In her borough manager’s report to the Haines Borough Assembly Tuesday, Annette Kreitzer noted she’d sent a cease-and-desist letter to Southeast Roadbuilders, the contractors working on a project just past the Lutak Dock on Aug. 7. The project drew consternation from residents, who noted that the thousands of square feet of dirt that was moved in the area should have required a borough land use permit and, potentially, conditional use approval. Roger Schnabel, who was involved with the construction, told CVN the site would be used to store gravel for shipment to the nearby Greens Creek mine. According to Kreitzer, Schnabel and workers on the site were cooperative and stopped construction immediately after the letter was sent. She said she believed the contractors “got ahead of themselves” in the project. Kreitzer said it was unclear what fines or other penalties might be issued, and said she took “full responsibility” for allowing the project to move so far along before they were notified of potentially unpermitted work. She also noted that borough code was often vague and contradictory about when work permits were required. “Even if there ends up being a situation where we end up having to fine someone, we want to work with them to come to a resolution and to come to a cooperative understanding.” According to the letter, Southeast Roadbuilders did apply for a land use permit on Aug. 2, but it hasn’t yet been reviewed.
Kreitzer also explained some of the reason the public swimming pool had to close last week. According to Kreitzer Chilkat Custom Contractors, hired to do repairs this summer “frankly didn’t do the job right the first time,” resulting in slippery floors in the shower room. “They put down some kind of coating that covered up all of the tackiness that normally happens when you step into a shower.” At least two people fell in the shower room, though neither was seriously hurt, Kreitzer said, but it was enough to lead the borough to close down the pool so new mats could be installed. The pool was reopened on Monday, Aug. 7. Kreitzer said she would be discussing ways to recoup some of the $150,000 allocated for the pool repairs from the contractor.
A Carnival Cruise Lines ship visited Haines for the first time last week, according to Kreitzer. She said she planned to meet with corporate executives for Carnival along with Haines tourism director Rebecca Hylton and Mayor Douglas Olerud to discuss future visits. Carnival’s ships generally have capacity for less than 2,000 passengers, Kreitzer said. That’s less than the largest ships that visit Southeast Alaska, which are double that size. Kreitzer said she’d also bring up the issue of more Carnival visits with the tourism advisory board.