Seward Highway project meeting held in Girdwood
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
On Tuesday, January 13th, Girdwood residents met with representatives of the Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) and their consultants HDR and Michael Baker International to discuss the Safer Seward Highway project. This is a massive infrastructure project that would dramatically reimagine the Seward Highway between mileposts 98.5 and 118, or approximately from Bird Flats in the south to Rabbit Creek in the north. In December 2025 the DOT published the draft Environmental Assessment (EA), and this meeting allowed the public to comment on the assessment.
The Safer Seward Highway project is a construction project that is predicted to cost $1.4 billion and to take 15-20 years of work. This project will convert the road into a four-lane divided highway, like the Glenn Highway between Anchorage and Wasilla. This project will straighten out the curves of the highway by blasting rock walls and cliffs, will destroy over 300 acres of wildlife habitat, and will fill in 101 acres of mudflats to provide space to expand the Alaska Railroad tracks and the Seward Highway itself. The Environmental Assessment states that the project may entail highway closures for construction for some period of the day that may take place daily over the 15-20 years of construction.
The DOT’s goals with the project are threefold: reduce crashes, increase mobility/reliability, and accommodate mixed-use in the highway right-of-way. It approaches these goals by expanding the highway to be safer, which the DOT claims should reduce accident-related closures and make the highway more reliable. The project also includes a multi-use pathway from the northern end of the Bird-to-Gird all the way to Anchorage, accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists who want to connect Anchorage and Girdwood without using the highway.
The Seward Highway has been one of the DOT’s four “safety corridors” in the state since 2006. This project started in 2023 with project scoping and stakeholder working groups to provide highway feedback; one of the stakeholders involved was the Girdwood Board of Supervisors. The DOT spent 2024 working on the Environmental Assessment and published the EA in 2025.
The meeting started with an open-house style exhibit that was separated into seven stations that participants explored. The first station was titled “About the Project” and introduced participants to the basics of the project, including the project purpose and the alternatives to the project that were considered. Station two included a very large map of the Seward Highway which participants could walk along and see the detailed location of various elements of the project. Station three was titled “Proposed Action Details” and described what’s included in the project, such as highway reconstruction, rock cuts, railroad realignment, and the addition of a non-motorized path to extend the Bird-to-Gird all the way to Anchorage. Station four was “Draft EA Impact Highlights” and showcased impacts on topics such as birds, Dall sheep, beluga whales, historical sites, and the Chugach State Park. Station five was “What’s Next for the Overall Project” and included information and timelines about moving the project forward. Station six was a station for providing public comment, and the final station was a kid’s station with coloring books and other children’s activities.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/seward-highway-project-meeting-held-in-girdwood
AKRR receiving bids for timber trestle repairs in Whittier
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
The Alaska Railroad is currently receiving bids for work to perform repairs on the timber trestle at the Whittier Barge Slip berthing area. This work is part of the Railroad’s Whittier Terminal Master Plan, which the Railroad said is designed, “[t]o renew the Whittier Terminal as an efficient, resilient, and balanced facility that safety meets customer needs and empowers economic growth for the State of Alaska.”
Whittier is a unique city, in that most of the city’s land is owned by the Alaska Railroad, which is a corporation owned by the State of Alaska. In Whittier, the Railroad owns 291 acres, including a barge slip, uplands container handling/storage area, rail yard, and support facilities. This terminal was designed and built by the military during World War II and then acquired by the Railroad in 1960 when the military withdrew from Whittier.
The railroad says that the “barge area [is] showing [its] age” and is an example of “aging waterfront infrastructure,” leading to these repairs. The Railroad is looking to hire a contractor to perform all phases of the repair work, which includes mobilization/demobilization; installation of new timber diagonal and horizontal cross bracing; installation of pile straps and pile – cap strap connections; and site clean-up. The contractor will be providing all their own equipment and facilities, which the Railroad will not provide utilities, marine access equipment, or support facilities.
