By:  Brooks Chandler

Itching to get your fingers dirty and grow your own?  Plots are available in Girdwood’s community garden. Though currently snow covered the Community Garden is soon to be a thriving green space located between the Girdwood Chapel and Girdwood Brewery on Girdwood Chapel property.  

The garden is a project of Turnagain Community Services, Inc., a Girdwood-based non-profit organization.  TCS President Alice Simmons said the garden aims to provide sustainability, unity and growth for Girdwood residents.

Betty Charnon, TCS board member and volunteer, manages the garden.  

She said the garden includes one plot dedicated to growing produce for another TCS endeavor, the community Food Pantry.  

The garden is more than just a place to grow food and flowers, According to Charnon.  

“It serves as a gathering spot for neighbors to come together, share knowledge and build lasting friendships,” she said.  

Annual fees to offset operating costs are $25 per season.  Needs-based discounts are available.  

Charnon said those interested in having a plot (which includes access to space in the new greenhouse!) can fill out the application form available at: https://www.girdwoodchapel.com/community-garden/  (or: email TurnagainCommunityServices@gmail.com  or call 907-783-0127) to request an application form). 

On May 18, the Community Garden is holding a plant sale fundraiser.  The sale will feature mature and starter annuals and perennials and perhaps some veggi starts.  The sale will be held at the Girdwood Brewery from 11 am to 4 p.m.   

(The writer is a board member of Turnagain Community Services, Inc).

Change of Sitzmark Time is 12 to 3 pm Saturday.

Attorney and lifelong Alaskan Cabot Charles Christianson, 71, died on March 3, 2024, from cardiac arrest, while skiing with his family at Alyeska Resort. Cabot was born in Sitka, Alaska, on Dec. 20, 1952, where his parents homesteaded an island in Sitka Sound.

For Cabot, "The Island" was a magical place to grow up, which led to his lifelong passion for wild and natural places and the sea. He later moved to the Lower 48 to live with his mother during the school year, with summers in Sitka. Cabot graduated from high school in Norwalk, Conn. A scholar-athlete, he excelled in math, captained the chess team and won the Connecticut State Wrestling Championship. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1975, with a B.A. in economics with high honors. In 1978, Cabot graduated from Stanford Law School and moved to Anchorage, Alaska, to begin a 46-year law career specializing in commercial law and bankruptcy.

Cabot was an outdoorsman and adventurer. He kayaked from Seattle to Sitka in college, a 40-day, 800-mile voyage with a friend in a two-man kayak, subsisting on peanut butter, chocolate and clams. He hiked the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada and hunted mountain goat on Baranof Island.

In 1983, Cabot married Cynthia Pickering, also an attorney. For over four decades they skied, sailed and kayaked, and built and frequented their cabins, in Kliuchevoi Bay near Sitka, in Girdwood, Alaska, and in the San Juan Islands. One of their favorite trips was skiing and dogsledding at Wonder Lake. But, their biggest adventure was raising their three boys: Nicholas, Charles and Kieffer. Cabot is fondly remembered enjoying stories with his sons in the evenings, from Treasure Island to Sherlock Holmes.

Homestead life fostered the ingenuity and self-reliance which were hallmarks of the man Cabot became. His children refer to his ability to solve building and other off-grid challenges, as his "island boy skills." Cabot's work life as an attorney was no less creative, where his attention to detail and facility with numbers shone. Cabot was devoted to his clients and found great satisfaction in helping Alaskans with their businesses. From a recent client, "He took care of my company like it was his own."

Cabot believed in the power of education. He served as an elected member of the Anchorage School Board, and as trustee for schools and a children's camp.

Cabot was noted for his quiet charisma. His wife said "He had an elegant mind." Cabot's boys said that he challenged them to be the best version of themselves and encouraged them to attack seemingly insurmountable problems head-on.

Cabot is survived by his wife, Cynthia; children, Nicholas (Sarah), Charles (Courtney) and Kieffer (Josefin); grandchildren, August, Astrid and Estelle; mother, Faith Medlin; and siblings, Kord, Thor (Jessica) and Tanya. His father Warren Christianson predeceased him. A Celebration of Life will be held in Cabot's honor at the Sitzmark in Girdwood on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 3 p.m. A church service will be held at 10 a.m., on May 11, at Our Lady of the Snows in Girdwood. The family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions in Cabot’s name to the Sitka Conservation Society, the Food Bank of Alaska or WildSalmonCenter.org. (Obituary donated by the family)

By: Brooks Chandler

Turnagain News Contributor

Suzanne LaFrance was the clear favorite among Girdwood voters in the April 2 mayoral election. LaFrance received 64 percent of the votes cast for mayor according to results certified by the Anchorage Assembly on April 23.

