Community Meetings, Volume 1 number 10, October 1999 The Ester Community Association Meeting (October 10) Before the meeting got rolling, our esteemed President, Jeff Rogers, pointed out that officially, nobody present had voting privileges, until such time as they paid their dues ($7.50 per individual or $15 per family per year). This non-voting state, of course, was not something that the audience could abide, so the first several minutes of the meeting were spent in line, waiting to shell out the shekels for the opportunity to raise issues as legitimate E.C.A. members. The agenda came next: minutes, reports, old business, and new business. The minutes were approved and the treasury report was given, revealing that the E.C.A. is solvent in all its accounts. Craig Buchanan reported that some 50-75 people use the Ester Community Well. Repairs and upgrades were made this year, and the water continues to be regularly tested for organics and heavy metals. Carol Hoefler reported about $40K in the Road Commission’s reserve account. The current commissioners are John Gambell, Linda Bodee, and Carol Hoefler, plus one vacant seat. The fire department will be holding its 26th annual meeting soon. The new tanker should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. Mark Simpson gave the park report: some new playground equipment should be coming soon, and there is still about $1400 in the park improvement fund. Rah, rah, to the volunteers in the work parties this summer. Mike Musick gave the roof report: the new picnic pavilion still needs one. A work party to roof the pavilion is in the works. Next came the Ridley report, from Lois Sala: so far, no response to a letter sent to him. A question of safety came up regarding oil drums on Ridley’s property (2/10 of an acre in various chunks, situated next to Hartung Hall). The bike path: a letter was written encouraging building a bike path between Ester and Fairbanks, reported E.C.A. president Rogers, but he’d delayed getting it done until the beginning of October, and so there was no response yet. The Adopt-A-Highway proposal was dropped (again!) due to bureaucratic hassles. The dog problem still exists (turkeys and chickens recently met a grisly fate), so the letter to dog owners will be posted in the post office and at the Golden Eagle (if Gene gives his permission). New business included a lengthy question-and-answer session from representatives of Kinross. Bill Jeffries, Manager of Environmental Services, Tom Erwin, Operations Manager, and Doug Nicholson were there. Jeffries synopsized the current status of the mine: the cultural survey turned up nothing eligible for preservation; the species survey is not yet complete, although goshawk nests were found; and 800 sampling/exploration holes were found from previous mining activity that were not sealed—Kinross has since sealed over 240. Twelve new wells to determine local water flow have been drilled but water is not being found in large quantity and the wells have had to be drilled 25% deeper than anticipated and some are completely dry. Ten wells from old monitoring programs are not useable nor sealed. Jeffries noted that the previous three winters have been very dry. He observed that the old studies of the area were concerned mostly with the water quality rather than the quantity. The shortage of water is a problem. The Ryan Lode is on the state’s contaminated site list, due to arsenic, a hydrochloric acid spill and a hydrocarbon spill. Jeffries went through the records with DEC and found that some of the contamination reports were unsubstantiated, but lead was found in leachable form, and has been excavated and shipped out of state to a disposal facility. Kinross is undertaking a general site cleanup. In response to a question asked about the ore body evalution, the company representatives con-firmed the original estimate of approximately 300,000 ounces, but added that they haven’t looked to see if there is anything else. Mine life is estimated to be about three to four years. Kinross plans to build a new road connecting to the highway, and they are currently looking at different routes and negotiating with land owners. Four trucks an hour would pass along the route. A noise assessment is underway, looking at wintertime use also. Other new business included a few ideas tossed out for consideration: expanding the national historic district of Ester (which currently includes the Malamute and the hotel) to encompass the village; building a village sewer system; and burying village power lines. Some grant money may be available for the latter. The water problem in the Henderson Road area was brought up: wells running dry, suddenly producing extremely silty water, or losing water pressure. An informational meeting is planned. After some discussion, the meeting wound up with elections of board members and new officers. The results are: President, Matt Reckard; V.P., Shannan Turner; Secretary/Treasurer, Janet Thompson. Board members include Thela Clayton, Deirdre Helfferich, Jeff Rogers, Lois Sala, Nancy Seifers, Mark Simpson (alternate), and Frank Therrell (alternate).
| ||
 | | |
