On Thursday, the planning commission recommended that the borough assembly appoint Don Turner II to fill the seat previously held by his son, Don Turner III.

For three months the planning commission received no applications to fill the seat the younger Turner vacated in April. “No one else had applied for it, and I am real familiar with land issues around here,” said Don Turner II.

Both Turners work at the family company Turner Construction, which Turner II said gives him a good background on the issues the planning commission deals with. “I’ve built one subdivision. I’ve built roads. We’ve done water and sewer replacement,” he said.

“Don has a lot of knowledge about construction and subdivision regulations,” said outgoing borough planner Holly Smith. “That would be a great asset to the Haines Borough Planning Commission. Getting to know him over the last few years, I’ve found his insights on certain development reviews to be extremely beneficial.”

At the meeting on Thursday, commissioner Jessica Kayser Forester said, “how (Don Turner II and I) started off, I wouldn’t have wanted (him) to be on this body with me. But I really appreciate that when we discussed the issue that happened when I was appointed to the planning commission, I appreciated our conversation, and that (he) apologized publicly. I look forward to having the kind of dialogue that we had, when resolving that issue.”

Forester was referring to comments that Turner II made on the “Haines Rant & Rave” Facebook group about Forester’s own planning commissioner application. Turner later called those comments inappropriate and apologized to Forester during public comment.

“I can work fine with these people,” Turner II said later. “I’ve lived here since 66, so I’ve got a lot of knowledge about what is development, the development that is going on here. I’ve been around here long enough to know what’s happened with stuff … good old boy stuff.”

The Haines Borough Assembly will consider the recommendation at its July 18 meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the assembly chambers.

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