This compares to 36 percent of votes for LaFrance city-wide. Mayor Dave Bronson finished a distant second in Girdwood with 15 percent of votes cast.

Citywide Bronson received only 473 votes less than LaFrance, a difference of less than 1 percent. In Girdwood LaFrance received 387 votes more than Bronson.

LaFrance was also favored by 46 percent of Indian/Bird Creek voters receiving 59 votes compared to 39 votes, or 30 percent, for Mayor Bronson, LaFrance's closest competitor.

The results in other South Anchorage precincts, many of which LaFrance represented as an Assembly member, were more mixed. The certified results show Bronson outpolling LaFrance in the majority of South Anchorage and Hillside precincts.

According to the Municipal Clerk’s office, 808 of Girdwood’s 1,949 registered voters participated in the April 2 election. That equals a 41 percent turnout. Indian/Bird Creek did even better turning out 43 percent of 302 registered voters. City wide turnout was 30.4 percent.

Mayoral preference was not the only result where Girdwood votes varied widely from Anchorage votes. Proposition 7, the Cemetery Bond, was favored by 455 of 792 Girdwood voters (57.4 percent). Area wide only 43.5 percent of voters favored Proposition 7.

Proposition 7 included bonding to create a cemetery in both Eagle River and Girdwood plus make improvements to the existing cemetery in downtown Anchorage. Because cemetery service is an “area-wide” service all property owners in Anchorage would have repaid the proposed bonds through property taxes.

No Eagle River precinct supported Proposition 7. All 7 downtown Anchorage precincts plus Government Hill joined Girdwood in voting yes on Proposition 7.

The official certified results by precinct can be found at www.muni.org/Departments/Assembly/Clerk/Elections/Election%20Results/2024-0423%20StatementOfVotesCastRPT.pdf

By Jeff Samuels

TNews Contributor

The Girdwood Nordic Ski Club (GNSC) and Kenai Mountains- Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area (KMTA) teamed up again this year to host the 3rd annual Corduroy Crush Nordic Skiing event on Sunday, April 7th at Girdwood’s 5K Nordic Loop.

About 85 athletes of all ages participated in three events: a 2K snowball biathlon, a 5K timed race, and a team relay. 

KMTA’s Executive Director, Rachel Blakeslee, and GNSC’s board member, Briana Sullivan, coordinated logistics and volunteers to manage the event. Participants were greeted by a bluebird spring day and warm temperatures, with a deep winter base of snow still covering the skiing trails. Families basked in the sunshine as the races took place.

Skiers were fueled by hot drinks and sweet rolls from the Alpenglow Coffee House and The Bake Shop.  

“Every year we host this race I’m astounded by the selflessness of those who come out to support with their time, energy, and resources,” said Rachel. “This year, we had 33 volunteers from Girdwood, Anchorage, Seward, Moose Pass and more show up on the most beautiful, sunny Sunday to help out… We talk a lot about preserving and celebrating our living heritage in the KMTA. This is what it’s all about.”

As a fundraiser, about $2,000 was generated from registration fees to support KMTA’s youth outdoor school programming. 

In addition to Alpenglow Coffee House and The Bake Shop, other sponsors included Powderhound Ski Shop, Birch & Alder, The Ice Cream Shop, Mooses Tooth, Girdwood Brewing, and Alyeska Resort.

For more information on The Girdwood Nordic Ski Club, visit their website at:  https://skigirdwood.org/. For more information on the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area, visit their site at: https://kmtacorridor.org/.

KMTA hosts additional race events each summer at the Spencer Whistlestop and on Hope's Palmer Creek Road. Find more information on upcoming events on their website.

(Click on the story title to see more pictures)

Girdwood Area Plan Funded From Multiple Sources

By Brooks Chandler

TNews Contributor

Comprehensive planning costs money, and more than expected.

The total cost of the draft Girdwood Area Plan now out for public comment through March 31 will exceed $200,000, according to Imagine!Girdwood Treasurer Amanda Sassi.

The final funding originated from a source no one would have envisioned in 2017 when the update effort began. Regardless of the price, readers can now review and comment on the draft at imaginegirdwood.org.

Read more at:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/persistence-plus-pandemic-produces-plan

Story by Jon Scudder, TNews Publisher

Photos by Soren Wuerth, TNews Editor

On the first Friday of each month, the streets of Olympic Mountain Loop transformed the March 1 evening into a vibrant community of artistic expression, as local artists, musicians, and businesses unite to celebrate creativity in the heart of Turnagain Arm.

Since ‘In The Loop’ debuted last year, the event has quickly become a cornerstone of Girdwood’s cultural scene, drawing customers, locals and visitors, to explore the diverse array of businesses in this monthly celebration.

