Our next meeting is Thursday March 20 at 7:00 pm at O'Malley Elementary School.
Agenda
O'Malley Elementary
Multipurpose Room
Thursday, March 20, 2003
At last month's meeting, we learned about the $209.3 million in School Bonds we'll be voting on this April. For March, we'll get some info on another $58 million in bonds for other city projects.
Before we get going, let's take a quick look in the wallet: If all of this year's bonds are approved, Anchorage will have a total bond debt of $1.2 BILLION. This is roughly Municipal Debt of $450 million and School District debt of $755 million. With Municipal taxes based on property valued at $18.8 Billion, this debt represents 6% of our total. Okay, so it's clear we're talking real money here so we probably ought to spend it wisely.
To get some insight into these bonds at this month's meeting, we'll enjoy a presentation by Dwayne Adams from Anchorage Tomorrow, a group that looks at the annual bonds package and then goes out and works to support those they like. That group is made up largely of people in industries that will do the work these bonds fund.
The following is a list of construction bonds you'll get to vote on on April 1.
o Proposition # 3 Public Library $7,270,000 For Loussac Library improvements, and Girdwood and Eagle River libraries.
oProposition #4 Road & Drainage Bond $39,950,000
To pave roads, RAP dirt roads (recycled asphalt), fill potholes, create or improve drainage.
oProposition #5 - Public Safety $2,930,000
Ambulances, Emergency 911 system upgrade, Communications equipment.
oProposition #6 - Public Transportation $1,000,000
Vehicle Purchases, Bus Stop improvements, Bus System improvements. This bond provides matching funds for about $4 million in federal funds.
oProposition #7 - Parks and Recreation $4,955,000
This includes major ice arena repairs, Baxter Bog and Cheney Lake trails improvements, greenbelt/ open space acquisition, greenhouse repairs, playground and recreation center upgrades, swimming pool upgrades, skateboard park design and construction and many other projects, Bicentennial Park Campbell Airstrip Road upgrades.
oProposition #8 - Eagle River and Chugiak Parks and Recreation Service Area bonds.
In case you missed the fine print on the bond presentations, they say: "Projects listed below describe how we expect to use the bond proceeds. However, as project development progresses, changes in scope, project feasibility, phasing, timeline, or estimated costs may occur that result in acceleration, or substitution of projects."
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Who decides what goes in those bond packages?
When you see the list of projects to be funded under each bond package, you might wonder who comes up with these list. All of us could probably think of some obvious projects that are no listed and you might be appalled at some that are.
Through your Community Council, you get to add to or delete projects on the list!
The Capital Improvement Budget/Program (CIB/CIP) starts with a Community Council Survey. The primary goal of the survey is to have the Community Council provide an overall priority ranking of all capital projects in our area and suggest additional projects that are not listed.
The following are on the current list for the Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils. You can start your contribution by ranking these with "1" being the most important. You can also add projects you think ought to be done or scratch anything off this list.
Fax your responses to 349-8376 or email them to john@weddleton.com. In April we'll draw up a list to submit.
oAbbott Road Reconstruction - Lake Otis Parkway to Birch Rd Reconstruct to urban standards. Improvements may include pavement, curb and gutter, storm drainage, street lighting and pedestrian facilities. Preliminary engineering has been funded and design funding is proposed for 2004. Easement acquisition funding is proposed for 2005. Utility and construction funding is estimated at $7.4 million.
oDeArmoun Road Reconstruction Phase 2 - 140th Ave to Hillside Dr. Reconstruct to suburban standards. Improvements may include pavement, street lighting, pedestrian facilities and landscaping. Preliminary engineering and design have been funded. Easement acquisition and utility phase funding is proposed for 2004. Utility and construction phase funding is estimated at $7 million.
oFar North Bicentennial Park Trails and Trailhead Improvements Continue Upgrades.
oHillside LRSAs Road and Drainage System Rehabilitation Reconstruction of road and drainage facilities within Hillside Area Limited Road Service Areas. Specific projects identified by the local road board.
oLower Hillside Area Storm Drainage Drainage improvements identified in the Hillside Drainage Study.
oPedestrian Overpass Rehab and Upgrades Address major deterioration to existing pedestrian overpasses and provide Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades where feasible.
oGreen belt Acquisition
_________________________________________________________________________ Senate Bill 71 will eliminate confusion about the two Senator Stevenses. Since we have two "Senator Stevens" in Alaska, there might be occasional confusion if you're not paying attention. To help you distinguish: One is a long term U.S. Senator. He's the one who brought us the most colossal of transportation "enhancements" in the form of a railroad passenger depot at the airport. The other is Alaska State Senator Stevens. In quite the opposite direction of his dad, he has proposed to limit local spending on transportation enhancements. Alaska State Senator Stevens has proposed in SB71 to limit statewide and Anchorage spending on road "enhancements" to a maximum of 10% of total road spending.
By limiting the amount spent on "enhancements" like trails and landscaping, we toss out a valuable tool for decreasing congestion. The more enjoyable and safe we make alternatives to hopping in our cars, the less cars we'll have clogging up our roads.
Currently, the amount spent is a local decision. Through the planning group called "AMATS," which uses information provided by Community Councils, we have a part in the decision on how we'll deal with our town's transportation issues. Senate Bill 71 moves these important decisions farther away from your input. We will invite Senator Stevens to participate during our teleconference so he can explain the rationale for this bill.
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ANTENNA FARM AT NEAR POINT? If you are driving up O'Malley Road, look into the mountains and count a couple of close peaks to the left. That's Near Point. Seven acres on a bench below the top have been proposed to be rezoned from residential to "Antenna Farm" which would allow up to nine 200' towers to be built. Is this a choice between a nice view of the mountains or a clear television reception?
This location may be outside of our council area, but the antennas will be visible from here. We may also face a similar effort to site an "Antenna Farm" in our area. This is the kind of zoning change that should wait for the completion of the Hillside District Plan. More info is at the Councils' website at www.weddleton.com/cc/Antennas.htm This is scheduled for a Planning & Zoning hearing on May 12.
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What's Going on with O'Malley Road? O'Malley
Road is scheduled for big changes in 2006. What appeared to be the preferred
option last we heard was four lanes to Lake Otis, three lanes to Birch and then
two lanes to the top. The details remain classified while traffic projections
are increased from 20 years to 25 due to a new law. Once planners know what
the impacts are, they may need to rewrite the Environmental Assessment to analyze
additional impacts.
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What's the news on DeArmoun Road? Phase
2 is from E. 140th Ave to Hillside. Project Manager Therese Stokes said to expect
an unveiling of alternatives in late April or early May. ____________________________________________________________________________
MAYORAL CANDIDATES FORUM The March 3 candidates forum sponsored by the Hillside area Community Councils and HALO was a great success. Contrary to the Daily News' count, over 100 people attended two ours of lively discourse with seven of the candidates.
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Better notification of changes in the neighborhood coming? AO 2003-52 co -sponsored by our area's Assembly member Janice Shamberg proposes to expand the notification area from the current 600' to 1000' distance from rezonings and Municipal construction projects and other projects that generate a "blue and white" city notification sign.
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Bylaws changes Proposed Bylaws changes were tabled at our February meeting. 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 March meeting.
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