Wind didn't freeze the Christmas spirit

Photo by Kristy Thom-Bernier
A worker from the Williams Reindeer Farm
minded one of the festively festooned deer
on display at Colony Christmas Saturday.

UPDATE: A new fireworks date is pending. Check back after the weekend for more details.

Colony Christmas was full of good cheer despite the blustery wind that killed the fireworks display (more on that in a minute) and drove people to the attractions indoors. Holiday warmth, fun events and good sales or attractions at downtown businesses made up for the bitter weather.

The temps even seemed to warm a little during the 5 p.m. parade – or perhaps that was a sugar-fueled warmth from the holiday treats handed out. But the breeze didn’t calm enough for the fireworks to be lit. The good news is, the fireworks display will be held soon. Chamber officials are meeting tomorrow morning to discuss when to hold the postponed show. We’ll update this post when we know the details.

-- Rindi White

Pair of juvenile reindeer escape for mini-migration

Photo by Rindi White
A reindeer grazes at the Williams Reindeer
Farm in October.

Caribou are on the move around Alaska and, this week, a pair of domesticated reindeer that had been recently relocated to a home off Trunk Road staged their own little mini-migration.

But these little deer weren’t looking for winter browse; the pair of 6-month-old reindeer wanted to find their herd. 

Williams Reindeer Farm manager Denise Hardy (she’s a Williams by birth, a Hardy by marriage) said the pair were two of nine weaned reindeer sold to families in Fairbanks, Southcentral and the Kenai Peninsula for 4Hers to raise and tame.

They are generally hauled to their new homes in August but another project kept the young reindeer at the farm until this week. On Monday the Trunk Road family took their pair of bucks home. On Tuesday they escaped.

So while many were awaiting election updates, Hardy and her crew were driving through neighborhoods looking for the reindeer. She said the pair apparently got split up after making their escape. One made it all the way to Sears on the Seward-Meridian Parkway before returning to his new family’s yard. The other headed south to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and the Parks Highway.

“We kept getting calls from people, that there’s a reindeer running down the new Trunk Road, or there’s a reindeer near the hospital,” Hardy said.

She said a Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation officer successfully roped that deer and brought it safely back to its new family, but not before the deer had crossed Parks Highway a few times.

Hardy said she was amazed that the other reindeer made it back to its new owner’s yard after its little trek to Sears.

“He hadn’t even been there 24 hours and he still managed to get back there,” she said.

“They are domesticated deer. They were born on our farm and they’ve always been around other animals on the farm. We hoped that they would find a farm and just hang out there,” she said.

Reindeer occasionally get out on the farm, Hardy said. But being herd animals, they don’t venture far.

“They run around the fence and try to figure out how to get back in. When these poor little guys were transported to a whole new area, they were just trying to get back to their herd,” she said.

The pair of bucks made it back home safely – the one that traveled to Sears was skittish but eventually boarded a trailer that Ernie, a friendly 7-year-old neutered male reindeer from the younger bucks’ herd, was in. Hardy had brought the elder deer along to help calm and lure the juveniles – a strategy that paid off.

Hardy said the pair are adjusting to their new home in the trailer, with Ernie’s company for now. Soon they’ll be learning how to walk on a halter with their new owners and, by next summer, will likely be trotting around a show ring at the Alaska State Fair. Raising and showing reindeer is becoming more popular, Hardy said. Four were at the fair this year; three from the Williams farm and one from another reindeer farm. With nine being groomed for the fair next year, chances are competition is going to be tough.

In related news, the Reindeer Farm held its second round of Halloween Fun events this year, with a hay bale maze, haunted barn, country hoe-down, pony rides, pumpkin patch and more. People from all over the area descended on the farm each Saturday in October for fall fun. Hardy said a Christmas celebration is planned as well, with hay rides, singing, tours of the reindeer herd and visits with Santa. It's scheduled for Dec. 21 through 24. For more information about the event, check out the farm's events page.

-- Rindi White

Yahoo, Mat-Su's new view - someday

Homestead RV Park, the first RV park one encounters when driving to the Valley from Anchorage, has been shuttered all summer. For locals that means fewer traffic delays from motorhomes turning there but it’s led many to ask what’s in store for the spot, which has stunning views of Pioneer Peak and the Palmer Hay Flats.

