Minutes of the Work Session
Denali Borough Assembly
Tri-Valley Community Center
December 11, 2002
CALL TO ORDER Presiding Officer Jim Caswell called the work session to order at 6:30 pm.
ROLL CALL Assembly members present were: Jim Caswell, Gerald
Pollock, Sid Michaels, Carol Shields, Baxter Mercer, Bob Shelton, David Evans
and Mayor Talerico.
There were no items listed on the work session agenda. CASWELL asked Mayor Talerico to give his
monthly report.
Mayor Talerico said he became a grandfather last night to
Brianna Lynn, and as a result has had very little sleep in the last two days.
Mayor Talerico said he attended the TRAAK Board meeting in
Anchorage and there are three options being discussed for the right-of-way
issue in the Nenana Canyon: Option 1 is
encroachment permits to adjoining owners, Option 2 is a Local Public Agencies
(LPA) Agreement with local government, and Option 3 is Encroachment Permit with
local government. He said the TRAAK
Board has endorsed other projects and committees the Borough has
presented. He said the TRAAK Board has
been openly in support of Borough plans for the Canyon. He said we want to decide what we want to do
in our local community.
Mayor Talerico said on November 25, 2002 he went to
Fairbanks to meet with Senator Seekins and Representative Guttenberg.
He said he presented them with the Denali Borough “wish list”. He said he also attended the GVEA Board of
Director’s meeting that same day in Fairbanks.
Mayor Talerico said several residents that live from Stampede Road to
the microwave tower participated in the GVEA meeting. The Mayor said last year we were all under the impression that
the appropriation would go to electrify the residents of the above-mentioned area,
and that did not occur. Instead the funds
were used to electrify 9 residences south of Fairbanks instead of the 72
applicants who applied that live near Rock Creek. He said the request for their electrification has been changed to
$1.2 million. It seemed to him that the
President of GVEA and the GVEA Board of Director’s aren’t seeing eye to eye
concerning the electrification project.
He said the folks in the Rock Creek area have formed a non-profit to
work on obtaining electricity for their area.
On December 5, 2002, the Mayor went to Fairbanks with Wayne
Valcq, Neal Laugman, and Dave Sawatzky to meet with the interior Delegation
and/or their aides to discuss the electrification project. He said Therriault is in favor of helping
with the proposed project.
Mayor Talerico said he had put in a call to Jeff Stacer, the
Federal Director of the Denali Commission.
The Mayor said the Borough does not want to hang all of its hopes on the
State Legislature for project funding.
The Mayor has extended an invitation to Mr. Stacer to visit the Borough. Mayor Talerico said they would not designate
that area rural.
Mayor Talerico said the Borough owns a huge chunk of land
near Slate Creek. He said the Borough
currently has management authority over that land, and if a power line goes in
near there, that would be beneficial to the Borough owned lands.
Mayor Talerico said the NARS (Northern Access Reconnaissance
Study) scoping meetings are tentatively set for January 6, 2003, in Fairbanks,
and January 7, 2003 in Healy.
Mayor
Talerico requested that the January Assembly meeting be moved to January 15,
2003 to allow the staff adequate time to prepare for the meeting.
MICHAELS
said he would like to see HB244 on a future work session so the Assembly can be
up to speed on this issue.
ADJOURNMENT CASWELL
declared the regular meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm.
Date Approved: January
8, 2003