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Date of Meeting: May 8, 2024
Meeting Location: Council Building, Zoom
Website: chickalooncc.com
Email: info@chickalooncc.com
Prepared By: Cassie Johnson

 

CHICKALOON COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

DATE : May 08, 2024

 

Officers:  Kalee Bowen (Chair), Angye Leavitt (Vice-Chair) John J Vessey (Member at Large), Janie Vessey (Treasurer), and Cassie Johnson (Secretary)

 

Meeting called to order at:  7:01

Zoom link ID: 5894060352

Pledge of Allegiance:  Ron

Approval of Agenda as posted: 1st by John, 2nd by Frankie

 

Minutes from last meeting (4/10/24): Cassie Johnson

Approval of Minutes: 1st by Chris VanCleve, 2nd by Jeff Myers

Announcements & Guest Speakers:

1. Tim Hale: The Borough Assembly is in the middle of the budget process, their second meeting is tomorrow night at the Assembly Chambers. There is a proposal for a slight increase in mill rate for the first time in 5 years. Increase will be about .3 mill. This would mean that a home worth $370,000 would see an increase of about $270 in property taxes. Amendments will come out tomorrow, May 9th, 2024.

The Library Citizens Advisory Committee for challenging materials in libraries is also meeting tomorrow, May 9th at the Assembly Chambers, applications for books to review must be in by Friday.

CVTC Police department was not granted special commissions to extend policing powers.  Tim Hale put in a resolution to keep assembly members involved and aware of any further discussion/progress with this in the future.  Ron asked about the Chickaloon PD and if the issue is simply law enforcement or if other baggage is attached. Tim explained that there are three levels: State, Federal and expanded Federal authority under Violence Against Women Act 2022.  The CVTC PD would not be doing any traffic enforcement, stops or pursuits on the road. They were seeking state authority to be able to stop misdemeanor crimes and felonies.   They have federal authority already, but were looking for state approval.

Pat brought up that the highway condition from Kings River to mile 71 is horrible and asked Tim to discuss it at the next assembly. Dump coupons have to be completed online by May 31st, but they are good for up to $25 and can be used until April 1, 2025.

Fish and Wildlife Commission: There has been a Federal takeover of Cook Inlet. The Fish and Wildlife Commission was able to maintain the conservation corridor which means limited drift fishing allowing fish to come up to the Matsu borough.  Also heard that the commissioner of Fish and Game may be considering opening up state waters on days when federal waters are closed, which makes it harder for fish to get back to the borough.  Fish & Wildlife commission meeting is tomorrow at the lower conference room or you can attend virtually. On June 6th at 5pm in the Assembly Chambers there is a meeting with Fish and Game about game. They will be taking questions from the public.  Kendra is the temporary representative on the Water Setback Advisory Board where you have to build 75 feet away from a body of water. A draft ordinance will be discussed between now and late August. Next meeting is May 22nd at 4pm.

CVTC is working on a proposal to have community meetings to see if there is interest in a separate pathway next to the highway that would go all the way to Eureka.  They need a letter of support for meetings from individuals and communities.  Jessica spoke up and talked about the proposal saying this one did not get approved, but the intent is to have community meetings for input and support for the federal grant proposal due mid June. There was discussion and concern about state DOT improving the road after installment of the pathway. See attached documentation.

Reports and Correspondence:

Treasures Report: Janie Vessey
Road Service Area (RSA) 31: Dave Vancleve: RSA 31 contract is not up for renewal for another year. Fish Lake Rd has been dusty lately and it would be nice to have people that are driving down the road slow down for pedestrians.  Kendra asked if pot holes would be filled. Dave said the budget for Chickaloon is not enough to allow for new projects.

Community Assistance Program (CAP):  We have not received any new applications for a CAP project.  Chris asked how much we receive each year, it is about $15000. Frankie asked about a playground in Chickaloon and stated that Jessica was involved in the one in Sutton and would have good input.  Dave mentioned a trail from Fish Lake over the ridge to the council/post office area.  Jeff said that Pat has the knowledge to lay out a project like that. Kendra brought up an idea to put up a sign for entering Chickaloon from both sides.  Wesley mentioned that Aaron Meeusen from Glacier View built the sign for Glacier View and for Kingdom Air Corps. Dave said we should start the project for the sign now so that we can coordinate with the construction at Kings River.

Fire Dept. Report: Wesley Daniels: Fire season is in full swing so the fire departments have been busy with illegal burning.  Burn permits are required from April 1st to August 31st.

Crime Watch Report: Anna was caught on Roy’s property pulling things out of his connex. She apparently knew his last name and she thought she had every right to be there. Troopers were called out, Anna vacated around 10pm the first night and then she was back out the next day. Roy did file for trespassing.  Troopers came back out again and police were helping her move things out.  Anna did not have a license plate on the car she was using and she does actually think she has a right to trespass if no one is on the property and she’s in dire need.  She had changed his locks on his cabin. Roy has had issues in the past with people stealing property.  Anna is very familiar with all of the vacant cabins in the area and she was in a relationship with the person who tried to break into another property owner’s home. She is still in the area staying with a property owner on Bestline.  Call Troopers if you see her trespassing again, refer to Report #T23000869. Troopers are very short staffed and the more info they are provided with, the more it helps.

