Prison bonds sell in down market

MAT-SU—Bonds for the Goose Creek Correctional Center sold today despite a weak market. Some $240 million in bonds sold for the Borough and State prison project.

"As we said previously, we'd be monitoring the market. When an opportunity opens, we'll jump," said Borough Finance Director Tammy Clayton. "Well, we jumped in and completed the transaction," Clayton said. Just little more than two weeks ago Clayton and Borough Manager John Duffy came home empty-handed when the bonds did not sell. This week is another story.

"I was optimistic to sell the bonds, and we did so. Now we're moving forward with construction on schedule for spring," Duffy said.

The prison project is on the agenda of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly on Jan. 20, 2009. Neeser Construction, Inc. was selected to design and build the prison.

The prison will be financed by the sale of lease revenue bonds. The Department of Corrections will lease the prison from the MAT-SU Borough, operate it, and eventually own it when the lease-revenue bonds are repaid over 25 years. Borough taxpayers are not paying for the project.

The project is expected to generate 600 to 700 construction jobs and 350 prison jobs. Some workers could be steady riders on the coming Susitna Ferry.

The 1,536-bed facility will be located at the corner of Alsop Road and Point MacKenzie Road, some nine miles from the Port MacKenzie dock.

For more information call Manager John Duffy at (907) 745-9689 or Finance Director Tammy Clayton at 745-9630