Summer brings Government Peak construction, fully staffed borough parks

A large new parking lot, new mountain biking trails and alterations to a hill often used for sledding at Government Peak Recreation Area are slated for the summer parks and trails construction season, while parks across the region are already fully staffed for the first time in years, MatSu Borough and recreation officials say.

The updates planned at GPRA, which could also include a ski stadium expansion, will be done through Borough capital projects funds or as part of nonprofit efforts through Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers and the MatSu Ski Club.

The largest of those, a new paved parking lot, will be located downhill and across Mountain Trails Drive from the current parking area, officials said, with construction to start as soon as heavy equipment can be moved over Valley roads. The current parking area regularly overflows during cross-country ski events, and doesn’t have enough capacity for crowds expected during the 2024 Arctic Winter Games, they said.

“So this will serve as essentially an overflow parking lot for large events and those sorts of things,” said Cole Branham, a Borough construction manager who is overseeing the project. “One hundred and thirty-four spaces will be added with the parking lot. And then there will be a walking path that comes out of the back of the parking lot and parallels Mountain Trails Drive, and then they'll tie in at the top of Mountain Trails Drive where the parking lot is for the existing chalet.”

Dirt and rock known as “fill” removed during that project will then be used to alter a hill behind the chalet. Commonly used for sledding despite the Borough’s annual “no sledding” warning signs, officials said the hill currently is unsafe for that use. By slightly changing the slope of the hill to add a longer runout and taller berm at the end, Borough officials said they’ll be able to make it safe enough to officially open it for sled use next winter.

Officials with the MatSu Ski Club said they’re also working with the Borough’s contractor to use some of the fill dirt to grade and create a larger, flatter area for ski race starts, beginner skiing and the club’s popular Junior Nordics program.

Above the GPRA ski hills the Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers hopes to open a pair of new mountain bike trails aimed at advanced users. Construction on the trails, named Field of Dreams and Gnarski ‘n Hucks respectively, was started last year but derailed by July rain, said Nick Decovich, a board member for the nonprofit. Now the bike-only trails, which are to offer spectacular views of the Knik Glacier, will open as soon as construction and weather damange repairs are complete.

“My gut tells me if [weather] stays normal -- mid-June and we can get these trials opened up,” he said.

Elswhere in the Valley, the Borough’s parks are already fully staffed for the season with no employee shortage worries, said Hugh Leslie, the Borough’s recreational services manager. That’s a big difference from the last year few years when the pandemic and resulting recovery made it difficult to find staff, he said.

“The year we had more people than we had jobs,” he said. “Plus we also had a high number of returning employees. So not only do we have full staffing, we have full staffing with experience.”

Matanuska River Park and Jim Creek camping areas will both have camp hosts on site when they open late this month, Leslie said. And the Borough has added an entirely new role to it parks team: a nights and weekend-specific employee to respond to after-hours campground or parks problems.

“They'll be able to deal with concerns. Where most of our full time staff wouldn't be around,this person will be able to,” he said. “What it's there for is to make sure that the campers are in their spots, that they aren't being disturbed by other campers, that the on-call staff has the support of a permanent employee that if there's an accident, for example.”

Among their tasks will also be parking fee enforcement. A mid-2021 change to Borough code means users who don’t buy an annual parking pass or pay the daily $5 parking fee can be fined $40. That fine can be converted into the fee for the annual pass by visiting the Borough office. Before 2021 ignoring the parking fee carried no penalty.

In 2020 the Borough brought in $60,000 through parking pass sales and fines. In 2022 the total was $121,225, with 75% coming from online sales. As of May 5 the Borough has collected $92,195 in parking fees for 2023.