Love this letter to the editor from May 2013: To the editor: As our borough has not chosen to notify the public that it is once again eroding away the Crevasse Moraine trail system to expand the Central Landfill, I am writing to do so. I have regularly hiked in Crevasse Moraine since 1984, when landfill construction began. Based on my observations, I believe that Crevasse Moraine is the most heavily used outdoor recreation area in the Mat-Su core area. To quote from page 49 of the borough’s 2007 Core Area Comprehensive Plan Update: “The conservation of natural areas throughout the core area is vital to perpetuate its natural character and provide convenient access to a variety of outdoor recreation opportunities.” Apparently, this rule does not apply to the borough’s Solid Waste Department, which has repeatedly expanded landfill development into the undeveloped recreational portion of Crevasse Moraine. The Crevasse Moraine trails where my children learned to ski are long gone. This past fall, trees on the large Crevasse Moraine sledding hill (the lighted hill) were cut down with no public notice. An excavator has now begun earthwork at the bottom of the small Crevasse Moraine sledding hill (on the right when you first enter the recreational area). At this site, there is a little sign saying that the borough is relocating the Crevasse Moraine trailhead parking to accommodate expansion of the Central Landfill. It is time for this steady erosion of the best outdoor recreation facility in the core area to stop. The Mat-Su Borough has a landmass the size of West Virginia, and only 5 percent of the population. West Virginia lists 18 licensed and operating landfills. It is impossible to believe that our borough cannot relocate the Central Landfill and avoid further degradation of the recreational area so important to our quality of life. I ask everyone interested in maintaining Crevasse Moraine as a recreational property to contact the borough assembly and demand that expansion of the Central Landfill be immediately stopped. Further, I am asking everyone to tell the assembly that the time has come to close the Central Landfill and begin the process of rehabilitating that site to a ball field complex, as was promised back in 1984. Only when the Central Landfill is closed and fully rehabilitated can we be sure of maintaining an outdoor recreational site easily accessible to the majority of residents in this Borough. James L. Walker Mat-Su
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:51:23 +0000
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