Letters to the editor

Reader takes exception to West Susitna article

To the Editor:

I take exception to Bradner’s July 30 article that the “State is shifting course on West Susitna; will build shorter recreation road instead of 110-mile industrial road”. The state is not shifting course. Whether it is the ADOT or AIDEA doing it, this 110 mile industrial mining road is being pushed forward. The state has not fooled the public. This $88.5 million project listed in ADOT’s draft STIP plan for 15 miles isa just one of many stepping stones in planning on getting 2 ton ore trucks penetrating the heart of our fish and wildlife lands, our residential areas, and commercial economic areas. And the $88.5 ADOT current cost could escalate to $200 million. The Cooper Landing go-around project has cost two and a half times the original cost. By segmenting the road plans into separate parts, the idea is to decrease public opposition to this misguided attempt to use federal and state public funds to build a road for an international mining company. Our borough and state roads and bridges are in terrible shape. We do not have enough state troopers to patrol all our current roads as it is. ADOT’s STIP plan that lists $88.5 million for West Su, does NOT list the Wasilla bypass or other current projects. What is up with that? September 3 is the comment deadline for STIP. Voice your concerns via email dot.stip@alaska.gov, voice mail 855-925-2801 Pin 2191.

Becky Long,

Talkeetna

Benka Lake: A symptom of Borough mismanagement

The Mat-Su Borough is allowing a wealthy Anchorage resident to go unchallenged after blocking South Lakeview Street in Talkeetna; cutting off public access to Benka Lake and effectively seizing public property. The resulting community upheaval throughout the Upper Susitna over access to Benka Lake is largely due to the unconcerned attitude of borough officials and mismanagement of public resources by the Matusuka Susitna Borough. For decades, the borough and state have invested money and resources supporting public access to Benka Lake via South Lakeview Street.

Residents of the Upper Susitna began using Benka Lake before it was officially platted in 1965; that is more than 58 years of use and investment by the public. Neighbors living next to the lake, as well as the entire Upper Susitna community, use the lake year-round for swimming, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. The borough constructed South Lakeview Street and a boat launch decades ago. In 2022, an Anchorage resident constructed a fence blocking South Lakeview Street and a water drafting station used by the Talkeetna Fire Department and borough road maintenance crews.

In an August 2022 memo to Borough Manager Mike Brown, the borough noted that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has used South Lakeview Street to stock Benka Lake with fish since at least 1994. According to Alaska Fish and Game, it has been stocked since 1967 with nearly 600,000 fish. The same borough memo acknowledges Lakeview Street has been, “...used by the public for decades as a primitive boat launch,…there appears to be no dedicated easement reserving public access to the lake, and...no easement or reservation was held to preserve the existing access for public use.” After all this time and use the borough, with barely a whimper, is allowing a part-time user to seize a road, a lake, and block fire department access.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Comprehensive Plan was last updated 18 years ago. The plan set goals to “Protect and preserve natural resource areas” and created a policy of “[Working] cooperatively with numerous resource management agencies, community councils, and citizens to care for lakes, wetlands, streams, rivers, and wildlife habitat and corridors while providing public access for recreational opportunities that have minimal impacts to such areas.” The borough also adopted a policy to, “Identify and retain public lands that are appropriate for future public facility use.” This is the same plan, in which, they highlight the benefits of a 75-foot setback around water bodies.

The writer of the borough plan concluded by writing, “...there is a tendency [after writing a plan] to put the plan away and to consider the planning task complete. This is not and should not be the case. A community is seldom a stagnant place; especially considering the rapid population growth the borough is experiencing.” Benka Lake is a symptom of a larger problem of the borough failing to manage and protect public resources and the willingness of borough officials to sit back and let residents fight it out on their own.

Chris Hall,

Talkeetna