The Alaska Railroad barge facility in Whittier is Alaska’s only rail connection to the freight rail systems of the Lower 48 and Canada, so it’s important that the barge facility continues to operate during construction. The contractor who wins this bill will need to coordinate with the Railroad and Alaska Marine Line to ensure that the work still allows for vessel operations. It is likely that construction work and vessel operations will occur concurrently, and the Railroad has security restrictions in place to ensure this happens smoothly. However, the contractor should time construction for being between barge calls as much as possible.
Read the entire story and more photos at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/akrr-receiving-bids-for-timber-trestle-repairs-in-whittier
Improvements planned for Bird Creek Campground
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
Chugach State Park is looking to invest in improvements to the Bird Creek Campground, the only campground located on the waterfront of the north shore of Turnagain Arm. Chugach State Park is one of the four largest state parks in the United States, and it stretches from the Anchorage Bowl on the west side deep into the Chugach Mountains on the east side. Much of the park’s southern border is the Turnagain Arm. The park has multiple campgrounds, including the Bird Creek Campground. Bird Creek Campground is known for its views of Turnagain Arm with its bore tides and beluga whales. It is primarily located on the south side of the Seward Highway, but it also includes an overflow camping area on the north side of the Highway.
The campground improvements project has two key focus points, one which will be more visible to campground users and one which will improve campground operations. Campers will see new signage throughout the campground which will update aging and outdating signage in the park. However, the larger project work will be happening in a less visible context.
Campground users are typically familiar with the concept of a campground host who helps operate and manage the campground. In Alaska State Park campgrounds, the campground host is a volunteer role for someone who will typically stay the entire summer season at the campground. At Bird Creek, the campground host’s job duties include tasks such as interacting with campers, ensuring campers are following campground rules, performing janitorial services, and performing minor maintenance such as grass mowing. Campground hosts are important volunteer roles to ensure that campgrounds are functioning correctly.
Chugach State Park has struggled in the past to fill Bird Creek Campground’s campground host role, and one cause is that there are no sites in the campground that feature the full combination of water, sewer, and power hook-ups for the volunteer’s RV. The campground host role is particularly important for Bird Creek Campground, due to its proximity to the population center of the Anchorage Bowl and the campground’s high usage on holiday weekends and at prime fishing times on Bird Creek. The current campground host location is in the campground’s overflow area on the north side of the highway because that is the only part of the campground with any utility service.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/improvements-planned-for-bird-creek-campground
Turnagain Community Health: Don’t Give Up On Accessing Health Care
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
The deadline to enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance (also widely called “Obamacare”) is just days away- Thursday, January 15. I spoke to Turnagain Community Health Patient Assistance Program Coordinator Linda Mankoff on January 9 to learn more about options for health insurance in 2026.
Free appointments for help understanding your options are available at Turnagain Community Health. Call 783-1355, choose option 1, and ask to be scheduled with a Community Health Worker. The best times to call are Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You do not have to be a patient to receive help.
Congressional wrangling over extending pandemic-era insurance subsidies has been all over national news. Mankoff feels there has been confusion about what Congress is actually fighting about. In 2021, extra subsidies were added to the already existing ACA program. In particular, substantial subsidies were extended to people making over $75,000 per year. Those extra subsidies expired December 31. Extending them was what Congress is fighting about.
“We could not get people in here on the first of November [when the enrollment period started]. The way it came out in the media, it sounded like Obamacare was gone.” She felt people who were making $30,000 or $40,000 per year didn’t understand they could still be eligible for premium tax credits and lower premiums.
What if you earn more than $75,000? Mankoff said she has worked with Girdwood small business owners who initially thought, “I’m never going to be able to afford the marketplace.” However, she continued, “The Marketplace counts net profits for small business owners.” “I tell owners, if you made a big profit, but then you reinvested in the business, what did you actually see at the end of the day? You could be eligible.”
