LRSA Meeting at Goldenview Middle School Library
March 27 6-8pm.
The LRSA board will be available to talk about LRSA the upcoming Proposition 12 and answer questions about any LRSA related topic the constituents would like to know about.
PROPOSITION 12 - APPROVING THE CONVERSION OF THE SOUTH GOLDENVIEW LIMITED ROAD SERVICE AREA TO THE SOUTH GOLDENVIEW RURAL ROAD SERVICE AREA RETROACTIVE TO JANUARY 1, 2007.
Shall the South Goldenview Limited Road Service Area (LRSA) be converted to the South Goldenview Rural Road Service Area (RRSA) retroactive to January 1, 2007?
The roads affected are all roads within the South Goldenview LRSA. The intent is to provide needed road construction, road upgrades and improve drainage systems and improvements to reduce long-term road maintenance costs, maintain year round drivable roads and alleviate any unsafe road environment. This proposition does not authorize the RRSA to construct sidewalks, paved pathways, curbs, gutters or street lighting.
The existing mill rate in the South Goldenview LRSA is 1.80 mills. Property owners within the South Goldenview RRSA will not incur any increase in property taxes due to the conversion of the South Goldenview LRSA to the South Goldenview RRSA.
To be voted upon by all voters residing within the South Goldenview Limited Road Service Area.
I am in favor of this proposition and recommend a "yes" vote.
RRSA vs. LRSA
Problem
The problem with a LRSA designation are that the premise is that it is simply a grade, plow and sand operation. Our roads are pretty much homestead roads with only a few exceptions. In prior administrations we were given much more leeway to improve roads when necessary and fix drainage problems. Over the past several administrations, we have been severely restricted to not do capital work with our maintenance dollars.
We are seeing a new trend towards developers buying large tracts of land and putting in large-scale developments with smaller lots a lot more drainage problems. When I moved to Mountainside Village subdivision ten years ago, all the home sites were bought from the homesteader who subdivided. The home sites were built on by the buyer one at a time. The lots were bigger and the homes were smaller. The disruption was minimal to the topography, traffic and drainage patterns.
The standards the Municipality requires of the developers are to drain the water to the "right of way" and they consider ROW a drainage easement. Never mind that there aren't even proper ditches or culverts under most driveways. The results are devastating. The LRSA roads have sustained substantial damage with no recourse - since we are outside of ARDSA (Anchorage Roads and Drainage Service Area). We have homeowners who have lost property value from diverted water causing their septic systems to flood. The roads were not constructed to handle any volume of water so it runs off on private property.
These roads were not built to withstand the rigors of high density developments. The challenges the LRSA is being asked to solve are far outside the scope of the board or it contractors. The needs call for surveying, engineering, hydrologist, and road architects.
Solution
By changing our designation from a LRSA to a RRSA, it will give us the ability set aside funds for capital improvements, acquire professional service either through the Muni or contract to a private firm through a bid, bond for major improvements, secure government grants for major projects, borrow money from the State, and truly have a plan for improving our roads.
My vision is to set aside .5 of the 1.8 mil we currently collect to start building a capital fund - no net new taxes, just a re-distribution. This allows us to slowly build a fund base while spending some money for surveying, engineering, and hydrologists to help plan for long term road solutions. Traditionally, when we have fixed a drainage problem in one area, we are just pushing it further down hill. Great example is Bluebell at Little Survivor Creek intersection. We fixed this drainage problem from the corner a couple of years ago and now the water is threatening to flood and glaciate all the way down Bluebell to Goldenview- just further down now.
We are requesting a grant of $800K from the State of Alaska Legislature to help fix some of the major drainage problems in the LRSA with $250K in fiscal year 2007 to start building the plans. The Hillside District Plan is in process and the results of this plan should give us the necessary information to plan for future drainage, traffic, road connections, and more. All of these processes will take a few years to develop and by then maybe we will have some money saved to start working on medium-sized projects or using it for a matching grant funds for a larger scale project.