Assembly supports Cascade Point ferry terminal
The assembly voted 4-2 to write a letter in support of a ferry terminal at Cascade Point. Members Caitie Kirby and Carol Tuynman opposed the measure, saying they wanted more information before finalizing a decision.
Last month, Mayor Douglas Olerud was contacted by those involved with Alaska Department of Transportation’s Juneau Access Improvements project, who pitched the terminal as a more economically feasible way to improve transportation between Juneau and upper Lynn Canal communities. The proposed project involves constructing a terminal 30 miles north of Juneau’s Auke Bay on Goldbelt Alaska Native corporation land.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to this winter is really, really frustrated about the (ferry) connection between Haines, Skagway and Juneau. This is one option,” Olerud said, introducing the topic at Tuesday’s assembly meeting.
Olerud said a phone call with Haines’ state Rep. Sara Hannan raised some questions about the project’s feasibility including its time frame (at least two years out), whether the terminal would be operational in the winter, and whether the Tazlina and Hubbard can complete a Lynn Canal run from Cascade Point in a single, 12-hour timeframe, a limit imposed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Hannan and Haines’ other state representative, Sen. Jesse Kiehl raised similar questions during CVN interviews in March.
An alternative proposal under consideration is the renovation of the Tazlina and Hubbard, installing crew quarters to allow the vessels to complete runs that last more than 12 hours. The renovations are estimated to cost $15 million per vessel.
Kirby and Tuynman said it would be better to gather more information before supporting a specific proposal for improving Lynn Canal transportation.
Other assembly members countered that it makes sense to act quickly.
“I think (the Cascade Point terminal) is great for the summer. If we can get more passengers doing the loops… it makes dollars, which makes sense,” assembly member Gabe Thomas said. “I would be worried if we wait and don’t support it.”
Kirby and Tuynman requested the letter of support detail some of their lingering questions and concerns.
Museum grant decision postponed, again
After receiving public comment, the Haines Borough Assembly voted 4-2 to postpone a vote that would instruct the Haines Sheldon Museum board of trustees to return a $350,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant. Assembly members Gabe Thomas and Cheryl Stickler opposed the move.
At a Government Affairs and Services (GAS) Committee meeting earlier this month, assembly members said the borough doesn’t have the matching funds the grant requires. The grant has been on the GAS Committee’s agenda since last fall.
“In the past several days, we’ve heard from numerous people that they would prefer to postpone this until our next meeting for a number of reasons,” Mayor Douglas Olerud said at Tuesday’s assembly meeting.
Former museum director Helen Alten, who originally applied for the grant, spoke in support of an extension during public testimony.
“I’ve offered to find the money that’s needed for the match, and there’s more work being done on this issue. I believe it’s a little premature to vote on it at this point,” she said.
The grant, which would support renovation of the museum’s climate control system and requires a borough match, has been a source of strife between the former director and the board. In the fall, trustees said Alten hadn’t alerted them to the fact that she’d applied for a grant that committed $500,000 in borough funds. Alten countered, saying she had alerted the board and that, by her calculations, the match required from the borough would be closer to $200,000.
There is general agreement among board members, borough officials and the former museum director that the facility’s climate control system is on its last legs and needs to be replaced. The borough has had talks this winter with the Chilkoot Indian Association about purchasing the building.
Expanded Dalton Trail RMSA ordinance introduced
Assembly members voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that would expand the Historic Dalton Trail Road Maintenance Service Area (RMSA) to include all parcels that are accessed using roads in the zone, not just those located directly on the road.
How to support road maintenance in the sparsely populated RMSA has been a question the assembly’s pondered for some time.
“The idea originated with the RMSA. The main crux of this ordinance is that roads that are used to access private properties need to be maintained, and again, it goes back to this idea that cost-causers need to be cost-payers,” assembly member Cheryl Stickler said. “There are a number of properties that are accessed on the borough roads that are not members of the RMSA.”
The ordinance is scheduled for a first hearing on April 27.