Mat-Su Borough

Wasilla council commits to planning a regional dispatch center outside city limits

Wasilla agreed to help plan moving its emergency dispatch center out of town. The reason for the hurry is a fire station going up on Bogard Road.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

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

Talkeetna residents ask Mat-Su commission to oppose Front Street water tank site

Talkeetna's wells have too much arsenic. The borough's fix would clear 1.4 acres of woods with a bear trail through it, and neighbors want another site.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su considers banning plate readers before it has them

Mat-Su votes Tuesday on banning license plate readers it doesn't own — the same night Anchorage debates regulating the ones it already has.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 1

Comment closes Monday on giving 20,000 Houston-area acres to AIDEA

Alaskans have until 5 p.m. Monday to comment on giving 20,000 acres north of Houston to a state agency for free — and only those who comment can appeal.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Parents warn Mat-Su that cutting school nurses puts children at risk

Parents and staff told the Mat-Su school board that cutting nurses puts children at risk, as a Teeland Middle School nurse prepares to leave.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 26

Three Mat-Su school roofs are failing, and the money may take years

Three Mat-Su school roofs are failing, and fixing them may take more than one budget cycle. The district's deferred repair backlog stands at $411 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 26

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

Wasilla City Council will vote Monday on a $569,600 budget amendment to add round-the-clock dual dispatchers at MatCom, funded entirely by the Mat-Su Borough.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su moves to lease Port MacKenzie land to an antimony company

Mat-Su is moving to lease 42.78 acres of port land to an antimony company. The commission that recommended it published no minutes or vote count.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 1

Parent tells Mat-Su officials bus cancellations fall to parents

A parent told Mat-Su officials that repeated bus cancellations are forcing families to arrange their own rides, calling it unacceptable after five years of a Durham contract.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su weighs a council district for a group staff say does not meet the code

Mat-Su staff back giving landowners along Greater Oilwell Road a recognized borough voice, though the group asking for it doesn't meet the council definition.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Tunneling into an old Alaska gold mine turned up veins nobody had mapped

Crews tunneling into a historic gold mine north of Anchorage hit two veins that were not on the company's map. One sample ran 12 ounces to the tonne.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 2

Troopers arrest two after 4-wheeler pursuit near Wasilla's Sage Road

Alaska State Troopers arrested two people after a four-wheeler fled near Wasilla on Wednesday night, one wanted on an outstanding warrant.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su cut school walking paths from its short-term road list

Mat-Su dropped walking path projects at two elementary schools from its short-term transportation list, replacing them with road reconstruction and paving.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 17

Mat-Su explores building the troopers a new home and leasing it back

Mat-Su is exploring building troopers a $13 million facility and leasing it back. Troopers now work from six buildings never designed for police work.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su assembly member puts possible school closures on Sept. 8 joint agenda

Mat-Su Assembly and School Board will discuss possible school closures Sept. 8 after enrollment dropped 2,153 students since 2018.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

ENSTAR raised its gas line relocation estimates and Mat-Su road budgets absorb the cost

ENSTAR nearly doubled its estimates on eight Mat-Su road projects. The borough has to absorb it, and there is no other gas utility it could call.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Assembly rejects lowering its property tax cap to 7 mills

Mat-Su's Assembly rejected lowering its tax cap to 7 mills after the borough warned it would force $22 million in cuts — schools and ambulances included.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate

Mat-Su sets aside Zero Lake Road land for a future shooting range

Mat-Su set aside land for a shooting range over a year of neighbor objections. One cabin owner's structure sits about 1,000 feet downrange.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can build roads anywhere

Mat-Su voters decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can buy right-of-way and build roads anywhere in its boundaries, across road service area lines.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su assembly member proposes borough ban on license plate readers

Mat-Su would ban license plate readers outright, including querying outside networks. Nothing in the record names a borough program it would end.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su would sell a sinking public safety building for $13,176

