City Council - Regular Meeting

Now, to be fair, the four names were pretty good. Why?

it's not a while because they were closed Thank you.

As far as I know, she's in first class. Oh, okay.

Yeah, I think that's what it was. Well, actually, I think it was on the way down. i'm waiting for the i guess i don't think it came out

Thank you.

How are you?

How are you?

Let's come up and say good morning.

Perfect, yeah. There you go. Oh, my gosh. And so I'm just, I feel very blessed and grateful to have my dad.

How are you? I'm up here with the big table. Yeah, you're up in the big table. Just for a little while. Yeah, I did temporarily. Yeah, but, no, I, well, I didn't do it for a while. I'm sorry for what I did. Oh, I didn't.

No, you didn't.

And I had no problem with it.

There's a good golf course. Thank you. I honestly have no idea what you're writing.

Yeah, he's a Ph.D. Okay. All right.

And we meet. I love it.

I love it. Love it. I'm going to get there. You should. I'm getting there soon. Jim. Did you come to that? um um this is what i mean Thank you. um Thank you.

We'll open it up for questions.

What I'll do is I'll say, hey, there's been some questions that were brought up about, you know,

or maybe that was just one day then.

John told me. Try like $198,000 this month.

Yeah, see that's great news. That's the kind of stuff.

You know, and we just keep it. $472,000 this weekend. That's just Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Yeah, just so you know, if I do get asked questions, it's going to... Okay, apparently YouTube can hear you, so stop talking.

Any questions that are asked of me that are going to be perceived as defamation or slander, I will not answer.

Okay.

Just so you know.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'd like to call the May 26th City Council meeting to order please. Madam Clerk, will you call the roll?

Mayor Cooper?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Alcantara?

Here.

Council Member Allen?

Here.

Council Member Carrington? Here. Council Member Collins? Council Member Graham, here. Council Member Moser, here. We have a quorum.

Thank you. And again, a reminder before we get started, if you have a cell phone, please make sure that your cell phones are silenced. On the council, if you need to take a break, let me know and we will do that. Maggie, would you like to lead us in the pledge, please? Thank you. Matthew, the council wishes an approval of the agenda.

Move to approve. Second.

Are there any discussion? Yes, ma'am.

I would like to move off of the consent agenda, item number J and 8. And move that to the, I apologize, and move it to item I for action memoranda.

Items H and J?

Yes, sir.

All right, thank you. Madam Clerk.

Hold on, Madam Clerk's making a move. All right.

As amended.

This is to approve the agenda as amended? Council Member Carrington? Yes. Council Member Moser? Yes. Deputy Mayor Alcantara?

Yes.

Council Member Collins?

Yes.

Council Member Allen?

Yes.

Council Member Graham? Yes. Mayor Cooper?

Yes.

It is unanimous and approved.

Thank you. Moving on to communication appearance request, Palmer Museum history and art update. Mayor Joe?

Are you ready for it?

Yeah, I am absolutely ready for you.

YOU'LL PROBABLY NEED TO TURN THE MICROPHONE ON. JUST HOLD THE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM UNTIL THE GREEN LIGHT COMES ON. THE GREEN LIGHT. TAP ON IT. YOU GOT IT. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING.

I am Mary Jo Parks, I am the President of the Board for the Palmer Museum of History and Art. I've been with the Palmer Museum for seven years now, and it's been an extraordinary, great opportunity, and so much that I've learned about our community, about what the museum can and does do, as well as all of the other things that we are responsible for. I realize tonight that many of you have not heard us speak before. So we're gonna kind of do an overview for sure. We are the representatives of the city for both the Visitor Information Center and for the Palmer Museum. We're in the log cabin. We are the first stop for many of the community members, I'm sorry, for many of the visitors to the community, as well as a place for community members to come and learn more about our history and continue to help us preserve that.

With me tonight, we have Pat Chesbro.

Raise your hand.

Pat has been with the museum well over 12 years. That's about as far back as she wants to mention. And then Pam Meakin is also on the board, and she is a lifelong Valley girl who has brought amazing information to us. With me also is our new executive director, newish. She joined us a year ago, Delaney Nathrop. And she's going to give you the overview about our events for the past year.

