Mid-Hillside Community Council Minutes April 2001

Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils

Meeting Minutes

April 19, 2001

Call to order:
The meeting was called to order by President Chris Birch at 7 pm. Approximately 24 attended. Board Members present Chris Birch, Jeff Clarke and John Weddleton.

Introductions:

President's Report: Chris Birch

Minutes of the previous meeting: Presented on website.

Federation of Community Councils Report: John Weddleton reported on the FCC meeting of April 18, 2001.

The main news is that the East Anchorage Study of Transportation (EAST) includes everything east of the Seward Highway. That means us! Public meeting and presentation 6-9pm April 25 at Hanshew Middle School. Also see www.eastanchorage.net.

LEGISLATIVE TELECONFERENCE: Senator Jerry Ward, Patty Swenson for Representative Con Bunde and Ben Grenn for Senator John Cowdery.

The Budget is almost done. Some increase, primarily Status Quo. Will be digging into the Congressional Budget Reserve. Senator Ward suggests we need to develop the state's resources if we are to stave off bankruptcy.

House Bill 13 RE: protection of local service areas statewide. A few changes were made, but none that should impact the Anchorage Hillside area. There is an expectation that the Governor will veto the bill. There are likely enough votes to override a veto. Call the Governor at 800-897-4543 to ask him sign the bill.

High School Exit Exam: Extend the preparation period 2 more years. Change the math portion. Reexamine the ability level required.

Redistricting: Not much time. Pay attention. See www.alaskaredistricting.org

PRESENTATION:

Abbott Loop/Simonian Community Park
Dwayne Adams Land Design North

The Simonian Little League based in the Abbott Loop area is losing the fields they have played on for many years. Their search for new fields was the catalyst for the current process to find a site for both a community park and a place for the Simonian Little League to play. The Simonians would like to have the city build for them 4 fields. This process is an early test of Anchorage's commitment the follow the new Comprehensive Plan and the willingness to develop land in Far North Bicentennial Park.

Dwayne presented an overview of the newly released study of alternative sites for an Abbott Loop Community Park/Simonian Ballfields. The report is available at www.landdesignnorth.com/park. The report looked at 33 sites and developed 5 alternatives for presentation to the Parks and Recreation Board. Some of the scenarios are a course of action rather than a specific site. LDN's summary of alternatives follows:

Purchase Additional Parkland. Under the best of circumstances, this would be the most desirable alternative for the community as a whole. Three sites very closely meet the criteria. However, none of these three sites would be inexpensive to purchase or develop. The needs of the community park facility must be balanced with the realities of raising funds to acquire additional land and the timing for construction of field facilities. Also, it is questionable whether voters area-wide would support a bond to acquire needed lands in the Abbott Loop area. Should purchase of additional parkland be appropriate, negotiations should take place for land adjacent to Campbell park (Site 6), adjacent to Whisper Faith Kovach park (Site 14), and at East 88th/East Dimond Blvd. (Site 30).
Development of the Southwest Corner of Far North Bicentennial Park (North of Zodiac Manor). This is an upland site with well-drained soils that was suggested for community park facilities in the Far North Bicentennial Park Plan, although sportsfields were excluded. It would be an expedient site, assuming that such site development is deemed as conforming to the intent of the Updated Far North Bicentennial Park Plan. There has been much public controversy surrounding the possible selection of this site concerning intrusion into the natural park setting, conflict with adjacent residential use, and the requirement that bicyclists and pedestrians cross Abbott Loop. Contrary to these concerns, Simonian Little League has gained over 2100 signatures in favor of development of this site.
Development of a Site on BLM Land. This was the site suggested for development of sportsfields in the Updated Far North Bicentennial Park Master Plan. BLM has clearly indicated that they have security concerns and do not favor such development. Use of this property is peripheral to the Abbott Loop area, and would require users to cross Abbott Loop to gain access which may be undesirable for pedestrians or bicyclists.
Heritage Land Bank Land North of the BLM site. This site was suggested by BLM correspondence as an alternative to developing sportsfields on their property. It is problematic in that BLM would need to allow access via their property. Alternative access would require construction of a roadway through Class A wetlands which is probably not possible. The Heritage Land Bank (HLB) does not look favorably on dedication of PLI lands for park purposes when large parcels are available for development nearby. Also, there have been concerns noted for access across Abbott Loop be pedestrians and bicyclists.
Development of Multiple Sites. This may be an expedient approach in some ways, particularly if existing parkland could be developed. Potential candidate sites include sites east of Service High School, within Ruth Arcand Park, and within Spruce Park. Each of these could provide parts of the needed community park facilities. If these publicly owned sites were not deemed appropriate for development, acquisition would be appropriate at Polaris School or Northern Lights ABC School. Unfortunately, none of these sites could provide for full community park facilities, though such a site could satisfy portions of the need and help to meet school needs for facilities. While this may not be an appropriate manner to meet the overall need for a community park, there may be some sense to interim use of smaller sites until such time that a large parcel is found to be available.

