The Haines Borough, its school and police department, came under new management in 2014, a year marked by lopsided weather patterns, infrastructure worries and chronic crime.
Acts of courage brightened a townscape clouded as much by economic uncertainty as by months of rain.
Luke Marquardt ran back into a house fire to save a friend. Novice fishermen Chris Olsen and Blake Ward plucked gillnet captain Woody Pahl from rolling seas during a nighttime storm, a rescue that impressed even old-timers. “I can’t explain it. I’m just glad everything worked out,” Olsen said.
At Haines High School, graduates and parents danced an impromptu waltz at commencement.
The year started with January temperatures that neared 50 F. and steady rain that fell on nearly eight feet of snow remaining from December 2013. When wintry weather returned a month later, the resulting crust on the snow was thick enough for six hikers from Haines to walk to Skagway atop the surface in 40 hours, a likely record for the rare, overland traverse.
“They bided their time, planned it out and did it right,” said longtime mountaineer Paul Swift.
An arid winter – February and March were more than twice as dry as normal – led to a rare winter brush fire along Chilkat Inlet in March and a boroughwide ban on outside burning by early May.
The dry ended in June. Total summer rainfall – 16.31 inches in June, July and August – set a new record. Clouds and heavy rainfall swamped the Fourth of July, doused prominent weddings, and diminished garden harvests. An attempt by resident Kate Saunders to match a 160-pound pumpkin she grew in 2013 fizzled when the gourd started rotting at just six pounds. “I think that says it all about what kind of summer we had,” Saunders said.
Skies parted for the Southeast Alaska State Fair, when gillnet fishermen rafted their boats together in Portage Cove and dove in. But above-average rain continued through fall, making the year as good as any for a new state regulation requiring daytime headlight use on the Haines Highway.
An “economic summit” hosted by the Haines Chamber of Commerce in March portrayed the local economy as a mixed bag, which the year’s indicators seemed to confirm. Sales tax inched up 1 percent, with total sales matching the pre-recession levels of 2008 for the first time. State demographers said the borough lost 86 residents in the past year, but October’s school district enrollment number matched June’s.
The year also brought some investment downtown and at Fort Seward. The Port Chilkoot Co. made repairs to the roof and porch of the historic Fort barracks building, and started charting a course for its preservation. The barracks was named to a list of the 10 most endangered historic properties in Alaska.
Fort residents Joanne Waterman and Phyllis Sage restored a chunk of the Army base’s original skyline. Their crew of workers fit together pre-built sections to recreate the 60-foot-high hose tower of the Fort Seward Fire Hall on a sunny afternoon in June. “They stacked up nicer than Legos,” said onlooker Judy Heinmiller.
Down on Main Street, businesses, government and nonprofits took steps toward revitalization, a decades-long community priority. Lynn Canal Counseling Services moved into the Ellingen Building, Haines Brewing Company bought borough land to move its beer-making operation to Fourth Avenue next spring and Aspen Hotel framed up its new, 50-room motel at Fifth Avenue. “This is a big investment, but Aspen believes in Haines and the town’s future,” said developer George Swift.
The Haines Borough re-launched the Downtown Revitalization Committee, which pondered its purpose but also identified a list of improvements to infrastructure and named litter and snow removal as concerns. The Haines-based Alaska Arts Confluence landed a $217,000 grant, including for new signs and window displays downtown. “It’s about people working together to solve problems,” said organizer Carol Tuynman. “We’ve chosen to address the issue of downtown revitalization with art.”
A series of reports by the Chilkat Valley News found several buildings overpriced for buyers – compared to locations in Fort Seward or Dalton City – or inadequate for use. The series also found strong leadership the key to revitalization in other communities. Downtown merchants said they found hope in the Aspen opening and a potential increase in cruise ship traffic.