Thanks, Mary Jo. So in the annual report, I go over a couple of things about visitor services and what we do at the museum. So I'm just going to touch on some things briefly. So in 2025, we welcomed over 30,000 visitors through our doors, which was amazing. 406 tour buses. Of those 30,000 visitors, almost 10,000 of those came via bus. Half of our visitors are from in-state. According to some statistics that we have, 16% of those in-state are from Anchorage, 16% are from Fairbanks, and then the other amount are from out of state. We've done a lot of outreach to our business members this year. Our visitor staff had two weeks of training this summer, so we went around downtown Palmer, visited businesses, other tourism operators, and learned all about what they do and what they offer for tourists in the summer season. We also do marketing for the city of Palmer through tour guides and visitor information pamphlets We do in print and travel media through social media and other websites. We also create and provide a visitor map This year we made a new visitor map and we'll be looking at making a larger one in 2027 I do want to remind you that in the packet there's a QR code that links to a video collab that we did with a travel blogger. It's a 30 minute long video that talks about all the opportunities visitors have here in Palmer and what they can do. So that's our visitor services side of things. On the museum side, we offer people digitized resources from our collection. We do that through means of blog posts as well as through our Matanuska Valley Historical Photo Project, which showcases about 1,200 of the 14,000 images that we have in our collection and that continues to grow. We have over 3,000 objects and some of those are showcased in our exhibits that are upstairs in the log cabin. We're currently redoing one of those exhibits and that should be done by the 1st of June. And then we also have our Matanuska Valley Colony Compendium, which I talked a little bit about last fall. That was a research project that was done with support from the State Library and Archives. It's essentially an encyclopedia that gathers information from resources across the United States about the colonist families and brings them to one place. So you can learn tons about different families, what they were doing before, during, and after the project. All of this information and these resources are part of a new traveling exhibit this year that'll be showcased during colony days and debuted. It's an eight panel traveling exhibit that discusses highlighted stories from the first year of the colony project. We're really excited to showcase that. And we do plan to have that travel to maybe different high schools or libraries or other museums across the state. We also have the opportunity to collaborate for the America 250 exhibit. It was Alaska's Field of Dreams. That was about baseball history in the state of Alaska. That exhibit is in Willow right now, and then it'll make its way up to Fairbanks. And it will return for the state fair. So that's exciting. So keep your eyes peeled for that. And I do want to thank you for the community council grant towards the new permanent exhibit Your support will go towards having a community conversation that should happen in September with our exhibit designers So community members will have an opportunity to input what that permanent exhibit will showcase Yeah, so I'm really excited for that those are just the brief things that I wanted to touch on in our annual report and So I think Mary Jo's gonna finish off the conversation.

Thanks.

So we've been doing the Museum and Visitor Information Center for over 10 plus years, even more. And we have found a number of things that we've been able to excel at and things that we would like to improve. One of the things Delaney and I took time to do is go back and see what's happening in the marketing. Who knows about Palmer, Alaska? At one time, we were the best kept secret. And when we did our research, we found that there is very little video or very little YouTube information out there, which has us concerned. and we are working to improve that. One of the things that Delaney was able to do is get the YouTube video created and it's well worth your time to go and see what an amazing job is a half hour video that talks about Palmer. We are trying and we hope with your help and others to actually bring more people to Palmer to help people understand what an amazing place we are. Every visitor that comes just is taken aback by how beautiful our area is and the rich history. So we need more help in those areas. The work that we do is in the log cabin. There are about 600 square feet to present everything that we do about Palmer. Needless to say, that's not big enough. We would definitely like to look at expanding at some point down the road, because again, we are finding that because of Delaney's work, because of things that have been made available to us. We're working with other museums. We are talking because of the compendiums you put together. We've come to realize there's a lot of rich history being saved in faraway lands like Kansas. If you're from Kansas, I don't mean that as a date. Far away, there's things, potential to be brought back to our community and shared with the people here. And I think the last thing we would very much, one of our major goals as a board is to get our own community to come and visit, to come and be part of the many things we do. So we've been doing a lot more programs and made it a lot more available. So with that, we hope that at some point you would have time to come and visit with us. Delaney will give you the grand tour, and we hope that you'll be able to come to some of the events that we have coming up. We did give you, out of the 163 pages that you have tonight, we did give you the annual report as well in writing with a lot more information. So we thank you. Do you have any questions for us?

Yes, ma'am. Could you talk a little bit about your Arts in the Garden, please?

So the Arts in the Garden Fair is going to be on July 18th. It's from 10 to 4. It's a collaboration between us and the Palmer Arts Council. We have about 50 vendors this year. That's almost double the amount of vendors that we had last year. There's going to be food trucks, live music. We're really excited for it. I think the community is really excited. So that happens every year.

We continue to hope that it grows and you're gonna have that is gonna be in the pavilion Parking lot and your the grass and where else is it gonna be?

We're still that's still to be determined We're pending with the library construction depending on where we're gonna set up in the quad or if it'll be across the street like Friday flame But a lot of the main vendors will still be around the museum and near the garden one other quick question

You have bikes that are there. And they're for rent. And do they get rented out often?

I would say they do to a lot of independent travelers and locals. We definitely need to focus more on marketing efforts. And that is definitely part of the funds towards marketing is quite a bit. But we would like to advocate for more of that bicycle tourism. It's just a different way to see Palmer. Oh, Backcountry Bike and Ski donated those bikes to us about five years ago.

