WASILLA -- The Wasilla City Council unanimously agreed Monday to work on a significant annexation plan that would take in hundreds of acres of land by extending the city's current eastern boundary from Peck Street to Seward-Meridian Parkway.
On the west side of the city, the annexation plan also proposes adding commercial land near Jacobsen Lake and residential property near Cedar Hills subdivision on Church Road.
The city has been planning to annex the Jacobsen Lake and Church Road land for several months at the request of property owners there. At Wasilla mayor Verne Rupright's behest, Wasilla Police Chief Angella Long studied how annexing the Bogard Road land, including densely populated Williwaw Subdivision, would affect the city.
The Bogard Road annexation makes up 768 acres and more than 1,700 residents. Long estimated it could cost the city $420,000 to patrol the new area and maintain its roads. Commercial businesses along the route would add an estimated $185,000 in sales tax revenues, she said.
Williwaw subdivision would be the focus of most of the police department's efforts if the area were annexed, she said. City officers already respond to Williwaw several times a week, she said. But under city jurisdiction, Long said she would hope to do more patrols through the neighborhood and also address code violations for things like junked cars and abandoned homes in the subdivision.
City council members said they hoped the attention would help transform the subdivision into a nicer place to live. The city is currently only outlining its annexation plans. The city must get state permission and hold several public meetings before land can be annexed.
Find Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.
