Haines welcomes Royal Caribbean
On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly adopted a resolution supporting increased port calls from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in future years.
The resolution had been recommended by the tourism director, manager and Mayor, as well as the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB). Thirty-three letters were received in support, mostly from seasonal and year-round business owners. The sole letter of opposition said it would be premature to consider increased cruise ship visits given the current public health crisis.
In an interview before the meeting, tourism director Steven Auch said, in general, he received positive feedback from residents about the proposal to support increased RCCL visits.
Auch said a few residents expressed concern about the company’s environmental infractions. In the late ‘90s, RCCL pleaded guilty to federal felony crimes for dumping dry-cleaning and photo-processing chemicals in the upper Lynn Canal. The company stopped sailing to Haines after a court settlement barring the company from sailing to Glacier Bay for five years forced the cruise line to reconfigure its itinerary.
RCCL did not respond to questions about environmental concerns or the company’s interest in returning to Haines.
Auch said he plans to present the resolution to Royal Caribbean and expects conversations will continue. At previous assembly meetings, Auch had said Royal Caribbean was in the process of drafting a 2022 sailing schedule and assembly action in support of increased visits should be taken swiftly.
During public comment, Alaska Mountain Guides owner and TAB member Sean Gaffney described the potential for increased RCCL port calls as “a bright spot” during what has been a rather dark time for the Haines seasonal economy.
During the past two months, Haines’ 2020 tourism season prospects have dwindled as an increasingly large number of cruise lines have cancelled sailings for the summer. Most recently, Holland America and Princess Cruises cancelled their remaining summer sailings to Alaska. The companies had already cancelled all 2020 sailings to Haines. The loss of additional sailings to Skagway will reduce visitors to Haines via the fast ferry.
Assembly says “no” to voters weighing in on permanent fund
The assembly rejected a motion that would have asked voters to decide whether the borough should use a portion of its permanent fund to pay for school bond debt for the coming fiscal year.
Last month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed state school bond debt reimbursement for municipalities. As a result, the Haines Borough has a hole in its budget worth roughly half a million.
At past assembly meetings, members suggested cuts could be necessary to fill the gap.
Assembly member Zephyr Sincerny said tapping into the permanent fund would be an alternative and proposed letting Haines voters decide by putting it on the ballot in October.
“I think that’s what the community would like to see us do. They want a voice,” assembly member Stephanie Scott said, speaking in support of the motion.
Assembly member Brenda Josephson said the measure, if approved by voters in October, would not pass in time to be reflected in the budget, which needs to be finalized in June.
Scott said the budget could be amended in the fall if voters approved the measure.
Assembly member Lapp said he would prefer to delay taking action to see if the state comes through with another revenue-sharing mechanism to assist communities.
The measure failed 4-2. Scott and Sincerny were the two “yes” votes.
Haines forms committee to parse federal COVID-19 relief
The assembly formed a CARES Act ad hoc committee to delve into questions of how to spend the roughly $4 million coming to the municipality over the course of the next few months.
On Monday, the Alaska Legislature approved roughly $569 million in CARES Act coronavirus relief for distribution to communities throughout Alaska.
Under current federal guidelines, these funds can’t be used by local or state government to replace lost revenue like sales tax or school bond debt reimbursement. The CARES Act requires that payments be used exclusively to cover “necessary expenditures incurred due to…COVID-19” between March 1 and Dec. 30 of this year.
In a memo to the assembly, borough manager Debra Schnabel outlined potential uses for CARES Act funds that meet current guidelines including emergency financial assistance for individuals, loans or grants for small businesses and nonprofits, payroll expenses for employees that provide services related to COVID-19 mitigation, capital improvement projects related to COVID-19 such as equipment purchases for the clinic and programs to provide services to vulnerable populations suffering from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Schnabel said ideas advanced by the Haines Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) or other municipalities include: rent relief for tenants, utility relief for businesses, subsidized legal and accounting services for businesses going through bankruptcy, and forgivable loans. Individual towns in Washington and Oregon are offering residents discounts on utility bills equal to the amount they spend at local stores.
In the memo, Schnabel recommended formation of a working group to come up with a plan for CARES Act use and said establishing formulas for distributing funds would be a good way to manage community expectations.
At the assembly meeting, members Brenda Josephson, Stephanie Scott and Jerry Lapp volunteered to participate in the working group.
Schnabel suggested adding the borough’s chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart to the ad hoc committee to help members navigate the complexities of the CARES Act.
During public comment, HEDC executive director Margaret Friedenauer urged the assembly to make sure public participation is possible. She said that she and many others in the community including the Chamber of Commerce executive director and local business owners have devoted time to understanding the CARES Act.
“You have a lot of resources to draw upon, Friedenauer said.
Last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced a bill that would broaden the use of CARES Act funding to include replacement for borough revenue lost due to COVID-19. The bill has not moved since its introduction a week ago.
The Haines CARES Act ad hoc committee will meet for the first time on Monday, May 18 at 3 pm.