I was disappointed to read the negative comments from the newspaper editor, the contractor, and others about the Main Street rehabilitation project. I think it’s best to know the real story before forming opinions. James Sage and I worked very hard to secure the funding for this project. This was not some legislative appropriation, or other funding along those lines. This money was deferred maintenance money that came “up for grabs” for various reasons. The money could have gone anywhere in Southeast. James found out about it and we worked together, writing a lot of e-mails and making many phone calls to bring that money to Haines. This started three years ago. As the design progressed, we knew that we wouldn’t be able to do it all, but hey, why not take what we could get and make the most of it? We knew that we had enough money to make a major difference on Main Street. Everyone’s talking about making downtown look better. We thought that this would be a great start. Whatever happened to being thankful for what we got instead of moaning about what we didn’t get? We have always been hopeful that additional funds would come available to finish it, but you’ve got to start somewhere. After putting in so much effort, I’m shocked that this job is getting such negative reviews. I’m sure that any other town in Southeast would have loved to have had that funding.
Matthew Boron