By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
The Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting Monday, Sept. 21, had a full agenda. The board received submission of grants from non-profits, reviewed and voted on next year's preliminary budget and received reports from State Sen. Con Bunde and Anchorage Assemblywoman Jennifer Johnston, both of whom were in attendance for the meeting.
A letter from the city's Ethics Board to GBOS member John Gallup was also briefly discussed.
During a legislative report by Sen. Bunde, a question was raised by GBOS Chairman Jake Thompson regarding a grant for $1 million for Glacier/Winner Creek development.
“At a meeting we voted for that money not be spent for that,” Thompson said. “I would like to see that money spent on something we'd like on other projects.”
Bunde said the money can go back into the general fund or Anchorage-wide district, but it's more likely to stay in Girdwood.
“There are moneys that are out there that are tied up in these projects, started by other groups,” Bunde said.
“My recommendation is for a Girdwood Rec. Center,” said Thompson. “That specific project (Glacier/Winner Creek) was not generated by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors.”
Jennifer Johnston also addressed funding for Glacier/Winner Creek.
“It's a federal earmark, it's kind of a no man's land,” she said. “We've all had different opinions what to do with that. I don't agree with DOT that to use those funds it would take an act of congress, but I do believe you'd have to use it with something related to it. I don't think it could be used for a rec center.”
Johnston recommended that the board consider using the funds for some other roads projects.
“I don't want to suggest that you come back with some other ideas,” she said, “but it would be expedient if it had something to do with roads.”
Johnston informed the board about the proposal to expand the Anchorage Waste Water and Utility's sewer plant in Girdwood.
“We've had it before the assembly, the AWWU for their capital improvements list, she said, “but, we've postponed it.”
She said the board and AWWU recognize the need for expansion to keep up with growth in Girdwood.
“If they do anything, they're looking for granting,” she said. “AWWU realizes the population is expanding and they are working to fund the project.”
Johnston concluded by addressing the ongoing concerns of the community to be able to legally tow vehicles in the Girdwood area, particularly abandoned vehicles in the Park ‘N Ride lot.
“I have been working on it since April, but I have nothing to report on the abandoned cars at this time,” she said.
“If the vehicles are abandoned or a road hazard, we are going to get them out of here,” responded Thompson.
He told Johnston that the board is considering deputizing Girdwood Fire Chief Bill Chadwick to be able to tow the abandoned cars.
“If you have the money to do it, then I don't see why you shouldn't” Johnston said.
Thompson suggested that perhaps a change in the charter is also necessary.
“I just keep getting stymied in legal,” Johnston said, “You think you've got it worked out and then you walk away and it isn't.”
Delays in building an Industrial Park in Girdwood was brought up by Thompson, who said he's fed up with the lack of progress in building it. He said it's time for the city to replat the land for an Industrial Park.
“Here's what we're saying in Girdwood,” Thompson told Johnston. “We want that at the top of HLB's (Heritage Land Bank) list on things we want to move forward. We're drawing a line in the sand. I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars that HLB has spent on projects that were not good for Girdwood.”
Thompson added that at a recent Land Use Committee meeting it was unanimously approved to put the Industrial Park as a top priority.
Following Johnston's report, GBOS member John Gallup stood up and commented on a recent letter he received from the city's Board of Ethics regarding an ethics violation complaint against him.
In early March, Gallup said, he was served with an Ethics Complaint filed by Nick Danger, Girdwood's Roads Manager, and former GBOS member Jim Henderson.
Gallup said the board members have a responsibility to speak directly about things related to Girdwood, and said the first amendment protects his right to speak freely during meetings.
“The ethics committee has disagreed with me,” he said, “and I'm in the process of considering how I should proceed, and I didn't appreciate having that letter put on the back table at this meeting by Mr. Danger.”
In the letter, the Board of Ethics stated that “The Girdwood Board of Supervisors is an elected board, however, the powers of this area service board do not include education. Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors placed the discussion of the school bonds on its agenda (April meeting) with the intention of having Mr. Gallup, a board member step ‘around the table' to speak as a non-board member. Mr. Gallup then gave a presentation in support of the proposed bonds. Public discussion on the presentation was not asked for and none occurred.”
The board went on to write that though Mr. Gallup made it clear that he was speaking as a member of the public and not a board member, the board found “it was inappropriate for Mr. Gallup to attempt to juggle his two roles during the meeting. Insofar as he was reasonably perceived to be a board member at the time of his presentation (and certainly some members of the public had this perception), there is at least the appearance of a violation.”
The Ethics Board also wrote that Gallup used his position on the board to use the opportunity to make the presentation and that the board set the agenda for the presentation and that Mr. Gallup “would likely make a presentation in favor of the school bonds. These actions create the appearance that the board acted to facilitate a partisan presentation on the school bonds by a board member.”
