Mat-Su Borough

Mat-Su Borough finishes upgrading two Butte roads off Bodenburg Loop

Two Butte roads off Bodenburg Loop, Knik View Drive and Knik View Circle, are upgraded and paved, the borough says. The estimate for moving gas lines grew.

by Alaska News1d ago1 min read

Neighbor appeals Mat-Su approval of a 300-person event venue at the Knik Bar

The Knik Bar got Mat-Su's OK for a 300-person lakeside event hall after planners dropped a 10 pm limit on outdoor events. A neighbor is appealing Friday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read

Mat-Su Borough would spend $850,000 in fire reserves on Big Lake station water supply

Big Lake's fire station refills fire trucks too slowly, so the Mat-Su Borough wants to spend $850,000 upgrading the station's water supply system.

by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago1 min read

Mat-Su board approves Willow-area land split without requiring a mile-plus road

Mat-Su's Platting Board OK'd splitting 40 acres near Willow into two lots without building the 6,800-foot road borough rules would normally require.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read

Follows: Willow-area owners ask Mat-Su to let them split 40 acres without building a mile-plus road

Mat-Su finishes Fern Street rebuild with new Cottonwood Creek fish culvert

Mat-Su finished part of its Fern Street rebuild, swapping culverts that blocked salmon from most of Cottonwood Creek. Walkers got a path; fish got a door.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Mat-Su voters reject sales tax, lean against alcohol tax and road powers

Mat-Su voters rejected a 1% sales tax about 2 to 1 and were voting down an alcohol tax and road powers. Longer school board terms are too close to call.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Nov 4, 2025

Mat-Su won't shelve two children's books its library board flagged before purchase

Mat-Su's library director won't shelve "The Gender Wheel" or "Families, Families, Families!" after board members flagged them. Most others in the same memo got through.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Free Wasilla summit Monday helps students with disabilities plan for life after school

Mat-Su students with disabilities can practice job interviews and get help planning for life after high school at a free summit Monday in Wasilla.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Conservation district applies for 885 Point MacKenzie acres DNR plans to give AIDEA

A Wasilla conservation district wants the 885 Point MacKenzie acres DNR proposes to give AIDEA free, to keep hayfields farmed and build a farm hub instead.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Skeetawk gondola tops Mat-Su's $3.33 million list of community projects

A mile-long gondola at Hatcher Pass's Skeetawk ski area tops the community project list Mat-Su planners sent to the Assembly. Funding isn't promised.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min readFrom Oct 19

Mat-Su sets aside $704,763 for opioid settlement grants, two-thirds of its total

Mat-Su has collected $1.06 million in opioid settlement money and spent $89,461. Now it will offer local groups $704,763, up to $75,000 apiece.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min readFrom Oct 20

Port MacKenzie would freeze 2027 dock rates and add fees for guards and late ships

Port MacKenzie would hold dock rates flat next year and add fees for armed guards and late ships. A commissioner says it has "a problem with no traffic."

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readFrom Oct 19

Mat-Su school board denies community bid to reopen Meadow Lakes Elementary as a charter

Mat-Su's school board formally turned down a community plan to reopen closed Meadow Lakes Elementary as an outdoor charter school. The group can appeal.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Mat-Su manager tallies $386 million in outside grants, led by $249 million rail award

Mat-Su Borough is getting $386 million in outside grants, led by $249 million to finish the Port MacKenzie rail extension.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly accepts $2.5 million to refrigerate the ice at Big Lake's rink

Big Lake's rink waits on cold weather to make ice. The Mat-Su Assembly took $2.5 million from the Mat-Su Health Foundation to make its own instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Mat-Su Assembly weighs $2.5 million grant to refrigerate the ice at Big Lake rink

Mat-Su counts at least 763 buildings likely too close to lakes as Assembly weighs a fix

Mat-Su counts at least 763 lakefront buildings likely too close to the water, maybe double that. A one-page plan would give owners a year to go legal.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: Mat-Su Assembly to revisit lake and river setback rules in a special meeting

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

Talkeetna residents asked Mat-Su Assembly for formal hearings on a water tank site before a Nov. 17 briefing. They say the site pick drew opposition since January with no public input.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fake invoices posing as the Mat-Su Borough are targeting people who apply for permits

Fake invoices made to look like they came from the Mat-Su Borough are hitting people who apply for land use permits. One shop got 10 in nine days.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Mat-Su Platting Board approves six-lot subdivision near Engstrom Road

Six new lots near Engstrom Road got the OK. Neighbors worry about the Bogard-Engstrom intersection; the road meant to ease it is picked but not funded.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Antimony refinery developer Nova Minerals says its cash won't fund a year of plans

The company building a military antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie says it lacks the cash for another year of plans, after losing $25.6 million last year.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min readFrom Sep 30

