By snowmobile to future townsites

Last weekend the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor, Manager, and Assistant Manager rode 48 miles roundtrip on snowmobiles from Big Lake to the future Fish Creek townsite in the Fish Creek  Management Area. The 160-acre site will be located west of Big Lake. The actual site has not been identified yet among the 10,000 acres of the management area.

The reconnaissance ride gave Mayor Larry DeVilbiss, Manager John Moosey, and Assistant Borough Manager George Hays a feel for the lay of the land. No roads access the remote area. Cabins are the only structures. A well-groomed snow machine trail made a straight shot to the Little Susitna River. The Mayor enjoyed a section of the trail that took him on the Iron Dog race course. The Borough field trip found itself in the middle of a snow machine race on the trail, and even helped locate a lost rider for race officials.

This is the second reconnaissance trip by snowmobile for the Mayor, Manager, and Assistant Manager.

Anticipating growth, Mayor DeVilbiss brought two new town sites forward for recent Assembly approval,  the Fish Creek site and the Point MacKenzie Town site off Alsop Road near the new state Goose Creek Correctional Center. The prison created 143 new jobs so far. Jobs are expected to reach 190 by summer. A nearby community of Knik-Fairview grew 123 percent in a decade and is the state's fifth largest community. Projects such as the 32-mile Port MacKenzie Rail Extension will be under heavy construction this summer, bringing up to 200 jobs. An effort to get the Knik Arm Bridge moving seems more likely than ever. Connecting Anchorage with Point MacKenzie by bridge would bring significant growth to a rural area.
 
The Point MacKenzie Community Comprehensive Plan includes a list of things to be included in the conceptual town master plan which has been expanded to include: a town square, trails, parks, access to Goose Bay State Game Refuge, library, health clinic, a service station, school sites,  post office,  community center, grocery store, café, hotel, police station, multi-family development, a maintenance facility and municipal utilities.

The Borough is soliciting comments on how to move forward with planning and development of the town sites.

Contact Planner Emerson Krueger, 907-745-9526, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to ask questions.

Photos by George Hays/MSB.

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