Currently, Matanuska Electric Association owns the land, which includes acreage both on top of and below the bluff, including land along the flats. MEA spokeswoman Suzie Deuser said the cooperative needs the land for a larger right-of-way path as part of its Eklutna natural gas power plant project. But MEA is working with Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau to use the prime property up top as a new spot for the Mat-Su Visitor Information Center.

Here's a clip from the May 2011 Gateway Gathering, where community leaders and MSCVB members toured and gave feedback on the best spot for a new visitor center. The clip begins at the state park across the highway from the RV park; at about the one-minute mark participants visit the RV park. 

MSCVB has been housed for more than 20 years in a prow-front log cabin near Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. The visitor center predates the hospital and, with changes to the traffic flow from the expanded Parks Highway, hospital access and, most recently, Trunk Road, visitors to the center arrive with exclamations of “We finally made it!” said MSCVB director Bonnie Quill.

Quill said their visitor numbers are down significantly because of the easy-to-spot but hard-to-reach location. Fewer visitors mean fewer opportunities to suggest that tourists take a tour of local farms, stay overnight at a bed-and-breakfast or take a backcountry four-wheeler tour.

So MSCVB has been working for five years to find the perfect spot for a new visitor center. A federal grant helped narrow the list from 12 sites to one: the Homestead RV Park. In addition to an amazing view, Quill said the site is located ideally – it’s near the juncture of the Matanuska and Susitna valleys and has easy access just off the highway.

It’s also across the street from a state park Quill called a gem – Matanuska Lakes State Recreation Area. The two facilities could work together, she said, with MSCVB providing overflow parking on sunny days when park traffic trails out onto the highway. She’s even spoken with state Department of Transportation officials about installing an under- or overpass to allow traffic to go from one side to the other safely when the Glenn Highway is expanded.

Photo courtesy MSCVB
The existing visitor center has limited space for meetings
but sits on valuable commercial land.

Ideally, Quill said, the new visitor center will be 20,000 square feet, with outside interpretive areas and space for community gatherings. It's comparable to the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center near Portage and, in a 2010 preliminary study, the cost to build was pegged at $14 million.

The only thing blocking MSCVB staff from packing up their offices at the log cabin and making the move is, well, money. Quill said she’s applied for $2 million in federal National Scenic Byways funding for site acquisition and design but was turned down. Another application just for site acquisition funding was also turned down. She said she’ll pursue state funding during the upcoming legislative session.

The center does have funding behind the plan. The Mat-Su Borough owns the 4.6 acres the visitor center sits on but the Assembly last year agreed to sell the land and dedicate the proceeds to the new visitor center. It’s hard to say exactly how much the land might sell for; land sales in that area have been quite competitive, Quill said.

Without money for the project in hand, Quill said it was impossible to say when the new visitor center would be built. But she plans to be talking up the project everywhere she can in the next year, so she hopes the project won’t stay on the shelf long.

-- Rindi White

New police chief says it's all about the team

Photo courtesy Palmer Police Department
Palmer Police Chief Tom Remaley

For several years, Palmer’s police department struggled with a problem. Instead of being a stable workplace for quality officers, it became a stepping stone; officers would be hired, trained and then they’d move on to other, higher-paying posts elsewhere.

In 2001 the city hired Russ Boatright, a recent retiree from Anchorage Police Department, as its chief and he and other department leaders worked to change the management philosophy, focusing on leadership and using strong principals – respect, compassion, integrity, efficiency, fairness, balance, ethical performance, reverence for the law and community-based policing – as guidelines when choosing whom to hire, how to train officers, how to equip them and how to help them do their jobs.

After a decade leading the department into one of the most stable in the state, Boatright retired last month. The city selected Tom Remaley, who served as interim chief in 1999 and actually hired Boatright as a part-time officer prior to his being selected as chief, to lead the department.

Remaley worked along with Boatright to implement the changes that have brought about stability and accolades. He said the department now has 14 officers, most with advanced degrees and certificates from the Alaska Police Standards Council, and most notably, who have an average of 9.5 years of experience with the department. A supporting cast of 12 dispatchers help things run smoothly.

Courtesy Palmer Police Department
The city police department patch

Remaley prefers to play a supporting role and didn’t want to be directly quoted in a story about his new post. He’s been an officer with the department for nearly 20 years, starting out as a reserve officer in 1993 after retiring from the military. He did a stint as a dispatcher in 1994 and in 1995 became a patrol officer, working his way up to lieutenant in 2005.