After ending builder's contract, Mat-Su weighs $573,155 to finish Academy Charter design

Mat-Su terminated the contractor on Academy Charter's new high school in August. Now it wants to pay the designer $573,155 to finish the job's plans.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly weighs $2.5 million grant to refrigerate the ice at Big Lake rink

Mat-Su Assembly holds a hearing Oct. 20 on accepting $2.5 million to refrigerate Big Lake Lions rink's ice. A week of 45 degree weather can melt the natural ice now, pushing teams elsewhere.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Borough asks state for 210 acres near Sutton for a shooting range

People already shoot at the old Jonesville coal mine near Sutton. The Mat-Su Borough wants to make it official, with a $7.5 million shooting range.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 29

Follows: DNR proposes requiring permits for most shooting in the Matanuska Valley Moose Range

Mat-Su Assembly to revisit lake and river setback rules in a special meeting

Mat-Su Borough Assembly special meeting Oct. 20 on waterbody setbacks, the 75-foot rule for lakes and streams, after an earlier advisory board's recommendations.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly asks school board to start classes the day after Labor Day

Mat-Su kids would start school after Labor Day instead of mid-August if the school board agrees. It's only a request, and the vote may not even stand.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Mat-Su resolution would ask school board to start classes after Labor Day

Mat-Su Assembly writes scenic trail opposition into Rasmuson grant resolution

Mat-Su Assembly added opposition to National Scenic Trail status for the Alaska Long Trail to a $300,000 grant resolution, citing use restrictions and loss of local control.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly pulls Engstrom road reconsideration without debate

Mat-Su Assembly dropped a reconsideration of the Engstrom Road connector, leaving a September vote in place for the $21.6 million northern route over a $9.1 million southern option.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Planning Commission backs Oil Well Road community council district

Mat-Su Planning Commission recommended the Assembly create a community council district for Oil Well Road property owners, which would let them seek state grants if incorporated.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su platting board approves five-tract Knik-Fairview subdivision after neighbor raises pond concerns

Sandhill cranes, moose and a pond that may or may not have tripled in size: Mat-Su's platting board OK'd a five-tract, 72-acre split in Knik-Fairview.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su gets $7.9 million federal grant for Port MacKenzie barge ramp

The Mat-Su Borough has lined up $12.1 million, mostly federal, for a barge ramp at Port MacKenzie so barges can land without fighting the tides.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 27

Mat-Su Assembly member moves to reconsider the pricier Engstrom-Trunk road route

The Mat-Su Assembly picked the pricier northern route for the Engstrom-Trunk road 4-3. Now Maxwell Sumner wants a do-over, and it's on the Oct. 6 agenda.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Mat-Su picks a pricier road route over its advisors and landowners

MatCom adds two fire and EMS dispatch positions paid for by the Mat-Su Borough

MatCom gets two more fire and medical dispatch positions so a second dispatcher and call taker can be on duty around the clock. The borough pays.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Wasilla weighs $569,600 for round-the-clock Fire/EMS dispatch at MatCom

Wasilla pot shop near Knik Charter School surrenders its state license

The Wasilla-area pot shop 530 feet from Knik Charter School lost in court and now has no state license. Its name has moved to a store on Spenard Road.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Palmer junk hauler cited for dumping over 500 pounds of trash on Mat-Su land

A junk removal business is supposed to take the junk to the dump. Troopers say a Palmer man's took 500-plus pounds of it to a Point MacKenzie railbed instead.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Ballot Ties Home Tax Break to New 1% Sales Tax

Mat-Su voters get one box to check on a homeowner tax break and the borough's first areawide sales tax. It's a package deal, like cable used to be.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 4

Mat-Su bans license plate readers before the borough owns any

Mat-Su banned borough use of license plate readers before owning any, with the sponsor calling himself a brick wall against Anchorage's surveillance push.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read

Follows: Mat-Su considers banning plate readers before it has them

Mat-Su asks AIDEA to build at Point MacKenzie, not on 20,000 acres near Houston

The state proposed giving AIDEA 885 acres at Port MacKenzie for free, one day after the borough voted to send AIDEA there instead of Houston.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read

Mat-Su picks a pricier road route over its advisors and landowners

Mat-Su picked a $21–31 million road route over a $9–10 million one, against every advisory body and landowners who won't sell, on a vote that first failed.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

After the tow trucks left, one family could reach their own land

Fifty vehicles came off a half-mile of road in Big Lake. One family could finally drive to their own property. It took $42,000 and eleven dumpsters.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su kept the Long Trail sign, and the $300,000 that came with it

Mat-Su took $300,000 and kept the trail sign some members worried would invite federal control. The borough's own attorney said it would not.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read