There are people who will see a huge jump in premiums if the extra subsidies end. “If you are in a certain category, you may have paid $400 last year for insurance but it could be as much as $1500-1800 per month this year,” said Mankoff.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Commentary: Girdwood resident authors ‘Holtan Hills’ poetry
By Krystal Hoke
Girdwood Resident
Holtan Hills, Holtan Hills,
Oh where do I begin …
When the community said,
We will need land for essentials,
Fill out the application,
Make it a potential.
So we did what they said,
Submitted it with some 70 letters of support,
We had a specific request,
Ball was in their court.
And what was their response?
An RFP for 150 acres,
Let’s sell off Girdwood,
There for the takers.
Meanwhile we asked,
What will Girdwood get?
Often finding ourselves left out,
But are you ready yet?
Read the entire poem commentary at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/commentary-girdwood-resident-authors-holtan-hills-poetry
In Final Hearing, Anchorage Commission Rejects Girdwood's Housing Concerns On ‘Holtan Hills’
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Saying its hands were bound by the Assembly, an Anchorage commission denied recommendations by Girdwood officials to mollify development plans for the controversial "Holtan Hills" project.
Community members on Monday told the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission
that the new homes will be too expensive for local residents and warned of significant environmental impacts should the project move forward as designed.
Mike Edgington, a co-chair of Girdwood's Board of Supervisor, brought four recommendations from the community, including one asking for the commission to stipulate owner occupancy requirements. The Anchorage panel brushed off that concern, however, siding with city planners who promoted the "Holtan Hills" project and saying they were legally bound by an Anchorage ordinance passed two years ago.
"Girdwood needs housing at all income levels," said Daniel McKenna-Foster, a senior planner and contributor to Girdwood's Comprehensive Plan, alluding to a cost "rainbow" of housing desired in the valley. He cited the recently-updated area plan, which includes housing tracts behind the school, as justification for the "Holtan Hills" development.
But Girdwood needs homes for people who work in the community, Edgington said, and "Holtan Hills" will supply "less than a dozen" given local housing market trends.
"The original sin of this whole project is that it never considered the need for occupied housing in Girdwood and made the mistake that private development solves that problem," Edgington said.
He said later though the meeting was the last opportunity for public comment, GBOS can offer remarks on the project as a service area board. The commission and planners deflected demands for short-term rental restrictions and the offer of two lots for community housing to later decisions of a homeowners association.
"My frustration is that there were several aspects of details we were told by legal department that nothing could be changed. We can't do it now, we can't do it later. It seems a little like a bait and switch," Edgington said.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Protestors Brave Cold and Slush in Saturday Demonstration
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
At the edge of Alyeska Highway Saturday afternoon a man inside a truck jutted his head from the window and yelled, "F***k immigrants" at a group of a dozen protesters.
One of a long line of vehicles heading toward the Alyeska mountain Saturday, the man's invective was not lost on demonstrator Indavady Sopraseuth, who wore a thin, lace white headscarf above a fleece jacket.
"I'm a direct product of U.S. imperialism," Sopraseuth said as cars passed, many honking support. She said her parents are refugees from Laos who fled to the United States to escape nearly continual bombing during the Vietnam War.
"Before the conflict started, the US was bombing every day, 24-seven," said Sopraseuth who moved recently to Girdwood from Utah. "Two million tons of ordinance was dropped on Laos before and after the war. Thirty percent of unexploded ordinance is still in the ground."
Her father left his country for Thailand before immigrating to the United States. Her mother was born in a refugee camp.
Saturday's rally was organized by Emma Kramer, who said she was in Zoom meetings with nationwide organizers "pacing my cabin, wondering what to do."
"I was going to quit when others said they were going," Kramer said. With winds whipping fresh slush over ice, Kramer drove the unmaintained, perilous Crow Creek Road to hold a sign, "Defund ICE".
Read the entire story and more pictures at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/protestors-brave-cold-and-slush-in-saturday-demonstration
A New Year's Tale With A Tail-Wagging Ending
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Waking up in a small, remote Nicaraguan village, Miriam Herz found a distressing message on her phone.
