Assembly cuts camp price in half

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly took a unique turn of events on Tuesday. Among the regularly scheduled business of the assembly was Ordinance 19-052, the reclassification of lands for the Great Land Christian Church and terminating their less than fair market value lease. Following extensive comment by members of the public and employees, Assemblyman George McKee made a surprising move and suggested an amendment to cut the price tag of the piece of land in half.

Ray Nadon was the first of the half a dozen members of the public who came to voice their support of the Gateway to the Arctic camp, which sits on the plot of land that the assembly accepted for half price on Tuesday.

“We run inclusive camps. We serve populations of the borough that are sometimes overlooked. Many underserved and special people have enjoyed experiences at the camp,” Nadon said. “We run a supportive employment program for people with special abilities which teaches them hands on skills and helps them cope with life. They make money, they learn skills and contribute to helping others.”

Nadon said he has been working with special needs individuals for over 25 years and always wanted a camp on which to teach. Nadon says that the rural environment is suitable for special needs individuals, allowing them to disconnect and avoid distractions. The camp has been running for six years allowing community service hours and employment opportunities to grow their own food and help to feed other members of the community. Nadon said that over 50,000 volunteer hours have been served at the Gateway to the Arctic.

“Why are we here today? We want to become sustainable to be able to expand our programs to meet more needs and to serve more people who need it. Why are we here? To make a difference, and to help many, both typical and special to grow and contribute to their community,” Nadon said.

McKee quickly called the question on the vote of the amendment, a savvy move he utilized three different times during Tuesday’s meeting alone. McKee’s amendment passed, and the Gateway to the Arctic Camp would only have to pay $59,980 for the piece of land. The assembly took a brief at ease following the passage of the amendment to discuss with the attorney a following amendment to the rest of the ordinance replacing ‘fair market value’ with ‘less than fair market value.’ That amendment also passed, but the assembly was not done. Assemblyman Jesse Sumner moved to invoke a reversion of 15 years, meaning that the owners cannot take the land that they had just purchased at half of the fair market value and sell it. The owners must wait 15 years to sell the land as the amendment passed with Tam Boeve and Jim Sykes opposed. The motion on the ordinance itself passed unanimously.

“This camp makes Alaska a better place. Not just for individuals with special needs but also for the families the staff members the volunteers and other typical developing campers,” said Greg Kessler.

The assembly did its fair share of calendar rearranging on Tuesday, rescheduling both the budget meetings and the timeline for the sunset of the Police Powers Advisory Committee. Following passage of language on the ballot that requires the Borough to explore the possibility of Police Powers, the Assembly voted to allow the Police Powers task force to extend the period for work until Dec. 1 and the commission will not conclude until May 1 of 2020. The deadline for the Police Powers task force had been June 30 for the end of the work and Dec. 1 for the end of the commission. Sumner argued that the Assembly should not encourage open ended commissions and wanted to see the work produced by the commission thus far and moved that the motion be continued until the June meeting with a progress report from the task force.

“I think that we can get you updated progress reports but since the first deadline is about a month away,” Sykes said.

The amendment to postpone failed and the motion as a whole passed, extending the deadline for the Police Powers Task force.

The assembly also engaged in a discussion on education funding, which has become an expected debate at each meeting since the dramatic cuts to education were proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The resolution continued appropriations to cover the full cost of education funding, including the full school debt service reimbursement.

“It is true that state of Alaska has some of the highest spending per pupil in the nation and some of the lowest results. The same is not true of the Mat-Su Borough. We have spending proportional to the national average when you adjust for cost of living and our results are not poor compared to the national average, but to ask that the state continues spending money as they have is to ask that the state continues to disproportionately fund ares outside the Mat-Su Borough in relation to population,” Sumner said.

Sumner added that the Assembly should ask for the school bond debt reimbursement to be repaid, which is spent proportionately in the Mat-Su Borough.

“I don’t think it’s wrong for us to ask for them to pony up for the formulas that are already in existence and make those payments,” Assemblyman Dan Mayfield said.

Sumner’s amendment failed, and the ordinance itself passed.

Near the beginning of the meeting, Borough Attorney Nick Spiropolous took the time that Manager John Moosey declined. Spiropolous gave the Assembly a refresher on the Mayoral veto coming down to the end of the budget period. Mayor Vern Halter’s veto functions similar to Dunleavy’s. The Mayor cannot change the mill rate, but only specific appropriations.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com