McCarthy Area Council Kicks Off 2022 Meeting Season
Photo by Jon Erdman
Amanda Swinehart - CRR Staff
There are still feet of snow on the ground, but spring has sprung and the McCarthy Area Council (MAC) is looking ahead to the 2022 summer season. At its first meeting of the year, held on the last day of March, attendees received updates from board members on several ongoing projects.
President Nik Merlino started with an overview of a phone call the MAC board of directors had with Dept. of Transportation representatives last October. He said the board asked for more routine maintenance on the state-owned road from the east side of the Kennicott River to the Kennicott Subdivision, and that DOT “acknowledged their responsibility to maintain the stretch of road from the east side of the bridge to the end of their recognized right-of-way.”
The board also expressed their concerns about the condition of the culverts at Clear Creek and the swimming hole, as well as the potential degradation of the west end of the state-owned bridge that crosses the Kennicott River, more commonly referred to as “the footbridge,” due to changes caused by the river in recent years.
According to Merlino, Chad Heller, DOT’s maintenance and operations superintendent for the Tazlina district, said he plans to visit McCarthy this summer to survey the culverts and other areas of concern.
Board member Thea Agnew Bemben gave an overview of the new Essential Community Infrastructure (ECI) grant program that was approved last year. The grant is intended for large projects that benefit the community as a whole. $65,000 is available through the program this year, and of that, $40,000 has been reserved for the Kennicott-McCarthy Volunteer Fire Department’s (KMVFD) heated firehall project.
Applicants can present proposals for the remaining funds at the April, May or June MAC meetings. An impartial committee will be formed at the June meeting to review the proposals, and it will present its project and award amount recommendations at the July meeting. Members will then vote on the proposals at the August meeting.
Grant applications and guidelines can be found at www.mxycouncil.org.
Chris and Julia Chester presented the KMVFD’s proposal for its heated fire-hall project. Combined with other grant money, the requested $40,000 would allow phase 1 and 2 of the project - the dirt work and concrete building slab - to be completed.
In addition to several other benefits, Chris said a heated firehall would allow KMVFD to provide year-round fire response, which should help homeowners in the area obtain fire insurance.
For questions or more information on the proposal, email kmvfd@hotmail.com.
Board member Hannah Rowland provided an update on the recently formed Kennicott-McCarthy Recreation Alliance. It set several goals for the year, including: obtaining 501(c)3 status, acquiring ownership of the playground property, securing a general liability policy for the playground, hosting an outreach and volunteer event, finalizing the playground plan, and ordering a new piece of equipment for it.
The Recreation Alliance is looking for pro bono help from an Alaska-based attorney. If interested, contact Jon Erdman at jon@wrangells.org.
Another board member, Michelle Raven, introduced the new McCarthy Area Roads and Access subcommittee. Its mission is to “provide a collaborative effort to assist the McCarthy Area Council in addressing access-related issues or concerns by way of active research, data collection and liaising between interested entities. We will strive to establish a database of objective access information.”
Discussion on how and where to make the information they gather available to the public is ongoing.
MAC is on the lookout for volunteers for three other committees this year: the outhouse committee, a maintenance and repairs committee, and the ECI grant committee. The council also needs outhouse cleaners for the summer season, as well as individuals who can help with small repair and maintenance projects.
For more information, email mccarthyareacouncil.secretary@gmail.com.
A few general announcements were also made in the hour-long meeting.
Mike Trimmer, a fire management officer with the Division of Forestry’s Valdez/Copper River office, said Phase 2 of the McCarthy-Kennicott Community Wildfire Protection Plan update will start soon and that he would have more details on it at the April meeting.
Bruce Cain, president of the Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce, was in attendance to promote an overnight visit to McCarthy that the Chamber has planned for May 26. Cain said visitor center staff and several CVCC board members will be there to meet with local business owners and learn about their services.
The next MAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. The agenda includes an EMS Medical Services Building update and a vote on the KMVDF firehall proposal.