A private development group in Haines is holding its own meeting on the Lutak Dock after discovering participation in a Haines Borough-sponsored event will be by invitation only.
The borough is holding a two-day “strategic doing” session Dec. 4-5 in the Chilkat Center lobby to discuss the future of the Lutak Dock. A report recently released by PND Engineers identified multiple structural problems with the facility and urged the borough to develop a plan for the dock.
The Haines Port Development Council board voted last week to hold its own public discussion about the dock from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Chilkat Bakery. Everyone is invited.
The borough sessions are being facilitated by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development for about $5,000.
Interim community and economic development director Leslie Ross said a Dec. 4 workshop will focus on training assembly members, staff and one representative from each borough board, commission and committee on the “strategic doing” process. It would also train a representative from various community organizations, including Lynn Canal Conservation, Takshanuk Watershed Council, Alaska Marine Lines, Delta Western, the Chilkoot Indian Association and the Chamber of Commerce. That should total no more than 30 people, Ross said.
The workshop will not focus on the dock as much as “how strategic doing works and how we work together to make things happen,” Ross said.
The Dec. 5 “community forum and planning session” will include everyone from the first day as well as regional and statewide participants. Invitees include Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, Congressman Don Young, state Rep. Sam Kito and Sen. Dennis Egan.
Representatives from Constantine Metal Resources and Wellgreen Platinum also are invited.
“We’re inviting major representatives and we have four hours and we want to get as much done as we can. If we have a completely public forum, I don’t think we would move forward as quickly,” Ross said.
Bill Kurz, a board member of the Haines Port Development Council, said he expected the borough’s meetings to be open to public participation. After Kurz invited state Rep. Shelley Hughes, co-chair of the House Transportation Committee, to the meeting, he received an email from manager David Sosa asking Kurz to stop inviting people, as participation was limited.
“Due to the tight timeline, any individuals arriving who are not on our list will be turned away, and I would hate for this to cause embarrassment between yourself and those you are reaching out to,” Sosa wrote.
Kurz said he is disappointed in Sosa’s decision, as Sosa had previously expressed support for community involvement.
“By having just the people that one invites to a group, you can almost dictate the outcome,” Kurz said. “We need all the input we can get.”
Ross said the second session will focus on the pros and cons of the three main options for the Lutak Dock: repairing it, rebuilding it for its existing use or expanding it.
“Hopefully, we will have some sort of idea on what direction we will be moving on it” (after the meetings), Ross said.