Palmer City Council honors Combs, wrangles over spending

PALMER — The Palmer City Council sped through their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb 13 at City Hall. The Council amended the budget, renewed a liquor license for the Palmer City Alehouse, gave a grant to Who Let The Girls Out and honored Linda Combs with the Golden Heart Lifetime Achievement Award after the brief meeting.

Lorie Koppenburg, owner of Vagabond Blues and the Purple Moose, spoke as part of the Palmer Downtown Merchants Association in favor of the City Council’s grant from $1,000 to $1,500 for the annual Who Let The Girls Out Event April 20-21.

Councilman David Fuller questioned the grant and then the amount, later.

“They’ve got quite a budget that a $1,500 donation isn’t going to make or break this event, whereas, say, to one of the local foot races, that $500 goes a long way… I think we could spend this money better down the road with other organizations,” said Fuller.

Deputy Mayor Richard Best, who often leads the charge against spending too much money too often, disagreed.

“When we originally kicked off these community council grants, the intent was to sponsor events that bring folks into the community. This has been the premier event,” said Best.

Councilwoman Sabrena Combs noted that this event encourages residents outside the Valley to attend, and much of the WLTGO budget is used to purchase advertising space and airtime in Anchorage.

“This is one of the events in Palmer that brings one of the largest crowds from outside Palmer. It has a strong history of bringing folks from Anchorage,” said Combs.

Fuller moved to limit the grant to $1,000, which failed without a second to the motion. The motion to grant the Downtown Merchants $1,500 passed unanimously.

The Council approved resolution 17-001B, which City Manager Nathan Wallace described as end of year housekeeping in preparation for the federally mandated audit in March. The checkbook balancing included what Wallace described as “voodoo math” with funds transferring between the Water and Sewer fund and the Airport to pay off a debt the airport owed.

The Council voted unanimously to purchase upgrades to the burn room and training facility from WRG Fire Training Simulation Systems, Inc. The building had been built in 1980 and not updated since then. It is used for fire training by the Palmer Fire Department including Butte and Sutton Fire Departments, and other units throughout the Valley. The sole purchase of $79,142.40 was approved after two bids for construction came back unsatisfactorily.

The Council also voted during the consent agenda to rezone the airport, purchase three trucks for $114,877, and a brush chipper. The trucks come at a discounted price because the City piggybacks on state purchases, which is why they did not go out for bid. One half-ton pickup will be used by Water and Sewer, one for Public Works that will be shared with the Fire Department as well as one for the building inspector that will be shared with the Fire Department. Only one of the current vehicles will be retired, as the current vehicles will be distributed to other city departments.

The Council passed a resolution listing the City’s priorities for Capital Project spending. The unanimously passed resolution lists the Waste Water Treatment Facility as priority number one. Bogard Road water main extension, road paving, Cobb Street, and Palmer Police Department and Alaska State Trooper upgrades round out the top 5. Projects that are ‘shovel-ready’ are higher on the list.

The Council finished business in under an hour for cake as longtime Councilwoman Linda Combs was honored with the Golden Heart Lifetime Achievement Award.