Agenda
O'Malley Elementary School
Thursday, October 21, 2004
OCTOBER IS OUR ANNUAL MEETING! That's the meeting when all of you volunteer for a spot on the board, we all state our cases for being members and a friendly vote is taken that results in a body that represents the many opinions held on the hillside.
Well, that's how we'd like it to go. The truth is, Mid-Hillside has been three seats shy of a full board. Hillside East runs even leaner than that! We will be better Councils with full boards. This October is the month to do it!
The minimum commitment is to come to most of the nine Council meetings a year. You'd do well to read an occasional ordinance that we might be considering for comments. There are a few public meetings during the year that it are helpful to go to. Mostly, you need to keep your ears and mind open to issues relating to the Hillside. You already do that or you wouldn't be reading this now!
____________________________________
Electric wires high and low! In January, we discussed our Assemblywoman Janice Shamberg's proposed "Undergrounding Ordinance." We tabled a vote to support the ordinance since it still had a ways to go through the process. The time to weigh in is now. Council comments are due the day after our meeting.
We will have experts on hand to discuss this since we will also have a brief presentation on Chugach Electric's Anchorage Intertie Project.
____________________________________
Chugach Electric's Anchorage Intertie Project This is a plan to run a line from the new transmission station south of the Dimond Center to connect with the line running along Abbott Loop Road.
The main goal is to add redundancy to the system so one broken line won't turn all the lights out in South Anchorage. The downside is that on one of the roads heading up the hill there will be some ugly powerlines.
Where should these powerlines go? You get to help make that decision at this meeting!
___________________________________
DeArmoun Road derailed? That big curve on DeArmoun may be the least of the twists and turns this project is facing! AMATS, the group that decides how federal road money is spent in Anchorage, has taken a close look at this project. Minutes of recent meetings have been posted at the Council's website. Click the "Issues" button and scroll down to the link to DeArmoun Road.
One big issue involves ranking the project in terms of safety. DOT argues that as a percentage of miles driven, the number of accidents show DeArmoun is a dangerous place. The Mayor and others point out that while the percentage may be high, the actual number of accidents are few. The money spent on DeArmoun could go to fix a road with smaller percentage of accidents per mile driven, but a higher number of accidents. There's lots of logic there.
In addition to this, Anchorage is facing constraints on the amount that can be spent and the categories of project that it can be spent on. In fact, it turns out that the high oil price we Alaskans love has caused a decrease in driving nationwide. That decreased the gas taxes collected and now there's not as much for our roads!
Planning for the DeArmoun rebuild continues.
___________________________________
ABBOTT/BRAGAW LOOP EXTENSION. The planning for the Bragaw Extension has been a great example of public involvement and accommodation of the many needs of a transportation project. On top of that, DOWL Engineers feels confident that their design will stay within the $37.5 million a state bond will cover.
So why did Saturday's Daily News report that the city wants another $15 million to finish the job? It seems that the project DOWL was assigned only brings it to the south end of the existing little spur of Bragaw that leads to the Police station and the MOA's planning offices. $10 million is to prepare the intersection at Bragaw and Tudor for the new traffic. $5 million is for expected overruns.
You would have to pay close attention over a number of years to know that this cannot be a surprise to traffic planners. The East Anchorage Study of Transportation (EAST) made it clear that the Bragaw Extension would just dump a load of traffic at a different place on Tudor and most of that traffic would then turn left only to hit the gridlock at Lake Otis and Tudor again!
So now we face a choice of pillaging the nice roadway DOWL has designed or forking over a total of $52 million for a project that might decrease Lake Otis & Tudor congestion by 20%.
In a world where a highway interchange can be built for $35 million, it sure looks like we should have built one at Lake Otis & Tudor.
If you want to learn more, go to the Abbott Loop Extension Public Meeting on October 25 5:00 to 9:00pm at the Service High School cafeteria.
___________________________________
What's the Assembly up to? It's easy to find out! Go to: http://www.muni.org/clerk1/Assembly_agenda.cfm
_______________________________________
The city is anxious to remove abandoned or junk vehicles from the streets before snowfall so they do not interfere with snow clearing operations. Call the junk vehicle hot line at 786-8854.
___________________________________
FIREWISE ENOUGH FOR STATE FARM ? A council member said she received a letter from State Farm saying her homeowners insurance would be canceled if her home did not pass a firewise assessment.
The Anchorage Fire Department recently ran a series of drills to get a better insurance rating for the hillside. Maybe that did not have the anticipated effect!
____________________________________
A Candidates Forum and School Bonds information night will be Tuesday, October 26 from 6:30 to 9 pm at South Anchorage High School Auditorium. Park on the south and enter at the west.
We're all counting on YOU to vote smart!
____________________________________
LARGE DOMESTIC ANIMAL ORDINANCE The Planning Department has been trying to get this one out of the barn for quite a while. The proposed ordinance presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission September 20 was sent to pasture. Now they want to corral a committee to give it another try.
They have invited Community Councils to appoint members to this group. This is an important issue that touches on all the themes of Hillside living. The commitment is two to four months with a daytime two hour meeting every six weeks.
This is a good opportunity if you would like dip your toes in the pool of public involvement. Call John Weddleton 349-8370 to say yeah!
____________________________________
HELP FOR THE HOMELESS? Some time ago, the Mayor set up a Task Force charged with developing a 10 year plan to solve the city's homeless problem. That's an audacious goal, but they have actually released an outline for the plan. Take a look: http://www.muni.org/cdbg/index.cfm
___________________________________
Mid-HillsideBoard Members
John Weddleton President 349-8370 john@weddleton.com
Brian Johnson Vice President 345-5883 brian.johnson2@akanch.ang.af.mil
Tom O'Grady Secretary 345-6948 ogrady@gci.net
Linda Perkins Treasurer 346-2558 miniaturehorses@alaska.com
Amy Johnson 258-0168 ajohnson@gci.net
Shirley McGrath 345-1606 smcgrath@alaska.net
James Perkins 346-2558 miniaturehorses@alaska.com
Hillside East Board Members
Tom Newins, President 345-8881 newins@gci.net
Bjarne Holm, Vice President robinholm@ak.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