WACO : General Meeting August 6, 2007 browse

Minutes of General Meeting

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Date: August 6, 2007

Occasion: General Meeting

Called to Order: 7:05pm

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Quorum

There was a quorum present for a general meeting

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Agenda

The agenda was adopted as is with three additions.

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Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the general meeting held on July 2, 2007 were approved.

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July 4th Awards

Best Float went to MVFCU. People’s Choice Classic Car went to Bill Waldron.

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Assembly Report

Tom Kluberton:

The Assembly is considering changing the School Board so that members represent specific districts and are elected by those districts.
The Assembly is also considering a sales tax of 3%, which would reduce property valuations by about $20,000.

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Grant Recipient Report

Laura Herman:

reported on attending the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine.

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Treasurer’s Report

presented financial report for July;
pronounced forecast less gloomy than previously reported because—
- austerity measures factored in;
- contributions towards July 4th celebration had partially offset
- volunteer efforts in library and public area cleaning for July and August provided unexpected savings.

Jim Huston stated that he had found the NSF check required for our lawsuit against Shawn McCrary.

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Vice-Chair’s Report

Thank you to the Lions for setting up for the meeting.
Donated a hand-made wooden bowl to be raffled at the meeting.
August 25 9am is Clean-up day for the Community Center grounds.
MSB will test the drinking water at the Community Center for arsenic.

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Chair’s Report

July 4th. Thank you to all who made this a success.
The Willow Seniors have removed all their fridges and freezers except one.
August 17. Court date for the Pralles’ lawsuit against WACO. August 10. Status meeting regarding the lawsuit.
August 21 6PM Willow Meeting with DOT, Senator Huggins & Representative Neuman at the Willow Community Center. The items of discussion will include the request to transfer Willow Airport lands to the Mat-Su Borough for community development purposes; future plans for the Iditarod Race restart; the proposed increase to lease rates at the Willow Airport; the construction of pedestrian pathways along the Willow portion of the Parks Highway; the funding and timing of the upgrade to the Parks Highway through the Willow area; the increasing number of conflicts between float planes and watercraft on Willow Lake; and the Willow Lake noise study. Also on the list is a replacement for the Deneki Bridge. This was added at the request of a community member who lives across Willow Creek.
August 16. Deadline for comments on Copper Timber Sale. WACO has voted to oppose this twice now, so Chair will send a letter consistent with our previous position.

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Carnival

Linda Oxley:

Every board member is a member of the Carnival Committee.
October 21. Oktoberfest. Walter Adolphs has agreed to cook again. There will be a $5000 money raffle. Carnival Raffle tickets will go on sale then.

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Trails

Steve Charles:

As part of the Safe Crossing Projects a trail on Deshka Landing Road has been rerouted and you can now get from Almond to Vera Lake without a road crossing. Also part of the trail from Deshka Landing to the Deshka River has been rerouted with the help of a private property owner.
Still in the process of deciding grant projects.
Meet 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7pm.

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Unfinished Business

Recovery of costs for Kitchen Use.

MOTION: Michael Bishop moved that WACO recover part of the cost it incurs in use of the kitchen for cooking by local groups, currently estimated at around $1450 per annum; that an initial fee of $30.00 be set for each such use of the kitchen; that this fee be reviewed each year as part of the annual budgetary process. The motion was seconded.

MOTION: Doyle Holmes moved to postpone action on the motion until the next meeting with advertising clearly stating what the motion says. The motion was seconded.

VOTE: The motion failed with 6 for and 44 against.

VOTE: The original motion passed with 44 for and 11 against.

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New Business

Railroad Corridor.

John Duffy, MSB Manager gave an overview of the history, benefits and the process regarding the Railroad Corridor.

History: Corridor was included in the 1970 Borough Comp Plan as access to the Port at Pt. McKenzie. In the early 1990s MSB looked at corridors from the Port to Houston. In 2003 a study selected a corridor to Willow from the Port. As of now no specific corridor has been selected.
Benefits: Lowers transportation costs, which makes more mineral extraction cost-effective e.g. limestone at Fairbanks. The construction will provide many jobs. Will be the most efficient way to support construction of the gas pipe-line. Allows more industrial and commercial expansion.
Process: Best input to process is a comprehensive plan. There will be a preliminary engineering study and an environmental study. These have been awarded to Tryk Nyman Hayes and to HDR respectively. The application then goes to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), who will then award the contract for the formal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). At this point MSB and ARR no longer have input into the process.

John Duffy, MSB Manager and Eileen Riley VP ARR then answered questions regarding the new railroad spur from Port McKenzie to the main line.

All corridors will be considered in the EIS.
The original ROW requested was 800ft. It is now 200ft. There are no plans for a road alongside, because the EIS would take too long and there is no money to build the road: the Highway Trust Fund is broke.
The trains will run at 59mph.
Property needed for the ROW will be purchased if possible at fair market value or will be obtained through condemnation.
MSB Assembly approved Railroad Corridor 3 in 2005 and included it in the Borough comprehensive plan.
Railroad crossings are expensive and even more so when done after the fact. Input is needed up front concerning where railroad crossings should go.
There is no preferred route at this time. A shorter route would be less expensive. The Financial analysis will be done after the preliminary studies.
Currently 16 trains go through Willow in the summer and two in the winter.
There is no guarantee that the firm chosen for the EIS will be Alaskan.

WACO’s Ad in the Lion’s Calendar.

MOTION: Tom Phillips moved that WACO purchase an ad & monthly event listing for the Willow Lions 2008 Calendar for $325. The motion was seconded.

VOTE: The motion passed with 18 for and 1 against.

Tom Phillips requested that the Lions be allowed to use WACO’s bulk mailing permit. The WACO Board will decide whether to continue the permit, as the Breeze is no longer mailed.

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