The Williwaw Project hopes to revitalize community, de-incentivize crime

The Williwaw neighborhood in Wasilla has for years been notorious for crime, squatters, addiction, and derelict housing, often leaving residents and visitors fearful.

But Williwaw has also been a community that has worked to take their neighborhood back, with residents banding together through conversation and action, hosting cleanups and building a neighborhood park.

This week, a massive cleanup project, dubbed the Williwaw Project is set to continue those community efforts, addressing ongoing safety issues as volunteers will be working to rid the neighborhood of garbage, debris, and junk cars and create a renewed sense of pride and security.

Mat-Su Borough (MSB) Assemblyman Maxwell Sumner, who represents District 4 and includes the Williwaw neighborhood said the project began while working with MSB Planning and Land Use Deputy Director Jason Ortiz to address a property in the neighborhood that has received multiple citations to clean up but has not complied.

“Jason really is to be credited. He took this and ran with it,” Sumner said. He is hopeful that this effort will reinvigorate the neighborhood and instill a sense of pride that will spread throughout, while also de-incentivize criminal activity.

“I am looking forward to seeing the results.” He is planning to attend every day and will be bringing equipment.

Ortiz, who oversees the private property cleanup program, set a huge goal of cleaning up over 400 lots during the three-day clean up making this one of the largest cleanup This will be one of the largest cleanup initiatives that the Mat-Su Borough has ever seen.

This is not a matter of the government coming in and taking over as the MSB has been working with the community. Homeowners and residents have to sign a waiver before volunteers or Borough officials can enter, and Ortiz said everything has been going through legal and other proper channels beforehand. Additional waivers will be collected if there is a need for demolition work.

Funding for the project is coming from a previous settlement the MSB received in a separate derelict property case from a different neighborhood in the Borough. This specific cleanup is estimated to cost $60,000, and local businesses such as Chepo’s will be donating food, while nonprofits like the Mat-Su Health Foundation, Families for the Improvement of Safety and Health (FISH), and organizations in the neighborhood like the Church of Latter Day Saints will be donating their time and services.

Ortiz said he is expecting dozens of volunteers Thursday and Friday, and is planning on 300 volunteers to help out on Saturday. Excavators, tow trucks, dumpsters will be on site throughout the Williwaw subdivision as people work to remove trash, junk vehicle removal, and some structure demolition. There will also be volunteers working on beautification projects and making minor repairs. Roads in the area will be impacted as some closures and restrictions are expected.

Organizers are asking for as many mowers and weed trimmers as possible as the Borough does not own that type of equipment, and of course more volunteers are invited to lend a hand.

While this may be the largest cleanup project, the Borough has been working to address derelict properties. In August, while addressing the State of the Borough, Alex Strawn, Planning Department Director highlighted a new project to address derelict properties in the MSB. “We received the message loud and clear…that if this is going to be the best place to live and play, we can’t have all these blighted properties.”

He said that the MSB is partnering with the non-profit Adult and Teen Challenge to coordinate a new program to clean up private properties at minimal cost. “Last year, we cleaned up 18 properties, some of the worst. This year, we’re on track to beat that,” Strawn said, adding that they are also working with the District Attorney’s office to create a diversion program, so instead of going through the entirety of the courts for a low-level crime, people can help cleanup properties as a positive alternative to prosecution.

The Williwaw Project cleanup will run from September 11 to 13 in the Williwaw subdivision off of Bogard Road.

The clean-up times are as follows: Thursday, September 11, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, September 12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, September 13, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.