Y group taps dollars

Change is on the horizon for the upper reaches of the Mat-Su Borough and the Y Community Council is hoping a weekend community event will help them lay the foundation for a future that takes those changes into account.

The event, scheduled to be held at Su Valley High School from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, will kick off with a community potluck picnic and discussion of the community's demographics.

That in itself, said event steering committee chair Tom Kluberton, is a challenge. The Y community, Kluberton said, encompasses nearly 600 square miles between Willow and Talkeetna.

"We intend to introduce the members of the Y Community Council area to each other," Kluberton said. There are, at last count, 808 registered voters in the community council area, and about 2,500 registered landowners. Half the existing structures, Kluberton said, moved into the area in the last five years. "There are some wildly diverse people. It's really difficult to get a sense of community out of this area because we are so large."

Friday evening, according to a schedule of events sent out by the council, attendees will break into discussion groups to identify goals for the area. That discussion will carry through Saturday. "It helps the community define their goals and issues," said Mat-Su Borough Planner Eileen Probasco. "It's a way to gather the community together and reach some agreement, and make some goals."

The borough is providing resources to help with the planning effort, along with significant assistance from the National Parks Service. NPS, Probasco said, has made funds available to the communities in areas that may be affected by the South side Denali Development expansion that is planned to take place in the next few years. As Probasco explained it, the funds are slated to help communities identify goals for their area so when NPS expands development in their area, the goals of the community are taken into account.

Kluberton said the community seems to have reached a crucial point in a need for future planning. Not only is the Denali development slated for the near future, expansion of the Parks Highway in the area could have significant effects as well. The Department of Transportation recently released a 2030 plan for the Parks Highway, analyzing development of the highway within that time frame. Several alternatives are mentioned for the Talkeetna Spur Road intersection, Kluberton said, including a bypass or interchange.

"It could quite easily be a similar situation to what Wasilla was 30 years ago," Kluberton said. Add to that mix the proposed Knik Arm Crossing, which could shrink the distance from Talkeetna to Anchorage and make the Y community another Anchorage bedroom community. All these things, Kluberton said, combine to create an impetus for setting out some goals.

"It really is the right time for folks to get out there and really pronounce what their vision is for the area," Kluberton said. The gathering is similar to the planning process Talkeetna just went through, which ended with an assembly adopted Special Land Use Plan for the area. The difference, Probasco explained, is that the Y community is working on only the first step of a journey that, in most communities, takes years to complete.

"They already had a plan in place," Probasco said of Talkeetna. "This weekend is kind of a kickoff to that -- to help them proceed with a borough comprehensive plan."

Kluberton said the Y community has, in the past, been averse to planning. The decision of whether the weekend's event will proceed to a comprehensive planning level at this time, he said, is dependent on the wishes of the community.

"The community council will look at it as an indication of whether we are ready for a comprehensive plan," Kluberton said.

For more information about the community gathering, contact Kluberton at 733-1457. Childcare will be provided at the event, but organizers said arrangements must be made as soon as possible. Transportation to the event can also be arranged by contacting Jack at 733-1080.