Participating Friday, 5 to 7 pm, were businesses such as Alpenglow Coffee House; Girdwood Center for Visual Art; Jack Sprat Restaurant; La Bodega; Mother Hubbards Cupboard; and Powder Hound Ski and Bike Shop.

Read the entire story:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwoods-in-the-loop-first-friday-unveils-a-mountain-community-of-artistic-ex

By Brooks Chandler

TNews Contributor

Many people equate “health clinic” with seeing a medical provider.

The Girdwood Health Clinic takes a broader view of its role as an advocate for community health.

There are “social determinants” that impact health, says Patient Assistance Program Coordinator Linda Mankoff.

These include housing. An insecure housing situation, or just how living in the cold, can make someone sick and cause mental stress.

Not having enough food to eat is also a health concern that has the attention of the clinic.

A lack of transportation reduces access to specialty medical services not available at the clinic, says Mankoff.

Mankoff's Patient Assistance Program is designed to improve these social determinants of health.

The clinic educates community members about available public assistance programs.

For example, Mankoff says folks may be directed to Cook Inlet Housing by the clinic if they need housing and are willing to live in Anchorage.

They can also learn about possible help through Catholic Social Services.

And domestic violence victims can be referred to agencies providing temporary safe places to live.

Meanwhile, Girdwood senior citizens get help accessing the Senior Citizens Food Program.

Education may simply be letting people know that on-site mental health services are regularly available at the clinic.

When a community member wants to apply for a program such as food stamps or Medicaid, Mankoff says the clinic helps them fill out the inevitable mounds of paperwork. Before the clinic existed this type of help required a trip to town.

As a certified community health worker and application counselor Mankoff says the clinic can provide help on site. These efforts are part of creating and maintaining a “full circle of health” for Girdwood, she says.

All of these services are provided for free and regardless of whether the community member being assisted is a medical patient and confidentiality protocol prevents the clinic from identifying specific health benefits from these efforts, according to Mankoff.

Each day, a stack of food boxes for seniors awaits delivery free those who need it, a manifestation of the social service Girdwood's clinic provides.

(Photo courtesy of Girdwood Health Clinic)

By Soren Wuerth, TNews Editor

Photography by Anneliese Kupfrian

Proposals to reconstruct the Seward Highway between Girdwood and Anchorage and a project to build an overpass into Girdwood are in peril due to a lack of funding and after a Statewide plan was rejected by federal regulators.

The so-called "Safer Seward Highway" project, which would cost as much as $1 billion, has been put on hold after federal transportation officials declined to fund a broader $5.6 billion statewide plan. The State must come up with a revision to its three-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP)before reapplying for funding. 

The main problem is that the Alaska Department of Transportation failed to involve local governments as required by regulations. 

In the case of the Seward Highway project, a plan for reconstruction and realignment from milepost 98 to 115, the DOT did not get approval from an Anchorage planning group.

Under federal regulations, projects under a STIP need to be consistent with the transportation goals of a nearby city. For the Seward Highway, that organization is the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions, or AMATS. 

"There was no coordination with AMATS prior to the draft document being released for the 45-day public comment period," AMATS director Aaron Jongenelen wrote in an August letter. 

Jongenelen said the Seward Highway reconstruction "should be removed" from DOT's 2024-2027 STIP since it wasn't included in AMATS's plan.

He added that there is "missing information" and, so far as the Seward Highway plan is concerned, DOT got the region wrong.

"Seward Highway 98.5 to 110 should be all in the Municipality of Anchorage not Kenai. Also this project is missing from the interactive map," stated Jongenelen.

Federal investigators largely agreed, saying projects need to go through a local planning process and be included in a "Metropolitan Planning Organization's" plan before being listed on a STIP.

Meanwhile, an idea for a half-cloverleaf overpass heading in Girdwood, called a "trumpet" by highway planners, is bogged down for lack of funding, a DOT director said during a November meeting.

Though the Girdwood Board of Supervisors urged DOT to include an interchange in a 2018 resolution, the size of the department's proposalcaused acrimony. 

"It's out-of-scale with Girdwood but also overly environmentally impactful to a pretty treasured area," GBOS co-Chair Jennifer Wingard said during a meeting last November.

The recommendation for a trumpet-style project is unlikely to gain funding, Sean Holland, DOT's regional director, said during the November meeting.

"We have a lot of projects right now that are really sucking up a lot of funding and to be able to fund the project in the $70 million range is going to be really challenging to do in the next few years," Holland said.

Holland said the he's told his agency's planners to come up with a smaller, less expensive "bite-sized" project for the interchange that might reduce crashes."We have way more needs than we do funding," he said.

