Meeting Minutes

March 20, 2003

The meeting was called to order by President John Weddleton at 7 pm. Approximately 12 were in attendance.

Mid-Hillside Board Members present were Jeff Clarke, Tom O'Grady and John Weddleton.

Hillside East Board Members Present were Bjarne Holm and Tom Newins.

Minutes of the previous meeting: Summarized in Monthly Meeting Notice. Approved.

Federation of Community Councils Report:

Legislative Report:

Some of the legislators were available aides for others called.

Representative Kevin Meyers:

The legislature added $20 million back into the budget for schools.

He supports the change to the Permanent Fund rules so that only 25% of earnings are rolled back into the fund rather than the current 50%

He's working on bills to discourage harassment via email and sexually explicit emails.

He supports HB71 limiting spending of road money on "enhancements" like trails. He said it is easier to ride a bike from his area to downtown than it is to drive.

Karen McCarthy for Senator Con Bunde:

SAR9 - support for our military
SB98 Limit liabilities to guests on boats

SB102-

He supports making mandatory the formation of some new boroughs so rural towns can support more of their education costs.

About 800 surveys have been returned. About 50% support s spending cap.

Representative Bob Lynn:

HB92 Requires clergy to report some cases of sexual abuse

SB71 He was not aware that his name was listed as a cosponsor of the House version of this bill and he did not have much knowledge about the issue.

Anchorage Assembly Report:

Assembly representative Dick Tremaine and Janice Shamberg spoke about the (upcoming) election and the proposed Sign Ordinance.

Proposition 18 would change from "dual" assembly districts to districts represented by one person. Both Janice and Dick were opposed to this change.

New Business

Presentations:

Dee Ford spoke in support of bonds proposition 3 for the $7million bond for Libraries.

Library use is increasing. Request for information are down.

Regarding sharing libraries with school libraries, she said that would require 2 separate staff as the jobs would be different. Separate entrances would be required. Former teacher Bjarne Holm added that when a class of students went to the library, it was generally a noisy event.

Dwayne Adams representing Anchorage Tomorrow made a presentations in support of bond propositions 4 Roads and Drainage, 7 Parks and Recreation and 8 Parks and Rec for Eagle River.

Regarding the spending of approved bond money, Dwayne said that the money can be moved around among projects listed on a bond, but they cannot be spent on projects not mentioned in the bond language.

Dwayne commented on the new requirement that state roads be built to expected use (Average Daily Trips) 20 years later. He feels it's unreasonable as it will result in some roads being far larger than required for many years while others would go unimproved due to lack of money. He said most roads in Anchorage fail in 15 years.

Marty McGee with the city assessors office. Marty talked briefly about the Municipality's tax situation, He will make a bigger presentation in April.

Issues:

Anchorage Ordinance 2003-52 increases the area to be notified of Public Hearings by the Department of Community Planning and development from 500 ft to 1000 ft distant from the tract in question.

Senate Bill No. 71 would restrict the portion of federal-aid highway funds that may be used for transportation enhancements, trails, or recreational access. A key provision limits municipalities from spending more than 10percent for such enhancements. Historically such expenditures have been from 5 to 20 percent, averaging about 10 percent.

Bylaws

The proposed revision of the bylaws was tabled due to a lack of time.

The meeting was adjourned at 9pm