ITEM TITLE:
Subdivision #21-01: Final Approval of Alaska State Land Survey No. 2009 -10, Mineral Creek Islands, a Municipal Entitlement Selection, ADL 201084
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Nylund - Senior Planner / GIS Technician
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve Subdivision #21-01: Alaska State Land Survey No. 2009 -10, Mineral Creek Islands, a Municipal Entitlement Selection, ADL 201084.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
In March 2010, the State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources issued the Survey Instructions to transfer state land ADL 201084, ASLS 2009-10 to the City of Valdez (see location Map attached). A survey of municipal entitlement land must be prepared by the City and accepted by the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in order to complete the conveyance procedures. Currently, Valdez has interim management authority for these lands, but cannot subdivide, sell, or develop them until formal conveyance occurs.
In 2010, Allen Minish of Wrangell Mountain Technical Services was awarded contract #955 and given the notice to proceed to survey ADL 201084. The scope of the work included survey and monumentation for the property boundaries of Mineral Creek Islands (Island E and Ammunition Island). When the survey instructions were issued it became apparent that the final island in the original Mineral Creek Islands selection, “Island C” was not included in the original survey instructions. The City of Valdez consulted with the State of Alaska and decided the best course of action would be to issue a new set of survey instructions to put “Island C” into its own survey. Because both these surveys fall under the same entitlement selection, exist in the same approximate area, and are very closely tied to each other, it made sense to add the additional survey to the original Mineral Creek contract as a fixed fee change order, and applied to the original contract.
In June 2011, Wrangell Mountain Technical Services sent the preliminary plat to AK DNR for review. DNR issued a request for additional information in August of 2012. The preliminary plat was resubmitted to the DNR in November of 2020. On September 1, 2021, we received the attached Intermediate Plat Review / Request for mylar letter from DNR. The requested corrections/changes have been implemented on the final plat.
In their intermediate review, the DNR requested that the Planning Director be the signor for the City of Valdez’s Plat Approval on the final plat. The Planning and Zoning Commission is the platting authority for the Valdez Recording District and the chair of the P&Z Commission is typically the signor on our plats. The Statewide Platting Supervisor, G. Larry King, stated via phone call on 9-15-2021 that the DNR is okay with the P&Z Chair’s signature on the final plat. This is reflected on the final plat as presented, and will be noted in a letter to the DNR Survey Section along with any other comments or revisions that the Planning and Zoning Commission requests.
The first agenda packet published on 09/16/2021 included a plat with a clerical error. The packet has now been updated with the corrected plat, including a required notary block, and was republished on 09/20/2021.
The final plat must be approved by both DNR and the Planning & Zoning Commission. Any input from the commission on this final plat will be summarized in a letter to the DNR DMLW Survey Section and considered for incorporation onto the final plat. Staff has not received any comments from neighbors, utilities, or other notified agencies on the subdivision.