The Land Design North Report includes descriptions of each site with pictures, acreage, notes on the terrain, possible costs of development and acquisition and other information.

The process will continue with the gathering of public comments on the report. Comments will go to the Parks and Recreation Board which will meet on May 17th at 6:30 pm at the Fairview Recreation Center. The Parks and Recreation Board will make a recommendation to the Mayor and to the Planning and Zoning Commission where the final decision will be made.

Spruce Bark Beetle Plague
Corlene Rose and Fred Sorenson of the Cooperative Extension Service.

Ms. Rose presented an overview of the spruce bark beetle plague. We are experiencing the largest ecological disaster to the spruce forest in Alaska ever. Her slide show showed the life cycle of the little bug responsible for this, how to identify attacked trees and some ways to minimize the damage.

There's a lot of story behind these bugs. Generally, they fly as far as 5 miles when we've had three consecutive days in the low 60's. When one finds a tree that pleases its palate it sends out a phermone to attract other beetles. When the tree is full, they send out a "no vacancy" phermone and start to chow on the layer under the bark. They lay eggs that turn into hungry larvae. The next summer, the larvae grow into adults. At the end of the summer, they bore out of the tree and crawl to the base where they spend the winter. The next string of warm days, they fly off to attack a new tree.

Recently attacked trees can be identified by holes in the tree and sap leaking out accompanied by a light red "boring dust" near the base of the tree or stuck to the sap.

The best known prevention is to spray with a 2% carboryl solution. Currently trees are sprayed at least 50' high. This gives a 98% survival rate for 2 years.

In general, less trees are being killed because there are less trees alive. The beetles are moving towards smaller trees and are attacking higher up on trees that have been sprayed.

Secondary effects of the spruce tree kill is the decrease in squirrels and grouse and the increase in carpenter ants. The dead trees with dry branches and higher dry grass in dead forests contribute to greatly increased fire danger.

Fire Danger on the Hillside
Sue Rodman Special Administrative Assistant - Anchorage Fire Department

Ms. Rodman rang the fire bell.

The Hillside area has a high possibility of burning and burning fast. When the conflagration starts, we'll have only a few hours to get out of the area or hope that we'll be able to survive in our homes. The streets will be clogged with cars going every direction. There will be thick smoke and confusion. Fire trucks will have a hard time getting to the fire. Not every house can be saved.

Things can get bad, but experience has shown that properly constructed homes with defensible space can survive even huge fires. The time to solve the problem is now. The person in charge is you.

Each individual has the responsibility to make their home safe by creating a "defensible space" around the home. In general this means maintaining an area at least 30 around the home free from food for the fire. Check for leaves in the gutters on your roof, check for dry leaves and wood under your steps and porches. Clear out tall grass and dead trees and branches. There's really quit a bit to this. You can get the pamphlet "Firewise" from any firestation or by contacting Sue Rodman at wildfire@ci.anchorage.ak.us .

The Anchorage Fire Department will have a large fire simulation exercise on May 5. On May 12 at 10am, there will be a defensible space demo at the Forsythe home on the southeast corner of O'Malley and Birch.

There is money in the budget for one chipping crew to help hillside residents get rid of the dead trees and branches. A crew will be clearing brush and dead trees from locations most at risk of starting a fire: places where people congregate.

Burning on the hillside is currently banned and it is unlikely that burning will be allowed this summer.

Meeting Adjourned at 9:40 pm