Public Comment: Frankie spoke about the garden in front of the community center. Some plants have come back, but some have not so we have room to add in more perennials if anyone has any to spare.  Frankie will need to buy compost and mulch and annuals to place in the front soon. Ron asked about the King River Bridge and how that’s going to join with the new highway.  Jessica added to public comment about DOT taking on emergency rockfall mitigation between Kings River and Long Lake. Some will be tackled this summer. The ones in the next couple years are more complicated because they have to go up on top of the cliffs to do some work, but DOT will be doing short term mitigation to stop rocks from going into the road.

Old Business: 

Water: Water results are back. We will be looking into all options and bids for the best possible system to install here in the community center so we have low maintenance and can hopefully reduce future costs. Marcia asked if the water is safe to drink right now.  Kalee reviewed the results of the test, we have 4 health concerns; cadmium, lithium, arsenic and uranium. See attached documentation.

Gas and Stove: No updates at this time.  Once we have all of the quotes, we will send everything out for individual votes.

Website Update:  Kalee reminded everyone to please remember that we (the council) are volunteers and the gentleman that is doing our website is doing it for free and he works a full time job.  This is a first time website and hiccups will come up and receiving unkind emails in the process is discouraging for us.

Community Clean-Up Update: Full trash bags are to be placed behind the pavilion. We have two volunteers to take trash to the Sutton transfer station. We are okay to take trash to the dump until June 30th. Sign up sheets are at the post office for raffle items, bbq food, and cleanup.

New Business:
New discussion on the idea for a public watering point (Community Well).

Jessica Winstaffer works for CVTC. The background for the public water topic started over two years ago when a community member in Glacier View contacted CVTC and said they need a water point for community members because they were having to drive to Palmer or Wasilla.  CVTC did a survey between Buffalo/Soapstone, Sutton, Chickaloon and Glacier View communities and learned that there is a large need for water.  A grant was awarded for Glacier View to the CVTC, which got tied up in bureaucracy and was unable to be used.  A different grant was awarded for Chickaloon and it has much better terms than the one for Glacier View.

The grant for Chickaloon is a federal grant in the amount of $250,000 administered by the EPA. There is no match requirement because we are considered a disadvantaged community due to average income being low.  This grant does not have to be used by CVTC so a different entity is allowed to take over the project. It can be used for anything including, but not limited to;  drilling test wells, buying property, building and maintaining the water facility, paying engineers and project managers, etc.

Skip asked about how the money for Chickaloon was awarded in a different manner and Jessica responded that this grant came from a different source than the one that was awarded to Glacier View. Frankie asked if the funding pays for paying someone to manage the project.  Jessica said that most likely it would pay for someone for the first few years.  Discussion continued and the point was brought up that a community water point requires a lot more testing in the first few years than it does later on. Dave asked if it’s possible for this to be a joint project with the CVTC, but the village doesn’t want to maintain the project.  The main concern is what the long term commitment involves.  Trapper Creek Community Council has done this and they have a subset of the council called the “water committee” and they oversee maintenance and operations. They are ways to have a fee associated with collecting water.  If the grant is not used, it will go back and someone else will use it. There isn’t an exact timeline for when the proposal needs to be accepted. There was more discussion and we chose to table the discussion for now and we will look for volunteers that may be interested. Jessica gave her cards to Cassie, who will have them available at the post office.  If anyone in the community is interested in public water access, please let us know.

Agenda Items for Next Meeting (6/12/2024):  Alaska State Troopers will most likely be here at the next meeting to discuss CVTC officers.

Meeting Adjourn: 8:28pm 1st Ron, 2nd John

Attendees: John Vessey Sr., Kendra Zamzow, Frankie Barber, Dave & Chris VanCleve, Jeff Meyers, Jessica Winstaffer, Wesley & Talitha Daniels, Skip & Marcia Stock, Ron Wayner, Tim Hale

Zoom: Hugh Keogh, Pat Owens

 

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Status: Approved

President: Kalee Bowen

Secretary: Cassie Johnson

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NOTE: ALL MEETINGS ARE HELD AT THE CHICKALOON COMMUNITY CENTER ON THE 2ND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH AT 7:00 PM; LOCATED AT MILE 76 GLENN HWY, CHICKALOON, AK. 99674.ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK OR HAVE A ITEM PUT ON THE AGENDA NEEDS TO CONTACT THE COUNCIL BY EMAIL: INFO@CHICKALOONCC.COM OR MAIL TO: PO BOX 1145, CHICKALOON, AK. 99674-1145. ALL MUST BE RECEIVED TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THE MEETING. This deadline complies with the Mat-Su Borough Clerk’s Office advertising requirements.