Roof money not in budget

Legislators say Su Valley repairs ‘a tough sell'

February 17, 2006

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - After months of hand wringing, sign waving and energized public meetings of Talkeetna-area residents, their long-expected roof replacement for Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School might not happen after all.

Last fall, engineers discovered that the 33-year-old Su Valley roof was improperly designed to hold average snowloads for the region and that without a temporary snow-removal plan, the roof might collapse. Borough and school district officials established a snow-removal plan which allowed the school to remain open this year, with the ultimate goal to replace the roof as quickly as possible.

At first, Mat-Su Borough School Board members considered asking the borough assembly to place the roof on a special spring election ballot, which would have allowed residents the chance to approve a $5 million bond for the roof. Assembly member Betty Vehrs went before the school board recently and reported that Valley legislators advised her and other assembly members not to bond for the roof because they planned to secure funding through the state.

The school board listened, and on Tuesday, the borough assembly approved a special election for $39.7 million in school bonds but did not include the Su Valley roof.

On Wednesday, however, Valley legislators said securing state funds for the roof is now a long shot.

&#8220It is going to be a tough sell,” said Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su. &#8220We don't generally give districts like ours money to do repairs without them issuing bonds.”

Green added that it will be difficult to convince fellow legislators that the Su Valley roof is an emergency when students are currently using the school.

&#8220If a building is occupied, is it an emergency?” she said. &#8220If the building was vacant, then the conversation is a little easier, but it is hard to sell to others when it is being used.”

Many school and borough officials expected to see funding for the roof repairs in Gov. Frank Murkowski's supplemental (or emergency) budget. Vehrs said she grew concerned when that didn't materialize. Now that Green and others are saying it will be difficult to get roof repairs in the capital budget, Vehrs said she feels misled.

&#8220The delegation led me to believe that it wasn't a slam dunk but with their juice they could get it done,” she said Wednesday. &#8220If our senior senator and our hard-working delegation can't get a measly five million dollars when the state is awash in money and the only opposition is their own party, then something is wrong.”

Green, who co-chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said there's still a chance she might be able to convince her fellow committee members to include the roof repairs in the supplemental budget.

&#8220We will certainly try to make that move,” she said. &#8220What I would have to do is move that it be included in the supplemental budget and get approval from three of my Senate Finance members - that will be a tough sell.”

Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Mat-Su, said that if the roof doesn't end up in the supplemental budget, there are no guarantees it will make it into the final capital budget later in the legislative session.

Neuman said legislators in the capital are saying that they already granted the Mat-Su Borough a $40 million bond package for schools last session.

&#8220The leadership is asking why we didn't use that to fix the roof,” Neuman said. &#8220Now other districts are saying, ‘if you're going to give special appropriations to Mat-Su after giving them $40 million, we want stuff, too.'”

Rep. Vic Kohring acknowledged that there's a long way to go, but he remains hopeful that Su Valley could still see its roof.

&#8220I hope and pray that the Legislature prevails in this because this really is a safety issue,” he said, adding that he planned to work with members of the House and Senate Finance committees.

Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Mat-Su, visited the school earlier this year and told area residents that he planned to work hard for funding. Huggins did not return repeated phone calls throughout the week regarding the Su Valley roof status.

&#8220Maybe it wasn't as important to anyone else as it was to us,” Vehrs said, speaking on behalf of her Su Valley constituents. &#8220I felt I was given strong signals by our legislators. I'm very disappointed.”

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.