Anchorage begins stormwater utility planning; rate study, outreach and waste‑to‑energy work next
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Summary
Deputy municipal manager Mark Spafford briefed the committee on phase 2 of stormwater utility planning, which will include a condition assessment, master plan and rate study; staff estimate some stormwater costs are already embedded in taxes and suggested a ballpark $6–$8/month figure. Waste‑to‑energy technical work and outreach are also underway.
Municipal staff told the Assembly oversight committee they have restarted planning for a municipal stormwater utility and will pursue a second phase of work to define scope, costs and a public outreach plan.
"We're coming up with some just ballpark ranges about what that cost is gonna be," Deputy Municipal Manager Mark Spafford said, adding that phase 2 will include a condition assessment, a master plan and a rate study to determine how much property owners might pay. Spafford said some stormwater costs are already being paid through property taxes, bonds and existing maintenance activities and offered a rough current estimate of "6 to $8 a month" that residents already pay for stormwater‑related services.
Committee members asked whether a stormwater utility would be regulated by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). "That's one of the questions that we're still trying to answer," Spafford said. He told members he is not aware of other Alaska communities with an established stormwater utility and said the municipality will look to Lower‑48 examples while tailoring work to local conditions.
Members also raised who would pay under a utility structure and whether public sector entities (for example the state) would be assessed. Spafford said those details "need to get figured out as well" and that rate structure and outreach will examine commercial, residential and public‑sector burdens.
Spafford emphasized public engagement: staff have met with the Federation of Community Councils and the Chugash board and plan additional outreach. He noted the scale of the system: "it's $1,200,000,000 worth of infrastructure" related to stormwater that the municipality must consider when planning funding approaches.
On related work, Spafford said the waste‑to‑energy project is in technical development: staff are procuring consultants and running feedstock and energy‑content analyses to size equipment and evaluate possible inputs and revenues. He said public relations and community outreach will be critical because the project will raise many questions and is being included in regional integrated resource planning discussions.
Staff did not ask the committee for formal direction at the meeting but said they will return with timelines, cost estimates and further recommendations in coming months as phase 2 work proceeds.
