Summary of the Questionnaires and July 1 Discussions
People expressed a desire to have the following amenities:
Benches along the trail
Picnic tables
Flowers (perennial and natural to Alaska such as Bluebells, Forget-me-nots, Ferns, etc.)
A bridge
Dog-scoop bag dispensers,
Slide, Merry-go-round
Secured garbage cans in 3-4 places or at entrances
BBQ Grill
fish, birds, eagles, trout
People wished to address the following problems:
Crime
Kids that trash the place
Too much underbrush
Too many cottonwoods
People suggested the following solutions:
Residents observing and challenging offenders
Police drive-bys
Crime investigation and prosecution
Light in park
A park maintenance plan
Picnicking activities
Dredge creek
Help from the cooperative extension (UAF)
Cutting trees and clearing brush to make the park more visible
Have a fundraiser
Ask city for help
Free appliance pick-up and subsidized garbage collection
Clean the creek (dredge it out and clean the pipes)
Enlarge the culvert under Valley and Cherry Streets
The following is an email excerpt from cindy_anderson@fishgame.state.ak.us, Habitat Biologist, (Anchorage Area Office, Office of Habitat Permitting and Management, 267-2272):
". . .what you need to do to get a permit to work in the creek. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Habitat Division under direction from the Governor's office, has been transferred to the Department of Natural Resources. We are responsible for permitting work in streams.
I can send you a Fish Habitat Permit form . . . This will allow you to work cleaning up your portion of the stream. It would be helpful if you could fill this out, and then I will make time to meet you at the creek site and we will talk about things that you can do to improve fish habitat.
The federal government has some money available to landowners to do stream restoration. I don't know all the constraints but you could call Mark Schroeder at 271-2797 and he should be able to help you make contacts to see if there is any possibility that you could be eligible for funds."
The proposal for the first step toward improving the park wa approved at the Community Council Executive Board meeting on July 17th (the full Community Council doesn’t meet until August 21) athe Northeast Community Center. If approved, we are hoping to begin Phase 1 on July 31 with the Alaska Extreme 4wheelers who have adopted the park. For those interested in participating please feel free to join us for the meeting on the 17th or the initial rehabilitation on July 31.
However, we must still work our way through Fish and Gamee and Parks and Rec for approval before we get into any serious cutting, trimming, pruning, dredging, or building. They have already approved the 4wheelers to do minor brush clearing on the trails. Hopefully more folks will continue to work throughout the winter on getting play equipment, benches, or tables, (and whatever else is suggested) for summer 2004. We have it on our minds that we could spend a good day on the park.
We are hoping to raise an army of weedeaters. Any volunteers? email valleystpark@yahoo.com or come July 31.
At 10 am on July 9, Dave Arieno of the 4wheelers ( http://akextreme4x4com.powweb.com) met with Nancy Beardsley, Volunteer Coordinator at Parks and Recreation (343-4288, BeardsleyNJ@ci.anchorage.ak.us ). They decided to brush out the trail. The 4wheelers (pres. Scott Hala) will do the brushing and will remove tree limbs that are hazardous along the trail. Parks and Rec and the group that adopted the park are currently looking to see if there is any funding available with work already being done on Chester Creek. Parks and Rec is already removing grills from parks due to budget cuts and vandalism, so that suggestion for our park does not seem like an option at present.
Anchorage Waterways Council Steps Back
Anchorage Waterways Council (AWC) helped organize the July 1 cookout and have helped us focus on a plan that can get past bureaucracy and become reality. On July 11, Emily Creely notified Sunny Wilster ( 1RedDog@alaska.net), Lori Johnston ( j_lori@go.com), Bill Wielechowski, and Nancy Beardsley that AWC could not pursue a plan for the creek or park until their funding problems are resolved, which will be late summer at the earliest. We, the neighbor volunteers, can continue our cleaning and clearing efforts, which have been largely individualized. If we get organized and work together toward a few modest goals, we can get in there and pull out some of the trash thrown in the creek and make permanent changes that will help reduce future damage to our creek and park.
--from Lori Johnston (j_lori@go.com) updated on August 10, 2003