City addresses questions over annexation
Published Thursday, August 7, 2008
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — The city’s annexation meeting boded well as far as clearing up confusion about the legalese in the drafted proposal, but how the community feels about being annexed is still a cloudy issue after Wednesday evening.
At the heart of the matter lies the issue that there are areas surrounded by or adjacent to the city that are benefiting from city services such as snow removal, paved roads, fire and police services, and are receiving these services without having to pay city taxes.
The properties in question are enclave lots along Riverside and Park drives, Bartlett Avenue and the Airport Access Road, as well as the Fred Meyer West retail center.
“We’re here to get some input from you, as a community, and to find out what some of your key issues are,” Mayor Terry Strle said in an opening statement.
Between Strle, members of the City Council and Chief of Staff Pat Cole, most questions were answered, but opinions remained at large.
Of the biggest concerns among residents, fire and police protection became a key factor.
“Our biggest issue in adding these enclave lots was about guaranteeing fire service protection and cleaning up the saw tooth irrational boundary lines,” Councilman Chad Roberts said to the audience of about 15 people.
Under the proposal, the University Fire Department, operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough, would enter a mutual aid agreement with the city of Fairbanks and operate through dispatch on calls in the area.
“It would be a matter of whoever was closer to the call,” Cole said. “We wouldn’t be sending two trucks out at once, and this way, the University Fire Department continues to serve the area, but also will be reimbursed by the city for its work within city limits,” Cole explained.
Though the proposal is still in draft phase, the fear that the University Fire Department would lose revenue was cleared up when Cole explained that the city would work out an agreement to reimburse the University Fire Department for coverage in that area.
Cole explained that paramedic services would be provided by the city and are currently not available by the borough in that area.
“The borough will loose some revenue, but fire service within the area under consideration is going to be enhanced with the guaranteed efforts of additional city services,” Cole said.
As for the Fred Meyer retail center, Roberts said his main motivation when he brought this to the table last February was about continued growth for the city.
“The city of Fairbanks has been the center of commerce for Interior Alaska, and we have just one big box store that sits outside of the city. It’s an inequality,” he said.
Cole and the administration agreed that the Fred Meyer shopping center would benefit from city police, as there are more Fairbanks police available than state troopers and the city already responds to the area hundreds of times each year.
Several members of the audience voiced their approval of annexation of the enclave lots, while others weren’t happy about the annexation of Fred Meyer.
Cole took copious notes about the comments made by concerned members of the public and made clear that the proposal was strictly in draft form.
The annexation project has been on-going for years and slowly down-sized after cost-benefit studies showed that the city could only reasonably afford to grow in small bits at a time.
“It would strain our city services if we grew all at once,” Cole said.
Because of the hefty process in trying to annex, Strle explained that she had no intention of annexing more property.
Members of the public have ample time to share their concerns and ask questions with the city administration.
The council will vote on the proposal Aug. 25.
Pending an approval from the council, the proposal will go before the Local Boundary Commission for additional scrutiny.
If the Local Boundary Commission approves the annexation, it will go before the state Legislature for a final decision.
Community Discussion
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The city has nothing to offer Fred's and as stated it is only "about continued growth for the city". Fred's has already stated that they will increase the cost of all good in that store by 3% across the board to cover the cost of the "NEW" taxes. So you, the consumer, will pay the tab ... not Fred's and as it should be.
This means simple stated ... more tax revenue and absolutely nothing in return. I know there are a few folks who will chime in because they think more taxes are a good thing ... so speak up.
Pat Cole said: “The city of Fairbanks has been the center of commerce for Interior Alaska, and we have just one big box store that sits outside of the city. It’s an inequality,”
Well this is brilliant and another example of this individuals mental giant hood. The center of commerce certainly isn't Nenana and Fred's was there long before the city "expanded" to scoop up the other folks! Additionally, Fred’s elected to be a part of the mess on the other side of town and built a new store inside the city. In return they get their access road destroyed in the summer and that’s it. The state plows the road. Oh yea … fire protection and police …LOL. Quite a price for the taxes paid.
In response to the comment posted by james- i agree that it is an inequality to have Freds sitting out side of the town lines. In the downtown vision they are hoping to stop urban sprawl by recreating the downtown as a business hub for our community. As nice as it is to have stores that are close to our neighborhoods, we have missed them in the downtown area. You can not tell a business that they have to buy property in town because that is what the city wants, you have to take away the things that make it more advantageous for that store to be out of town. By doing this with Freds, the city is hoping to show no difference in opening a store on the outskirts of town, eventually it will be taxed the same, so go ahead and open it in town close to our new vision and we can have a long missed grocery (or whatever) in this NEIGHBORHOOD. Because, yes, not everyone lives in University west or the hills. There are over 1,000 households in the South Cushman area alone that have to drive over 3 miles to get some groceries, talk about the convenience of downtown living.
I hear the low rumble coming, and honestly my sarcastic laden opinion was meant for exactly that.
If Fairbanks wants Groceries downtown why don't they just build downtown instead of expanding out to our part of town. Or why don't they just cease to exist and form a community association.
What they obviously want to do is scrape off the cream from the borough.
Keep them in the box East of Airport way and we'll all be happy.
I support this expansion. Not just because I think the city does need more taxes somewhere, but because of serious problems. As stated, there are police responding to FM and snowplows clearing the roads to get there, but they don't pay for it like other businesses. I think the 3% threat is bogus, FM north is no more expensive than FM east. They just don't want to pay property taxes, and the citizens dont want to pay taxes on thier cigs and booze. Come on people, do the right thing.
I had a co-worker radio me after being in a paticularly violent wreck at that intersection. When I called the police, they weren't concerned about how many people/was anyone hurt/etc... thier first concern was what side of the road it happened on. Give me a break, FM is a part of the city just as much as the new Safeway is, they benefit the same. They should not be given special treatment.
Strongly seconded, lsanova. I'll definitely be taking a close look to see who votes in which direction on this issue.
I agree that the Park Rd enclave should be included into the city as they benefit directly from city services and do not pay for them. If you receive services you should pay for them, pretty simple.
The Fred Meyer lot is not so simple, the city is painting a pretty rosy picture of what they are providing to Fred Meyer, Taco Bell and the Bank but what is the reality.............They are not providing snow removal for roads area around Fred's the state does that and will continue to do so. There is a fire station 1/2 mile down the road and they say they are improving service with a mutual aid agreement?? Paramedic level service compared to the borough's EMT IIIa Level service, some difference....but not much. Police service, AST vs City police it's really is a toss up, call either one and start timing and see who is faster! Bet it will depend on the day and what's going on, not on who' service is better, give me a break.
I do believe the city has to grow but stating it in the name of services is lame. The Fred Meyer annex is strictly a "cash grab" plain and simple. It is the first step in annexing all the area between Airport and University and the Airport. Plain and simple they want the tax money from all the stores and hotels, nothing more. It's not about the growth of downtown. The city is hurting for money and they want the tax base pure and simple. If it's in the name of services why don't they annex University West? Because they would actually have to provide services that they can barely provide to people that already live in the city and yes I live in the city!
Hello people, this is how cities grow. You annex areas and incorporate them into the city. Its about providing better service to the residents. You will never effectively argue that lower levels of service are better especially if they are cheaper. Right now residents pay 2.44 mills for fire service once annexed into the city they will pay less than one. The true evil in this deal is the bribe the university fire service area is trying to extort out of the city to the tune of $ 56400 per year.
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