Millions for Mat-Su in Capital Budget

JUNEAU — Included in the state’s $2.2 billion capital budget passed in Juneau last week is about $140 million to fund an assortment of projects around the Mat-Su Borough.

But until Gov. Sean Parnell signs the bill, he may still strike items from the capital project list.

Rep. Bill Stoltze, a Chugiak Republican whose district also includes a healthy portion of the southern Mat-Su Borough, said the budget’s price tag is a little more than he would have liked, but it brings closure to some projects that have received incremental funding in previous years.

“We did our best to keep a lid on it, but there was the emergency issue with the (UAF) power plant and there was the issue of our legacy projects like the university buildings and the statewide library and museum project,” Stoltze said. “The longer they were phased out, the more they were going to cost us. This takes the burden off of whomever was going to work on this budget next year.”

Stoltze said capital budget priorities largely featured roads and other infrastructure projects, many of which were given a boost when the budget moved from the Senate to the House.

Some of those items include:

• An additional $2 million for Bogard Road Extension, bringing the total to $7 million;

• An additional $2 million for the rail extension to Port MacKenzie, bringing the total to $13 million. That’s $8 million above Gov. Parnell’s original offering;

• $1.6 million in matching funds for the borough’s transportation school access bonds;

• $1.235 million of newly appropriated general funds for the borough’s Gateway Visitor Center;

• $900,000 of newly appropriated general funds toward Joe Redington Sr. Jr./Sr. High School utilities extension;

• $200,000 in newly appropriated money for safety upgrades to the railroad depot in Palmer;

• $150,000 for Wasilla Police dispatch upgrades.

The capital budget is usually the last item for legislative approval because some bills may have items that need financial coverage from the capital budget.

Of course, it wasn’t all big railroads and new buildings.

The city of Houston received one of the smallest grants heading to Mat-Su: $19,740 to work on records and information management.

City clerk Sonya Dukes outlined the problem in a Frontiersman story in January.

She said the city currently stores its records in rooms that are prone to flooding and that no one any idea what’s in all the boxes.

The city of Wasilla got a couple of earmarks that will benefit the entire borough — $25,000 to fund Mat-Su Youth Court and $100,000 to continue funding the Valley’s Sexual Assault Response Team.

The so-called SART team was dormant for several years before being revived this year.

The budget also doles out money to community organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, Mat-Su Food Pantry and Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc.

The smallest dollar amount in the budget headed to Mat-Su was $5,000 to provide matching funds for a federal grant to the city of Palmer.

The largest: $50 million for the Department of Transportation to built the second half of its Parks Highway reconstruction project.

The project rebuilds the road from Wasilla all the way to Big Lake Road.