Update, Houston's AIDEA Parcel Is Now About 6,800 Acres
In DNR's Houston decision, "conveyance" means about 6,800 acres to AIDEA at no cost, with no specific project approved.
The deck
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The story
The parcel is down from 19,500 acres and its north line clears the Haessler-Norris trails. Commenters warned about wells. DNR's reply is that no specific project is approved. Development stays 100 feet back from three anadromous waters. Commenters warned about the grid. DNR's reply is that no transmission facilities are authorized. The state can again take back land not developed for AIDEA's plan.
The conveyance redraws the edges and leaves the water and the power for later.
The new line staked on the real terrain, what the comments moved, the four survey pieces, the restored take-back and what waits for later.
Should wells and the grid get a public answer before the patent issues, or only once a specific project files?
What we verified
90 CLAIMS, EACH RE-FETCHED FROM ITS SOURCE BEFORE THIS DECK SHIPPED
Alaska DNR published the public notice of its Final Finding and Decision on ADL 234762 on November 10th.
DNR's final decision conveys approximately 6,800 acres of state land in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to AIDEA.
DNR cut the conveyance from 19,500 acres in the preliminary decision to approximately 6,800 acres.
The preliminary decision on the AIDEA conveyance was dated July 10th.
DNR Commissioner John Crowther signed the final decision.
The final decision is dated November 10th.
The transfer is a noncompetitive public and charitable use conveyance under AS 38.05.810(a)(1).
DNR requires no appraisal because the conveyance is at no cost.
The parcel lies approximately two miles north of Houston, within Township 18 North.
AIDEA proposes to use the land for a multi-use industrial and energy development district.
The signed decision names creating jobs, improving energy reliability and diversifying the economy as the public purpose.
The first parcel in the legal description is 1,320 acres, on a plat approved April 2nd, 1917.
The second parcel is approximately 3,560 acres of Tract A, on a BLM plat accepted April 9th, 1963.
The third parcel is approximately 1,441.30 acres, on a plat approved April 2nd, 1917.
The fourth parcel is approximately 480 acres, on a plat approved December 4th, 1915.
The southern edge of the parcel sits about half a mile from the north bank of the Little Susitna River.
DNR redrew the parcel to avoid any overlap with the Haessler-Norris trail system.
DNR says AIDEA intends to keep allowing public access to the parcel until a patent is issued.
The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection applied for a public easement along Zero Lake Road on October 2nd.
DFFP has invested in 23.9 miles of active, inactive and planned forestry roads within the parcel.
The decision identifies three anadromous waters within or bordering the parcel.
Development on the parcel must stay 100 feet back from all anadromous waters.
AIDEA must survey the land and complete all pre-patent requirements within 10 years or the decision becomes void.
If the 10-year conditions are not met, AIDEA's rights are extinguished and the parcel reverts to general state land.
The July preliminary decision had waived the state's reversionary interest.
The final decision no longer waives the reversionary interest.
Land not developed for the purpose described in AIDEA's development plan will revert to state ownership.
A related area plan amendment moves approximately 6,152 acres into a new Settlement unit, H-33.
DNR plans to close the parcel to new mineral entry.
Active gas leases lie within the parcel, and the conveyance is subject to them.
The preliminary decision was posted for public notice from July 10th to September 14th.
DNR describes the comment period as an extended 67 days.
DNR mailed notice to 278 landowners whose property borders the parcel.
DNR received eight comments from agencies.
DNR received 2,306 comments from the public.
DNR held two virtual public information meetings with an AIDEA representative, on August 27th and September 2nd.
The state geological survey said the region has a very high seismic hazard because it is close to the Castle Mountain fault.
The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection identified about 5.5 million board feet of potential timber in units of the original project area.
DFFP said it built and maintains about 29 miles of existing and planned forest roads within the original project area.
The Senate Resources Committee commented on the preliminary decision on August 19th and September 9th.
The committee's September 9th comment included a seven-page Legal Services memorandum.
Senate Resources argued the preliminary decision failed to consider the potential harms of data center development.
DNR received numerous comments opposing the conveyance for potential data center development.
