Palmer mulls growth options

December 3, 2006

By LEILA KHEIRY

Frontiersman

PALMER - While continuing to express concern about the fiscal affect annexation would have on the city, Palmer City Council members seemed more inclined to continue with the process of expanding city limits during a Tuesday

discussion.

Consultant Lamar Cotton was present at Tuesday's council meeting to answer questions. He said the incremental approach that Palmer is taking is best. That way, he said, the city can enlarge its territory slowly and analyze the results each time to see how far it wants to go.

Cotton said the city's annexation petition, which likely will go to the state's Local Boundary Commission in February for consideration, will include a budget to show how the city would provide services to the new territory, and how the city would pay for those services.

&#8220One of the first things they look at is, does it make sense from a fiscal standpoint,” he said.

Council member Tony Pippel, who repeatedly has expressed concern about the city's potential debt from the state-mandated public employees retirement system, asked whether the PERS issue would increase with annexation.

Cotton said the city's planned &#8220Phase 1” annexation would have a small fiscal impact, and the extra costs, including PERS, likely would be offset by the additional revenue. The city will have a PERS problem whether or not it enlarges its borders, Cotton said, but with a cautious, conservative approach to growth, the city can keep an eye on finances and figure out what it can afford.

For more information, including maps of proposed areas to be annexed, visit the city's Web site at www.cityofpalmer.org.

Cotton cautioned that annexation is not completely risk-free. However, he said, generally speaking, an annexation study from this past summer indicates the city can absorb more territory without hurting its finances.

Mayor John Combs reminded the council that the areas the city hopes to annex will be developed even if they are not in city limits.

&#8220It's going to happen,” he said. &#8220It's going to continue to grow.”

Combs said he would rather the city get the property and sales tax from that development and provide services to those areas, including zoning. With annexation, the city would have a say in what future development looks like, he said.

There has been decided opposition to annexation from the residents of areas that would become part of the city. Pippel asked whether that kind of opposition was common.

Cotton, who formerly sat on the Local Boundary Commission, said it is normal for people to resist annexation. It's primarily a fear of the unknown and a resistance to change, he said.

The important thing, said Cotton, is for the council to think beyond today. Annexation is about long-term planning, he said.

Cotton added that the people who don't want to be in city limits already are part of the community, they just don't want to pay for it. The people in territory to be annexed might not receive all the services the city can offer, but they do receive some, he said. For example, they drive on city roads that are maintained by city employees.

Council member Richard Best said many of those residents don't realize their taxes won't go up, and that the property tax payment would just switch from the borough to the city. That way, their money would go to services that benefit them, he said.

Council member Jim Wood countered that it isn't the taxes people seem to fear, it's increased regulations. The residents of areas outside Palmer are concerned that their burn barrels would be taken away, he said, and they wouldn't be able to keep chickens in their yards.

Cotton said the annexation process will include getting information out about how the city's regulations might affect residents.

Best said it is ironic how people get up in arms when something - such as gravel pits, race tracks or prisons - is proposed outside city limits, and they ask the Palmer City Council to do something about it, but they don't want to be part of the city. If they were in the city, the council would have a say in those projects, he said.

Council member Brad Hanson said that, so far, the city's annexation information has focused on how expansion would benefit the city. He said the city needs to focus more on how annexation would benefit the residents. For example, he said, the city has the power to apply for grants for important projects, and can be a voice for residents when new development is proposed.

Cotton agreed. He said &#8220What's in it for me?” is a fair question for residents to ask, and the city should strive to answer it.

Pippel asked whether annexation consultants were predisposed to recommend annexation.

&#8220If it was terrible, would you tell us?” he asked.

Cotton said he would, and he tries to not be biased. However, he said, he grew up in Palmer, and cares about the community.

A few residents of an area that likely would become part of the city spoke during the council's public comment portion of the meeting, and said they do not want to be annexed. Linda Yannikos, who lives on Bailey Hill, said she doesn't need or want anything from the city. She and her neighbors plow the road themselves, and each has well and septic systems that rival anything the city can provide, she said.

Yannikos said there is nothing the city can offer that the eight residents of her road don't have. She added that she and her neighbors do all their shopping in Palmer, and consider themselves Palmer residents. She also expressed concern that the Mat-Su Borough might eliminate funding for the Palmer Public Library, because she uses it often.

According to Palmer Finance Director Dean Baugh, borough grants fund about half of the Palmer library's annual budget, which was about $590,000 this year. The city of Palmer provides the rest, he said.

Larry Zenor, also a Bailey Hill resident, agreed with Yannikos, and said he is completely opposed to annexation of his neighborhood.

&#8220We have our wells, we have our privacy,” he said. &#8220I can still go behind a tree if I want to.”

Contact Leila Kheiry at 352-2270 or at leila.kheiry@frontiersman.com