The Anchorage Assembly overrides Mayor Bronson's veto to release a confidential document that could determine the city's rights and access to drinking water from Eklutna Lake. The document has been kept confidential from the public, but the administration insists it cannot be legally released. This action is part of an ongoing dispute with Southcentral Alaska utilities over ownership of the dam that affects the Eklutna River.
The Eklutna River runs through a historically dry area in 2021 at the former site of a 1929 dam that was dismantled in 2017 and 2018. that could govern the city’s rights and access to drinking water from Eklutna Lake for the next quarter-century, and which has been kept confidential from the public. The Bronson administration insists that the document cannot legally be released.
In a 9-2 vote, the Assembly overrode Bronson’s veto of a resolution that allows Chair Christopher Constant to subpoena the Bronson administration and/or utilities for the document, a binding term sheet between the hydroelectric project owners and the city’s water utility. Municipal Attorney Anne Helzer told the Assembly that they could have copies of the documents without a subpoena, but only if the members first sign a confidentiality agreement, or they could view them in a private meeting, she said.
Zaletel pointed out that Helzer had made it clear that the documents could not be disclosed, and that she did not intend to. Zaletel responded to Helzer: “So are you saying I’m a liar? Are you not taking me at my word in public right now? I’m really frustrated.” Assembly leaders have said that the dam mitigation project has implications for Anchorage property taxpayers because the city would be responsible for paying for a portion of the project — even though the Assembly, the city’s fiduciary authority, has had no real oversight. Flaws in the process have left the electric associations with the power to levy taxes for the project on Anchorage residents, Assembly Chair Christopher Constant has asserted.
Anchorage Assembly Mayor Bronson Drinking Water Eklutna Lake Confidential Document Dispute Southcentral Alaska Utilities Ownership Dam Eklutna River
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