Otis was missing.
A friend told her Otis, a year-and-a-half old Bernese Mountain Dog, had escaped during his hand off to a friend's house in Girdwood.
To make matters worse, Herz had no cell phone service. "I was at the whims of wi-fi," she said.
"I saw he ran off. and they were going to give me an update and I never got one," she said during a phone interview.
Little did she know, the 3 a.m. text (Alaska time) would start a 12-day mission to locate Otis and end with his rescue from a ravine beneath Chair 4 at Alyeska Resort.
Meanwhile, her friend, Elle, awake at 3:30 a.m., frantically searched the community for the missing dog to no avail. They reported she and others would resume the search at 7 a.m. the next day.
"He didn't make it inside before he bolted," Herz, 27, said. "He doesn't do great with change and this is the longest I've been away from him."
Otis has never liked men, she said. "Our theory is that Elle's partner scared him."
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/a-new-years-tale-with-a-tail-wagging-ending
National Crisis K9 Unit visiting Girdwood
One of Alaska’s national crisis canine response K9 teams will be visiting Girdwood on Monday. If you are impacted by recent community events and would like a visit, please text Chief Michelle Weston at 907-280-9663.
Food Pantry Met Increased Need in 2025 — Local Help Was Key
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
The Girdwood Food Pantry could have had a tough year in 2025. According to figures provided by director Terry Sherwood, the Food Pantry has seen the highest demand for food since 2020.
Meanwhile, deliveries of non-perishable foods from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which normally provides about one quarter of Girdwood Food Pantry food, have been “short.” Shelves at the Food Bank of Alaska Anchorage location, where Girdwood Food Pantry volunteers have often collected food, have been “empty.”
Even with these challenges, an increase in local donations enabled the Food Pantry to serve everyone who came through the door this year. “Girdwood residents have been generous,” said Sherwood, “It’s neighbors helping neighbors.”
In 2025, as of December 16, the Girdwood Food Pantry provided approximately 3370 food services. That figure comprises both one-time visitors and the sum of multiple visits by the same individual. Sherwood estimates 332 unique people from 195 households were served in 2025, as of December 16.
The 2025 figure is a 38% increase from 2024, during which 2442 individual services were provided.
Services include bimonthly deliveries to 28 families in Whittier and non-perishable food boxes for 48 Alyeska Resort employees.
In a phone interview, Sherwood stated that not only were more people seeking food, but there seemed to be more anxiety about whether it would be available. “For the first time ever in Food Pantry history, we’ve had a line at the door before we’ve opened. That’s never happened before. People are starting to worry and get here early.”
Recently, the State of Alaska provided some additional funding to the Food Bank of Alaska. This provided statewide pantrieswith additional non-perishable food. This week, food from the Girdwood School canned goods drive lined pantry shelves. Other local agencies and individuals have held drives, contributed money, and donated food.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/food-pantry-met-increased-need-in-2025-local-help-was-key
Draft plans for Girdwood’s parks displayed at Parks Plan Workshop
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
On Tuesday, December 16th, Girdwood Parks and Recreation hosted the second Girdwood Parks Plan workshop. The Girdwood Parks Plan project is a year-long project to generate a Parks Master Plan that can provide guidance on improvements to Girdwood’s existing park spaces and the potential creation of new parks in the future. The project is spearheaded by Kyle Kelly, Girdwood Service Area Manager, and Bri Keifer, landscape architect with Huddle AK, a consulting firm brought on to help the project.
The project began with a park user survey in the fall, followed by a workshop in September which presented the results of the survey and collected Girdwood residents’ thoughts and opinions on existing park locations and infrastructure. Huddle AK worked with Parks and Rec to interpret the survey results and feedback, and the second workshop allowed them to present their draft plans for Girdwood Park, Lions Club Park, Town Square Park, Moose Meadows, and the new concept Glacier Creek Park. Huddle AK used this workshop as an opportunity to collect feedback about the draft plans presented. The workshop was open-house style, with various exhibits set up around the Community Room that focused on each of the different parks.
