Palmer sets June 8 deadline for new city manager applications; Current manager Moosey stays at his desk

Palmer city manager John Moosey is having to delay retirement and stay at his desk until his replacement can be hired, Moosey said Thursday.

Retirement had been planned in mid-June but the city had to reopen the position for new applicants following a procedural error in the hiring process.

There were two applicants who had been interviewed by the city council. The new application deadline is June 8. It is now known whether the previous candidates will re-apply, and there could be others.

Meanwhile, Moosey remains at his desk until the process is completed, which is expected to be sometime this summer. Moosey is a veteran municipal administrator who was previously the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Manager before taking the city job in Palmer.

Despite the delay, at the Palmer council meeting May 28 Mayor Steve Carrington announced a retirement party for Moosey on Wednesday, June 12, at The Depot, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m.

In other comments at the council meeting Carrington reminded people of the upcoming Colony Days celebration in Palmer June 7, 8 and 9. Colony Day is an annual event organized by the Palmer Chamber of Commerce that celebrates the founding of the Palmer community after the Alaska Railroad was built to the site of a trading store serving a small number of local farmers and the Dena’ina indigenous people.

Palmer’s future was secured when the federal government founded an agricultural colony in the mid-1930s for farmers from the U.S. midwest adversely affected by the economic depression affecting the nation.

In other coming events Carrington also reminded the council of the June 26 “Take Pride in Palmer” celebration.

Other items mentioned at the council meeting included operations at the Palmer airport being affected for two weeks in early June as work on runway aprons and taxiways proceeds.

Aviators will still be able to use an alternate runway and the airport will be fully open for emergency flights and operations by the state Division of Forestry, which operates fire-response flights at Palmer. Part of the reconstruction involved 16 new “tie-downs,” or parking places for general aviation aircraft.

The new tie-down sites will also have electricity service, the first of this available at Palmer. Installation of a new runway lighting system will also be complete next year to bring the airport into compliance with new federal rules. The federal government will pay 98 percent of the cost of this, Moosey told the council.

In other city news, Palmer has received the final $551,000 payment on the city’s $1.4 million insurance claim for damage from the 2022 windstorm that hit the Mat-Su region, the city council was told.

Also, a report on the city’s contracts with various nonprofits will be completed and available on June 2. The city depends on nonprofits for a large number of public services. The city’s review is to ensure consistency in contract procedures, Moosey said.

In administrative approvals, the council authorized the city manager to use $569,000 from the city’s water and sewer fund for the purchase and installation of two new ultraviolet disinfection systems from Trojan Technologies to replace the disinfection system at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

A state grant of $4,480 for the state’s “Click it or Ticket” program for vehicle seat belt enforcement was also accepted by the council for the Palmer Police Department.