At year’s end, Buckshot & Bobby Pins, a trendy boutique, was moving to Skagway, and Fort Seward coffeeshop Sarah J’s was moving downtown. Three large Main Street landmarks – the former Coliseum Theater, L.A.B. Flying Service and the Haines Elks Lodge buildings – remained vacant.
In municipal news, voters returned former Mayor Jan Hill to the Haines Borough’s highest office, and manager David Sosa, police chief Bill Musser and school superintendent Ginger Jewell started on their jobs.
A string of minor crimes around town – including thefts at places like churches and second-hand stores – posed a challenge for Musser’s department.
“I didn’t think I lived in a neighborhood where you had to worry about getting your car stereo stolen,” Mud Bay resident Melina Shields said in May, after thieves stole items including gasoline and tools from cars at the end of the road.
When crimes escalated to car thefts and a home break-in in November, residents started locking cars and houses.
For manager Sosa, infrastructure issues – including replacing the Lutak Dock and the sewage treatment plant and funding harbor improvements – loomed large, as the outlook for state assistance looked bleak with the free-fall in state oil revenues. Not all the upgrades can be postponed. “Highly-loaded vehicles may suddenly fall into an undetected hole with potentially severe consequences to persons, equipment and property,” according to a recent report on Lutak Dock conditions.
In 2014, the Haines Borough Assembly gave its approval to use of ATVs on borough roads, a winter tourism study, a new canoe tour on Chilkoot Lake, and development of a sledding hill. It opposed the proposed Juneau Road to Katzehin, legal marijuana use, construction funds for a sauna at the Haines swimming pool, and burial of utility lines along Third Avenue.
It funded grant requests from non-profits at $94,000, the lowest level of support since 2009.
The borough’s regulation of heli-skiing – including debate about a heliport proposed near a residential subdivision at 26 Mile – consumed several mid-winter meetings. But the industry had problems of its own, including: poor winter snow conditions, federal fines for Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) for flying outside prescribed boundaries, and a fourth heli-ski death here in three years. The loss of SEABA guide Aaron Karitis March 17 raised questions about safety procedures and gear, and attracted the scrutiny of occupational safety officials.
Tribal news in 2014 included completion of the Chilkoot Indian Association office building, a push to open Klukwan’s Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center by May 2016, and a local heritage group’s traditional canoe voyage to Juneau from Haines for the Celebration gathering.
“It was quite a trip, especially to have the children with us,” said paddler Bosh Hotch, 67. “It may never happen again, something like that. We were all really proud to be on it.”
The Haines Borough School District generated news with debate over the fate of Mosquito Lake School, extension of kindergarten hours to a full-day schedule, and passage of $2.1 million in bonds for structure improvements.
The district won a national “Blue Ribbon” Award and discontinued responsibility for participation in the statewide spelling bee.
Sports stories of note in 2014 included Tyler Swinton’s quick climb in college golf ranks, and Kyle Fossman’s signing with a professional basketball team in Germany. The Glacier Bear boys made their first trip to the state tournament since 2010 and 32 youngsters turned out for the first meeting of the Haines Hot Shots gun club.
In quirky but connected Haines, the year’s milestones included filming by three reality TV shows, the celebration of the town’s first same-sex marriage, and a month devoted to puppet activities and puppet shows.
Deaths of residents or former residents reported in 2014 included those of Margaret Stevens, Dominic Wobick, Jim Piper, Harriet Brouillette, Alden Hamilton, Keith Stigen, Leo Jacobs Jr., Robert “Grizz” Berg, Kitty Brooks, Evelyn Arbuckle, Art Jess, William “Dave” Gross II, Versia Bieleski, Aaron Karitis, John Stecher, Joyce Kelm, Vernon Allen, J.A. Tate, Charles DeWitt, Judi Broste, Sherry Takala, Allen Moore, Helen Streu, Jerry Fabrizio, Owen Stockbridge, George Edwards, Constance Griffith, Georgia Hertz, Lola Knutson, Rowena Jones, Belle Laing, Irene Ward and Charles Davis.