Matanuska-Susitna Borough Historic Preservation Commission Mission Statement

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough in partnership with all its residents, the State of Alaska and the federal government, will forge connections between past and present, encouraging an appreciation for and sense of ownership in the history of our community.

The commission's goals are to identify, protect, and preserve historic sites, prehistoric sites, historic buildings, monuments and other historic resources so that scientific, historic, and cultural heritage embodied in these resources may pass undiminished to future generations.

Meeting Schedule

The Historical Preservation Commission meets the first Friday of the month.The meeting location is typically in the MSB Assembly chambers in the winter. The commission does not meet in December or July. April through September the commission meets in locations throughout the borough. Meetingsare advertised, and open to the public.

Next meeting: Friday, July 10, 2009, 9:30 am, Dorothy Page Museum check with  staff for | Agenda | Printable Agenda

Past Meeting Minutes

Commission Members:

Chair: Erik Hirschmann (Historian)
Vice Chair: LeRoi Heaven
Member: Bonnie Quill
Member: Robert Meinhardt, III (Anthropologist)
Member: John Stuart, Jr.
Member: Rosetta Alcantra
Member: Rodney Norwood Marsh
Member: Shawn Arnold (Historian)
Member: Ron Bissett (Architect)

Staff support: Fran Seager-Boss, Cultural Resources Specialist (907) 745-9859

Vickie Cole, Cultural Resources Assistant (907) 745-9655

Certified Local Government Annual Reports

These are a synopsis of preservation activities. To view these files, you need Acrobat Reader or another public document format (pdf) viewer. You can get Acrobat Reader free from Adobe.

| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |

History of the Commission

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Historical Preservation Commission (HPC) was established by an Ordinance of the Assembly in April 1982. The ordinance amended the Borough code to add a new chapter that set forth the Commission and its functions. In 1984 the Assembly made a finding that the Borough had the ability to exercise historic preservation powers and that it was in the interest of the general public to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of the Borough. They approved a ballot proposition for the next regular election that asked: “Shall the Matanuska-Susitna Borough exercise the areawide power to preserve, maintain and protect historic sites, buildings and monuments?” The ballot measure was approved by the voters and in 1987 the Assembly passed Ordinance Serial No. 87-007 adding areawide power of historic preservation to the Borough code.

The Historic Preservation Implementation Plan was adopted by the Assembly in February of 1987 as the historic preservation element of the Comprehensive Plan of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The original goal of 1987 Historic Preservation Implementation Plan was to protect the significant historic and prehistoric resources material remains, writings and oral histories within the Borough for the benefit of those in the present and future. To accomplish this goal the document set forth a plan of action for four objectives:

• Identification of cultural resources
• Evaluation of cultural resources
• Registration of cultural resources
• Protection of cultural resources

In accordance with the federal regulations for the procedures for approved state and local government historic preservation programs, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough became a certified local government (CLG) in September of 1987. This status meant the Borough had been certified to carry out the purposes of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended.

In 2002 the Office of History and Archaeology, Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, Department of Natural Resources awarded a National Park Service CLG pass-through grant to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to update its Historic Preservation Plan. The goal of the update was to formulate recommendations to assist the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Historic Preservation program in continuing to meet its requirements for certification as a CLG and satisfactorily carrying out its responsibilities as a CLG.