaling approximately $5 million.

Of note, two years earlier I had informed the Borough manager of a consultant who could help the Borough jump through the hoops and receive the federal funding directly instead of through DOT.

At a meeting in June, in a classic frequently employed rush maneuver, the Assembly was told it was imperative to get on with the environmental studies during the summer and, lacking any federal dollars, $374,000 of the Borough Nordic trail funds were used to fund the studies. To date only $29,000 has been expended with very little progress on the studies.

This past December, the Assembly approved $50,000 to hire a retired Borough employee to manage the study, again using the Nordic trail funds. The Borough manager argued it is necessary to hire a consultant to figure out the operation and maintenance costs for the Nordic and alpine ventures and to present some financing options for an alpine ski area.

What more can be studied that we haven’t already learned? There are enough studies of Hatcher Pass to wallpaper the state of Iowa.

Over the years, the Borough has contracted for soils studies, topographic mapping, water suitability studies for snowmaking, multiple finance and economic analyses and economic impact assessments. It has commissioned a private-public finance plan, designed Nordic trails, designed ski lift locations and alpine trails, and installed an electrical extension. Also included as part of the effort are land management plans, leases and a 2,000-acre state land grant.

What are the finance options for a downhill area? A viable lift system, day lodge and snowmaking will cost $15 million to $20 million. The bottom line is capital will still have to be raised as a private or public venture and that has always been an insurmountable hurdle. Before spending the federal funds on more studies and consultants for an alpine area, show me the money for the lifts.

The Borough administration appears to be pursuing a rehashed alpine ski area without the revenue generating ancillary residential development while paying lip service to a Nordic ski trail system — after spending nearly all of the $500,000 set aside for building Nordic trails on more studies. The $5 million in reprogrammed federal transportation funds is designated for roads and trails. The Borough needs to spend this money as promised on a Nordic trail system, including road access and parking. The alpine area and associated development have always been a bit controversial, but the proposed Nordic trails have enjoyed broad public support. This winter, the trails could have hosted many of Anchorage’s canceled high school ski races.

Quit studying an alpine area and build the Nordic ski trails.

Jim Colver is a Mat-Su School District board member and a former Mat-Su Borough Assembly member, deputy mayor and planning commissioner. Contact him at colver@mtaonline.net.