Palmer bond skims by voters

PALMER — The official count is in and the outcome has flipped for a bond proposition city voters were asked to approve in Tuesday’s election.

The city of Palmer counted absentee early and questioned ballots this week. Those voters looked more favorably on the bond question, adding 73 votes to the “yes” column and 43 in the “no” column. Those “yes” tallies were enough to put the bonds over the top by six votes, 421 to 415.

Palmer City Clerk Janette Bower said the election results will be certified at the Palmer City Council meeting Monday.

City Manager Doug Griffin, who has been on the job for all of a week, said one of his first tasks as manager will be to work to sell the $3.3 million in bonds and then negotiate with property owners on a price the city can live with.

The property consists of 8.7 acres in what the city has referred to as the “Matanuska Maid” block of downtown, bordered by Dahlia and Dogwood avenues, South Valley Way and South Denali Street.

“The voters have told us to go sell some bonds to buy that property,” Griffin said, which means the city is, “back in the game on looking at what to do with that old Mat Maid property.”

The bond proposition came about under former manager Bill Allen, who said he felt $3 million was a fair estimate for what the properties were worth. He also said the city would be cautious to make sure it would get a good deal.

The property includes a bookstore — Alaska Books — a fuel hauler — Crowley Petroleum Distribution — and some properties that have been idle for some time — those of the old Matanuska Maid storage and powerhouse buildings. The iconic Palmer water tower is also a part of the property.

Borough property records put the assessed value of the seven parcels at around $1.9 million. The city said the process to obtain the properties should take around 12 to 24 months.

In that time, the city council might choose to decide what exactly the city will do with them.

This has been a source of debate in the city for some time. There are some who see it as a perfect place for a community and conference center. Others would like to see government offices there. Still others think it would make a good police station or park.

Status quo

On a related note, the city of Wasilla also counted its outstanding ballots in the tail end of last week. The new votes did not change any of the results. The Mat-Su Borough’s outstanding ballots were still outstanding at the close of business Friday.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.