But it’s not about his accomplishments, Remaley said. It’s about the team – a team that takes its oath to serve seriously. As an example, he pointed to a robbery that happened in the early morning hours at McDonald’s in late May. All three suspects were in jail that evening, Remaley said. 

Remaley wouldn’t hand over a recent photo to accompany this post – he said he’s not photogenic and plans to be very involved in the community, so if residents don’t know him by now, they will soon. We happened to stumble on a slightly dated photo of him floating around online, however, and couldn’t resist posting it.

Congratulations, Chief Remaley, and good luck!  

-- Rindi White

Goodbye snow, hello litter!

Photo courtesy Mat-Su Borough
Trash dragged from the trees awaits pickup
during a recent community cleanup.

Snow is mostly gone and that means the detritus of fall and winter is making itself hideously evident. Our neighborhood’s public spaces are littered with blown-around cardboard boxes, gritty food wrappers and two seasons’ worth of litter. Thank goodness it’s clean-up time!

The city of Palmer is expanding its cleanup day into a whole week this year, giving residents more time to gather things up.

Ailis Vann, administrative assistant and cleanup coordinator at the city, said the expanded cleanup event this year accommodates people who wanted to pitch in but weren’t able to do so on a Saturday. Several had asked for a different day or expanded time, she said.

Fans of the post-cleanup barbecue, don’t fret – there will still be grilled dogs and treats available on Saturday for the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce cleanup day.The Palmer Chamber asks volunteers to sign up by 9 a.m. at the pavilion across the street from the library. Meet back at 1:30 p.m. for the free lunch. Children taking part will be eligible for great prizes, including six bicycles from Palmer retailer Backcountry Bike and Ski. Valley Center for Recycling Solutions and Ready Recycles will also be there, with bins where recyclable litter can be turned in.

For those who want to clean up their neighborhood during the week, Vann said residents could stop by Palmer Public Works at 1316A S. Bonanza St. during business hours to pick up the big yellow ALPAR cleanup bags. Litter pickers can drop full bags off at Public Works throughout the week, or save them up and haul them over to the downtown pavilion on Saturday.

One of the most exciting changes this year, Vann said, is that the city will also be collecting yard waste – leaves and grass clippings – which will be taken to Palmer hay and sod seller Country Garden Farms, where it will be turned into compost.

Residents can bring bags full of yard waste (a small amount of animal waste is not frowned upon but please remove non-biodegradable trash from the bags before delivery) to a big, Tyvek supersack at Public Works. Vann said people bringing yard waste should be prepared to dump their bags out, not just toss the bags in the supersack, as plastic sacks don’t degrade.

For city residents on the trash pickup route, Vann said the yard waste drop-off is a great deal. Drive around neighborhoods in town and it’s easy to find garbage bins by the curb with a small pyramid of bagged yard waste stacked to the side. The city charges $2.50 per bag extra for the additional trash and most of it doesn’t belong in a landfill, she said. And the city has to pay to get it there in the garbage truck.

“It’s a super-easy way to save money for us and for the consumer,” Vann said.

Palmer isn’t the only place looking trashy these days. Communities outside the city are cleaning up too. Here's a list of community council cleanups, and contact info for anyone who wants to take part.

-- Rindi White

Snowy year means city cracks down on shovel scofflaws and improper parkers

Photo by Rindi White
Lights warm a snowy late-December scene in a Palmer yard.

Snow, snow, snow. Are you tired of it yet?

Extra snow this year has kept local public works crews busy and, at least in our house, depleted our supply of Ibuprofen thanks to shovel-related aches and pains.

City maintenance superintendent Greg Wickham said the city has already filled its three snow-dump spots and three new ones are nearly full too. His three-man crew has logged a lot of overtime already, and there are still at least two months of winter to go.

“In a normal year, you go through freeze-thaw cycles and the snow is reduced,” he said. “On a normal year, it probably wouldn’t be such a source of frustration and anger – it’s been an unusual snow (year).”

The frustration and anger is coming from a few places. The city has received a bunch of calls from residents upset at having their driveways plowed in. City work crews are upset that residents leave their vehicles parked on the street or within the city right-of-way, forcing plows to go around them and create one-lane streets.

