State of Alaska

Local Boundary Commission (LBC)

Notice of Public Comment Period on the Final Report Concerning the Houston Annexation Petition and the Big Lake City Incorporation Petition

and

Notice of an LBC Public Hearing and Decisional Meeting Regarding the Houston Annexation Petition and the Big Lake City Incorporation Petition

The Local Boundary Commission (LBC or commission) staff final report concerning the petition to incorporate the community of Big Lake as a second class city, and the petition to annex to the City of Houston was released on March 6, 2015. Procedures governing departmental reports are set out in 3 AAC 110.530. The report recommends that the LBC approve the Houston annexation petition without amendment or condition.

The LBC staff final report also recommends that the commission condition the proposed Big Lake incorporation upon voter approval of a proposition authorizing the city to levy a 2.57 mil rate real property tax. The staff also recommends that the commission amend the boundaries of the proposed city of Big Lake by reducing the size to approximately 76.8 square miles. A map with the recommended boundaries is shown below.

The report and both petitions with related materials will be available on the LBC website at: http://commerce.state.ak.us/dca/lbc/2014_Big_Lake_Incorporation_and_Houston_Annexation_Petition. If the report is not immediately available on the LBC website, contact the LBC staff to request a copy.

These recommendations differ from those in the preliminary report. For that reason, interested persons or entities may file with the LBC written comments regarding the final report recommendations. Comments should also be served on (sent to) the applicable petitioner(s). Comments submitted to the LBC staff should be accompanied by a statement that the comment was served on the applicable petitioner(s), or the commenter should notify LBC staff of an inability to serve comments on the petitioner. Public comments must be filed and served in accordance with 3 AAC 110.480(d) and 3 AAC 110.700. The LBC has waived the requirement that commenters send a paper original of an electronically submitted comment. Oral comments on the recommendations for amendment and conditional approval may be given at the hearing under 3 AAC 110.560. Written comments on the recommendations must be received by 4:30 pm, Friday, March 27, 2015 at:

 LBC Staff
550 W. 7th Ave., Ste. 1640, Anchorage, AK 99501-3510
Phone: 907-269-4559 • Fax: 907-269-4563 • LBC@alaska.gov

It is recommended that persons interested in receiving future LBC notices, updates, and materials by email subscribe to the LBC notice list server by visiting http://list.state.ak.us/index.htm, selecting “DCED-Local Boundary Commission,” clicking “join or leave,” and following the instructions.

The LBC chair consolidated the two petitions because their proposed territories overlapped, and because the petitions were accepted for filing at the same time. The commission will convene a public consolidated hearing under 3 AAC 110.560 regarding the City of Houston annexation petition, and the petition to incorporate Big Lake.  The public hearing will be held in the:

Big Lake Lions Recreation Center
2939 Lions Court, Big Lake, AK 99652
April 15, 2015 at 1:30 pm

If necessary, the LBC will reconvene at the same location the next day, April 16, 2015, at 10:00 am. The commission will convene a decisional meeting for each petition under 3 AAC 110.570 immediately after the hearing in the same location. Once prepared, hearing and decisional meeting materials will be available from LBC staff, or at http://commerce.state.ak.us/dca/lbc/2014_Big_Lake_Incorporation_and_Houston_Annexation_Petition.