Girdwood Park would see some improvements but would likely not look dramatically different than it does today. There were several comments about the inadequacy of the playground, so there are plans or new play equipment for 2-5 year-olds and 5-12 year-olds. Additionally, there are plans for an elevated plaza with amphitheater-style seating that is facing the playground and skate park; the plaza idea was spurred by comments from parents that it can be difficult to keep an eye on children playing, especially if there are multiple children using different areas of the park.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Girdwood celebrates Solstice on the ski trails
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
Despite temperatures below 0oF, the 2025 Solstice Ski organized by the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club brought a large crowd of Girdwood residents out to the trail kiosk on the 5K trail loop. This annual celebration of the winter and of the return to the sun brings Girdwood residents out into the night to celebrate together.
To help battle the darkness of winter’s longest night, the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club installed over 2,500 lights along the 2K trail and the trail kiosk, which is the home of the party for the evening. At the epicenter of the Solstice gathering at the kiosk, participants found the bonfire plus hot chocolate and soup donated by The Bake Shop to keep everyone warm inside and out. This was also where the music was playing, and most participants were gathered to talk and spend time together commemorating the 5K trail network and celebrating the return of the sunlight that comes after Winter Solstice.
It wouldn’t be a Nordic Ski Club event without Nordic skiing, and most participants took some time to ski at least one lap of the lit trails. Prior to the event, twenty GSNC volunteers spent approximately a week getting the lights ready and positioned on the course. The hard work paid off, as the colorful and flashing lights augmented the experience. Some of the lights moved constantly around the top of the trees, illuminating the foliage and creating tricks of the eye with the stars of the clear night. Meanwhile other lights danced across the trail’s surface itself. Girdwood resident and event participant Amanda Tuttle described the last segment of trail as like, “skiing on Rainbow Road from Mario Kart” while passing through the multicolor, flashing lights.
Deb Essex, the President of the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club, said that the Solstice Ski, “is definitely our biggest event” and is something they always look forward to. The event is free for participants, but even without a financial draw Essex says, “it is a benefit to the Club by celebrating where we live andcelebrating the only uplands winter trail loop in Glacier Valley.”
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-celebrates-solstice-on-the-ski-trails
The “Cozmic Culvert” lights up the darkest time of year
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
As people drive or walk Timberline Drive, they may notice the Cozmic Culver, a new artistic and scientific installation in front of Riley Bennett and Max Vockner’s home at 540 Timberline. The section of 9-foot culvert installed by the roadside with a hanging bench inside is much more than just a spot for weary walkers making their way up the road. Once someone sits inside the culvert and sees the mural curving around two-thirds of the inner wall, then the true art and soul of the piece becomesvisible.
Vockner, a concrete worker, salvaged the section of culvert and brought it home years ago to start this piece. The piece was a team effort of many Girdwood locals working together, and it serves as a memorial to Michael Bennett, Riley Bennett’s father, who passed away around Winter Solstice in 2023.
The mural shows a stylized version of the night sky over Girdwood, with some specific scientific details to reference the Winter Solstice. While sitting on the bench, the “sky” directly overhead is a fantasy version of a night sky. Tommy O’Malley, one of the artists on the project and perhaps better known in Girdwood as Tommy Salami, said that there are not many constellations overhead in the northern skies, which left them “free to have some fun” with that part of the sky. The swirling artistic vision of the stars was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night, as well as the misty night sky that O’Malley witnessed on a trip to the Pyrenees in France.
Read the entire story and more pictures at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/the-cozmic-culvert-lights-up-the-darkest-time-of-year
David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ comes to the shore of Turnagain Arm
By Chase Berenson
TNews Staffwriter
On Tuesday, December 16th, Alpenglow Coffeehouse hosted a showing of the movie “Ocean with David Attenborough” for a full house of Girdwood residents. The film is a documentary that showcases the importance of the world’s oceans and documents some of the environmental threats they face in today’s world. The movie showing was in collaboration with the organizations SalmonState and Oceana, who have hosted several showings and presentations in the past few weeks around Alaska.