Oh my gosh, wow.

Yeah.

Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Joe Delaney, thanks so much for being here. I think you guys do amazing work, and it's an amazing board that you have there. Keep up the good work. I'm curious on your visitor stats. It just fascinates me that 2025, of course, a very robust year, and 2023 a pretty strong year. Do you know what happened in 2024 that caused the number of visitors to be that low?

I think that those numbers are dependent on local visitation. So I know last year with the Trick or Treat Street, we saw over 2,000 people come through our door. So that definitely spikes things up here and there.

Thank you.

Can I also mention, that's the year of a lot of construction on the highway, so people weren't Coming our way.

And were buses not coming your way either that year because of that construction?

I think there was less. Less. Or I know there was less. But yeah, the road construction certainly played a role in some of our numbers.

One more, sir. Thank you. And you guys mentioned, you know, kind of the tiny footprint you have to work with in the 600 square feet for the exhibits. But I don't really see what you say. Hey, what we need is to double that size, to triple that size, to 50 percent again that size. And it takes a smart guy like Mr. Billifer here maybe to come and see what you guys do.

But maybe you have a proposal already in place that says if we could only have X tens of thousands of dollars we could make it a 1200 square foot I think there's a need for a lot more exhibit space Last year our traveling exhibits tend to cover our permanent exhibits which people tend to be disappointed about our indoor programming for this America 250 baseball exhibit had to be held outdoors because we don't have enough space inside to hold a program. The same went for our Chickaloon traveling exhibit this last winter, and it was very difficult. It was cold temperatures outside, people coming in and out the doors, standing next to the door to try to hear the speaker talk. And our art gallery space is something that we would love to have as well right now. Our art gallery is right next to the restrooms as you make your way out towards the garden. And there's really not a safe space for people's art to be held and shown. It does good for what it is currently. However, it would be really amazing to see a professional art gallery in Palmer.

I can tell you that we had an initial conversation I did with the board about having an additional building there. We didn't necessarily talk space or anything, but knowing the need that they're saying, like, for example, 40,000 pictures and all this stuff. I don't know if you've been there. It's all downstairs. It's in the basement, which there's no access to. And so my initial thought was that we should build another building, similar log building, and then move all that stuff out. Yes, ma'am.

We also feel that if we had that space, we could help the other community members and organizations be able to have their programs and use it as a community resource.

Yes, ma'am. With the last time I think you guys talked, there was some discussion a little bit about the Mat-Su Visitor Center that's going in. Have you guys been able to make some communication and some contact there and get our information up there?

Yeah. I am in regular communication with Casey over at CBB. I just went and toured last week. They're still in the middle of construction for their exhibit space as well. And so we're in constant communication. He's giving me information, helping, you know. And so they're still working out their hours over there at the visitor center. I think when things start getting up and running, we'll start to have more conversation about how to get people into Palmer. Good job. Thank you.

Any other questions? Yes, ma'am.

Yeah, I'd also like to just thank you guys for your work and the others sitting here. I think it's great that our community has made such an effort to record our history and make it accessible both to people here and people visiting. I think it gives our community that much more of an identity. I was curious on how you're counting the numbers as far as folks visiting, because I know I've kind of been in and part of events and didn't There might have been a place to sign in, but I don't think I did, that kind of thing. How are those numbers being?

Our front desk staff has a clicker. Okay. And so every time somebody comes through the door, they're clicking. We also take numbers on visitor buses. Usually they give us a number of how many folks are on the bus. So that's how we keep track of those numbers. Okay.

I was wondering if potentially the numbers are actually maybe even higher than If you've got people like.

It could be, especially during a large event. Yeah. Like Friday flings are really hard to keep track. We do our best, but when it's over 1,000 people, it gets pretty tricky.

Yeah, and not everybody necessarily goes into the building. They're in the garden or whatever as well. But as kind of a point of reference, the Wasilla Visitor Center has about a third or a quarter of what we get. So they're around 7,500 or something like that. Any other questions? Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Moving on to reports. City Manager, please.

