Second-most-populous borough in Alaska, home to Fairbanks, North Pole, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Covers 7,444 square miles of Interior Alaska under extreme continental climate.
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK, USA
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Grier Hopkins
“That postage stamp rate language in the legislation also requires it to be approved by the RCA, making it— with acute conditions, making it a decision that is not, you know, your cost payer, cost— or cost cause or cost payer, because we're not directly causing the impact of this furlough. It was out of our control that it was created there.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Grier Hopkins
“There was an estimate in House Finance, I believe, during the regular session that Ua Wai'a Consultant estimated that spurline tariff addition on top of the entire line would be a 2-cent increase. So we're looking at fractions of the the overall tariff.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Kiel
“if we're talking about building the whole thing to have a viable project, why wouldn't the cost of a Fairbanks spur be spread across all purchasers of gas, including foreign LNG buyers?”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Grier Hopkins
“I would support that. I was looking at it from where I am, as my main concern is making sure we can get that, um, the most affordable gas to Alaskans.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Grier Hopkins
“ensuring that we're able to get those impacts monetarily supported to be able to support our roads, our fire service areas, and the ancillary impacts is what's important. And so the— I don't— we were not able to exactly calculate what those impacts would be to our community. Because we're not able to say this is what, how many accidents we would have or what an estimate would be. But we are able to look at the, how we can handle our trash and solid waste disposals, which would increase substantially. We have an enterprise system here where we are, we pay for what you bring across our landfill waste stations.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Grier Hopkins
“we here in the Fairbanks North Star Borough don't have road towers, but we have 103 different road service areas. So depending on where the developer and the contractors and the railroad agree to have an off— a pipe offload yard, it's going to be a big impact”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 10, 2026 9:00am · Jun 10, 2026
Fairbanks borough seeks $2.6 million for two landfill compactors after transmission failure
Fairbanks North Star Borough landfill compactor transmission fails; Mayor Grier Hopkins seeks $2.6 million for two new Caterpillar compactors instead of rebuilds.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
Fairbanks gets $728,000 in congressionally directed funds for a 14-stretcher ambulance bus
The City of Fairbanks will receive $728,000 in federal funds for a medical ambulance bus that can carry 14 stretcher patients or 22 seated riders.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Fairbanks rewrites Chena riverfront rules; its own 2019 warning was never acted on
A 2019 warning that Chena River erosion could threaten code-compliant homes within 15 years is part of the background for Fairbanks' riverfront plan rewrite.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks trails panel wants tour operators permitted and paying 15% into a trail fund
A Fairbanks North Star Borough commission drafted permit rules for commercial tour operators on borough trails, including a 15 percent fee for trail maintenance.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks grant would fix the Davis Road turf fields and start closing Kiwanis Field
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation Commission considers a letter Monday recommending a federal grant for accessible bleachers, permanent restrooms and better access at the Davis Road turf complex.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Chena River flood advisory extended through Sunday as crest forecast rises
NWS extended the Chena River flood advisory through Sunday night and raised the Moose Creek Dam crest forecast to 25.1 feet.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Two Fairbanks ordinances would loosen the cap on school district reserves
Two Fairbanks North Star Borough ordinances would change the 40 percent cap on school district reserves, and one would dissolve the maintenance reserve fund.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks weighs union labor agreements on its big construction projects
A Fairbanks North Star Borough ordinance would require community workforce agreements on construction over $3.5 million, modeled on Anchorage's rule.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks flood maps are final. Borough page still points to appeals
FEMA has finalized Fairbanks' new flood maps, but the borough still directs residents to a page that calls them preliminary and open to appeal.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Seventeen foreclosed Fairbanks properties sold, 25 drew no bid
The Fairbanks North Star Borough sold 17 tax-foreclosed properties for $403,924 at an August sealed-bid sale, with 25 parcels drawing no bid at all.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Fairbanks votes Oct. 6 on capping taxes, moving elections and hand counts
Fairbanks North Star Borough voters decide three citizen initiatives Oct. 6 on a tax revenue cap, November elections and hand-counted ballots.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks committee takes up Fairbanks Street rezone that could allow 51 units on 13 lots
Thirteen lots on Fairbanks Street could hold as many as 51 dwelling units, up from a 25-unit cap, under Ordinance No. 2026-23. The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Committee of the Whole takes it up Thursday after a 10-0 Planning Commission recommendation.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks ordinance would shift board appointments from Assembly to borough mayor
Ordinance No. 2026-24 would move appointment authority for the Board of Equalization, Economic Development Commission and Historic Preservation Commission to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor, citing state law, and would replace the Assembly Board of Ethics with an Assembly Ethics Committee.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks weighs broader authority to take ownership of abused animals
Fairbanks animal control lacks a direct forfeiture process for abused or neglected animals. A proposed borough rule would add one.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks would require union labor agreements on big borough projects
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly advanced an ordinance requiring community workforce agreements on borough construction projects over $3.5 million, closely modeled on Anchorage's code but omitting the efficacy-review clause Anchorage struck in February.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Two Fairbanks rezones could take 32 lots to 99 dwelling units total
Two Fairbanks North Star Borough rezone requests would let 32 lots on Farewell Avenue and Fairbanks Street hold as many as 99 dwelling units.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks gets new flood maps in January, and most homes in the zone are uninsured
FEMA finalized a new Flood Insurance Rate Map for the Fairbanks North Star Borough effective January 8, 2027, expanding coverage from three flooding sources to about 35, even as only 26 percent of homes inside the existing flood zone carry flood insurance.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
New flood maps would end mandatory flood insurance for thousands of Fairbanks properties
Revised FEMA flood maps would remove 2,881 Fairbanks North Star Borough structures from the high-risk flood zone and add 538, effective Jan. 8, 2027.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
