A faulting cable under the Loussac Library would cost the city a permanent easement

Chugach Electric Association would get a permanent right of way across the Loussac Library grounds, at no cost, to replace a buried power cable that keeps faulting. The segment is "the only alternate cable feed for the area," according to the memorandum Mayor Suzanne M. LaFrance submitted to the Anchorage Assembly, which cites "recent and historical fault activity."

The ordinance would grant a perpetual, non-exclusive telecommunications and electrical easement over a strip 20 to 25 feet wide along the west, north and easterly boundaries of the Midtown library tract, roughly 49,780 square feet in all.

The Municipal Attorney's Office determined the easement carries no "substantial value", since it does not impair the municipality's fee interest. That finding is what allows the city to hand over a permanent interest in public land without charging for it. The Real Estate Department and the administration consider the request "of mutual benefit to all parties," and recommend approval. Chugach's own position is not in the record; the account is the administration's throughout.

The Assembly is scheduled to introduce the measure on Tuesday's consent agenda. Tuesday is not the decision. The public hearing, when the Assembly takes testimony and can pass the ordinance, is set for Sept. 1.