Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils
Meeting Minutes
October 17, 2002

Call to order:
The meeting was called to order by Hillside East President Tom Newins at 7 pm. Approximately 24 were in attendance. Board Members present were Tom Newins, Jeff Clarke and John Weddleton.

Introductions:

President's Report: Tom Newins

Minutes of the previous meeting: Summarized in Monthly Meeting Notice. The minutes were approved.

Federation of Community Councils Report: John Weddleton reported on the FCC meeting of October 16, 2002. Funding for FCC is not in the Mayor's Budget for 2003.

Anchorage Assembly Report:
Dick Tremaine -
Capital Improvement Budget 2003: Not much from our area.

Operating Budget: Spending by Local Road Service Areas counts under Anchorage's Tax Cap. The Mayor's budget cut the budgets approved by the LRSA's to make room for other spending. O'Malley LRSA approved $299,000 but the budget only allows $251,000.

The Assembly will consider allowing Anchorage's Heritage Land Bank to sell property below market value. That may be used to entice businesses to locate in Anchorage. FedEx came to Anchorage after a preferable land deal was worked out.

AWWU and Fire Hydrants. Mayor Wuerch requested that AWWU customers pay the costs of maintaining fire hydrants instead of the current method where the money comes out of the municipal operating budget. Rationale for this includes that those who most benefit from fire hydrants will pay the cost and it is the way most cities pay for the hydrants. This plan also took the $2.5million cost out from under the Tax Cap, freeing the money to be spent elsewhere. The Assembly did not approve the change. This puts the MOA in the position of cutting $2.5million from the budget originally proposed on October 1.

Legislative Reports:
Con Bunde: Gave us the heads up that some of the Alaska Division of Elections Voters guides had significant mistakes which were discovered after they were mailed.

He mentioned that our Local Road Service Areas got $1,500 from the state last year.

Kevin Meyer: Issues he is looking into area e-mail SPAM and soft money for elections.

Old Business:

Reconsideration of Resolutions from the September Meeting

Resolution regarding Community Council Boundaries
John Weddleton gave a brief update on the status of the Boundary changes and his testimony presenting the resolution at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on October 7. There was no motion to change this resolution.

Resolution regarding a Gate at Huffman Rd.
Tom O'Grady started a discussion concerning the appropriateness of blocking a state ROW. He said that the MOA has fought the vacation of ROWs.

Dick Tremaine noted some locations where ROW have been blocked with MOA approval: a the Southport and Sahallee subdivisions, Yukon Street at Birch as well as the new anti-terrorist gate at the Port of Anchorage.

Judy Moerlein moved to withdraw the resolution, Tom O'Grady seconded. A vote was taken with 8 supporting the motion. John Weddleton opposed.

Resolution regarding the Dwelling Density Associated with Sewer Service.
Dick Tremaine gave a summary of the "precedent" that has been set to connect sewer and water service with three dwelling units per acre (DUA). Lots of the remaining undeveloped land in the Hillside area is steep or wet and may not be suitable for on-site septic.

A motion to continue support for this resolution passed unanimously.

Judy Moerlein stated that she supports the resolution, but that it is a compromise.

Southern Extension of the Coastal Trail
In continuation of our evaluation of the southern extension of the Coastal Trail, Bjarne Holm proposed the following resolution in support of the Coastal Trail southern extension.

Resolution of the Mid Hillside Community Council
Regarding Route selection for the South Extension of the Coastal Trail

The Mid Hillside Community Council advocates and supports construction of the South Extension of the Coastal Trail along a route that has the look and feel similar to the existing Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, is as coastal and continuous as possible, and is consistent with the purpose of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge Management Plan to protect fish and wildlife resources as well as allow for the use and enjoyment of the residents of the community. Of the routes currently under consideration, the "Orange" route most closely meets the desires of the Mid Hillside Community Council and the intent of this resolution.

Bjarne spoke to the merits of a continuos trail away from traffic. He pointed out that the area now has hunting, a major sewer pipe, a ROW to Fire Island and other features that area man made features that point to a trail as a relatively small change over the long term. We examined a current map showing the alternative routes being considered by the EIS.

Bjarne moved for approval of the resolution. Mike Jens seconded with the amendment that the term "orange route" be changed to the new "Orange modified route." This change sends the trail around the north side of the motocross area in Kincaid Park. Don Fall seconded the motion. The modification was accepted.

The resolution passed unanimously.

New Business:

Local Road Service Area Budgets
In response to Dick Tremaine's discussion of the current MOA budget cutting the budgets approved by LRSA's, we discussed a resolution to encourage the Mayor to reinstate the LRSA budgets to the amount approved by the LRSA's.

We request the Mayor to revise his budget for Local Road Service Areas to maintain the spending levels approved by the Local Road Service Area boards and paid by the Local Road Service Area residents.

Robin Holm moved to approve the Resolution. Judy Moerlein seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Support for the Federation of Community Councils
In response to a discussion of the lack of funding for the Federation of Community Councils (FCC) a resolution in support of funding for the FCC was discussed. The Anchorage Charter requires the formation of Community Councils. The discussion centered around the need for a central organization to coordinate the efforts of the CC's and to assist in the mailing of newsletters and surveys. The FCC requested a budget of $120,000 for 2003. The Assembly budget offered $108,000. The Mayor's budget did not include anything for the FCC.

We request the Mayor to fund the Federation of Community Councils at the level requested by the FCC. The FCC is necessary to meet the mandate of the Municipal Charter to support the Community Councils.

ANNUAL MEETING ELECTIONS TO THE BOARDS

After some discussion, the following were nominated to the boards:

Mid-Hillside: Tom O'Grady (a former MHCC president), Don Fall, Jeff Clarke and John Weddleton.

Hillside East: Bjarne Holm, Robin Holm and Tom Newins

The boards were approved unanimously.

Candidates.

We had several candidates for the November 5 election in the audience. Kevin Meyer, Patti Higgins, Pat Abney and Con Bunde were present.

It is always appreciated when our elected representatives and candidates are available at the meetings.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:40 pm