Roads, sewage top city agenda

PALMER — How local residents get from Point A to Point B and their wastewater treatment top the list of regional issues city council wants to address.

Transportation and a regional wastewater treatment facility are immediate and high priorities, councilmembers agreed at a special meeting this past week.

“The council wants to keep tabs on this to see where we’re going,” Mayor John Combs said. “Both issues are extremely important to the community, so we need to follow this very closely and make sure it happens.”

Scott Hattenburg with Hattenburg Dilley and Linnell, an Alaska-based consulting firm, took center stage in council chambers to reveal options for a regional wastewater facility. In an overview of the project, he outlined important details, advantages and disadvantages of a regional facility that could serve Palmer, Wasilla and other areas of the Borough. Both Wasilla and Palmer have expressed needs to improve and expand their wastewater processing abilities and the Borough has in recent months discussed building its own treatment plant as well.

“This is a really complicated, complex project,” Hattenburg said about the potential for the entities to work together on a single regional project that would serve all. Despite the complexity of designing, funding and building a regional facility, Hattenburg is optimistic such a project could be done.

He raised the question — can it be done?

“From an engineering standpoint the answer is yes,” he said.

Although it’s possible, Hattenburg said there are issues to consider other than engineering, such as politics. With two cities, a Borough and state government potentially involved with a regional plant, it’s going to take a group effort to make it happen.

Hattenburg said a regional facility could cost $80 million to $100 million. Some of the larger items in that estimate include $10 million to $15 million for a waste transfer system. A septage facility is $5 million to $10 million and an outfall facility would cost another $5 million to $10 million. The price tag also depends on the technology used — a decision that hasn’t been made.

The engineering consultant said the project could take five to six years. A preliminary engineering report and environmental impact statement would be the first step, which would take about two years. One to two years would be needed for right of way acquisition and an additional two years for construction.

Along with preliminary work and construction, Hattenburg said creating a new wastewater entity is also needed. The entity would be something like a board-operated corporation.

Hattenburg also outlined the advantages and disadvantages of a regional wastewater facility.

“One of the advantages of doing this is that it resolves the problems each entity has,” he said.

In Palmer, the city’s wastewater treatment plant isn’t up to snuff. With the Environmental Protection Agency tightening regulations on effluent discharge, the city has until 2011 to become compliant. For Wasilla, it’s a matter of size. The city doesn’t have any permitting issues yet, but its facility won’t be able to handle future growth.

Hattenburg said another advantage relates to the cost of project and service. With a regional facility, state and federal governments would be more inclined to provide funding for the project. Also, with Wasilla, Palmer and the Borough involved, the cost of services would be spread over a larger group of people.

When it comes to disadvantages, the consultant said there are few issues to consider like cost, time and complexity.

“At this point there is a high level of unknowns,” he said.

Although the project presents challenges, Combs said it seems like the route Palmer would like to pursue.

“In my mind, it’s the best way to go,” he said. “If we get everybody together participating, it’s going to save money in the long run and the short run. It’s going to last us a long time and that’s what we have to think about. It’s not a patch job or something that just gets us by; we have to look at something that 20 to 30 years from now will be just as functional as when it gets built.”

Transportation

To address transportation issues affecting Palmer, representatives from the Mat-Su Borough and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities attended the meeting.

Brad Swortz, transportation and environmental manger for the Borough, ran through the list of projects the Borough hopes to address by 2015. The cost of the projects amounts to about $323 million:

• Bogard Road extension;

• Dogwood Street;

• Glenn Highway;

• Hemmer Road;

• Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Other projects that impact Palmer include updating the Bogard and Seldon Road corridor to a four-lane minor arterial and updating Hemmer Road to a two-lane minor arterial. Those projects are listed as improvements needed by 2025. Their price tag is about $55 million.

Jennifer Witt, regional planning manager with the state Department of Transportation, also reviewed a list of projects the state hopes to work on in 2008:

• Old Glenn Highway rehabilitation;

• Palmer urban revitalization;

• Mat-Su pavement rehabilitation;

• Palmer-Wasilla Highway intersection improvements.