Susitna Community Council elections, and a report on a wood fuel source for Su Valley High

Voters in the Susitna Community Council elected members to the Board of Directors on Thursday night. 24 ballots were cast, and Vonda Baker, Justin Koles and Bill Stearns retained their seats. They will be joined by, Mark Stahl, Gary Peters and Trevor Walters. The elections will be certified on November 8th, and members will be appointed as officers at a future meeting of the council.

The Susitna Council heard a presentation from Arthur Mannix about the proposed Forest Education and Improvement Study area in the Parks Highway and Rabbideaux Creek natural resource management units, which would provide a wood fuel source for Susitna Valley Jr/Sr high school’s new boiler, and provide an opportunity to develop a sustainable harvest forest for teaching purposes.
The Mat Su Borough Planning Department released a Public Notice seeking comments on the plan, and Mannix requested the Susitna Council to re-affirm their support for the project, which they had done before. Mannix also asked the council to urge the borough to release $80-thousand dollars in previously-awarded grants to develop a business plan for the project.

The grants for the project, which had been secured for more than two years, have been held by the Mat Su Borough, for reasons as-yet unknown.

Mannix told the Council that the process of securing forest for sustaiable wood source for the high school’s boiler would be a long process with ample opportunity for public coomment along the way.