Borough Assembly to hold special meeting Tuesday

Correction:  This story has been updated to correct information regarding the area studied by the state for the AK-LNG project.

This week, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly will hold a special meeting that will include contracts for the approved recreation bond package, the school district funding formula, and an executive session.

Normally, the assembly holds meetings on the first and third Tuesday of the month, but last week’s meeting was canceled.

Two items are on the public agenda. The assembly is scheduled to award a contract for $3 million to F-E Contracting for work on the Brett Memorial Ice Arena. Voters approved funding for the improvements in 2016 as part of a larger recreational bond package. The package also includes work on borough-owned pools, trails, and other facilities, including the ice rinks in Talkeetna and Willow.

Also on the public agenda is a discussion of the borough’s tax cap and the funding formula for the Mat-Su Borough School District. The conversation comes as the assembly prepares to enter the budget process for fiscal year 2019.

The agenda also includes an executive session. The two items for the closed-door portion of the meeting are a discussion on the M/V Susitna, which the borough sold to the Philippine Red Cross, and possible litigation before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the AK LNG project.

The Susitna was intended to be used as a ferry across Cook Inlet, but the plan was plagued with problems including lack of a landing site in Anchorage. Multiple attempts were made to sell the US Navy prototype vessel, before the Philippine Red Cross bought it. In that time, Susitna suffered engine damage as a result of rainwater getting into its stacks.   Additionally, the Federal Transit Administration offered the borough a grant to set up the ferry service. It has since requested that the funds be returned.

Regarding FERC, the borough has applied as an intervener in the licensing of the proposed Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas project. Borough officials believe Port MacKenzie did not receive a fair evaluation as part of the state’s application process, since data in the application is not for the port itself, but for another area with different characteristics on Alaska Native-owned land called Point MacKenzie. Earlier this month, FERC agreed, and is forcing the state to redo part of its application.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Tuesday.