Palmer approves joining Metropolitan Planning Organization, but after extensive debate

After several weeks of discussion Palmer’s city council approved the city’s participation in a new Metropolitan Planning Organization formed to provide local guidance in use of federal transportation funds.

The matter has become controversial among some Palmer residents. The council held off on a final vote until last Tuesday. Approval came with six of the council voting in favor and only deputy mayor Pamela Melin voting no.

Council member Richard Best was a consistent critic over several meetings of the council, questioning whether an MPO, as an entity created separately from municipalities, might exercise an influence on transportation projects that Palmer residents might oppose.

MPOs are a relatively new creature under federal law and the regulations that guide them are “sparse,” Clint Andrews, DOTPF’s Mat-Su regional director, told the council on Tuesday. But because of that there is flexibility for the MPO members to design an organization that works best for them, he said.

Andrews and Adam Broadway, the agency’s regional planner, were at the meeting to explain MPOs and how they work.

“This is really about how decisions are made in the spending of federal money,” Broadway said.

The state transportation department manages the federal surface transportation program in Alaska, which involves several hundred million dollars annually in projects like highways and bridges.

In the absence of an MPO decisions on federal projects are made by the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities which consults with local governments but is not bound by their decisions.

An MPO changes that. In the Mat-Su the regional borough government and the two largest cities, Wasilla and Palmer, as well as the state transportation department, would be members of the MPO and make the decisions. Gov. Mike Dunleavy formally appoints the members of the MPO policy board under the federal guidelines.

Two other MPOs exist in Alaska in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Mat-Su became eligible when the 2020 U.S. Census determined that there was enough new population in the Palmer-Wasilla corridor for the area to be classified as “urban” rather than “rural” under federal rules that guide planning for fund allocations.

The organizations are intended mostly to give small communities stronger influence in the allocation of funds, the Palmer council was told.

Council member Richard Best that he still had reservations. He likes the idea of more local involvement in decisions, “but in looking at the voting structure (in an MPO) it seems driven from the top, not bottom-up. My biggest concern is that if there is a project the community doesn’t want the MPO could still decide to support it,” because Palmer could be outvoted by other members like Wasilla and the borough.

“I don’t want to meddle in Wasilla’s business and I don’t want Wasilla meddling in ours,” he said.

Best is also concerned that an MPO is legally formed as a nonprofit outside the structure of a municipality. Since the MPO would have its own staff, there is concern about a new, unknown entity blurring the traditional roles of elected officials in decision-making.

He would prefer rules that limit the MPO from advocating for a project if the community in which the project is located objects, he said.

Adler, of the DOTPF, acknowledged that MPOs are new and detailed federal rules are lacking but that he hasn’t heard of a situation were local community concerns were overridden. The process for planning and approval of projects even under existing DOTPF procedures are lengthy that there is a lot of community consultation.

But it is because an MPO’s powers are so new and yet to be defined that Best said he actually prefers the status quo where the state makes the decisions. “We’re used to this. We know who to call,” he said.

Despite the uncertainties Mayor Carrington and council member John Alcantra felt it’s better to be at the table when decisions are made. “I think this is something we should be part of,” Alcantra said.

Changes that were made by the council to the proposed agreement do provide some assurance, he said. Those include having elected officials on the MPO guiding body as well as a provision allowing Palmer to back out of it if things don’t work out.

Council member Joshua Tudor also said his concerns were eased by the opt-out clause and other changes. “We have an exit, so I restate my support,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Melin still had doubts, however. “I get it that it’s important to have a seat at the table, but I have a block of voters in my constituency who are very concerned about what this means,” she said.

Richard Best voted for the MPO in the end, but asked that the mayor write a letter to the governor asking him to make assurances of maximum local control as he gives final approval to the members of the body.