After an hour of discussion and nearly a half-dozen failed motions, the Haines Borough Assembly voted to change only one budget item during the spending plan’s first public hearing last week.
The group unanimously approved keeping the deputy clerk position at full-time, whereas interim manager Brad Ryan’s draft budget had called for cutting the job to half-time and transferring the deputy clerk’s public facilities duties to a full-time executive assistant to the manager.
Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer made the motion to keep the deputy clerk full-time, but clarified she “whole-heartedly” supports keeping the full-time executive assistant position in the budget as well.
With the public facilities duties transferred to the executive assistant, the deputy clerk would have time to offer support to the assembly’s advisory boards and committees, Friedenauer said.
“This would be for our advisory boards and committees to help them streamline minutes, agendas, offer them support in keeping timely minutes and posting timely minutes for the public,” she said.
Interim manager Ryan estimated the amendment added an additional $38,000 in expenses to the budget.
It took five minutes of discussion for the assembly to pass the motion on the deputy clerk. It took them nearly another hour to accomplish very little: sending two ideas to committee and tabling another indefinitely.
Assembly member George Campbell made five motions that failed for lack of a second. They included:
– Removing the Senior Center from the budget and giving the building to Catholic Community Services and the Chilkat Valley Preschool, along with a 50-year lease on the land;
– Eliminating $32,500 in “community chest” funds for local nonprofits;
– Eliminating the Capital Improvement Projects list and putting the money for items on the list instead toward improvements at Lutak Dock or the wastewater treatment plant;
– Freezing personnel changes until a permanent manager is hired; and,
– Cutting the operating budget by $45,000.
Some motions by other assembly members made it a bit further than Campbell’s, including Tresham Gregg’s to include $300,000 in a “special projects fund” for residents and organizations to make proposals for projects that would “enhance local business, create new jobs and approach community betterment.”
Projects would be oriented towards economic enhancement of current businesses, nonprofits, overall community benefit, and creation of local jobs and small-scale industry, he said.
Gregg said he envisioned a six-member committee – two assembly members, two Chamber of Commerce members, and two nonprofit representatives – dealing with requests for proposals and monitoring the progress of the special projects.
Gregg said he thought the money could come from the $307,000 in the economic development fund’s reserves.
The $300,000 figure didn’t go over well with assembly member Diana Lapham. Lapham pointed out the Haines Chamber of Commerce is exploring the idea of establishing a local development corporation, and said she would prefer to wait and see that proposal.
Assembly member Friedenauer said she, too, wants to see the proposal the chamber is working on, and said she was considering earmarking about $35,000 in the budget for a local development corporation.
“I just think it’s too big of a chunk of money when we could start out with something like $35,000-$40,000 if the chamber comes forward with a proposal… and start smaller and see where it goes from there,” Friedenauer said.
Gregg’s motion failed 5-1, with Gregg casting the sole vote in favor. The group then voted to send Gregg’s proposal to the assembly’s finance and commerce committees.
The assembly also sent a question about the organizational chart to its Personnel Committee, and indefinitely tabled a motion made by assembly member Ron Jackson regarding the borough’s property assessment schedule.
The budget’s second public hearing – and its scheduled adoption – is set for the regular assembly meeting on Tuesday.