Mat-Su assembly sets borough’s priorities for 2024 legislative session

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly adopted its state legislative priorities for 2024 at its Nov. 21 meeting.

Many requests are recurring, including school debt reimbursement at $16.9 million this year and continued support for state highway projects that are underway, like the Glenn Highway reconstruction.

The assembly will meet with local legislators Dec. 19 at the Mat-Su Legislative Information Office.

There are new items on this list this year like a $38.1 million request for state funds matching a similar amount for local bond funding for road projects. It’s possible, however, that the bond funds, and the state match, might not be needed if federal or other money for the road projects can be found.

Also new is support for an Enstar Natural Gas “trunk line” to the Houston area that will allow for an expansion of gas distribution lines north of Houston toward Willow.There are now gas transmission lines to Houston but the capacity is not enough to support peak demand periods in winter.

The price for this is estimated at $47.6 million, an amount that will likely require federal funding along with a match from the state.

The borough is also asking for support for a state-built 18-mile public road and bridge on the Susitna River, which will open recreation access to lands.

This is the first stage of what could be a 99-mile road to areas where mining companies are exploring for gold and other minerals west of Skwentna, but the assembly stopped short of full-blown endorsement for the project because local opinions are deeply divided.

The 18 miles of road to the Susitna and the bridge would be built and paid for by the state using mostly federal dollars, and would be open to the public and maintained by the state.

Beyond the river there is a proposal for an industrial road that would be controlled access and not open to the public. It would be built by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, the state development finance corporation, and paid for by mining companies through fees for using the road.

The toll road concept is similar to what AIDEA did in financing the Red Dog Mine road and port in northwest Alaska in the mid-to-late 1980s.

It's not clear when or even if this road will be built because mineral explorers in the area will have to find a lot more ore before one or more mines can be built. There would be no cost to the state or borough but there would be no public access either.

Another borough priority is to convert uncompleted railroad embankment for what was to a rail extension to Port MacKenzie from the Alaska Railroad main line near Houston. The cost of this is estimated at $72 million, mainly for reconstruction of several bridges that were designed and built for trains, not automobiles and trucks.

Other items include:

• $10 million for upgrades of non-borough roads that were built decades ago and not to borough standards. Many of these have substandard gravel base, lack sufficient right-of-way and sufficient sight-clearance. They were not built to bear the amount of traffic they now carry. State funding would be used to upgrade these roads to borough standards.

• $2 million for the planned Wasilla-Palmer water system connection. This money would be to support design and permitting for future federal funding for the interconnect to serve the borough’s core population areas.

• $5 million for a joint public safety building in Willow that would serve as a fire and emergency response facility. A building now used is considered inadequate and even unsafe. A new facility would house a Willow fire department and a full-time Willow-based ambulance and rescue services.

Currently there is no emergency medical service in the Willow area. Law enforcement officers would use the building on an as-needed basis. The borough has already funded $3.5 million for the project and the request is for additional state funds to finance the fire station.

In education, the borough is joining other municipalities and school districts for an adjustment to state school funding to account for inflation. The formula guiding state school funding has not been changed in six years.

At the same time a similar increase in pupil transportation, or school bus, funding is requested, again to adjust for inflation. This program has not seen an increase since 2015.

The borough is also requesting $58.6 million for a 70 percent state match to construct three new charter schools: American Charter Academy; Birchtree Charter School and Academy Charter School. Existing space for these schools is insufficient to meet growth and leases for buildings are set to expire in the next few years. Borough land has also been set aside already for the three schools.