Tim Ellis

About 250 people turned out Tuesday at a meeting in Fairbanks to offer comments on a federal plan to launch an oil and gas leasing program in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Most of those who showed up for the meeting at the Carlson Center oppose the plan, because they say it would disrupt caribou calving season and harm Native subsistence and culture – and the environment. Backers of the plan say coastal-plain development would boost Alaska’s economy.

Fairbanks City Councilman David Pruhs has directed staff to draft a plan over the next 90 days on how the city will respond to the growing problem of groundwater contamination caused by chemical compounds in firefighting foam. Pruhs told City Attorney Paul Ewers Monday that the plan must include a way for the city to compensate homeowners who could be paying for the local response to the contamination through their property taxes.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board decided Monday to ask voters this fall to approve a $27.7 million bond package to pay for roof repairs and electrical upgrades to district facilities. The board also took one last look at next year’s $238 million district budget before considering final approval tonight.

City and borough officials announced Thursday that another groundwater contamination hotspot has been found in the Fairbanks area, this time around South Davis Park. In response, borough Mayor Karl Kassel says the Parks and Rec Department will no longer use water from contaminated wells to irrigate the park’s heavily used sports fields.

An affiliate of the Germany-based industrial giant Siemens is offering to build an LNG plant near Wasilla and transport the gas it processes there to Fairbanks at no cost to the Interior Gas Utility – if the IGU board of directors agrees to a long-term LNG-sales contract. Officials with Siemens Government Technologies outlined the proposal to the IGU board during a special meeting Tuesday.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Board of Education approved a proposal Monday to keep elementary and high school class sizes from getting any bigger next year. The school board’s action also means about 19 teachers won’t be getting pink slips next week after all.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly on Thursday approved a nearly $166 million budget for another year, after amending it to keep the Mary Siah Recreation Center open for the year and solid-waste transfer sites open seven days a week. The budget also allocates $50 million for the school district.