Palmer council to mull growth

September 26, 2006

By LEILA KHEIRY/Frontiersman

PALMER - Annexation continues to be a topic of consideration for the Palmer City Council, which will take up two action memorandums related to expanding city limits during its regular meeting tonight.

The council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. at Palmer City Hall, 231 W. Evergreen Ave., Palmer. A time for public comment is scheduled.

One of the two annexation actions would award a $35,000 contract to Lamar Cotton to prepare an annexation petition. According to the action memorandum, he would help the city plan for the petition &#8220by working with staff and the city council to articulate the city's rationale for annexation, (and) develop an action plan and information sheets for the public.”

Cotton also would help city administrators prepare a transition plan that &#8220demonstrates the city can extend essential services into the annexed territory in the shortest practicable time. The transition plan will also address the transfer and integration of relevant assets and liabilities from the borough and borough service areas,” the memorandum states.

The second action related to annexation would set the proposed new boundaries. The city council discussed those boundaries during a special meeting Sept. 19, and opted for a smaller area than originally proposed. The council also expressed a desire to exclude developed subdivisions from the new city limits, because of the increased costs of providing services to those residents and because the residents oppose becoming part of the city.

According to the city's Web site, the city plans to send an annexation petition to the state Local Boundary Commission in February. The state then would review the plan, write a report and schedule a public hearing on the proposed annexation.

The LBC then would submit a recommendation within the first 10 days of the 2008 legislative session for legislators' approval. After that, the state would have to obtain clearance from the U.S. Justice Department, according to Palmer's Web site.

Under that schedule, annexation would become final in spring or summer of 2008.

For more information about the annexation plan, interested people can visit the city of Palmer Web site at www.cityofpalmer.org, and click on the link entitled &#8220annexation information.”

Also on Tuesday, the council is scheduled to consider a resolution that would increase water and sewer utility rates for city residents.

The resolution calling for a two-pronged rate hike stems from an analysis of the city's water and wastewater utility service rates, according to the council's meeting packet. The city hired Anchorage consulting firm Honchen & Uhlenkott Inc. to complete a revenue requirement study. According to the resolution, the firm recommended the city increase its water rates by 19.4 percent, and its sewer rates by 46.2 percent.

According to the firm's June report, the city's water utilities are operating at a deficit of more than $160,000. For sewer utilities, the revenue deficit is more than $251,000.

If the council approves the resolution, the increases would be implemented in two phases. Half would take effect on Oct. 1, and the rest would kick in on Oct. 1, 2007.

Contact Leila Kheiry at

352-2270 or at leila.kheiry

frontiersman.com