The Haines Dolphins Swim team is requesting that the borough forgive its pool rental fees this year due to insufficient fundraising to support the program. The fees amount to $15,187, nearly a third of the pool’s revenue, according to borough manager Annette Kreitzer.
In a letter to the assembly, swim team board president Susie McCartney said the team is facing insolvency due to rising costs, insufficient fundraisers and limited grant funding. “We are asking for help from the borough to keep HDST afloat and help the more than 50 kids currently enrolled stay swimming,” she wrote to the assembly.
Assembly member Gabe Thomas made a motion to forgive six months of rental fees as long as the board provides the assembly a list of board member names, the current budget, a list of current assets, a financial plan and currently planned grant applications and fundraisers. He said he’d like to help the organization plan for future solvency.
“This has come up every year since I’ve been elected and I’d like to see if we can help them,” Thomas said.
Assembly member Debra Schnabel agreed and said the best way to help the swim team is to “help them get organized financially with a plan.”
Thomas’ motion passed unanimously.
In other news, the assembly voted unanimously to increase fees at borough harbor facilities. Short-term transient fees increased by three cents per lateral foot per day and long-term storage increased by 33 cents per lineal foot per month. Live aboard fees increased by $5 per month. An annual cane permit increased by $10. Annual moorage rates also increased by 3% at the Small Boat Harbor and 5% at the Letnikof Cove Harbor. The fee increase was recommended by the ports and harbor advisory committee.
The assembly also voted to reimburse funds withdrawn from the borough’s permanent fund for two years of school bond debt that was underfunded by the state.