VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
Entered fes" second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
♦ _Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
PRINTED AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH FRIDAY
By the Matanuska Press, Inc.
Opal Lu Smith ....Editor
A1 J. DeJulio..Manager and Advertising
Barbara Carter —..—„ Wasilla Correspondent
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Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
A Desperate Situation
Palmer is facing its most important decision in
the forthcoming incorporation election that has been
set for April 10. The fate of Palmer will rest in the
hands of the people who will decide whether the town
will take its rightful place in the progress of the Terri
tory or whether it will be a "has been." The present
water shortage alone which has been critical since
early this fall is in itself indicative of what will become
of the town if adequate public utilities are not pro
vided. Without water nothing can live, much less a
town. No one can face life in a very happy frame of
* mind when he is not able to start the day by washing
his face or having a cup of coffee. It is high time these
small but important comforts are established perma
nently for Palmerites. The Valley Frontiersman pro
poses to sift facts in the controversial water question
and to give some cut and dried data on it in a forth
coming issue to assist in the endeavor for a satisfactory
solution to the problem so that Palmer can go on to
bigger and better things.
CO-OP WATER RAISE—
(Continued from Pago 1)
action has been taken. We are
very anxious to inform you as to
the reasons.
First: The Co-Op water system
was built for its own use exclu
sively. Ten years ago there was
no indication that Palmer would
ever be anything but a small
country town, and that the Co
Op’s Civic Center would be the
i only population center. Then
came World War 2 and the Alas
ka Highway, changing the pic
ture entirely. As new people
came in and new businesses were
established, there was constant
demand for the privilege of con
necting to the Co-Op’s water sys
tem. This worked out all right for
several years.
“Second: Last year the rainfall
decreased by nearly two-thirds.
Lakes and streams dried up for
the first time in many years. The
water table was lowered at the
springs where our water intake
is located, and thus cut down the
available water supply. It appears
that a shortage will occur for
several months yet, or until a
normal rainfall is reached. When
water became scarce last summer,
the Co-Op spent about $6,000
making improvements so that
additional water could be secur
*ed. If this work had not been
done last summer the water sup
ply would have been much less
than it has been.
“Third: In spite of any action
that can be taken within the next
two or three years, it appears
that the Co-Op system will be the
only supply. Therefore, it seems j
to us that it should be improved
so that there will be water avail
able in the meantime, in any
event. In order to construct im
* provements that will assure an
adequate supply for the next 5
years, it will be necessary for
the water users to assist the Co
* Op financially. The raise in water
rates will only provide a small
part of this. The total receipts for
water service last year, were less
than $4,000, and another $1,300
would hardly start a new project.
“Fourth: The Co-Op has made
surveys and consulted engineers
who have worked out a plan for
the extension of our present
water line to a new and ade
quate source of water. More land
will be added to our present
watershed and about a quarter
of a mile of new pipe will have
to be installed. This will not be
too expensive, and a temporary
line can be installed within the
next month, we believe.
“Fifth: While there has not
been any real reason to think
that our water system has con
tamination at the source, (by the
tests taken over a period of
years,) we were given a lot of
publicity last fall when a new
extension showed contamination
in practically all tests taken. So,
in order to satisfy the Depart
ment of Health it is necessary to
install chlorination equipment for
the water used in Palmer. We
f
HEALTH COUNCIL
NEWS
Are you acquainted with the serv
ices of your Community Health
Center?
\ As a part of the Alaska Depart- j
ment of Health, your center andj
its free facilities are available to
anyone in the Community. Every-!
one is welcome and should feel
free to bring his or her problems
to Miss Marjorie Myren, the Pub
lic Health Nurse in charge.
Office hours for the Health
Center, located upstairs in the
Rec Hall: 9-12 o’clock every
morning.
Well Baby Conferences and Im
munization Clinics at 1:30 p.m.
every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Tuesdays.
Good health literature and li
brary for your convenience.
The regular Health Council
meeting will be held Thursday,
March 15, at 7 p.m. in the Co-Op
clubroom. The formation of a
Polio committee and Chapter for
Palmer will be discussed. A film
will also be shown.
have conducted a survey of our
needs in this matter and new
equipment will be installed as
soon as it can be secured and
climatic conditions permit. This
will be an added expense and
may cost as much as $8,000.
“Sixth: In order to finance the
water system improvements, we
are offering General Obligation
Bonds, bearing 6% interest and
payable in five years. As it seems
unlikely that we can sell our
water system, we feel that a plan
of this kind offers a remunera
tive safe means for you, as a cus
tomer, to help finance this pro
ject. While it is true that the Co
Op lost over $6,000 on the water
system, we feel that by making
the improvements as outlined,
we probably will recover these
losses within the next five years.
“In conclusion: It is up to the
water users of Palmer to decide
whether they want to accept this
plan. If nothing is done within a
short time it will be necessary to
shut water off. Those who were
connected last will be shut off
first, until the water consump
tion is low enough to offer an
adequate supply to those who are
left. We would advise the differ
ent water associations to start
taking action before some drastic
action is taken.”
I
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