What has happened to the petition so many signed? First it was placed on the consent agenda, which means it was acknowledged, but no intention to discuss it. Then it was assigned to the finance committee to look at the financial picture that the community is facing in implementing the plan. The finance committee turned it over to the Port and Harbor Advisory Committee, who are the architects of the expansion plan. Why is the upland land use not being assigned to the Haines Borough Planning Commission? The change of use requires planning commission review and public hearing. Perhaps there will be a joint session of the various borough committees to discuss the plan, but it will be at the 95 percent level – “too late to change the project” as over $1 million has been spent on engineering. Bringing in money from the proposed boat storage/parking lot is based on renting out spaces on a yearly basis for boat storage – maximum return about $70,000 at 100 percent usage. How often do we ever see 100 percent usage? There are still a lot of hidden costs that aren’t being identified – costs of moving Lookout Park, re-zincing of the steel baffle, maintaining floats, protecting the boat storage lot, overall beautifying of the waterfront. And there is still $10 million to go to get a usable harbor. Are we ready to go deeper in debt? Are we ready to be in business as a borough to run a boat yard?
Tresham Gregg