In meeting going to midnight, borough assembly votes down controversial gravel extraction proposal

The Matanuska Susitna Borough Assembly went to midnight Tuesday night to get through a packed agenda that included two controversial items, one an ordinance taking the limits off gravel extraction and a second establishing rules for shooting ranges.

The gravel extraction proposal was defeated after extended public testimony, so that rules requiring conditional use permits for gravel pits are left in place.

However, a proposed repeal on an ordinance regulating shooting ranges was approved, meaning there will be no rules on shooting ranges in all parts of the borough except in populated areas.

The gravel pit ordinance has attracted a great deal of opposition including from gravel pit operators, who feel existing rules offer a good balance between needs of the community and the industry.

Assembly members voted down the proposal with only two in support.

In another action the assembly approved a proposal to ask voters whether there should be term limits on members of the assembly.

The assembly also approved a Local Improvement District, or LID to extend a natural gas line to property owners in the Forest Lake subdivision.

A majority of the owners returning ballots approved the extension, which would be a cost to the property owner of $2,600 for the installation.

LIDs are financing instruments commonly used for local road and sewer and water improvements as well as utility services like for natural gas.

Borough finance director Cheyenne Heindel told the assembly that the payment obligation to an individual property owned would work out to $311.06 paid twice yearly.

Of 33 ballots mailed out, 20 were returned with “yes” votes; six voted “no” and seven of the ballots were not returned. The ballots not returned were considered “no” votes in the borough’s count.

Several people speaking in opposition to the adoption of the proposal claimed that the borough did not include costs when it sent out information, but Heindel, the finance director, said pricing was included in the information sent.

One opponent said he was pleased with how he was currently heating his home, was on a fixed income and did not want to have the charge imposed for a service he did not want.

A supporter, however, said having natural gas would be a blessing and less expensive than propane that she is now using, which requires a $978 payment every six weeks. “I’m on a fixed income, too, so I hope the gas line goes through. Otherwise I don’t know how I’ll heat my home. I’ll have to sell,” she said.

Tammy Alexander, the resident who initiated the petitions, said several of her neighbors who were heating with propane asked her to do it and supported the initiative.

Assembly members urged the property owners to consider other proposals in the future, such as for a “non-continguous” LIDs that would extend service only to those property owners signing up and would not to those who don’t sign.

Concerns expressed by several on the assembly included the coercive aspect of forcing the service on people who don’t want it and the payment obligation thrust on property owners who say they don’t need or want natural gas. Also, the positions of those who didn’t return the ballot are unknown.

There would be more comfort within the assembly if there were a larger number of property owners supporting it, several assembly members said.

The borough previously had a policy of requiring 70 percent of property owners to agree to an LIP, but this was changed to 50 percent.