Safety of residents is borough’s priority

A private bridge, choked with ice, may be a contributing feature in the recent flooding of three parcels of private property along Wasilla Creek near Four Corners Lounge off Winding Brook Loop. The area is in a floodplain that has been mapped since 1984. A recent Frontiersman article and editorial on the problem missed key facts.

It is unjust to say that the borough responds to emergencies based on a person’s income level or stature. Has the local newspaper not witnessed the countless stories of borough employees saving lives, animals and property? Borough firefighters do not perform a background check before pulling someone out of a burning house, neither do borough emergency and floodplain managers before responding to a call for help. Every citizen counts. Borough employees exhibit this constantly through action.

On Jan. 31, the emergency manager met with a homeowner in the affected area, Winding Brook subdivision. He assessed that there was no life-safety issues, no need for evacuation and sheltering. He advised the owner on how to protect her home. The overflow threat from the creek was diminished then by freezing temperatures. The emergency manager drove by the area over several days, monitoring it. On Feb. 4, he paid a second visit to the residence. The homeowner said the overflow was back in the main channel, and she was no longer in harm’s way.

Early the week of Feb. 7, the borough flood plain manager met in the borough office with a different homeowner. They looked at the parcel on the floodplain map and saw its position among culverts. The floodplain manager asked Borough Public Works to learn whether the flooding problem was from a borough road or culvert. If it had been borough infrastructure this would have prompted the action taken just a few weeks ago on another creek, Cottonwood Creek. Borough culverts were frozen. Public Works steam-thawed them and relieved the ice jamming on that creek so water could flow. This creek, however, involves a private bridge.

For the Frontiersman to say no one investigated, officials only shrugged and handled the matter by a phone call, is wrong. Borough emergency responders have a history of protecting lives first and then monitoring residences threatened by rising waters. In October 2009, responders kept a daily watch on overflow waters near residences along Willow Creek on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass.

This Wasilla Creek situation is similar, but less severe. On Feb. 11, borough officials examined the site again. They found most of the overflow is frozen and not threatening property at the moment. A nearby state culvert has been blamed for causing the flooding, but does not appear to be the cause. Thaw lines in the culvert are above the level of ice. Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss personally contacted the state Department of Transportation in early February with a resident’s concerns.

The borough’s work here is not done. An effort for the summer will be to work with the bridge owners on a solution for water flow.

This weekend the emergency manager has also organized a sand bag filling effort with support from Colony High JROTC and Palmer Fire Department. One family is physically unable to fill sandbags. The borough will help place sandbags to prevent overflow from reaching the house. Overflow has not touched the house yet. Water in the basement is coming from seepage below ground. Another home is experiencing seepage into a garage.

Borough officials recognize the difficulties for residents who own property in a flood hazard area. Many neighborhoods have formed alliances and special service districts to help address such hazards. The borough encourages these efforts.

Patty Sullivan has been public affairs director at the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for five years.