Add to that the sidewalk issue – several business owners told the council that they were upset that the city plowed cleaned sidewalks full of nearly impenetrable snow and ice in early December, during the crucial Christmas-shopping season. And some residents have voiced frustration that sidewalks are not cleared in some parts of town until days after snowfall. However you look at the issue, snow is a hot topic in Palmer right now.

Palmer’s Public Works Director Tom Cohenour tackled a few of these issues at Tuesday’s city council meeting. In a memo to the council, Cohenour outlined just how long it takes to remove snow from city streets, airport and sidewalks. Crews try to get roads, airport and even sidewalks plowed in three days’ time, he said. But just clearing the airport of two inches of snow takes about 11 hours, he said.

Cohenour said clearing could be improved dramatically if city codes related to snow removal were enforced. He’s advocating the city take a stronger stance on enforcement.

In other words, look out residents – brush up on the rules or you might soon be facing fines.

City code requires property owners or occupants remove snow promptly. But putting it on the sidewalk, in the street or in an alley is illegal. This can be an issue for some downtown businesses, for whom there really is nothing more than sidewalk, street and alley available. Cohenour said those businesses can either haul it away or otherwise get rid of the snow – melt it, perhaps? – but get rid of it they must. If they wait for city workers to remove it, they’ll get a bill in the mail.

The other law Cohenour is asking city leaders to better enforce regards parking during snowstorms. If your vehicle is parked on the street or in the city right-of-way when two inches or more of snow have fallen, you could get ticketed or towed.

Cohenour said police have already towed a few vehicles. Wickham said he was out taking pictures of other illegally parked vehicles Wednesday, photos that will be forwarded to police to take further action.

City Clerk Janette Bower recently recorded a city-wide call-out that reminded residents that city crews would be out clearing roads overnight during a recent snow event. Wickham said he thought the call-out reminder had some effect – it seemed the plow operators had to plow around fewer vehicles, he said.

“I believe that a lot of residents aren’t aware of the code,” Wickham said.

-- Rindi White

History lurks underground in Palmer

Photo by Rindi White
Tour participants got a glimpse of the famed Palmer tunnels. 

In keeping with this spooky season, Palmer Arts Council recently held its second annual "Palmer Underground" tour.

The tours are kind of a behind-the-scenes glimpse of early Palmer. On a gorgeous sunny Saturday, more than 40 people criss-crossed downtown to ramble around in basements, old buildings and historic homes to learn more about Palmer's roots. The Post was allowed to attend for free as a member of the media. Everybody else paid $25 a person.

Topping the list of sites to see were the fourth and fifth (!!) floors of the Colony Inn, both underground. Inn owner Janet Kincaid told tour participants about her first, frightening visit to the Inn's first and second basements before she purchased and renovated the building. She also shared a few interesting facts about the giant boiler in her lower basement (it heated the town at night!). Check out the video for clips of Kincaid's tour of the Inn.

At another stop on the tour, participants learned about the former scientists, since passed on, who knock around in the old Kremlin building. That's the circa-1949 University of Alaska Fairbanks office building on Fireweed Avenue. No longer open to the public, the building houses more than 100 years of agricultural research and plant studies.

Photo by Rindi White
Pipes in the tunnels below Palmer leave little room for mischief.

One of the most popular stops on the tour was to the former Colony generator building, a nondescript concrete block that housed generators and the large boilers that provided heat to homes and businesses in the city. The city water supply was also treated there and the building provided a spot for farmers to stop for a hot shower.

The generator building also houses one of the only remaining access points to the underground tunnels that carried heat and hot water to buildings throughout town. Long rumored as a hide-out and playing spot for teens, the access tunnel proved to be crowded with pipes that left little room for mischief.

The tour stopped at two private homes, inspected the lower level of Rusty's at Dahlia Street and learned of the building's varied past as a shooting range, potato sorting area, staging spot for U.S. Marshals and ballet practice space. They also were treated to a piano recital on the first concert grand piano brought to Palmer and toured the former city jail, in the basement of Palmer City Hall.

Palmer Arts Council plans to hold another underground tour about this time next year. Tickets for the three-hour tour generally sell out quickly. The arts council is considering offering other tours, such as the spiritual geography of Palmer (touring local churches) and an earth, wind, and fire tour that would stop at the Tsunami Warning Center and visit Sherrod Elementary's wind turbine, among other spots. People who are interested in these or other tours should contact Palmer Arts Council at 745-7735.

-- Rindi White