The Board of Ethics concluded its letter recommending that Mr. Gallup, and the Girdwood Board of Supervisors generally, “be more vigilant in avoiding partisan activity on ballot measures during its meetings. It would be more ethically sound to refrain from having board members give partisan presentations on ballot measures that fall outside the range of powers of the Boards Supervisors.”
The Board of Ethics forwarded the September 9 letter to the Assembly and the Mayor.
Responding to the letter, Thompson spoke saying, “that as a volunteer, for John to have to be going through this crap, is hogwash. I don't think the ethics committee has anything to say about John, and I'd like to see this petty stuff left to the wayside.”
Diana Stone-Livingston addressed the board next with a resolution for them to support combining two federal earmarks amounting to a total of $1.2 million to be allocated entirely for paving Olympic Circle Road to Arlberg Road and back to Olympic Circle, about 1,000 feet of road, she said.
There are two earmarks appropriated: $847,695 for Glacier/Winner Creek Development, and $423,848 for road paving in Girdwood and Olympic Circle.
“There's no construction estimate yet on the Olympic Circle project,” Livingston said, “but it ($1.2 million) should be more than enough for the project. “We've spoken with Representative Hawker, DOT, the Governor's office, they all recommend that we do something like this before we lose the money,” she said.
Thompson said he'd like to research the project more before spending the money on it.
“We might be able to spend it on another road that would be good for Girdwood,” he said.
“But the $423,848 isn't enough to do it,” Livingston responded.
“It is a road that is in terrible condition,” said Jonnie Lazarus, Girdwood's Parks and Recreation Director.
“I'm not against the project, I'm for the project,” Thompson said.
But Thompson said he wants to see some designs for the project so there aren't mistakes made like installing the wrong size lighting poles as was the case in the Town Square.
“I don't want to see that happen up there,” Thompson said.
He asked Livingston if there was anyway to address the lighting in the design.
“Once we get into that design it's like this is what you've got to do, and that's what happened over there (Town Square lighting),” Thompson said.
The GBOS approved a non-objection to combining the grant money, and approved the resolution to adopt combining the two earmarks to provide money to complete Olympic Circle. The vote was 5-0 in favor.
Nick Danger, Roads Manager, briefly addressed the board with a roads update, stating that 13 miles of grading will be done in the next two weeks.
“This is the winter grading,” he said, “so they're going to do everything. Grading done earlier was just a light grading.”
The GBOS then went on to review and vote on the 2010 preliminary budget.
First was the roads budget, which last year was $787,000. This year $727,000 was proposed for the preliminary budget. Snow removal was the largest expense about $280,000, said Danger. In 2006 the roads budget was about $400,000.
“It's gone up because we're doing more work,” he told the board. “Since I've been here, we've put in 20 culverts and never put in any before that. We're working to build more culverts…It's an ongoing fight. These roads are full of water.”
Danger said 25,000 tons of wrap would also be needed to do every road in town.
He informed the board that there was $160,000 in a general reserve, which was not spent last year that should be put back into this year's budget.
“The city wants us to put the reserve back in the budget, and that will get us out of the red,” Danger said.
The board voted to adopt a preliminary budget for roads maintenance and operation for $727,000. It passed 5-0.
The Fire Department was voted on next. A preliminary budget included a 5 percent cut suggested by the Anchorage Fire Department. The budget that was presented last year of $785,000 was slightly over for total service area coverage.
“There is a 5 percent funding cut as suggested by the city,” said Carl Madson, Girdwood Fire Department Captain, “amounting to over $30,000 in cuts.”
The board voted 5-0 to adopt the fire department budget for $616,593, a 5 percent cut from last year's budge and included risk insurance, something not included in past budgets.
The Parks and Recreation preliminary budget was delayed until board members could review it more in-depth.
They discussed and voted on a preliminary budget at a special meeting Sept. 23. After one motion failed and one died, a third motion for the preliminary core budget of $108,150 passed 4-1, the lone opposition coming from Parks and Recreation Supervisor John Gallup. The budget of $108,150 did not include non-profit grant requests and $200,000 allocated for the community center.
The organizations requesting non-profit grants for 2010 approached the board at the September 23 meeting. The following requests were made: Little Bears ($10,000), Four Valleys School ($21,000), Girdwood Arts Institute, for a program to be funded for the Fine Arts Camp ($6,000), Girdwood Nordic Ski Club ($25,000), Challenge Alaska ($10,000), Alyeska Ski Club ($10,000) and Glacier City Radio ($7,000).
The GBOS budget was originally discussed in August, and the board will discuss all three preliminary budgets again at a second public meeting not yet scheduled, but which likely will be scheduled the first or second week of this month.
At the Oct. 19 meeting a final vote on the budget will be made before it's sent to the Anchorage Assembly.
The board is required to hold two public hearings during a period of at least 46 days before a final vote can be made on the 2010 budget.
