Palmer Built This Course on Purpose. Now We Should Protect It on Purpose.

By Ronald J Bissett, Steve McComb, Ashton Good, Mary Ekiss, Bryan Ekiss, Michael Borgford, Anna Dickason, Dave Dickason, Michelle Grimes, Jeremy Grimes, Deb Meier, Tracy Verrall, Bert Verrall, Kelly Selmer, Tom Selmer, Don Borega, Greg Berberich, Chris Sant, Dean Beaulieu, Dianna Luffberry, Randy Luffberry, Steven Loyer, Bob Pence, Carla Pence, Melinda Kolivosky, Joel Stefanski, Mindy Stefanski, Kristine Johnson, Kat Green, Colby Green

We are writing as residents who want to see our City Council and Mayor take the clear, lawful, and financially responsible step to protect the Palmer Municipal Golf Course: pursue an FAA Release of Obligation for the golf course property.

This is not a fringe idea, and it is not “anti-airport.” It is a practical solution that ends uncertainty, honors voter intent, and lets the airport focus on real priorities like safety, security, and basic infrastructure. The golf course is City of Palmer property that resides on airport land. An FAA Release of Obligation is exactly as it sounds. It releases the golf course from the airport boundary and gives the City of Palmer full control.

This Palmer Municipal Golf Course was created by the citizens of Palmer for local use. In 1987 and 1995, Palmer residents voted to approve the golf course, leading the City to issue the bonds necessary to develop our community asset.

Bonded land reflects public intent. Palmer residents made a deliberate civic decision to invest in recreation and quality of life for the long term. No one voted for a course that would be perpetually treated as a temporary placeholder. And now, the community has spoken loud and clear: residents and families, visitors to the Mat-Su, non-profit supporters, and local business owners all agree that we want a municipal golf course that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

We keep hearing a scary talking point: that an FAA Release of Obligation would “cost the City millions.” This is simply untrue.

Any required compensation tied to a release is not a payment to the FAA, but to the airport. Since the City of Palmer owns both the golf course and the airport, this amounts to a simple transfer – from one line in the City ledger to another. It’s the City of Palmer paying… the City of Palmer.

While the accounting matters legally, the dollars remain within the City. And the City can use the golf course’s existing revenue performance to support repayment over time – an approach that protects both assets.

Also worth noting: Palmer successfully completed FAA Releases of Obligation before in 2015 and 2018. Palmer is experienced in the process and can make it happen again.

A Release of Obligation does three things Palmer badly needs right now:

First: It ends speculation.

Residents have watched the story shift week by week – from a sudden “compliance emergency,” to closing the course due to nesting eagles, to converting golf course holes into floatplane use. We still don’t understand why there is a push to find problems with the golf course. These measures have been described as “solutions looking for a problem” and that pattern has only deepened public confusion and mistrust.

Meanwhile, the community’s foundational planning document is openly acknowledged as outdated. In September 2025, the Planning and Zoning Commission stated Palmer’s Comprehensive Plan (last updated in 2006) must be updated. That warning is echoed again in City documentation (AM 25-096). Yet land-use direction is being advanced anyway through an Airport Master Plan process. Both things cannot be true at once. In the absence of an updated Comprehensive Plan land-use decisions should at minimum honor voter intent.

Second: It protects a revenue-generating asset while avoiding massive new costs.

The community has repeatedly pointed to the City’s own estimates that paving over the golf course to expand the airport could cost $10–20 million, before environmental review, ongoing maintenance, and supporting infrastructure… and for what purpose? That is not fiscally conservative governance – especially when the golf course already exists, is already paid for, and generates ongoing revenue for the City.

And the public use is real: community materials note more than 30,000 rounds were played at Palmer Municipal Golf Course last year. That represents families, seniors, youth, visitors, and local spending. You don’t eliminate something that’s working and then commit taxpayers to an eight-figure price tag to replace it with uncertainty.

Third: It helps the airport do its job.

Airport users and tenants have been clear that priorities include airfield lighting, pavement maintenance, fencing, fuel theft prevention, and operational accountability. A successful Release of Obligation would provide an injection of funds into the airport to help address these concerns. In contrast, expanding the airport and paving over the golf course doesn’t fix lighting or pavement, stop theft or improve safety. It just removes a functioning community asset, increases costs, and eliminates ongoing revenue for the city. This golf course expansion is a conflict that does not need to exist. A Release of Obligation draws a clear boundary and allows airport leadership to focus on safety and infrastructure, which is where everyone agrees attention is needed.

We respectfully ask the Mayor and City Council to:

1. Direct staff to pursue an FAA Release of Obligation for the Palmer Municipal Golf Course property.

2. Keep the golf course out of future airport expansion scenarios unless and until a demonstrated and documented aeronautical need exists.

3. Communicate transparently about costs, timelines, and how any internal fund transfers would work, so that the public is not misled by “millions to the FAA” rhetoric.

Palmer can support a safe, well-maintained airport and keep a voter-approved, bonded, revenue-producing municipal golf course. The most responsible and ethical way forward is clarity – not conflict.