QAP Makes Request of the Mat-Su Borough

UPDATE:  Per an e-mail received March 2nd, according to John Duffy - Borough Manager, they have received a written confirmation that the sale has been cancelled.  Linda Brenner will be attending the Meadow Lakes Community Council meeting this Wednesday with an explanation and an apology.

Our original story:

Sometimes it's hard to keep a positive attitude.  Meadow Lakes continues to be one of the fastest growing communities within the Borough.  As that growth currently has nothing to direct it in a constructive manner we must always be aware of how events occurring within it's boundaries affects each and every one of our futures as residents of this community. The SpUD has been a major topic during the past few months, it is the very thing that would protect the community from the current request to the Borough from Quality Asphalt and Paving.  The following text is from the Notice sent to surrounding landowners and the Meadow Lakes Community Council from the Mat-Su Borough:

"The Land and Resources Management Division (LMD) is seeking public comment on an application received from a
Quality Asphalt and Paving (QAP). They propose to purchase gravel from borough-owned property on approximately 120 acres located in Section 02, Township 17 North, Range 02 West, Seward Meridian, tax parcel C3. The parcel is classified material lands and reserve use land. A minimum 50 foot vegetative buffer is required around the property. See attached map.

QAP will be required to apply for and receive an Interim Materials District (IMD) designation for the parcel before a gravel sale contract can be executed. Mining is not proposed for below 4 feet above the water table. The sale of gravel is expected to exceed $25,000 and be for a term of more than two years. An independent appraisal will set the fair market value of the gravel. Assembly approval is required for material sales greater than $25,000 value. Assembly decision is proposed for April 7, 2009.

Written comments may be mailed on this form or emailed to the LMD at (email address) no later than March 23, 2009.
Contact Debby at 745-9863 with questions."

The comment form can be found under the Community Info Menu located on the right side of the front page of this newspaper.  As a part of this community, the Meadow Lakes Chatter encourages you to not only submit a comment form, but attend the meeting and verbalize your feelings before the Assembly on April 7th.

The 120 acres backs up to 40 acres owned by the Meadow Lakes Community Council, Inc.  Sitting on that property is an almost finished senior housing unit.  The master plan for the 40 acres includes three additional senior housing units, a community center, ballfields, a basketball court, a soccer field, and a nature trail.  The community submitted a formal request that the property be retained for public use, ie:,  schools, a library, community parks, additional senior housing.

As you explore your feelings on this issue, think about the lives of our seniors, our community center, and our youth as they take advantage of a piece of property meant for the communities residents. The consequences of the noise and air pollution, it's only protection an inadequate buffer of 50 feet, emitted from the heavy equipment required to extract gravel from it's current resting place, the processing of that gravel and the subsequent required transport.  Consider the damage to subdivision roads as the dump trucks travel over them for many years into the future.

The following item was found on the web.  It is the Agenda of the Board of Regents, Facilities and Land Management Committee for the University of Alaska held in Bethel, Alaska on Thursday, April 14, 2005.

"A. Approval to Sell Land – Meadow Lakes, Wasilla Reference 14

The University of Alaska owns an 80-acre parcel in the Meadow Lakes area, located about 6 miles east of Wasilla near mile 49 on the Parks Highway (Reference 14).  The university’s parcel is located north and west of property owned by Quality Asphalt Paving, Inc. (QAP) and does not have direct access to the Alaska Railroad or the Parks Highway.  Legal access is via section line easements to the south and east or an overgrown road right-of-way to the north.  QAP operates a large material extraction operation on its adjacent lands and is able to take advantage of its direct access to the Alaska Railroad for transporting material on railcars into Anchorage.  There is no zoning in the Mat-Su Borough.  Other nearby land is either undeveloped or developed for commercial, industrial or residential use.

In July 2002, QAP submitted an unsolicited offer to lease the university’s Meadow Lakes parcel for gravel extraction for a term of 15 to 20 years with royalty payments in the amount of $.40/cubic yard and a guaranteed royalty payment of $10,000/year.  Land Management rejected QAP’s offer as below fair market value.  In April 2004, QAP submitted another unsolicited offer to purchase or lease the parcel and indicated that approximately one-half of the parcel contained gravel resources, based on their own exploration.  After carefully considering the highest and best use of the parcel (material extraction), pending restrictive Mat-Su Borough regulations concerning material sites (proposed Interim Material Districts), local community council opposition to industrial-type developments, lack of direct access to the Alaska Railroad or the Parks Highway and advantages/disadvantages of leasing the parcel for material extraction, Land Management determined that it would be in the university’s best interest to offer the property for sale competitively.

The parcel was included in the university’s 2004 Competitive Land Sale at a minimum offer amount of $850,000.  The minimum offer amount was determined by estimating the volume of gravel on the parcel and calculating the net present value using the assumption that the gravel would be extracted over a period of 15 to 20 years.  QAP submitted the only offer received by the close of the competitive land sale on October 27, 2004.  The offer, in the amount of $400,000, was disqualified because it was less than the minimum offer amount.  

The parcel was subsequently offered in the university’s Over-the-Counter Land Sale beginning on November 15, 2004.  On March 15, 2005, Land Management received a full offer, in the amount of $850,000, from QAP for the parcel.  QAP will pay $400,000 down and will finance the balance for a period of two years at a rate of 8.5 percent per annum.

In accordance with Regents' Policy 05.11.05, real property transactions which have not been approved as part of a Campus Land Acquisition Plan or a Development Plan and which are expected to result in receipts or disbursements of more than $250,000 in value, require approval by the Board of Regents.
The President recommends that:

MOTION

"The Facilities and Land Management Committee recommends that the Board of Regents authorize the Director of Land Management to execute all documents necessary to close the sale of the 80-acre Meadow Lakes Parcel for a sale price of $850,000.  This motion is effective April 14, 2005."

And a deal was done, adding on to the 250 acres that had already been acquired by Quality.  This present proposal will up their ante to 450 acres.  In the past, they received a "cease and desist" order because they mined the current 330 acres right smack to the water table after filing a plan that said they’d stay 5’ above.

We need "good neighbors" in Meadow Lakes; you need to decide whether Quality Asphalt will be a good neighbor to a 40 acre parcel meant to enhance the community of Meadow Lakes.  Will the Mat-Su Borough consider the "best interests" of Meadow Lakes and it's 6,000+ residents over it's back pocket?

The Borough Assembly needs your input.  Four assembly members represent portions of Meadow Lakes.  Tom Kluberton, our main representative, can be reached at 841-7107 or by e-mailing tkluberton@mtaonline.net   Tom needs to hear from you and your feelings on this matter before the April 7 th Assembly meeting.  You can consider contacting Cindy Bettine - 892-8877, Mark Ewing - 864-0855, and Robert Wells - 746-5585, as they too represent portions of Meadow Lakes.  The written comment form needs to be submitted no later than March 23rd and can be found under the Community Info Menu on the right by clicking, QAP Comment Form.