On Tuesday, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly approved limited restrictions on outdoor burning in the Butte and delayed a decision on two additional full-time ambulances.
The bulk of public testimony during the meeting came during discussion of an ordinance aimed at limiting air quality violations. In recent years, one of the two air quality monitors in the Mat-Su has come close to putting the Valley out of compliance with the Clean Air Act.
The issue comes from small particles in the air. Those particles can be generated by burning, especially of green wood. On particularly cold days, the Butte can experience atmospheric inversions, which prevent the particles from dissipating into the atmosphere as they normally would.
The ordinance, which passed four votes to three, would institute wintertime burn bans on days where conditions might prevent the small particles from dissipating. The ban would only apply to outdoor fires, such as slash piles and burn barrels, and only affects the Butte.
Members of the public and the assembly opposed to the ordinance cited concerns of government overreach and the future possibility of much more stringent restrictions in the future. Those in favor say that the ordinance will prevent exactly that by making it less likely that the state or federal government will step in over the air quality issue.
The other ordinance that drew significant testimony on Tuesday has to do with Emergency Medical Services staffing. Under that ordinance, two new full-time ambulance crews would be established, one of which would be stationed in the Northern Susitna Valley.
In the original wording, the ordinance called for the phasing out of paid on call responders, which caused significant concern at last month’s Trapper Creek Community Council meeting. Acting Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley says it is not his intent to do away with paid on call responders, but that some would likely transition into the new full time positions.
Assembly Member Tam Boeve amended the ordinance to soften the language around on call responders. Now, it reads that a majority of positions will be transitioned to full time.
Some assembly members had questions regarding the financing of the full time positions as compared to the current on call staffing model. As a result, a decision on the ordinance was delayed until the next assembly meeting on March 19th.
