March 3, 1969
signals to his departing pilot after a drop-off on a peak south of the Haines
airport recently. Heli-skiers arrived last month for the local season
that runs through the end of April. Andy Hedden photo.
Archive news from 50-ish, 25 and 10 years ago.
Industrial expansion will hit Haines by September. John Schnabel announced this weekend his Schnabel Lumber Company will add a veneer plant to the mill complex on Lutak Inlet including barge facilities which should affect cargo transportation in this area.
“We expect to have 40 more people employed in September,” Schnabel told this newspaper. “We have bought the St. Regis Paper Company veneer plant in Tacoma, and it is on its way to Haines via barge. We expect to build new dock facilities this summer with a ramp similar to the ferry ramp, and a long building which will house the new equipment.”
March 17, 1994
Concerns raised by cruise line representatives about the timing of a recent tariff increase prompted the city council Wednesday to rescind its recent rate hike and reconsider the action.
Recent calls to the city from Cruise Line Industries questioned the timing of increase, which would be paid this season by cruise lines but was not made in time to allow firms to incorporate the increase into their rates.
City administrator Tom Healy, however, said the increase would make Haines rates only about even with most comparable ports and considerably cheaper than high-traffic stops such as Skagway and Juneau.
Mayor Greg Combs noted that the tariffs may be reconsidered as financing for the Port Chilkoot Dock expansion is hammered out, but said the council in the meantime should adopt the new rate schedule fully in October, as additional funds are needed for necessary dock repairs.
The council voted unanimously to rescind the increase and refer the topic to the ports and harbors committee, which will meet with tourism director Susan Bell Wednesday in the municipal council chambers.
March 12, 2009
After a heated debate, the Haines Borough Assembly tabled a resolution urging the Alaska Legislature to relax current standards for cruise ship wastewater discharges set down in a 2006 voter initiative.
The resolution, brought before the assembly at the request of Doug Olerud, encourages the legislature to revise the standards to levels that would protect the environment, based on Department of Environmental Conservation recommendations, without affecting the cruise industry “in a manner that is technologically and financially unreasonable or impractical.”
Ten residents testified in favor of the resolution, saying it showed timely support for an industry crucial to the local economy. One testified against, saying the assembly and the state should protect clean water for Alaskans.
State legislators are considering a bill that would strike a provision from the cruise law that prevents DEC from granting mixing zones to cruise ships when measuring effluent levels in discharge.
Under current law, cruise ship effluents are measured at the point of discharge, or “at the pipe.” Cruise lines say they can’t meet the initiative standards for ammonia, copper, nickel and zinc by the state;s 2010 deadline.
Olerud said DEC confirmed technology didn’t exist for ships to meet standards by 2010, and said state regulators should be given the power to decide safe effluent levels.
Assemblyman Norm Smith opposed the resolution, calling it a “step backward for me, the town of Haines, and the cruise lines.”
Smith said the cruise industry had a history of violating water quality dating to the 1970s, and said while great strides had been made in recent years, lawmakers should leave the initiative standards in place.