Meadow Lakes Community Council receives 40 acres from Borough

WASILLA — The Meadow Lakes Community Council recently received 40 acres of land from the Mat-Su Borough.

Council members are currently working on a plan to utilize the newly donated land to expand their existing outdoor recreation area.

“It’s beyond belief. That was a major, exciting event,” Meadow Lakes Community Council secretary, Patti Fisher said.

Fisher said the Council plans to construct a new multi-use park area that will adjoin the existing Meadow Lakes Community Park, which is run by volunteers and available to the public free of charge. She said the new land will help them double their overall recreation area, allowing them to install new trails and outdoor infrastructure to be enjoyed by the Meadow Lakes community and anyone else who wants to spend time there.

According to Fisher, it took about a year of working back and forth with the Borough to get to this point. She said the Borough plans to use several acres around the area for gravel mining, but there will be buffer zones in place to separate the industrial activity from the outdoor recreation and the residential areas.

“It was an absolutely marvelous partnership that we formed with the Borough to get this done,” Fisher said.

The Council is currently gathering input from the public when putting together the design for the new park. Fisher said they’re hoping to have a finalized plan with some land cleared this year, and start developing trails next year.

“The land is still very heavily wooded. So, we will have a lot of work to do but we’re not going to sit back and let it not happen,” Fisher said.

According to Fisher, one of the main motivations behind seeking the additional land was to help MAT+SAR Search and Rescue have a large area for training purposes. MAT+SAR is a local nonprofit organization that utilizes search and rescue dogs to recover save missing people across the state.

“They have been looking for a home. That’s what prompted me to write the Borough,” Fisher said.

In the past, the Council has been able to launch important projects like the existing community park with the help of local partners such as MEA and the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Fisher said they plan to apply for grants and look for other ways to gather up the funds to make the most of the 40 acres donated to their organization. She said that she’s confident they’ll make it work since she’s witnessed Council members accomplish notable feats for the community’s benefit over the years.

“I’m just so proud of the volunteers we have that step up. I can call on them and they get things done. It’s a marvelous organization,” Fisher said.

For more information, visit mlccak.org or visit membership@mlccak.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com