Palmer Council split on South Eklutna vacation idea

PALMER -- A proposal by St. John's Lutheran Church in Palmer to expand their facilities over the space now occupied by the adjacent South Eklutna Street is proving to be a bone of contention among members of the Palmer City Council.

St. John's wants to expand its church and its associated parking lot into an area currently occupied by the road, which would necessitate Palmer giving up the access it affords.

The road provides a thoroughfare between East Fireweed Avenue and East Elmwood Avenue in downtown Palmer, with exits near the Palmer baseball fields and St. Michael's Catholic Church. The issue at hand is whether Palmer is willing to surrender the street in the interest of helping the church, or whether the city desires to retain its access with an eye to future developments in the area.

Dave Nufer, speaking for the church during the public hearing allotted by the Council Tuesday, stated that vacating the street would not only help the church itself, but would provide increased safety for the area's youth and elders.

"The street is rarely used and not essential to the city," he said. Nufer added that he would like to see Palmer reach out to St. John's in the same manner as St. John's reaches out to the city.

Steve Probasco with St. John's also spoke in favor of the vacation.

"We see this as a very positive step for St. John's," he said. "This is in the best interest of all concerned."

Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Bill Allen also spoke on the church's behalf.

"This is obviously a very important project to both our community and St. John's," he said. Allen said the vacated land would be used for a multi-purpose church extension that would prove beneficial to the whole community, and that keeping the street in place could be hazardous to churchgoers.

"That street, with through traffic, is going to cause a safety problem for many members of our parish," Allen said. "That facility that we build is going to serve the whole community."

Tom Healy, Palmer's city manager, noted that he had sent a memo to city departments and utilities, notifying them of the prospective change, and that MTA, MEA, and the Palmer Police Department all said they have no objection to the proposed vacation. MTA, Healy said, stated that they had a buried line on the west side of the existing road, but would be happy to accommodate the church as long as St. John's provided them an easement to access the line.

Palmer Fire Chief Dan Contini voiced concerns in a written response to Healy's memo that the street contained two fire hydrants and vacation might not be very good for the public.

Healy said the city would receive the fair market value of the vacated area from the church, including improvements made to the street, and that the figures would be reduced slightly, owing to MTA's desired easement and the cost of a professional assessment of the area.

According to Palmer Public Works Superintendent Rick Koch, there is not significant traffic on the road section in question.

Discussion of the matter then ensued among council members. Council member John Combs said he would like to help the church if possible, but didn't want to eliminate a city street. He suggested that building the church extension across the street and installing a lighted crosswalk or other pedestrian-friendly facilities on the street might be a good alternative.

"I can't get behind it as it stands," he said, "but I'd like to figure out a way to accommodate the church."

Council member Tony Pippel said his heart was with the parishioners at St. John's, but that he couldn't put his support behind the vacation.

"They don't come any nicer than people at St. John's," he said. "I know I'm going to make a lot of people very unhappy, but I'm not sold."

Pippel said he was wary of setting a precedent for the vacation of additional Palmer streets; if the city yielded on South Eklutna, they might also have to yield on other proposed vacations.

"If we say yes to these guys, how do we say no to anyone else?" Pippel asked.

Council member Brad Hanson spoke in favor of the vacation, despite noting that he was reluctant to vacate public property.

"There's nothing further that this street is going to contribute to anyone but the church," he said.

Council member Ken Erbey added that he had only used the road once, by accident.

The one point of agreement among the council members seemed to be that this decision could not be made easily. Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper said he believed it was in the best interest of the city to give up the street, but there was by no means a simple solution.

"Some decisions are harder than others, and this is a gut-wrenching one," he said.

The council will vote on whether or not to vacate the street at its May 11 meeting.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.