Mid Hillside Community Council

Minutes 15 January 2004

 

John Weddleton, President, convened meeting at 7:05 pm.  Attendees included 7 MHCC, 5 HECC, and approximately 8 others.

 

A non-profit group called Rainbow Connection, which provides therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with a range of disabilities, is seeking community council support for a proposal to lease 10 acres adjacent to the existing William Clark Chamberlin Equestrian Center in Section 16.  The long-term lease would be on the April 2004 municipal ballot.  The general response was favorable, but, in accordance with the bylaws, no action was taken on this non-agenda item.

 

Following up on last month, representatives from Planning and Zoning and Code Enforcement reported on the proposed ordinance on Private Equestrian Facilities, AO 2004-006.  The have been meeting with an ad hoc community group of horse owners, Animal Control, and others, to revise the proposal in time to introduce it at the April 5th Assembly meeting.  This proposal defines limits on facility size, while loosening some (widely ignored ed.) restrictions.  The proposal is on the municipal website.

 

Assemblywoman Janice Schamberg and Phil Steyer of Chugach Electric reported on a proposed ordinance on undergrounding (burying) electrical lines.  A 1984 law required electrical utilities to bury all new distribution lines and to spend 1% of their retail revenue on burying existing above ground lines, in accordance with a city plan, which was never written.  At that rate, they will all be buried by about 2050.  The amended ordinance would bump the 1% to 2%, allow the cost to be passed on to the consumer as a surcharge, and permit the utility to set the priorities.

 

Phil Steyer also reported that the new transmission line from their center at Airport Rd and Minnesota to near Dimond center is on schedule.  The next phase in increasing both capacity and reliability is to construct a loop by tying the Dimond facility to the substation at Huffman and Elmore.  This would form a triangular network from Airport Rd to East Tudor, to Huffman, and back to Airport Rd.  Design would be in 2005 and construction in 2006 or 2007.

 

Plans for the proposed O’Malley upgrades were available for review, but the scheduled presenter was unavailable.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm.