A land lottery could be the salvation of the Haines public safety building.

The facility is nearing the end of its life, but at present, the borough lacks the funds to replace it. At a meeting on Wednesday, May 20, public facilities director Ed Coffland said he had come up with a creative way to raise the money—a nationwide land lottery.

Under Coffland’s lottery scheme, the borough would select 10 lots from the roughly 1,400 acres of vacant land it owns. Those interested could buy a $100 raffle ticket for a chance to win one of the lots. Using social media and other marketing tactics, the borough would promote the lottery with the goal of selling 200,000 tickets, the exact number needed to generate $20 million, which Coffland estimates would be the cost of a new building.

In a memo to former borough manager Debra Schnabel on the subject, Coffland said that if the borough moves forward with the land lottery, he will buy the first 10 tickets.

The current public safety building has numerous problems including a peeling façade, sinking foundation, cramped quarters and an electrical system that is both dangerous and maxed out in terms of capacity.

It’s possible to fix the building, Coffland said. He estimated the cost would be roughly $2 million, but said he did not recommend it.

“If we thought, well, we can invest this money, we can fix it up, and in the end, it will be the building we want, it would make sense, but I don’t believe that’s the case,” Coffland said. “In my view, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to put money into a building that we know is not going to serve our needs in the end.”

Coffland said he understood the reluctance to take on a large capital project, especially given the current pandemic and statewide budget shortages. The lottery would offer an alternative to raising taxes or making budget cuts to fund the facility. It would also double as a promotion tool for Haines.

“We would be selling Haines more than we would be selling lots,” Coffland said.

The proposal drew interest from assembly members and borough staff at the meeting.

“I’m in full support of the idea,” tourism director Steven Auch said. He said he sees potential for interdepartmental partnership on the project.

Some had questions about the feasibility of the scheme.

“Is it legal?” assembly member Brenda Josephson asked.

Coffland said he anticipates the project will require jumping through “some legal hoops.” He suggested the assembly form one or more working groups to address matters including fundraising and the eventual building design.

Assembly member Jerry Lapp said another funding option could involve selling land to increase the size of Haines’ permanent fund. This would help grow the fund’s earnings, which could, in turn, be used to pay off a loan for building construction.

Josephson calculated that payments on a $20 million loan over 30 years would come to roughly $800,000 a year.

Regardless of whether the assembly moves forward with the lottery idea, it’s important that members make a decision about how they want to address the building’s issues, Coffland said. While the facility remains in limbo, it’s hard to make decisions about investing in the existing facility or to secure outside funding for a new building.

Most grants like to fund “shovel ready” projects, Coffland said. A “shovel ready” project is planned and permitted, and ready for the construction phase.