Meadow Lakes Council secures community land

MAT-SU -- With an option to purchase 40 acres of prime land in Meadow Lakes for $8,000, plans for a Meadow Lakes community center are looking up.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, Tuesday, unanimously passed an ordinance dedicating 40 acres to the Meadow Lakes community council and setting aside the adjoining 120 acres for future gravel removal.

The community council has been looking for several years for land suitable to build a community center. According to Ron Swanson, the Mat-Su Borough's director of community development, a lease by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources recently expired on 160 acres near the end of Barbi Drive and Kim Drive, off Beverly Lake Road.

In 2002, the borough received a patent to the land. Community council members discussed the proposal in April and approved the location, providing no gravel is extracted from the 40 acres they requested.

"The time delay of a decade or more to complete the mining operation before beginning construction of a community center is unsuitable to our needs," wrote William Browne, president of the community council, in a May 18 letter to Steve Cypra, borough land chief.

The agreement to prohibit gravel extraction works in the community council's favor, Swanson said. Instead of assessing the land as a mineral-rich piece of property, a mining prohibition will limit the assessment value. Swanson estimated the 40 acres would assess at about $80,000, and nonprofit groups using land for public purposes can purchase the property at 10 percent of that cost.

Willow community council members said they have raised enough money to cover the purchase price of the property, but are considering other methods of fundraising to get the community center built. They're continuing to collect funds from pull-tabs sold at the Borealis Beach Club, a fund-raising effort that started about five years ago. They also received a donation of land from the Johnson estate, property owners who live in the area and sought to invest in the future of the community council. One of the two parcels donated to the community council has been sold, Browne said, and the sale of the second parcel is currently in negotiations.

Members of the council who serve on committees geared toward getting the center built are searching for applicable grants and donations that may help them along the way.

When Swanson gave a report to the assembly on the land, some assembly members questioned why the sizable chunk of land was needed to build a community center.

"There's no restriction on subdividing, to sell a portion to raise the funds to build a community center?" Assembly Member Jim Colver asked.

Swanson said the community council was prohibited from selling the land to raise funds -- nonprofit groups can purchase the land, but a stipulation accompanies the land, stating that it must be used for a public purpose.

Since selling it would allow the land to be owned privately, the land would no longer be used to benefit the public, so such an action would violate the purchase agreement.

Colver said he was looking for a way to allow the community council to use the land to generate funds to help build the community center. He asked whether a portion of the 40 acres could be used for gravel-mining operations, so the royalties from the sale of the gravel could be used to raise money. Swanson stipulated that the community council was not interested in mining the land.

"And, the reason it was prohibited was so the gravel didn't become a part of the purchase price," Borough Manager John Duffy added.

Several Meadow Lakes community members testified at the Tuesday meeting, encouraging the borough to dedicate the property for community use. Many said the community was growing quickly, and needed a community center to help unify the area and give people a place to gather.

"Every time we have meetings, we have to get permission from the fire hall or school," said Rose Johnson, a Meadow Lakes community council member.

"The community is definitely behind this project," said council president William Browne, adding that at a meeting in which the land was discussed, 60 people from the community attended and only two spoke against the plan, stating concerns that their taxes may be raised.

Browne told assembly members the community was aiming to make the center self-sustaining by allowing it to be rented out by local Boy Scout troops and business groups.

Steve Johnson told the assembly the council isn't looking to build a large facility -- initially, he said, it is just looking for a portable building. He said he believes the center will generate benefits far beyond the community council borders.

"I see the potential for future building projects," Johnson said. "This will be an excellent boon to the community and neighborhood -- and the borough."

Assembly Member Betty Vehrs, a former community council member who worked extensively on the project while president of the Meadow Lakes Community Council, recused herself from the meeting, stating later that she felt it would appear improper for her to vote on a project she had organized, helped raise funds for and even helped identify property for while she was council president. In her absence, other assembly members spoke up in favor of the plan before passing it unanimously.

"These are people working really hard at developing their own community," Assembly Member Mary Kvalheim, a former Meadow Lakes resident, said.

"It's really generated a cohesive community feeling - now we've got something to really work toward," Vehrs said after the meeting. "We're trying to carve out our own unique identity, and this is going to help it immensely."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.