The Haines Borough Assembly is looking into the cost of moving Lookout Park to keep it from being engulfed by a parking lot in the Small Boat Harbor expansion project.
The assembly voted last week to have manager David Sosa get estimates from PND Engineers on the cost of moving the park farther south on the waterfront.
PND’s 35-percent design would add about 2.75 acres to the existing parking lot, surrounding the park and stretching 150 feet south of the park toward Old Haines Highway.
Assembly member George Campbell raised the issue at last week’s meeting, as the harbor designs and location of the park have been drawing questions and criticism from the public.
“I brought this up at previous meetings and it has basically died a couple of times, and I am bringing it up now because when it gets to 65 and 75 and 95 percent drawings and this issue is still out there, I want the assembly to be aware that we have the opportunity to do something about it right now,” Campbell said.
“Now is the time to ask for this and not wait until we’re at 90 percent,” he added.
Campbell said he would like to see the borough include all of its land along that stretch of waterfront in the permitting process, even if it isn’t currently in the construction design. That would allow alterations to be made later. “Let’s keep our options open,” he said.
Assembly member Joanne Waterman said any movement of the park should involve an exchange of space – moving the park to the edge of the lot, instead of in the middle – not the addition of more space in the design.
Member Diana Lapham said the assembly need not get involved in the design process at this point. “To me it’s another form of a micromanagement that I truly believe the assembly does not need to be a part of at this point. There may be other times that we need to weigh in, but not at this point.”
The assembly, though, is the only body that can modify the design, said Port and Harbor Advisory Committee chair Norman Hughes. His committee has been following the project, but doesn’t have the authority to direct staff or tell PND what to do.
Sosa said the borough received the 65-percent design this week. PND hasn’t provided an estimate yet for movement of Lookout Park, but will do so when presenting the 65-percent design at Tuesday’s assembly meeting. Public comments on the 65 percent plan will be due at the borough Wednesday, March 25.