Gov. Sarah Palin last week vetoed $1.43 million from the $39.75 million in local projects included in the budget approved by the Legislature in April. Cuts were made to eliminate or reduce funding for eight local projects.

The vetoes were among a total of $256 million the governor eliminated from the capital budget – a total similar to the $231 million she vetoed from the 2007 capital budget.

The biggest cut for local projects was $380,000 for upgrades to Lions Park, including resurfacing the tennis courts.

Palin also reduced the amount granted to the municipality of Anchorage for the purchase and renovation of the Eagle River Town Center. The $1.2 million request was cut to $900,000.

The project would still move forward despite the reduction, said Mary Jane Michael, executive director of the city’s Department of Economic and Community Development.

When the Assembly approved the purchase of building A of the Valley River Center, it also approved a $2 million back-up loan from municipal funds in case of a veto, Michael said.

Several local projects were cut for a second and even third time.

The Chugiak Benefit Association saw funds for building maintenance reduced from $25,000 to $20,000. The $25,000 for the Alaska Veterans Memorial Museum was also cut. Funds for the museum were vetoed from of the 2007 and 2008 supplemental budget.

The $500,000 to purchase the Boys and Girls Clubhouse was also vetoed, as it was in the 2008 supplemental budget.

Some of the governor’s reductions puzzled local Rep. Bill Stoltze.

“She reduced the funds for the CBA by $5,000,” he said. “That seems kind of arbitrary, and I don’t see the logic in that. Why not leave them with $25,000 as was included in the budget.”

Stoltze was also stymied by the elimination of the funds to replace sports equipment at Fire Lake Elementary School.

“I guess her figuring is that each school receive only one item in the state budget,” he said.

Fire Lake Elementary will receive $35,000 for library and technology upgrades.

Other local projects that made it through the process includes $5,000 for the preservation and storage of historical documents for the Chugiak-Eagle River Historical Society, $370,000 for collection expansion and site upgrades for the Chugiak-Eagle River branch library, $500,000 for a new police substation in Eagle River and $500,000 to address drainage problems on Yosemite Drive.

An item vetoed in the supplemental budget, but gained approval in the capital budget, was the expansion of the McDonald Recreation Center. Instead of vetoing the project altogether, Palin reduced the funding in the budget from $1.99 million to the $990,000 that was requested in the supplemental budget.

“It would have been nice to get the full $1.99 million, but we’ll take what we got and move forward,” said center director Reid McDonald. “We’ll take that money from the state and go to the Rasmuson Foundation and see if we can get a match. If we can do that we plan to put in an indoor turf field for soccer and other uses.”

McDonald added that he would also like to see an outdoor ice rink constructed at the center.

“Maybe something covered and lighted like there is in Anchorage by Wendler Middle School,” he said. “That would provide additional ice for the youth and school hockey programs.”

Several big-ticket transportation and road construction projects were spared a veto, including $12 million for the Eagle River Loop Road construction project, which is set to begin this summer. Wilder Construction was awarded the bid for the project last month from the Alaska Department of Transportation.

 The governor also spared $5 million the Legislature approved for the reconstruction of the Old Glenn Highway.

Other funding for road projects includes a $1 million grant to the Chugiak, Birchwood, Eagle River Rural Road Service Area for street maintenance and repairs.