February 2003

Our next meeting is Thursday February 20
at 7:00 pm at O'Malley Elementary School.
Agenda
Thursday, February 20, 2003

• 7:00 pm Introductions and approval of November minutes
  • 7:05 Presidents' & FCC reports
  • 7:10 Assembly report & Teleconference with State Representatives
  • 7:30 Old Business
    Bylaws Changes
  • 7:40 School Bonds and School Board Candidates
  • 8:40 Modify Resolution on the Coastal Trail Extension
  • 9:00 Adjourn

Anchorage School Bonds The school district is asking for a whopper of a bond package this year. Along with the usual repairs and maintenance, they want to seize an opportunity to spend $42 million for a new administration building.

The statewide education bond approved in the November ballot opened a 2-year window for local school districts to receive between 60 percent and 70 percent reimbursement of bonded debt for schools. The new administration building would be covered by that.

Some consider the package a hard sell. Come to this meeting and hear the sales pitch!
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School Board Candidates After we hear about the school bonds, we'll have an opportunity to talk to candidates for Anchorage School Board. Ten people are vying for three open seats on the School Board this year. We have invited all of them to speak to us at this month's meeting.

These people are campaigning for a serious job. The Anchorage School District spends more than the rest of city government. Next year's School District general operating fund, which covers the day-to-day operation of schools and support offices, totals $369.7 million, a 2.6 percent increase over the current budget.

The debt service fund, which covers the cost of voter-approved school bonds, totals $58.4 million, a 14.4 percent increase. The district is expecting 50,222 students to enroll next year, almost a 200 student increase over this year. That's less than 1/2% increase in the number of students.

How this money is spent rests with the seven member School Board. The Mayor and the Anchorage Assembly approves or disapproves the total School District Budget, but cannot change the details.

Compare the School budget to the rest of the Municipality's budget: for 2003, the MOA's Proposed Operating Budget is about $282 million and the Capital Budget is $90 million.

School Board candidates are voted on by the entire community. You get to vote for all three seats. Make a wise choice!

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Southeast Anchorage Mayoral Candidates' Forum Monday, March 3^rd, 7pm At O'Malley's on the Green, 3651 O'Malley Rd. Meet the candidates, hear their priorities and pose the questions important to you and our community. All of the Mayoral candidates have been invited for what is typically a lively and educational event.

For more information, contact: Ryan Stencel at 345-4316. Hosted by the Rabbit Creek, Huffman/O'Malley, Hillside East and Mid-Hillside Community Councils and HALO, Inc. ________________________________
Southern Extension of the Coastal Trail We will consider modifying a resolution from October 2002 in support of the "Modified Orange" Route for the extension of the Coastal Trail.

At our January meeting, council member Art Copoulos asked that we change the wording of the resolution so it speaks more generally to a route similar to the Modified Orange route. To give fair notice to our Council members, we tabled this until our February meeting. The proposed new wording is:

The Mid Hillside Community Council advocates and supports construction of the south Extension of the Coastal Trail in a location that is along the coast and is as similar in character to the existing trail as possible. Of the routes currently being considered the Original Orange or the Orange Modified routes come closest to the character of the existing trail. The Environmental Impact Statement shows that the Orange Modified route has no significant impact on wildlife habitat in the Coastal Wildlife Refuge; and this route avoids crossing the refuge, as well as all hunting areas, the moto-cross area, and the Rifle Range. The Orange Modified Route comes closer to homes than the Original Orange Route; therefore, the impacts to private property should be further evaluated and reduced where possible, through a fair balance between impacts to homeowners, habitat, and other users of the land, while retaining the coastal location and character of the new trail.

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Bylaws changes In December and January, we discussed some changes to the Mid Hillside CC's Bylaws. The recommended changes are posted at the Councils website www.weddleton.com/cc/bylaws.htm. Or call John Weddleton at 349-8370 and I can fax or mail the changes to you. We expect to vote on these changes at our February meeting.
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South Anchorage High SCHOOL Boundaries The School District will hold public hearings on the high school boundary changes. If you missed the February 13th meeting, then your next chance is February 18 at 7pm at Hanshew Middle School. There will also be a hearing on February 20th, but you will be at your Community Council meeting that night!
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DeArmoun Road work update From a January email from Therese Stokes of Alaska DOT:
"DeArmoun Phase I is at the final design stage and we anticipate advertising the project this spring for summer '03 construction. Advance utility relocation work may take place in the spring. VEI Consultants is the designer for DeArmoun Phase II. As a result of comments that we have received to date on this project.... I directed the designers to investigate more alternatives in the Design Study Report. We anticipate holding our public meeting in early March."

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Muniversity continues each Tuesday into March. This series of lectures is designed to help you understand local government. Lectures will be held in the Assembly Chambers of the Loussac Library, noon - 1pm. To RSVP call 343-6114 or email handysidehm@ci.anchorage.ak.us. February 18th - MOA Budget: Making, Managing and Monitoring Money
February 25th -Workforce Development
March 4th - Maintenance Matters: Roads and Other Public Resources

March 11th - Traffic and Urban Travel
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Section 36 becomes park land After more than 15 years of neighborhood effort, 632 acres including a high rugged ridge between the Bear and Rabbit Creek valleys, adjacent lowlands and straddling Clarks and Rabbit Creek Roads, has been designated park land.
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Board Members
Mid-Hillside
John Weddleton, President 349-8370 john@weddleton.com
Jeff Clarke, Vice President 349-4892
jay_peak@hotmail.com
Tom O'Grady Secretary
349-6948 ogrady@gci.net
Amy Johnson - Transportation Committee 258-0168 ajohnson@ibissoftware.com

Hillside East
Tom Newins, President
345-8881 newins@gci.net
Bjarne Holm, Vice President
robinholm@gci.net

We meet at 7pm on the third Thursday of the month at O'Malley Elementary School on Rockridge off O'Malley. For more info see www.communitycouncils.org/hillmid.html