Higher sales tax recommended for MUSC

WASILLA -- The steering committee for the proposed Wasilla sports complex wants the city to raise its sales tax by a half penny -- from 2 cents to 2.5 cents on the dollar.

Committee members and design engineer Jim Blair will present a conceptual design for the project just before the city council meeting scheduled Monday, Nov. 26.

The committee estimates the facility will cost $14.7 million to build. The committee is recommending a so-called sunset clause on the tax so it will be in effect for a maximum of 10 years, or expire as soon as debt on the sports complex is paid off -- whichever comes first.

Steering committee member Mike Krieber said this week that the committee is recommending a tax because otherwise the project could hurt funding for basic infrastructure needs.

"The steering committee didn't want to totally pull the rug out from under water and sewer projects," said Krieber, a legislative aide to state Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, and Wasilla's former economic development coordinator -- the city has left that position vacant since Krieber joined Kohring's staff.

Krieber pointed out that basic infrastructure such as sewer, water and roads helps drive Wasilla's economic growth by making commercial development within city limits more attractive.

The committee has also recommended that the sports complex be built on a site off South Church Road, just east of the city's airport. Dr. Curt Menard, who chairs the committee, said a dozen sites were looked at, and city-owned land was given priority.

"We didn't want to lay out a huge chunk of money for land," Menard said, "And from my point of view, I wanted a site that also draws people into the city -- not one that leaves them out on the edge."

There were other city-owned parcels on the committee's list, as well as parcels of state and Mat-Su Borough-owned property, and private property. One city-owned parcel was adjacent to the current Bumpus ball fields, where the city also plans to drill water wells.

Last spring that site was identified as ideal by both the Palin administration and the committee, but in interviews Palin also said options would be kept open. Menard and Krieber confirmed this week that neighbors raised concerns about the increased traffic the sports complex would bring. Krieber also said other long-term plans at the Bumpus tract have been through similar scrutiny.

Krieber and Menard pumped up the positive aspects of the South Church Road site. Church will eventually be connected to Mack Road to the south, providing a north-south corridor on the west end of town. Long-term plans also call for a railroad terminal nearby and a trail head that connects to the Susitna Valley trail system.

Quips about an indoor start for the Iditarod were popular last spring, but Menard says indoor seating for 2,100 and hangar-style doors make that suggestion a real possibility.

"It can be designed that way," Menard said, "and I think that would be a heck of a thing because while this is going on you also have the floor space next door for hundreds of vendors."

The price hike for the project is apparently a result of the committee attempting to meet the desires of several community groups with one project. That's also what Menard's "space next door" is about.

The committee has chosen a conceptual design that includes both an ice arena and a dry floor space that can fit three basketball courts. The two sides will be separated by a movable wall and the ice can be covered up to create one large convention hall. Wasilla has yet to attract an event that could use a space that large.

"We don't really foresee that happening in the near future," Krieber said. "This whole contiguous space will be one of the largest in Alaska -- until we get large trade shows, it probably won't be used that way."

The design shows 1,100 permanent seats on the ice side of the building, and 1,000 movable chairs that can be placed in different configurations.

Blair, of the Anchorage-based architecture firm GDM Inc., will make another visit to Wasilla for the open house prior to Monday's council meeting. Colorado-based architect Ken Ballard also worked on the project in association with GDM.

In meetings last June, Ballard pointed out that scheduling activities for the complex would be difficult if one room serves double-duty between dry floor and ice. At the June open house, Ballard suggested that while the ice generated revenues to help run the facility, that didn't mean it had more value for Wasilla's economy as a whole.

"[Indoor ice] will always outperform [convention space] in terms of getting the facility out from government subsidy faster," Ballard said. "However, the economic spinoffs from flat floor space generally outperform [the ice]."

And a one-room plan likely won't play well with Wasilla voters, according to Krieber.

"If we would have said, 'This is going to be a hockey rink and we'll cover it up occasionally,' it would go down." Krieber said.

The regular city council meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, and the first reading of the tax proposal is on the agenda. The tax proposal could be scheduled for public hearing Dec. 10. Menard and Krieber said the committee was hoping for a special election in May, and that committee members would campaign for it to pass.

See related story on Page A10.