Opinion: Giving ‘Public Comment’ on ‘Holton Hills’
By David Nyman
As AO 2023-137 is a new ordinance. All prior public testimony from Girdwood on the previous ordinance is not automatically attached to this new ordinance. There are several new Assembly members that did not vote last year. It is important they hear Girdwood voices.
During the previous Holtan Hills campaign the focus was on emails directly to Assembly members. These emailed comments became public only if the Assembly member chose to share them. Submission of public comments on the new ordinance to the entire Assembly do become part of the public record.
Navigating to the Assembly home page at https://www.muni.org/Departments/Assembly/Pages/default.aspx two option buttons are provided, one labeled “Submit Testimony” and the other labeled “Contact Members”. The ”Submit Testimony” button when selected will lead to the Public Testimony Form where the user is prompted to enter information and select the type of testimony, either written testimony via email or telephonic testimony. The user has to enter the specific agenda item for which the testimony is submitted (AO 2023-137) in order for the testimony to apply to that ordinance.
More information about Holtan Hills can be obtained from their home page. (Graphic courtesy of Krystal Hoke)
If the user selects the “Contact Members” button, this accesses the Assembly member page where one can find the individual email for each Assembly member (by District) or select the “Email all Members” button to broadcast an email to all Assembly folk. Once again emails in this fashion will not be a part of the public record unless an Assembly member decides to share that comment.
The deadline for written public comment is Thursday, Jan. 18 by 5 pm. The deadline to sign up to give testimony over the phone is 5 pm Monday January 22. In addition to commenting by these various methods showing up at the Tues Jan. 23 Assembly meeting is highly recommended to demonstrate Girdwood’s commitment to smart community development.
It has been more than 300 days since the previous ordinance was “indefinitely postponed”. During this time period neither HLB, CY Investments, or Assembly ordinance sponsors have reached out to Girdwood to engage in additional discussion on how to improve the proposed project. Direct communication with the Assembly may be the only opportunity for public input on this important issue. TN encourages all Girdwood residents, landowners, or recreators to review the proposal and provide public comments whether you are for or against the proposal. Your informed voice needs to be heard!