Mental health land office harms beneficiaries by blindsiding neighborhoods with development plans

More than one reader responded to my recent columns on state mining revenue and the plans for exploration on Ester Dome by saying that the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority has no legal obligation to consider the public interest or community reaction when it develops land.

Its only legal obligation, they said, is to generate the maximum income for the trust, which exists to help tens of thousands of Alaskans afflicted by mental illness, addiction, dementia, brain injuries, and developmental disabilities.

To best meet the needs of trust beneficiaries, the land managers should stop trying to keep development plans quiet for as long as possible.

The hush-hush approach generates political opposition, which is harmful to beneficiaries. Legislators, governors and board members of the trust, past and present, bear responsibility for defining the legal obligations of the trust land office too narrowly.

The trust has about 1 million acres of land. A 19-employee unit within the state Department of Natural Resources manages the land to raise money to support mental health services.

Blindsiding neighborhoods makes it appear that the trust would rather not have anyone know what it intends to do except for the dwindling number of people who read the small print legal ads in newspapers.

I think part of the problem is the attitude that the best way to limit opposition to any development plan is to avoid all publicity. All resource development projects face opposition and not necessarily on the merits, according to John Sturgeon, one of the trustees. It would be equally valid to claim that all resource development projects are supported by the trustees and not necessarily on the merits.

Keeping neighborhoods in the dark is no way to build trust for the trust.

The Ester Community Association, for instance, said of the Felix Gold lease that “there was no public announcement beyond a legal notice in the paper, no public hearings, no opportunity to ask questions, discuss alternatives, or express concerns.”

In an April 22 committee meeting, the trust authority board members had no questions about leasing 10,200 acres, both surface and subsurface rights, in the Fairbanks area for mining exploration and development. No questions from the board members and no notice to the community. In a May 26 meeting, the full board approved the matter, with no questions and no hint of public concern about the potential for open pit mining near a residential area.

In addition to the Ester incident, other recent examples of development plans in residential areas that took communities by surprise—and damaged the trust’s reputation—were for mining exploration along Chena Hot Springs Road and for a gravel pit in Mat-Su.

The proposed lease for the Chena Hot Springs Road area was pulled in January after numerous complaints. The trust did not publicize the lease in advance, beyond legal ads, and it was only after I wrote about it here that there was public attention. “That issue should be moot for the time being,” Trust Authority CEO Mike Abbott, told the trust board in January, according to the Jan. 27 minutes.

The operating practices are not moot and should be called into question.

Something similar just happened in Mat-Su where plans for a Wasilla gravel pit in a residential area advanced with little notice.

The Mat-Su planning commission rejected the gravel pit plan, but it may not be dead. Thirty-four opponents testified, while a trust representative was the only one to favor the project that could have seen a maximum of 500 trucks making 1,000 daily trips, at peak.

“Gravel mining on Sylvan Road over 20 years could generate nearly $1.6 million for the trust, according to Wyn Menefee, director of the trust’s land office,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.

That’s $80,000 a year. The contractor would pay $1 a ton royalty for 20 years.

“The office is under a ‘fiduciary obligation’ to make decisions in the best interest of the trust and its beneficiaries, not the best interest of the public, Menefee said. It’s the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s job to address community concerns through its permitting process,” the Daily News reported.

Menefee said the Sylvan Road location “was sitting there not making money for the trust” and is the right location for a gravel pit. He came up with the idea, the newspaper said.

Menefee, who makes about $183,000, is not doing the beneficiaries any favors by saying that the best interests of the public are irrelevant. He appears to be carrying out the wishes of the trust board, however.

Alaska news organizations do not cover the trust or its land development plans, which encourages a lack of transparency.

The trust board approved the Wasilla lease last August, after Hollie Chalup, trust resource manager, said it was “another exciting opportunity for the trust land to really leverage its material resources in its resource portfolio,” according to the minutes of the meeting.

The board members did not ask any questions and approved it unanimously, ignoring the obvious potential for neighborhood opposition.

Granted, the senseless opposition to zoning and land use planning in Wasilla, Fairbanks and elsewhere creates ideal conditions for such land use conflicts. Sensible planning would reduce the potential for conflicts, but the loudest voices claim otherwise and elected officials cower.

Still, it is not in the best interest of the mental health trust beneficiaries to weaken political support for the trust that helps Alaskans in need by pretending there are no political and financial consequences for blowing off public opinion.

The land office is supposed to maximize revenues over time. Over time, there is a real cost to saying that the public interest doesn’t matter and claiming land use decisions “are made solely in the best interest of the trust and its beneficiaries. . .”

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