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By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A representative for Alyeska Resort said Wednesday his company hopes to develop a 28-acre swath of forest in Girdwood's upper valley for housing as part of a sweeping master plan that could cost as much as $350 million.

The development would be a "Phase Three" pursuit, said Development Manager Willam Laurie, of Pomeroy, the Canadian hotelier that owns Alyeska Resort.

The proposed housing, near Glacier Creek, would cap other developments on or near the Resort's hotel. In other phases, Pomeroy would lease its land for construction of a new ice rink, recreation center, and childcare center. The resort would also build a new convention hall, a 9,000 square foot ski school, condos, community housing, and what it calls "workforce housing".

But a plan for an "Alyeska Village", near the hotel, and workforce housing is "to some extent" contingent on whether Pomeroy gets approval from the Assembly to develop what Pomeroy is now calling the "Glacier Creek Community", Laurie said.

Laurie told a packed community hall that Pomeroy "won the rights" to the land in 2021 in a bid on a request for proposal by the Municipality of Anchorage's Heritage Land Bank.

"We don't own it yet. It's owned by the HLB but we are in the process of acquiring that land. We are completely separate from the other project that was proposed, Holtan Hills," Laurie said.

In 2022, Connie Yoshimura, of CY Investments, and Pomeroy agreed to split HLB land they called "The Girdwood Project" on either side of Glacier Creek. The parties agreed to keep the undisclosed transaction confidential.

CY Investments would get the "Holtan Hills Subdivision" while Pomeroy would control land for, what it called in the agreement, an "Alyeska Village".

Robin Wilcox, of Skylab, a Portland-based architectural firm, said housing near Glacier Creek would be "more of a single-family housing development with mixed housing and styles."

"The idea there is that housing could be sized and planned to be nestled into the landscape," Wilcox said.

Laurie said his company chose 27 acres of 70 available to it within constraints of existing trails, wetlands, waterways and topography and ended up with a strip the shape of a fishing hook.

A slide of the area shows 23 single family homes spread out in large lots and about 55 "cluster" homes.

"Imagine someone who's lived for 10 years and hasn't had a chance to buy something in Girdwood because they get bid up or the properties are just too expensive, we plan to build quite a few units that have efficient lot sizes that would be more attainable for purchase," Laurie said, adding that the Glacier Creek subdivision would be built after the Alyeska Village and Moose Meadows developments.

He said Pomeroy would work with the Girdwood Board of Supervisors and Land Use Committee to give longer term residents priority for home purchases.

He said planners wanted the Glacier Creek community to be a "trails-oriented" community due to its proximity to trails. They also envision a parking lot and "warming hut" for skiers.

"Having a nordic ski trail in your backyard is something really cool," Laurie said.

Additionally, the subdivision would connect to the Alyeska Village with a "horizontal gondola".

Laurie's and Wilcox's presentation echoed one given five months ago in a "town hall" held at the Sitzmark Bar. The plan amends a 15-year old master plan for the Resort and is outside of the Girdwood Area Plan which is months away from completion. Pomeroy has not been involved in the larger comprehensive plan, according to a member of the planning team.

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Despite overwhelming and steadfast opposition from Girdwood residents, the Anchorage Assembly approved a proposal Wednesday for a sprawling, 60-acre subdivision dubbed "Holtan Hills".

Members debated just over an hour before voting 9-3 in favor of a three-phase plan for single-family homes, duplexes and condominiums that would be carved out of a rainforest between Crow Creek Road and the Girdwood School.

Supporters of Holtan Hills said market forces, the development's profit-sharing arrangement with the municipality and "price points" of smaller lots in the $2.1 million sale made the housing venture desirable. Further delays, they said, would only harm the developers ``business model".

Other members gave variations of a familiar talking point used by proponents of the land disposal: any housing is better than no housing.

"I think every time we are looking at bringing in more housing density we are going to be asked and pressed for more time and all the while the housing crisis looms in the background and goes unaddressed. I think the time is now," said member Dan Volland.

The Holtan Hills plan has been widely criticized for its failure to address Girdwood's need for affordable and, especially, workforce housing, as well as its lack of public process, its reliance on out-dated plans, and its disregard for Girdwood's limited local services.

Residents testified that homes in the subdivision would end up as short term rentals or so-called "dark homes'. Currently 70 percent of Girdwood's homes are unoccupied, according to data compiled by Girdwood's Board of Supervisors.

But some assembly members argued anyone can buy Holtan Hills lots, including Girdwood residents.

"Every lot is for a Girdwood resident," said Assembly member Kevin Cross.

Based on current real estate prices, the cheapest residence would cost more than $800,000, said Jennifer Wingard, co-chair of Girdwood's Board of Supervisors.