Fairbanks borough weighs a $303,346 replacement ambulance
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Finance Committee is scheduled to award a $303,346.09 ambulance contract to Rocky Mountain Emergency Vehicles on Sept. 3, buying through a Houston-Galveston Area Council cooperative contract rather than a local bid.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks would spend $1.2 million more to defend the pipeline's value in court
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins introduced an ordinance Thursday appropriating $1.2 million more for the borough's court fight over the 2026 assessed value of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, six times the $200,000 first budgeted. The Assembly Finance Committee reviews it Sept. 3.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks votes Sept. 3 on a $699,500 indoor playground contract
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Finance Committee is scheduled to vote Sept. 3 on a $699,500 contract with Trost Construction Inc. to build an indoor playground inside the Carlson Activity Center. The low bid came in about $185,000 under the engineer's estimate.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks preservation panel weighs federal rule limiting its role
A proposed federal rule rewrite would end requirements that agencies notify or consult the Fairbanks North Star Borough on projects affecting historic sites.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
A dollar-a-year lease would help stand up an American Legion post near Alaska's first state veterans cemetery
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is weighing a $1-a-year lease to establish an American Legion post in Salcha, near Alaska's first state veterans cemetery, a 257-acre site serving Interior veterans.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks voters will weigh banning voting machines for hand counts
Fairbanks North Star Borough voters decide Oct. 6 on Proposition 3, a citizen initiative to ban voting machines and hand-count all ballots. Backers cite cost; critics disagree.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A commission wants tougher riverbank protection than the developers asked for on a proposed Chena RV park
A riverfront commission recommended stricter protection than developers requested for a proposed Chena River RV park, splitting with borough staff over how much to guard the riverbank.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks borough moves to study rural emergency coverage it flagged in 2018
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Regional Emergency Services Advisory Committee meets Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. on a draft request for proposal for a comprehensive review of the borough's fire service areas and non-areawide medical services. It may recommend the Assembly fund the review.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A Fairbanks street a sinkhole swallowed could vanish from the map
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Platting Board takes testimony Aug. 19 on vacating the 50-foot Delight Avenue right-of-way in Joy Subdivision, a street platted in 1975 and never built. Staff recommend approval with five conditions, and any borough citizen may testify.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Fairbanks medical campus wants room to grow. Its neighbors want the buffer.
A Geist Road rezone to expand a Fairbanks medical campus deadlocked the borough Planning Commission 3-3 over a residential buffer; the decision moves to Aug. 11.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks planners reject York Avenue duplexes over the road to the school
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission recommended denying a York Avenue rezone for up to eight duplexes, citing traffic safety near University Park Elementary.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks has 1,000 miles of trails and no rules for tour operators
The Fairbanks North Star Borough has no standards for commercial tour operators on its 1,000-plus miles of trails. A commission has recommended fees and reporting rules.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A three-bite Fairbanks dog gets strict conditions instead of euthanasia
A Fairbanks dog declared dangerous after three bites can stay with its owner under strict conditions — a locked kennel, leashing, neutering, and a behaviorist plan.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks trails commission to weigh commercial vehicle rules Monday
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Trails Advisory Commission meets Monday, July 27, to receive a staff update and hold a discussion on a letter of recommendation to the Mayor and Assembly on Resolution No. 2025-33, which concerns commercial vehicles on recreational trails. The meeting also covers trail grants and the Draft Regional Comprehensive Plan.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks subdivision stuck in limbo since 2018 seeks fourth extension, citing owners' divorce
The Nalak Subdivision on Edsson Avenue has been in preliminary approval since August 2018 and is seeking a fourth two-year extension from the Fairbanks North Star Borough Platting Board, with owners Todd and Mary Groat citing an ongoing divorce proceeding that has frozen funds needed to finish road grading and surfacing.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks weighs doubling a rec area and shifting trail approvals to staff
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission will hold a public hearing July 28 on a rezone that would add 339.3 donated acres to the Isberg Recreation Area and replace conditional-use hearings with a simpler permit process for future trail development.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A reserve cap just cost Fairbanks schools $11.4M. Now officials are fighting it.
Fairbanks officials meet to reconsider the state cap on school district reserves after an audit clawed back $11.4 million, weighing planning needs against taxpayer protections.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
What Fairbanks wants from Juneau — and why it costs more up north
Fairbanks is finalizing its 2027 legislative agenda, pressing for a Fairbanks gas spur at equal rates, higher school funding, and a return to defined-benefit pensions.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Gavora Mall, two other Fairbanks properties seek grandfather rights at July 16 hearing
Three Fairbanks properties built before modern zoning rules, including the 87,884-square-foot Gavora Mall, will go before a Fairbanks North Star Borough hearing officer on July 16 seeking formal grandfather status that would let them continue operating without conditional use permits.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Noel Wien Library brings Kids Literacy Farmers Market back to Weeks Field July 21
Noel Wien Library's 6th Annual Kids Literacy Farmers Market runs July 21 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Weeks Field, combining literacy activities and a children-focused farmers market as part of a busy summer programming season.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks staff flag spot-zone risk ahead of Geist Road rezone vote
Borough planning staff recommend the Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission deny a request to rezone 3745 Geist Road from Light Commercial to General Commercial, warning the change could constitute spot zoning and add roughly 1,500 weekday vehicle trips. The commission holds its legislative hearing Tuesday, July 14.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Fairbanks clinic wants to expand. Staff recommend denying the rezone it's seeking.
A Fairbanks medical clinic seeks to rezone its Geist Road property to expand, but borough staff recommend denial over reduced buffers for nearby homes. The assembly votes July 14.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read