Talkeetna residents ask Mat-Su Assembly for hearings on water tank site before Nov. 17

Talkeetna residents asked the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly on Tuesday to hold formal public meetings on where the borough puts a new water facility, before the Public Works Department briefs the assembly on the project Nov. 17.

Andrea Larson handed the assembly a letter asking that residents, business owners and neighboring property owners get "formal input and participation" in the decision. "This project has moved forward without public notice or input, and there has been opposition to the site selection since January of 2026," she said.

She said the community council, the Talkeetna Sewer and Water Board, the Talkeetna Historical Society, neighbors and business owners have sent opposition letters but haven't had a formal chance to make their case.

The borough plans a storage tank, a new well, pumps and a treatment building on a wooded 1.42-acre state parcel residents call Bear Trail Woods. The state Department of Natural Resources proposed this spring to transfer the land to the borough at no cost, according to its preliminary decision.

Fire department water use overtaxes the borough's arsenic treatment facility, and an arsenic-free well and a tank are the proposed fixes, Alaska News reported Sept. 15, when Larson asked the borough Planning Commission to oppose the site.

Alan Larson, a relative, said the borough is doing "a really good job" on the water system, but residents first took their comments to the state, which told them the community's interests were the borough's responsibility. He said the woods draw tourists whose spending, through Talkeetna's 3% sales tax, pays a big portion of the water and sewer utility, and that the assembly should "hear the whole story before we make a selection."

The water project wasn't on the agenda for the special meeting, called to address waterbody setbacks, and the assembly took no action. Andrea Larson said she will be back.