Zoning tops borough concerns

It was a busy year in the Mat-Su Borough, filled with work on two of the assembly's priorities -- Port MacKenzie and Hatcher Pass. With more work slated for the coming construction season, the future looks bright for the two projects. Zoning also dominated borough discussions, with a final resolution passed in September.

Jan. 4

Fairbanks man files appeal to stop Hatcher Pass land transfer

MAT-SU -- Concerns raised by a Fairbanks student bent on stopping the state's plan to transfer approximately 3,000 Hatcher Pass acres to the Mat-Su Borough are largely unfounded, according to borough officials.

Borough manager John Duffy appeared indifferent Wednesday to a request for reconsideration asking Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Pat Pourchot to halt the department's plan to convey the Hatcher Pass land.

"It means nothing for us right now," Duffy said.

Jan. 8

A closer look at zoning

MAT-SU -- Zoning. This seemingly innocuous word carries with it a history of contention within the communities of the Mat-Su Borough, dating back as long as statehood and even before the 1964 incorporation of the borough. In a Sept. 15, 1960, edition of the Frontiersman the top headline reads, "City zoning sought by many residents."

Many feel the time has come for the borough's heavily populated core area to be divided into zones. Some Mat-Su residents and borough staff were surprised recently by a proposal to manufacture chlorine in a densely populated area near Four Corners. The borough presently has few ways to deal with such proposals except by drafting an ordinance that would prevent, regulate or steer the development of future similar industries. Zoning is one way to regulate such development without appearing to construct legislation geared toward a single industry.

But not everyone in the Valley agrees the current zoning plan is the way to go. The Mat-Su Borough Property Owners' Association placed a flyer in Friday's Anchorage Daily News encouraging borough residents to read the plan thoroughly. While borough planning staff refutes some of the claims made by the association, it is evident that many Valley residents are concerned about aspects of the proposed plan.

Jan. 29

Zoning decision has

a long road ahead

PALMER -- If it's not listed, you can't do it. That's the assumption Mat-Su Property Owners Association has been working under, and that's what sparked the group to put flyers in recent editions of the Anchorage Daily News speaking out against the current core-area zoning proposal.

"If it's not listed under B, C, or D, you can't do it," said MSPOA Vice-President Pio Cottini, pointing to the allowed uses (B), accessory uses (C) and conditional uses (D) subsections listed in the regulations for each zoning district.

"What we're saying is, if it's not spelled out to protect the public uses, the [Mat-Su] Borough could, in fact, deny you that use," said MSPOA President Eddie Grasser.

February 22

Meadow Lakes eyed for childrens' treatment facility

MAT-SU -- Pending Senate support of a bill offered by Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, Meadow Lakes may soon be home to Alaska's only childrens' mental-health treatment facility.

Michael Janecek, Meadow Lakes Community Council president, reported the council gave a unanimous thumbs-up to construction of the facility at their Feb. 13 meeting. North Star Behavioral Health System, he said, is currently negotiating with the borough for a parcel of land located near the intersection of Vine and the Parks Highway.

March 5

Golf course developer bails

MAT-SU -- Valley visions of a Jack Nicklaus golf course at the Butte finally evaporated with a Feb. 12 letter to the borough from E. G. Judd Walker of Pioneer Mountain Properties, LLC and Homestead Resort Properties.

In his letter, Walker relinquished the two companys' rights to the lease of 320 acres of borough-owned public land in the Butte area, citing lack of interest by investors, lack of a feasibility study, and Alaska's short growing season as major problems contributing to the decision.

Walker, in his letter, said he intends to apply for the southern 240 acres of the tract immediately upon relinquishing the lease, expressing a belief that there are more feasible ways to use the property that would benefit the public more directly.

March 19

Outlook good

for regional ski area

PALMER -- The Hatcher Pass ski area will take a step toward reality with the projected April completion of a comprehensive financial study that will help the Mat-Su Borough market the project to private developers and define the initial scope of the project.

