The Haines Borough Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt a new Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that aims to increase public involvement in infrastructure projects.
Based on a model recently established by the Fairbanks-North Star Borough, residents will be able to submit their own proposals for local infrastructure projects during a “nominations” phase, followed by evaluation by borough staff and a series of review and scoring phases by the assembly, the public and technical experts.
“It really allows for community participation. It allows for consideration of projects that staff or the assembly haven’t even conceived of. I think that’s particularly beneficial for areas like Excursion Inlet. We don’t know what they might need. Mosquito Lake is another example,” said interim borough manager Alekka Fullerton at Tuesday’s assembly meeting.
The assembly also voted unanimously to adopt a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mosquito Lake Community Center. The redrafted document mirrors the borough’s MOUs with the Chilkat Center and the senior center, according to Fullerton. Under the MOU, the borough will pay for utilities, repairs and maintenance, but the agreement leaves open a question about whether the borough would fund snow plowing.
The borough spent $4,950 on plowing the community center in 2019. It’s unclear how much the service would cost this year, Fullerton said. The assembly would have to amend the borough’s current budget if it wanted to provide snow plowing.
In other borough news, revenue from the Remote Sellers Sales Tax, a statewide code that Haines adopted last year, increased in the first two quarters of 2021. The borough raised $58,670.20 in the first quarter of this year from remote and online sales and $76,148.69 in the second quarter. In the first two quarters of 2019, before Haines adopted the remote sellers tax code, the borough raised $15,116.55 and $22,232.96, respectively.
Mayor Douglas Olerud described a meeting with community members and Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) two weeks ago about Lutak Dock. Olerud said AIDEA currently recognizes there isn’t a need for an ore terminal in Haines. The borough is actively seeking grants to renovate the Lutak Dock, Olerud said.
Assembly member Carol Tuynman asked for more transparency about plans for the dock. “The public is really asking for more community information,” she said.
The assembly voted 5-1, with Tuynman opposed, to add to an ordinance amending the current budget an emergency fund of $82,155 using federal CARES Act money.
The assembly voted unanimously to amend the same ordinance to fund about $10,000 for borough employee training and travel, which has been cut significantly in recent years.
The assembly unanimously passed a resolution to purchase a plow truck for the Port and Harbor Department for $48,830.
Assembly members unanimously passed the resolution to spend $50,000 in CARES Act dollars on the Haines Chamber of Commerce’s and Haines Economic Development Corporation’s Shop Local program, citing its benefits to Haines’ economy. Last year, the program twice awarded shoppers with gift certificates to participating businesses to the first 200 people who spent a certain amount on discretionary shopping in town. The first round of the program closed in 13 days after residents spent more than $60,000 locally.
The assembly unanimously supported a motion to direct the finance committee to discuss incentives for housing development in the Haines Borough, with some assembly members citing a housing shortage in the borough.