Mr. Mayor, council members, Jude Biller, your public works director, and it is my privilege to be sitting up here with you. A quick shout out, I see local business owners, local representatives. The Memorial Day weekend that we just had, it is a privilege to walk down Main Street in Palmer and see all the flags and the US memorabilia. And so I shout out to all those folks involved with that, because it really does set us apart from other communities. Having said that, annual crack sealing began this week. Yes, and road striping, something that we all look forward to. And as it's been mentioned, we put a lot of yellow paint down. The airport is our first priority, and then we will move to the roads. So again, an annual event. This year's hanging baskets that adorn the city, they are currently in the Public Works yard. They take about 10 days to two weeks to acclimatize, if you will. They come out of the greenhouse. And we unfortunately have made the mistake years ago where we hung them immediately and they did not fare very well. So in case anyone wants to know, the baskets are at Public Works. It'll be next week most likely that we will hang them. Couple road project updates. The Evergreen Ave project right by the depot and the Cedar Ave road project. They were scheduled to begin today. Weight restrictions remain in effect. So in case anybody was interested, that is why you do not see the movement of any vehicles or any activity on those two projects. Doesn't mean they're not happening. They will. just road restrictions weight restrictions to be specific are still in place that's 75 now so i don't think it'll be too much longer i do not have a timeline nor does d.o.t i spoke with some folks today but that is happening it does not change our completion time we built in some buffer there we still anticipate them late august early september for both of those projects to be complete Library construction continues and it is on schedule. There are no concerns to report, no issues that have come up. It's a great crew that the City has working on this project and they work very well with City, so that's a good news story there. A full update on the golf course. There's some great activity going on out at the golf course. That will be given during the Committee of the Whole. So I will wait and defer until then so that then we can take all questions at the same time from you all regarding the golf course. So Mr. Mayor, that's all I have.

Thank you.

Any questions? Yes, sir. Yeah, no real questions, and Mr. Bilford, welcome up here, but just a shout out to your team at Public Works for getting the high school graduates' photos up, and I know it's always a challenge with the wind and everything that goes into it, and it was cool last, just Friday, just four days ago, my friend and I walked Palmer and saw all the graduates. It's kind of an annual event, at least for the last six years. I'm glad it was able to happen this year, and I applaud you guys for making it work. Thank you.

Any other questions? Seeing none. Moving into my report, like Mr. Bilfer mentioned, Memorial Day was this weekend. I hope everybody enjoyed the day off, but more importantly, I hope that everybody honored the fallen soldiers. I did go to a... An event, it was called 98 Fund, and it's put on by the Military Academy Class of 1998. Right after their graduation, a number of them went over to Afghanistan, et cetera. They lost 14 right away. And so throughout the nation, they've got this group called 98 Fund. And every Memorial Day or day before, they honor the fallen soldiers from that class and any of the other folks that have... They actually have, I don't know how many acres, but it's out by GPRA, and now they have 13 cabins out there that they house. Gold Star families and others, veterans and stuff that want to come out and do that. And it was quite an interesting event. We had a flag ceremony. Then we walked to the ceremony pit. Halfway there, we stopped because there were two moose that were occupying the place. And so a couple of ladies went out and tried to shoo them away. And they just walked off. They didn't really care that we were there. And I think they passed within 50 feet of us while they were eating grass and stuff. excellent event I also met with the fair CEO Blake Allen and we talked about things you know he's only had only been on the job for two weeks so we talked about things that were going to go on at the fair what could we do with the city what can they do for us you know it was a good meeting and we'll probably have many more I had mentioned before that they had a food bank ribbon-cutting ceremony. So I don't know if any of you had gone out to the food bank. It's now a 5,300-square-foot building. It has walk-in freezers, cutting tables for vegetables, and it's got a waiting room, which is nice, and also bathrooms for people, and running water, and a large parking lot. And then they also had a torch run that was put on by the police department for the Special Olympics, which was held at the Latter-day Saints Church. And same day, on May 15, they had a police memorial day that was held at our police station. And for those of you who were here, I think I mentioned before, May 15, 1999, James Rowland was our police officer that got killed in the line of duty out by the Fred Meyer parking lot. So it was kind of a day of just get together, and it was hot dogs and hamburgers and stuff, but just a brotherhood kind of a thing, and remember all the police that have put their life in the line of duty. I was at the borough assembly meeting, and I introduced our resolution that when we opposed the sales tax, and I don't know if you saw it, it was probably in the frontiersmen, and we were the ones who launched the first hand grenade about that. And as part of that, I met with the mayor's managers, along with you, we met with the mayor's managers meeting. here and we talked about that and Wasilla is definitely on board with us about the same thing and I think actually the borough manager is but you know he obviously works for the borough assembly so and we also discussed our projects and the borough projects what are going on this next coming year. the MPO meeting, which is a missile planning organization, and we're gonna be talking about policy issues, and the deputy commissioner for DOT, and one or two of their head engineers are gonna be there, and we're gonna discuss the Arctic Avenue extension, or the project from Alaska Street down to the bridge. And... Along those same lines, June 3rd is an open house for the Glen Highway to the Fish Hook project. And that's at 5 to 7 p.m. in the depot, and that will be put on by DOT. This Thursday, I meet with the Chamber Board, and we're gonna discuss what I've now determined to be July 17th, and celebrate Palmer Day, where we've had that in the past. And I know that we celebrated the Palmer birthday a month ago, but I still think that it's necessary that we continue to have that project go on. So we'll be talking about that. And the Chamber, although they don't want to take over the project, they are more than willing to help and give us a hand.