Due to the size constraints of Alpenglow’s main room, the showing was limited to 30 people who signed up for free tickets in advance. The movie was preceded by a brief introduction by Ryan Astalos of SalmonSate, Lauren Hynes of Oceana, and Justin Shoffner of Alpenglow, and then the movie showing began.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/david-attenboroughs-ocean-comes-to-the-shore-of-turnagain-arm
GBOS Asks Muni to Deny "Holtan Hills" Permit Barring New Land Use Plan
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Girdwood officials voted Monday to ask Anchorage planners to, among other conditions, deny a permit for a "Holtan Hills" subdivision until a proper land use plan is drawn up.
The Girdwood Board of Supervisors passed three resolutions recommending changes to developers' application to develop 39 lots in 16 acres of ancient forest behind Girdwood's school. The project would be the first phase of a highly controversial, 60-plus acre housing development.
Included in the GBOS resolutions are a requirement for community housing, for some of the homes to be occupied year-round, and that the Planning and Zoning Commission reject a bid by developers to try to build a private cul-de-sac rather than a public road, as required by city code.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Girdwood Ladies Help Serve Storm Evacuees - and You Can, Too!
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
Longtime Girdwood resident Jackie Collins, former resident Mereidi Liebner, and I, a Girdwood moonlighter, met up at the Wyndham Garden Anchorage Airport Hotel on November 18 to help serve meals to people who were forced to evacuate their homes in Western Alaska.
The Wyndham Hotel is one of the hotels across the city housing people whose homes were destroyed by Ex-Typhoon Halong. Bean’s Cafe, already tirelessly serving Anchorage’s homeless population, has answered the call to provide hot meals for hundreds of people living in hotel rooms.
Volunteering was extremely easy, and I’m including some tips in this article in case others would like to volunteer in the future.
We signed up to volunteer using the portal on the Bean’s Cafe website: https://beanscafe.org/volunteer/. Bean’s Cafe discourages people from “just showing up,” so registering is the way to go. They accept volunteers 16 and older, but 16 and 17-year-olds need an adult supervisor. There are many locations and time slots throughout the city, so it’s important to communicate clearly with people you’re hoping to volunteer with about where and when you want to go.
We washed our hands, donned plastic aprons, gloves, and head coverings, and got to know our supervisor. Hot tip: You can escape a hairnet if you pull up your hair and wear a beanie. Unless you have a long beard.
The serving trays were already set up when we arrived, with a large warmer holding back ups. Our job was to make plates or to-go boxes and to help people bag up snacks. In addition to hot meals, guests were encouraged to take back snacks including crackers and fruit. The fresh fruit was definitely a hit.
We’ve all had the experience of showing up to volunteer somewhere, only to find ourselves hunting down some tool for half our shift.
This was absolutely not the case here. Serving utensils, back up fuel for the chafing dishes, bags, boxes, etc. were all available and easy to find.
Things were fairly slow. Sometimes twenty minutes would go by without a customer. Then one or two people would come in, each requesting a number of meals for their families.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-ladies-help-serve-storm-evacuees-and-you-can-too
Local Committees Forward Remarks on ‘Holtan Hills’ Permit to GBOS
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
Local committees are recommending the city complete a land use plan before approving a conditional use permit for the first phase of the "Holtan Hills" subdivision.
The motion, passed unanimously on Dec. 1 by Girdwood's Housing and Economic Committee, is one of six measures supported Monday by the Land Use Committee.
Other items passed by GHEC include:
• a requirement for two lots to be deeded to a local non-profit to build community housing,
• that at least three of the lots contain duplexes, that some lots require the owner to live and work in Girdwood,
• and that the road to a cul de sac is a public, rather than private, road.
