Wasilla council pulls airport master plan from introduction, delays public hearing

The Wasilla City Council will not take public testimony on the 2026 Wasilla Municipal Airport Master Plan on Sept. 28 as the agenda recommended. Council members withdrew the introduction Monday and directed the city clerk to reschedule it to a special meeting combined with an in-depth committee-of-the-whole discussion.

Ordinance Serial No. 26-18 would adopt the plan, the document guiding development at Wasilla Airport for the next 10 years, updated with Federal Aviation Administration funding support. Alaska News previously covered the draft's proposal to nearly double the runway length, at an estimated $279 million. The city and its consultant, HDL Engineering Consultants, have framed the update as a tool for safe, efficient airport development, the same FAA-supported planning route small and mid-sized Alaska communities use to align airport growth with local economic strategy.

Council Member Stu Graham moved the ordinance off the consent agenda before the introduction motion. "The only reason I pulled this was to kind of put Eric on notice that I didn't see a whole lot of the process of coming up with this plan in here," Graham said. "Who we reached out to, what discussions there were at what level, what ideas were turned back." A city official said the administration would prepare a synopsis of the public outreach behind the plan.

Another council member asked for a work session, saying the document was large enough that the full council needed time to understand it. Her intent, she said, was education rather than amendment.

A city official cautioned that the plan is the product of a two-and-a-half to three-year process supported by federal funding. The consultant contract is complete, and the FAA has signed off on the final costs. Substantive changes now would carry timing and financial consequences, the official said.

Council Member Tim Johnson, participating by phone, said he would be out of town. "Seeing as I have a significant interest in this, and I have several issues that I'd like to discuss, I'd at least like to have a forum to do so in the working session," Johnson said.

Graham then moved to postpone the introduction indefinitely. Council Member Ian Crafton objected, saying the item should carry a date certain, noting further delay could push the hearing to late October. Graham withdrew both his motion to introduce the ordinance and his motion to postpone it indefinitely. The rescheduling motion passed without objection, leaving the ordinance number intact. No date has been set for the special meeting or the eventual public hearing. The clerk said she would bring back dates.

Project materials describe local aviation users and nearby residents as key stakeholders invited to the plan's public meetings. No member of the public spoke on the airport plan Monday.

Crafton said handing the council a multi-year planning document and expecting a decision within weeks is a big lift. He asked that water, sewer and parks plans come with work sessions built in. A city official asked whether the existing public-meeting model is enough, or whether council-specific sessions should start at the beginning of those plans.