That was the word from borough manager John Duffy and assistant manager Dave Germer during a public briefing held Friday, March 8.

"Economics Research Associates, the firm that is updating the financial feasibility analysis and completing a business model, has finished its first progress memorandum," Germer said in an interview Thursday. "One of the key points in the briefing was ERA's update of the market analysis done in 1995. They have found that the market has significantly improved since the last report was completed, and that a regionally based ski resort makes the best sense."

April 19

Hatcher Pass

to get electricity

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Assembly agreed Tuesday to use funds secured by Valley legislators to contract with Matanuska Electric Association to extend electricity to borough-owned land at Hatcher Pass.

Jill Reese, the owner of the Motherlode Lodge at Hatcher Pass and a Palmer real estate broker, testified before the assembly Tuesday and said she believed the line extension -- at a cost of $697,000 -- would be a boost to securing a developer for the borough's land.

"Being on a generator and radio phone for the last 10 years, that's been the biggest struggle [for] our business," Reese said. "[The proposed development] encourages me to think about expanding our rooms -- and that means more tourism and more bed tax."

May 7

Port is safe, vibracompaction

to be under way

MAT-SU -- Preliminary reports issued nearly two years ago indicated that Port MacKenzie could slide into Cook Inlet if the area were to experience an earthquake of significant magnitude. That finding remains in the Army Corps of Engineers' final report that was issued last month, but not everyone who has studied the facility agrees with those findings.

The Corps recently released its evaluation of the Port MacKenzie dock facility and Mat-Su Borough officials are looking forward to wrapping up some stabilizing work that will be done on the dock.

"I'm pretty optimistic," said port director Marc Van Dongen. "The compaction is what I'm concerned about -- I know that once that vibracompaction gets done, then the material will not liquefy."

May 17

Assembly lowers mill rate, addresses growth issues

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Assembly passed a $169 million budget Tuesday, with funding included to add organized financial setbacks, reorganize the borough's public safety division, fund education to the state cap and to establish a set reserve account.

To fund the budget, the assembly passed a mill levy of 11.702 mills, 1.4 mills lower than last year's levy. Residents outside the city limits of Palmer, Wasilla or Houston will pay an additional non-areawide mill rate of .443, in addition to any road or fire service area mill levies applicable to their area. For the average borough homeowner, based on the borough-wide average property assessment of $134,000, that would mean an annual payout of $1,628.05, as compared to last year's assessment of $1,806.72 for areawide and non-areawide mill levies.

June 4

Planning commission forwards core area zoning proposal

MAT-SU -- Six Mat-Su Borough Planning Commissioners agreed unanimously Thursday to forward the Euclidian Zoning proposal to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.

The core area zoning ordinance, the document that will be before the assembly, has not yet been scheduled for the borough agenda. But Borough Clerk Sandra Dillon said the ordinance will likely be introduced for public hearing on June 18, with two public hearings planned. As of Friday, the document had a few remaining steps to be completed before it was ready to be scheduled.

June 7

Smaller, regional ski area recommended in study

MAT-SU -- Area residents who have been enticed for years with visions of weekend getaways to a resort town in Hatcher Pass, purchasing overpriced ski clothes and staying in a posh resort hotel may have to be content, for now, with a place to park, a ride on a quad lift and maybe a sandwich.

"The mountain, I don't think, has enough total capacity … to become a major destination," said Gregory Cory, senior vice president of Economics Research Associates, the company that completed the recently released study of Hatcher Pass' development potential.

According to the report, the "highest and best use for the site" is permanent residential housing -- perhaps in the form of a "master-planned environment."

July 19

Zoning stalled, conditional use permits move forward

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Assembly Tuesday officially "parked" the Euclidean core area zoning proposal, opting instead to bring forward an ordinance involving conditional use permits with performance standards.

Assembly member Talis Colberg, when requesting that the motion to introduce both items for public hearing at an Aug. 13 public hearing be split, said he believed people's concerns with potential land use problems around them was better dealt with by performance standards.

