Haines Borough Mayor Jan Hill is putting her foot down over what she sees as the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee’s overreach on the Small Boat Harbor expansion project.
Tension between the committee and the mayor’s “waterfront aesthetics subcommittee” arose in April when the Port and Harbor Advisory Committee called a joint meeting with Parks and Rec to discuss Lookout Park.
At the April 26 assembly meeting, member Ron Jackson pointed out the aesthetics subcommittee hadn’t met for months and had failed to keep minutes, as is required by code.
Hill countered that the subcommittee wasn’t meeting because she was busy with the borough budget and union negotiations, and that assembly member Diana Lapham had been taking notes at the group’s meetings.
Hill maintained subcommittees aren’t required to keep minutes, though several assembly members pointed out that subcommittees fall under the “committee” definition in code and must keep and submit minutes.
“We have a different interpretation,” Hill said.
The Parks and Recreation committee has been meeting to discuss Lookout Park, including a potential trail that might connect it to the Port Chilkoot Dock area. At its most recent meeting, the committee voted to recommend that the current square footage of the park be maintained when a new park is constructed after demolition, said committee chair Rich Chapell.
Essentially the committee wants to ensure there is no net loss of park space, Chapell said.
“We recognize the borough waterfront is very important for having a working harbor and serving the recreational users in the harbor, but there is a lot of the population that doesn’t have boats and we need to make sure we take care of their recreational needs,” he said.
At the end of the May 26 Port and Harbor Advisory Committee meeting, Hill said she believed Parks and Rec was “a little bit out of control on this particular project.”
“The Parks and Rec committee is not charged with the task of doing anything with the aesthetics at the boat harbor. We have an ad hoc committee to address that. I don’t know how Parks and Rec got so entrenched in this particular part of the boat harbor project,” she said.
Hill reiterated her intention to have the aesthetics subcommittee deal with Lookout Park. Hill pointed to code, which states the duties and responsibilities of the Parks and Recreation committee include “advising the borough in the operation and maintenance of parks and recreation programs, facilities and activities.”
“We appreciate their input and their ideas – and they’ve got some good ideas – but they are getting a little carried away when they start asking for half of the parking lot,” Hill said.
Hill clarified the aesthetics subcommittee hasn’t met in months because it has been waiting on permitting.
Hill said she will take the code to the next Parks and Recreation committee meeting to “straighten it out.”
Chapell said he hasn’t listened to Hill’s statements, but plans to put the matter on the agenda for the committee’s meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, at the library.
“It sounds like there is a desire for more cooperation, including who is supposed to do what. I expect (Hill) will show up and we will review what she said and sit down and talk to her,” Chapell said.
Port and Harbor committee chair Norman Hughes, who initiated the joint meeting in April at the suggestion of assembly member Margaret Friedenauer, said residents want to discuss Lookout Park now and not wait until the aesthetics subcommittee gets around to meeting.
“The public is not waiting for (Hill) to hold a meeting. The public wants answers now,” Hughes said. “They want to give input now. They are energized now. I want them to take their energy and use it to better develop the harbor basin. Not to fight about it, but to make it more constructive.”
Hughes said he supports the Parks and Recreation committee’s involvement in the project thus far. “I think Parks and Rec should expand on what they do. I think they need to empower themselves and do more for the borough,” he said.