State includes $135 million for Valley

MAT-SU — Though the bill is still waiting for its date with the governor’s veto pen, for now at least $135 million is heading to the Valley from the state’s capital budget.

“I have to admit: Palmer did a little better than they usual (do),” said Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Butte, in a house press release before referencing recently departed Palmer Rep. Carl Gatto. “Thank you, Carl, for the lift.”

Overall, the budget totals $3.3 billion for fiscal year 2013, including $227 million for airports, $780 million for surface transportation like roads and highways, and $63 million to catch up on deferred maintenance of state facilities.

As for what’s in the budget, items range in size from tens of millions of dollars to a few thousand.

The largest Mat-Su appropriation was $32.2 million to match money the Mat-Su Borough intends to borrow to complete a list of road projects. The smallest was $5,000 earmarked for equipment and supplies at Pioneer Peak Elementary School.

Schools from Goose Bay Elementary to Burchell High School to Fronteras Charter School to Glacier View Elementary and many points in between also got grants.

But the budget contains quite a few large, high profile projects for the borough.

Probably most notable is the $23.5 included to continue the project bringing rail service to Port MacKenzie. The state is still considering funding that project with borrowed money rather than with tax revenues.

Roads also got their share of appropriations.

If the capital budget passes as-is Fairview Loop would get $10 million for reconstruction. Knik-Goose Bay Road was the target for another $10 million. Reconstructing the Glenn Highway from Mile 34 to Mile 42 — the stretch between the Parks Highway Interchange and Palmer — scored $20 million with an additional $900,000 to realign the highway at Mile 49.

In Wasilla, Lucus Road is slated for a $1.5 million upgrade, and road service areas from Big Lake to Butte to Caswell got grants, mostly in the $30,000 range.

Looking over the budget, it’s clear Stoltze wasn’t joking, at least not about Palmer getting quite a few appropriations.

The city is slated to receive $725,000 for its MTA Events Center project, $2.5 million to buy property for a wastewater project, $780,000 for public safety and $252,000 for water mains, among other things.

The city of Wasilla got $50,000 to build a pavilion at the amphitheater in Iditapark, $500,000 to fix that troublesome dam on Lake Lucille, $150,000 to work on its transportation plan and $175,000 to contribute to its library project.

Speaking of libraries, Talkeetna is due for a $2.8 million appropriation in the budget to build its library.

And Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults has a $4 million appropriation in the budget to build a new facility.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.