"The end result is that [the zoning ordinance] is largely a document that concerns people … but does not limit nuisance-type uses," Colberg said. "It's best to stop the core area zoning ordinance and just proceed with the conditional use permits."

July 30

Port gets electricity

PORT MacKENZIE -- Eleven miles of 30-foot right of way has been cleared to Port MacKenzie, with electrical, telephone and cable lines soon to follow. Although out of the sight of many Valley residents, work at Port MacKenzie rarely slows its steady pace.

"We've got a lot of stuff going on," said Borough Manager John Duffy.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, earlier this month, awarded $225,750 to Peratrovich, Nottingham and Drage Inc. to design and engineer a deep-draft dock at the port. The design is expected to be complete by mid-October and will include preliminary drilling and geotechnical investigation, mapping and electrical design, in addition to the dock design.

Sept. 17

Bid protest halts

key work at port

MAT-SU -- An ongoing discrepancy in how the bid for vibracompaction at Port MacKenzie was handled has resulted in a cancellation of all bids for the project. The cancellation by the Mat-Su Borough means vibracompaction at the port will not be completed until next year.

The project would have completed key solidification steps deemed necessary

earlier this year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps, after several months of reviewing the process of construction at the port, said the vibracompaction would stabilize the port and ensure its ability to withstand a strong earthquake.

Sept. 20

Assembly passes CUP

MAT-SU -- After numerous revisions and two rounds of public testimony at the Mat-Su Borough Assembly level, the assembly agreed Tuesday through a split vote to adopt a more strict conditional use permitting process.

The process requires that expanding or new businesses must apply for a land use permit to determine whether a conditional-use permit will be required. Borough officials estimated about 10 businesses would qualify for conditional-use permits each year.

The new ordinance would include regulations for noise, traffic, hazardous materials, exterior lighting and odors. It would apply in addition to the existing conditional use ordinance, and has two tiers of permitting -- one for land uses that would have impacts on their neighborhoods at just above the performance levels allowed in the document.

Oct. 4

Incumbent wins while Wasilla seat too

close to call

MAT-SU -- Incumbent Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Jody Simpson will retain her seat on the borough's seven-member legislative body as a result of Tuesday's election, but the outcome in the second assembly race is a little less clear.

Four candidates vied for the Assembly District Four seat. Of the four, the race has been narrowed to two candidates -- Pat Marley and Mary Kvalheim. Their race, as of Tuesday night, was separated by only 12 votes. Candidates Dan O'Barr received 109 votes as of Tuesday night and Scott Lapiene received 96. Across the borough, nearly 600 absentee ballots and nearly 200 questioned ballots have not yet been counted, a task the borough's canvassing board began Wednesday. In the District Four race, about 250 questioned and absentee ballots were outstanding, Tuesday's results were still unofficial.

Oct. 13

Kvalheim wins assembly seat in recount

MAT-SU -- Ten days after the election was held for the Mat-Su Borough Assembly District 4 seat, Mary Kvalheim was declared the unofficial winner in the race. The race is scheduled to be certified Tuesday at 6 p.m., with her first meeting as a sworn-in assembly member to follow.

The borough's five-member municipal election counting team met for five hours Friday to recount the ballots in five of the eight precincts that voted in the district race. The recount was held at District 4 candidate Pat Marley's request, filed Tuesday afternoon. At the end of the day, Kvalheim won the race with nine votes.

Nov. 5

Quake damage hastens borough building repairs

PALMER -- Meetings generally held at the Mat-Su Borough building's assembly chambers are being temporarily moved to other locations while the east wall of the meeting room is straightened.

The wall has been tipping inward for several years, but borough Public Works Director Jim Swing said it worsened perceptibly after the Oct. 23 earthquake centered near Denali National Park headquarters.

"The problems were exacerbated by the quake," Swing said. "You could definitely see it had gotten worse."