Mat-Su would sell a condemned public safety building for $13,176. Repairing it is estimated at $139,150, and nobody has said who pays for that.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail, the second rescue there this summer

An incapacitated hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail Thursday by four agencies — the second rescue on the same demanding route this summer.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate

A proposed ordinance would cap Mat-Su's areawide property tax rate at 7 mills, or $700 a year per $100,000 of value, capping what future assemblies could set.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The Legislature let local voters decide school board term lengths — and Mat-Su is first in line

Mat-Su asked the Legislature to let it extend school board terms, and got it: SB 143 becomes law by Aug. 12 unless vetoed, just before a borough vote to use it.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

In Talkeetna, a debate over whether weather or a bridge is eroding the riverbank

Weather, or a rebuilt railroad bridge? As Talkeetna's bank erodes, one river-watcher says the bridge choked the river — and that's the fixable cause.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Landowner gets variance to split land off Wasilla-Fishhook Road

A landowner near Wasilla-Fishhook Road, a route to Hatcher Pass, got a variance to split his land after the state barred new lots from tying directly into the road.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can tax valley-wide for big road projects

Mat-Su voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can use borough-wide taxes to build big road projects no single service area can afford — with debate over whether it shifts money from urban to rural areas.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Governor's disaster declaration unlocks state aid for Talkeetna flooding

Talkeetna flooding washed away a home and damaged others, and residents want a permanent fix, not another study. The state has authorized disaster assistance for the immediate response.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su commission backs the $9 million road route over the $30 million one

Mat-Su's planning commission backed a $9 million southern road route over a northern one pegged at up to $31 million, overruling a staff recommendation. The assembly decides next.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A neighbor found the missing Butte woman walking near his home

A missing elderly Butte woman was found safe nine hours after she wandered off, spotted by a neighbor walking near his own property late Friday night.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Talkeetna's erosion fight reaches a new stage: buying people off the riverbank

Talkeetna's erosion fight has reached buyout territory: the borough wants federal money to pay people off the riverbank, if the state covers the match.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly declares Talkeetna flood emergency, seeks state aid for permanent fix

Mat-Su Assembly declared a local emergency over Susitna River flooding in Talkeetna to unlock state aid for a permanent fix that could cost over $20 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A $700 property tax break, paid for by a 1% sales tax

Mat-Su voters will decide in November whether to shave about $700 off homeowners' property taxes and pay for it with a 1% sales tax on everyone.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Platting Board approves Primrose Point Phase 4 preliminary plat despite unresolved driveway questions

Mat-Su Platting Board approved Primrose Point Phase 4 subdivision despite unresolved driveway access for five lots, deferring the question to a later engineering meeting.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Platting Board approves Starlight Subdivision master plan over neighbor objections

Mat-Su Platting Board approved the 184-lot Starlight Subdivision master plan Thursday despite neighbor complaints about traffic, mail delivery, and drainage on the roughly 200-acre Knik Fairview site.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su moves to clean up 'forever chemicals' in its groundwater

The Mat-Su Borough wants $400K to clean up "forever chemicals" in its groundwater — traced to old firefighting foam and found this spring near a Wasilla elementary school.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su weighs a flood emergency and a tax overhaul

The Mat-Su Assembly takes up a Talkeetna flood emergency and a November ballot plan that would swap a new 3% sales tax for a cap on property taxes.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Tessera hiring event comes to Mat-Su Job Center July 29

Tessera is hiring veterans, military spouses, and people with disabilities at the Mat-Su Job Center on July 29 for facility management, manufacturing, and warehousing roles.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

A Wasilla argument ends with a gun pointed at a neighbor

Troopers say a Wasilla man pulled a .45 and pointed it at a neighbor during an argument on Big Dipper Drive. He faces a third-degree assault charge.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Matanuska Electric offers free EV chargers to local businesses, but hosts pay install costs

MEA is giving away EV chargers to Mat-Su hosts — but only the box is free; the host pays to install it, and the co-op pockets three years of charging data.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read