Mat-Su picks Front Street site for Talkeetna water tank as some residents object

The Mat-Su Borough has named a wooded lot on Front Street in Talkeetna as its preferred site for the town's new water tank and well, a site some residents have opposed for months.

Public Works Director Tom Adams approved a decision memo Oct. 29 naming two state parcels on Front Street, about 1.4 acres, as the preferred site for a 375,000-gallon tank, a well and related facilities. The memo doesn't authorize construction or settle later permitting, funding, environmental or design questions.

Talkeetna's water system serves about 225 customer accounts and doesn't have enough treated-water storage, which leaves low pressure when demand peaks, according to the memo. At a June 3 board meeting, borough staff called arsenic one of the top reasons to move the current wellhouse.

Opponents want the project kept at the existing water plant on C Street. The memo's planning estimates put that option at $5.07 million, slightly less than Front Street's $5.28 million. But the C Street site sits on Alaska Railroad land, and the memo gave it a "poor" rating for downtown congestion.

The memo also favors borough ownership, saying it would avoid lease payments and permits and keep the project eligible for funding that requires ownership. A $1.5 million forgivable state loan for the project required borough ownership, according to the local sewer and water board's April resolution, but the state withdrew that offer in June 2025 while the borough looked at other sites. At the June 3 meeting, staff said ownership "is not MSB mandate but preference."

The state Department of Natural Resources approved giving the Front Street land to the borough for free on June 26, saying site selection is up to the borough. The transfer still waits on a borough-paid survey. Both Front Street and the existing site are in a federal 100-year flood zone, the April resolution says.

Residents who asked the borough Planning Commission in September to oppose the site said it would clear woods with a trail through them. The Talkeetna Community Council wrote the state opposing the transfer.

Andrea Larson, who owns neighboring property, told the Assembly on Oct. 20 that the project "has moved forward without public notice or input" and that opposition dates to January. The memo lists public engagement including board meetings and radio interviews.

The advisory Talkeetna Sewer and Water Board passed a resolution 3-0 in April asking for the location with "the least impact on the community," but it didn't reject Front Street by name. At its Oct. 7 meeting, Chair Drew Haag was "disappointed with where the MSB has progressed with researching other sites," according to the minutes. Vice Chair Jane Steere said people usually speak up to oppose rather than support, and that without a survey, the board doesn't know what the community supports.

The memo went to the board for its Nov. 4 meeting, along with a draft resolution supporting preliminary design at Front Street and reapplying for the state loan. Records don't yet show whether it passed.

The borough engineer projected in August that plans would be finished around summer 2027, with construction in 2028. Larson has asked for formal public meetings before Nov. 17, when she said Public Works is scheduled to brief the Assembly.