The Haines borough manager said she thinks the Federal Emergency Management Agency erred when it found that the borough had broken federal rules in rebuilding Porcupine Trail Road last summer.
In a Dec. 22 memo, FEMA wrote that the borough, through its contractor Southeast Road Builders, had violated the conditions of its $1.4 million grant. FEMA said the borough had widened the road beyond the approved 22-foot width, failed to consult with the Chilkat Indian Village, and had allowed Constantine Mining to pay for some of the repairs without going through proper FEMA review.
FEMA’s decision means the borough will not be reimbursed for the $1.4 million it spent on the road repairs.
Annette Kreitzer, the borough manager, said she believed FEMA’s conclusions were wrong, and said she would encourage the assembly to appeal the determination within 60 days.
“It’s our contention that they didn’t have accurate measurements,” said Kreitzer.
She said borough staff are working with ProHNS, the engineering firm that designed the project, to compile records to show the road wasn’t widened.
Officials from Klukwan say it was.
Jones Hotch, vice president of the Chilkat Indian Village, the federally recognized tribe in Klukwan, said road work covered soapberry bushes. He said tribal members gather berries along the road.
“We had a real good spot and they covered it up,” said Hotch, “What a waste.”
Hotch said tribal members often pressure-cook the small, red berries and then mix them to turn them to a similar consistency to ice cream. “It’s pretty special,” he said.
FEMA said the total road work resulted in about 2.28 acres of ground disturbance outside of the approved activities.
The seven-mile road about 25 miles north of Haines is used heavily in summer by Constantine Mining, which is exploring a copper and zinc deposit in the area. The road regularly sustains damage during spring and summer flooding and third parties have paid for construction work in the past.
After heavy precipitation in 2020, the borough applied for a grant from FEMA to cover repair work on the road.
In April 2023, Liz Cornejo, a representative of Constantine Metals, sent a letter to the borough asking if the company could shore up part of the road around 2-mile using its own money until a more permanent fix was made. Kreitzer responded saying that she had consulted with the borough’s attorney and that the construction could go forward.
Constantine’s road work, as well as work paid for by the borough, was done over the summer of 2023.
In the fall, FEMA sent a team to look into questions raised by Takshanuk Watershed Council head Derek Poinsette after he saw some fill around salmon-bearing streams. Kreitzer accompanied the team during an August site visit. She said FEMA’s team was not made up of professional surveyors, which she said led to the inaccurate measurements. She also noted that the bid specifications surveyed the road as sometimes expanding beyond 30 feet wide.
Natalie Shaver, a spokesperson for FEMA, said the team that visited included both officials from the state of Alaska and FEMA “who are accustomed to reviewing projects; the site inspection did not require surveying.”
FEMA also raised concerns in its memo about documentation of the timing of certain damages and what it called “some conflicting information and it would need to be cleared up and documented.” Some of the damages occurred in the summer after the 2020 winter precipitation. Kreitzer said that’s because heavy snow melt contributed to some of the damage. She said the borough had been clear from the start about the timing of the damage.
The assembly is expected to decide on whether or not to appeal after hearing from Kreitzer and ProHNS at the next meeting on Jan. 23.
Mayor Tom Morphet said he’d be eager to hear more details from Kreitzer about the appeal.
“I support at least looking at an appeal, because FEMA has $1.4 million. We don’t have that kind of money lying around like the federal government does,” he said.