The LUC also agreed to recommendations by the Trails Committe to require developers pay the cost of moving the historic Iditarod Trail and that the trail is surveyed and recorded on the plat along with 25-foot easements on either side of it.
All these requirements will be taken up by Girdwood's Board of Supervisors Monday.
The GBOS plans to hear other comments, then send a resolution an Anchorage platting board with recommended changes to the conditional use permit for "Holtan Hills".
A land use plan is required by the municipality for large developments. Municipal planners are relying on a nearly 20-year old "Crow Creek Neighborhood Plan" that has been disregarded, or even dismissed, in development plans for "Holtan Hills", the GHEC argues. The plan needs to be updated, the committee agreed.
Read the entire story at the link below:
Local Nordic Racer Adds Cross-Country Skiing to Girdwood Sports Fame
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
In a small town with rainy winters, with only five kilometers of groomed trail and with few, if any, local races, how unlikely is it that Girdwood is home to a rising national Nordic skiing talent?
Despite the odds, Mia Stiassny, 17, is crushing the field in cross-country skiing—in Anchorage, in Alaska, in the United States, and, recently, even in Europe.
And that her success began in Girdwood—with Mt. Alyeska looming above and the town's share of medal-winning skiers and snowboarders—is merely a situational happenstance, says Stiassny, who wore a black puffy plastered with sponsors during an interview at a local coffee house.
Making her achievements even more notable is that Stiassny has had to do so much of her training—whether hurtling around the 5K loop, bagging local mountains or clocking miles on "roller skis"—alone.
"There are only like eight other girls in my class all through [school], so, in a way [we're] all really close, but if you want to do something different, like Nordic ski, you're the only one," she says.
To reach her goals, she's had to make the long commute to Anchorage, endure an unrelenting 13-hour school-sports schedule, and learn technique through practice.
Read the entire story at the link below:
YES GIRDWOOD, THERE IS A CHRISTMAS TREE
By Brooks Chandler,
TNews Board of Directors
Clark Griswold himself would have smiled as the Girdwood/Turnagain Arm Lions Club flipped the switch at 6 p.m. Friday signaling the advent of the 2025 holiday season.
Lights artfully arrayed amongst the branches of a stately spruce gleamed through a light fog in downtown Girdwood.
The lighting ceremony followed a robust round of Christmas carols accompanied by pounds of cookies and hot chocolate. The sugar consumption season has also begun!
Lions Club president Heather Durtschi said the tree lighting was coordinated by a club committee including, Seth and Wendy Beaubien, Heather. Durtschi and Kathy Trautner.
Read the entire story at the link below:
https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/yes-girdwood-there-is-a-christmas-tree
Application to Develop Phase One of "Holtan Hills" Out for Comment
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
A platting meeting on a contentious "Holtan Hills" subdivision has been set for Jan. 5, a little more than a month away.
The application which describes, for the first time, details surrounding the development plan was sent to Girdwood Board of Supervisors "a half-hour to an hour" before its Nov. 17 meeting, according to GBOS co-chair Mike Edgington.
"I definitely have not had a chance to look at it," Edgington said.
A 30-document has information and detailed maps for a 16-acre cul-de-sac with 39 housing lots. The tract is the first of three phases in a more than 60-acre development planned in hilly old-growth rainforest behind Girdwood's school.
It includes photos of enormous, mostly Anchorage, homes in barren, treeless landscapes to show "style examples" for the area.
A separate application includes a request for a variance to change the allowable length of a cul-de-sac by 70 feet for what the project engineers—The Boutet Company—are calling "Holtan Hills Circle".
The road would be 670 feet and is necessary because "the topography in the upper area of this development is very steep" and contractors couldn't build as many lots as they want, according to Boutet's application.
The variance requests quotes the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan to justify a longer road, stating development should be "compatible with the natural environment" and saying, without the extended road, the developer would have to build a second road.
A road that meets the municipal standard of no longer than 600 feet would "create undue hardship" on the developer.
Read the entire story at the link below: