By Willow Hetrick
Turnagain Times
Moose Pass Correspondent
Community Church Garage Sale
Moose Pass Community Church is holding two-day in-door Memorial Day Garage sale the weekend of May 25-26. Cost of tables is $10 for event. Donations of goods also accepted. Proceeds going toward completion of community church. Also accepting donations for community Food Pantry. Food is required to be new.
Wild game must be dated and sealed. At this time we are now handling food bank needs from Crown Point to Summit Lodge, or where ever it is needed. For information about sale or food bank contact Bill and Mona Casselman at 288-5101.
School and Community Rummage Sale
Do you need a reason to clean out your closets? Is your house filling up with other peoples treasures? Come sell your items or donate them to the school for the students to sale at the Community Rummage Sale. Tables can be rented for a fee of $10 (renters will be responsible for their own cash tills). Donated items may be dropped off during school hours until May 24.
If later, please call to arrange a drop off time. If you are unable to drop off, we can arrange for a pick up. Please contact Melanie Schilling to reserve a space, to arrange a drop off or pick up or if you have any other questions @ 288-3183/288-3195 or 362-3043.
The Rummage Sale will be held Saturday-June 23, 2012 during the Summer Solstice Festival from 10 a.m. -4 p.m. in the Moose Pass School gym.
Seward Ranger District Winter Trail Updates
The Seward Ranger District’s Kenai Lake Work Center Trail technicians continually provide winter trail updates that will be in winter issues of the Turnagain Times so read bi-weekly for the latest updates on the Chugach trails.
Trail News
By Irene Lindquist
Seward Ranger District winter use areas will remain open through this weekend to Motorized use, enjoy the last few days of riding in these areas: Carter Lake, Lost Lake via Primrose or Lost Lake T.H., and Resurrection North. Continue to check the CNF webpage for updates on Glacier Ranger District (Turnagain Pass) motorized.
The Iditarod Trail from Nash Road to Bear Lake is a good classic ski, still areas with 6-7 feet of packed snow, though, the last half-mile a long Bear Lake is littered with spruce needles, moss, and twigs making for slower travel. Exit Glacier Rd is currently gated at Box Canyon, good opportunity for utilizing appoximately 4 miles (to Overlook of Glacier) of snow free pavement w/o cars. Gull Rock trail has been cleared of trees to mile 3.5, still lots of patches of snow up to 2 feet deep. Travel on Lower Russian Lakes trail is mostly snow free.
The entrance gate 1 mile from the trailhead is currently closed. Many people have been calling and wanting information on trails that are snow free, here is what you can anticipate for the next month: Snow, Snow, Snow. Take snowshoes if you plan on venturing further than a mile or so from the trailheads.
A reminder to those eager to mountain bike our trails, we currently don’t have a signed order for the Bike Closures keeping bikes off trails until July 1. We ask that people refrain from riding until trails dry out, stay on the trails, and please walk your bike around water bars or steps.
Moose Pass Advisory Planning Commission Local Cemetery
By Bruce Jaffa
The Moose Pass Advisory Planning Commission (MPAPC) has passed a motion to seek out community interest and support for a local cemetery in the Moose Pass area. This is a beginning of a long road that will seek public input as to interest, design, location and more. Please take a moment and think about how this may be of interest to you or your family.
Future meetings will be published and methods to gain your input and will be discussed. Feel free to contact Bruce Jaffa at: Jaffa@eagle.ptialaska.net or any of the MPAPC commissioners directly with questions or comments.
You may see other e-mails and notices on this topic. If so it will be part of a continuing effort to provide information to the community to allow us to make decisions regarding the future of our community together. I would like to learn from you which method you each find most helpful or not.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Report
By Sue McClure
We began the day at 2:30 p.m. with budget presentations from the “non-departmentals” which are CARTS, the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council, the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, and the UAA Small Business Development Center. Each has been included in the proposed FY 2013 budget, which was presented today by Mayor Navarre and Finance Director Craig Chapman. Some time was spent presenting the new budget, and outlining the changes in expenditures from the FY 2012 budget.
The document will be on the borough website, and we will be holding public hearings on Ordinance 2012-19 (the budget) on May 15 and June 5. Of general interest: the proposed property tax mill rate of 4.50 will be unchanged, and proposed school funding is close to the new “cap”, totaling $43,500,000 for operations. At the regular 7 PM meeting, May was proclaimed to be “Motorcycle Awareness Month”, “Litter Awareness Month”, and “Bear Awareness Month” by the mayor. In his report, Mayor Navarre stated that the borough now has a Facebook page, and announced several retirements, including Cathy Wallace from finance.
We had seven ordinances up for public hearing, and six of them were unanimously approved. These included Ordinance 2011-19-83, appropriating $26,145.80 from the fund balance for the purchase of supplies and equipment by the soon to be abolished Lowell Point Emergency Service Area, and Ordinance 2012-08 changing the assembly district boundaries (which makes District 6 which I represent extend into the Sterling area). The one ordinance requiring a vote was Ordinance 2012-07 proposing to change service area seats from being elected to being appointed. A substitute ordinance had been proposed by members Knopp and Johnson, which would put this question to a vote of the individual service areas.
This substitute was defeated by a vote of 6-3, and then the original ordinance was defeated 9-0.
We moved four ordinances on for public hearing. Ordinance 2011-19-86 accepts and appropriates a grant of $432,837 from the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to complete a catch basin and culvert drainage project on Beach Drive in Lowell Point (hearing June 5), Ordinance 2012-13 states non-objection to the Lowell Point Volunteer Fire Department being recognized by the State as a volunteer fire department (hearing June 5) and Ordinance 2012-19 which is the FY 2013 budget with hearings May 15 and June 5.
Our next meeting is May 15, and in addition to the above, we have Ordinance 2011-19-82, appropriating additional funds to supplement the FY 2012 health care costs, and Ordinance 2012-06 which adjusts the wording in the habitat protection district code for anadromous streams to consider tidally inundated areas. As always, I may be reached at 224-6784, or smcclure@borough.kenai.ak.us.
The borough’s website is www.borough.kenai.ak.us. Our Seward Annex office in the Sea View Plaza is an excellent source of information as well.