DNR acknowledged public concern over the prospect of scalable data center facilities.
Commenters warned that data center cooling could deplete aquifers, lower residential wells and threaten salmon streams.
DNR responded that the conveyance does not approve any specific development project.
Commenters raised concern that the development would strain the existing electrical grid.
DNR said the conveyance does not authorize construction of roads, utilities or transmission facilities.
The remaining 12,700 acres from the July plan stay under DNR management.
DNR wrote that it does not need to consider speculative impacts of post-conveyance development.
A request for reconsideration must reach the Commissioner's Office within 20 calendar days of the decision.
A reconsideration request is considered denied if the Commissioner does not act within 30 days of the decision.
Requests for reconsideration carry a fee of $200.
DNR's vicinity map estimates the parcel at 65 percent upland, about 4,370 acres.
The same map estimates 35 percent of the parcel is wetland, about 2,377 acres.
The soil inset totals 6,749 acres and labels its figures as estimates based on soil data.
AIDEA's board voted unanimously on October 21st to form Northstar Fiber Development LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary.
The Northstar Fiber resolution authorizes AIDEA to invest up to $75 million in fiber systems.
Waymo says it will run closed-course evaluations and heavy snowfall data collection in Alaska this season.
Waymo's sixth-generation driver uses cameras, radar and lidar.
Waymo says its winter testing has logged tens of thousands of real-world miles in Upstate New York, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Sierra Nevada.
MEA and Enstar signed a gas exchange agreement involving 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
Enstar must return equivalent gas volumes to MEA no later than March 31st, 2028.
MEA expects about $2 million in savings for its members from the exchange between 2027 and 2029.
When signed, the exchange agreement was subject to review by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
The Alaska Beacon reported more than 2,300 public comments on the transfer, mostly in opposition.
A former state legislator's lawsuit seeking to block the transfer is still pending, according to the Beacon.
The Mat-Su Sentinel reported the approved transfer covers about 11 square miles, down from more than 30.
The Sentinel reported that former state Rep. David Eastman of Meadow Lakes filed the pending lawsuit.
DNR spokesperson Lorraine Henry said the public comments resulted in significant changes to the decision.
The winner of the governor's race takes office at noon on December 7th.
Ranked choice tabulation in Alaska's races begins November 18th.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins led first choices in the governor's race with 48.99 percent to Bernadette Wilson's 29.13 percent in preliminary results.
FairVote's unofficial, preliminary ranked choice tally shows Kreiss-Tomkins defeating Wilson 55 to 45 percent.
The Alaska Current reported that VoteHub called the governor's race for Kreiss-Tomkins.
Commissioner Crowther told ADN in October that approval before the new governor is sworn in was certainly possible.
Crypto Briefing reported that Governor Dunleavy announced InvestNorth, described as a state-sponsored infrastructure financing platform.
InvestNorth will use tokenization to digitize ownership interests in infrastructure assets, Crypto Briefing reported.
Alaska Data Corporation will operate as an AIDEA subsidiary partnering with digital infrastructure developers, Crypto Briefing reported.
Alaska Data Corporation is meant to help build distributed data centers in communities across the state, according to Crypto Briefing.
Brandon Brefczynski, AIDEA's deputy executive director, is president of Alaska Data Corporation, according to Crypto Briefing.
Both initiatives were developed with the fintech company Plural, according to Crypto Briefing.
InvestNorth may offer investment options reserved for Alaska residents, Crypto Briefing reported.
Crypto Briefing quoted Governor Dunleavy saying Alaska has shown it can manage its resources well for all its people.
Governor Dunleavy said there is no better proving ground for winter driving than Fairbanks.
Dunleavy said Waymo will test its Ojai and Hyundai IONIQ vehicles in Fairbanks, FOX Weather reported.
Waymo told KTVF its Fairbanks work includes manual data collection, supervised autonomous driving and limited structured testing.
Fairbanks Mayor Mindy O'Neall called the testing a great opportunity for Fairbanks.
Hilcorp is the third party to the exchange agreement with Enstar and MEA.
Enstar President John Sims called the 1.2 Bcf from Matanuska Electric huge.
Beats
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