Palmer City Council debates Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center grant

PALMER— The Palmer City Council approved a $2,000 community grant to the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center, $2,000 less than the center was asking for. Among other regularly scheduled business, the council also approved the appropriation of more than a half-million dollars of federal funding for airport runway maintenance.

Deborah McGann and Ralph Baldwin spoke in support of the grant, detailing the difficulties of snow safety in Hatcher Pass, with an ever-growing community of skiers, sledders, and snowmachiners venturing into avalanche territory. The Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center is volunteer run. Hatcher Pass has seen nine avalanche fatalities since 1999 and four in the last three years, including Dr. Liam Walsh, whose family started a foundation to help avalanche awareness. The foundation has funded the erection of three ‘are you beeping?’ signs to help make recreators more aware of snow dangers.

Backcountry skiers venture from the Turnagain Pass to Hatcher Pass when the weather on the inlet turns bad, and although the forecasting in Turnagain is done seven days a week from federal funding, the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center hopes to produce two forecasts a week.

“We can see on social media and the number of times our forecasts are checked that there’s a lot more interest, and it’s growing so this is an important resource to the community, to the city of Palmer, all these people are coming to recreate at Hatcher Pass,” Baldwin said.

Deputy Mayor Richard best voiced his concern over the amount of funding issued to a source that would not immediately be in the city limits.

“You mentioned the number of people that have died in the mountains and I want to challenge us to think about the number of lives that have been saved through programs like this, so adding another day of forecasting is really impactful,” Councilman Pete LaFrance said.

Best originally moved to change the amount to $1,500. Councilman Richard Fuller moved the amount to $2,000.

“We’re picking up the slack of the Fishhook Community Council and I think we’ve only got $3,500 left in the community grant itself. I’ve got no problem doing $2,000 again this year but I’d like to see some more of the number is guess,” Fuller said. “We are the only government organization supporting this endeavor which is a great way to label us as the gateway to Hatcher Pass.”

LaFrance said it was a good problem to have with so many organizations asking for help, and suggested that the amount of $10,000 in grants for the year be amended to include more funding. Best argued that there should be a $5,000 grant for public safety endeavors in and outside of the city limits.

“When Dr. Liam Walsh died in 2014, his mother was just shocked and appalled that we did not have any kind of regular forecasting there. At the time we had two volunteer forecasters, but they were not on staff so it was just do the best they can do,” McGann said.

The funding would allow for a second weekly snow forecast in Hatcher Pass.

“Although we see a lot of people recreate in Hatcher Pass we don’t have that luxury,” McGann said of the lack of forecasting.

“I think when we think about these grants affecting our economic growth in Palmer we have to think about the greater Palmer area and not just the city limits because it’s those things that draw people to our city,” Councilwoman Sabrena Combs said. “Countless people flood through Palmer on their way through Hatcher Pass they need somewhere to eat, they need somewhere to shop on their way. They stop and buy skis at Backcountry. To just limit these funds into city limit type organizations is a silly idea, I support the full $4,000...I feel like we shut down a lot of organizations wishes because we’re waiting for something, when people have taken the time to see how much money we have and apply for it. We should reward that behavior.”

The council approved the $2,000 grant for the Avalanche Center. The council also heard testimony from Tom Robertson, who has argued at each government meeting for a pipe to connect the public pool to the road so that Fire Departments could use the water if they run out in the winter. No body had yet issued public support for the project, which Robertson has been working on all year. Members of the Valley Performing Arts, Collin Christiansen and Janel Gagnon, sang to the Council.

“I think this is the first time we’ve had somebody sing to us,” Mayor Edna DeVries said.

Christiansen and Gagnon sang “Do Re Mi” from the sound of music to thank the council for allowing a sing-a-long at the Palmer Depot.