Find the September 10 Haines Borough Assembly agenda here.
A new grant for the public safety building
The borough has been given the opportunity to apply for a $20 million community change grant with the borough potentially getting another $14 million for a public safety training center.
The aging building has been a concern for both the police and fire departments who say it has inadequate electrical capacity, failing walls, not enough parking for fire engines and the potential for flooding in the event of a tsunami.
The new grant application would be a partnership between the borough, the Haines Economic Development Corporation and the Takshanuk Watershed Council. Assembly members were asked to consider giving HEDC $10,000 to write up the borough’s part of the grant request.
Assembly member Debra Schnabel said she felt comfortable that HEDC would be able to produce a qualifying grant application and encouraged other members of the assembly to vote in favor of spending the money.
“The opportunity to pull in $14 million for the creation, or the ongoing construction of the public safety and training center – it would be a huge impetus for us to continue doing,” Schnabel said.
But, assembly member Natalie Dawson said she was concerned about the borough’s ability to successfully manage such a large grant, given its issues with the Lutak Dock project.
“This brings back a little bit of trauma associated with the ongoing issue of the Lutak Dock in that we got ourselves into a $25 million grant that we have not successfully managed so far,” Dawson said. “I haven’t seen the ability yet of the borough to manage a really large grant, and to say that we’re going to apply for – and if we get – manage another, almost as large grant as the Lutak Dock project that we’re currently mired in… makes me nervous.”
HEDC Executive Director Cindy Zuluaga-Jimenez told assembly members to look at the timeline on the grant project.
“There will be chances for the assembly to look at the drafts and comments and additionally, if we are granted the grant, there will be robust community engagement in the three years that are allowed up to 2029 to build the community public safety building,” she said. “So you do have a lot of time to actually engage with the community.”
Assembly member Craig Loomis said he was concerned that there has not been a lot of public input on the idea of applying for the grant.
Mayor Tom Morphet encouraged assembly members to consider that it is not a foregone conclusion that the borough would get the funds just because it applied for them.
Ultimately, the assembly voted 4-1 to direct the manager to enter into a $10,000 contract with HEDC to write the borough’s portion of the grant application with Loomis dissenting.
FEMA appeal for the Porcupine Road
The borough is currently going through an appeal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency which clawed back nearly $1.5 million in funding for work done on the Porcupine Trail Road after the agency found the borough broke federal rules in rebuilding portions of the road in 2023.
The initial appeal was made at the state level, and the borough is now preparing to appeal at the federal level to FEMA in Washington.
The borough has continued to retain Birch, Horton, Bittner, & Cherot as its legal council. The law firm described going into “phase two” of the appeal which includes a review of FEMA’s first decision denying the appeal, an analysis of whether the borough should continue with a second appeal or arbitration, and legal representation through either of those scenarios. Staff at the firm cost $175-$350 hourly for their work.
Interim Manager Elke Doom said she has reached out to the state to see if it might consider assisting Haines with legal costs.
“As they are the ones telling us we need to appeal,” Doom said. “They’ve been very positive. They’ve not actually said yes, but they said they would definitely consider it.”
The assembly did not take specific action, but Doom said she would continue to keep the body updated on the status of the appeal.
“The appeal window is very short. The window is ending this month. So, we’ll have something very soon,” Doom said. “I hope for the best.”
Hiring a new manager
The borough has gotten 12 resumes for a permanent borough manager position. The assembly’s personnel committee planned to meet on Sept. 24 to review the resumes.
Assembly member Natalie Dawson asked if a salary range had been added to the position and interim manager Elke Doom said the range is between $140,000-$150,000. Additionally, Doom said she published the listing in the International City Manager’s Association website and its sister organization County Managers Association.
“So it is posted in two national publications,” Doom said. “So we’re really hopeful we’ll get some good resumes in.”
Doom said she also added a paragraph explaining why applicants might want to live in Haines.
Things like: “How good it is, what features we have here, why you want to be here,” Doom said. “The second portion, which is very important to people, is what the benefits are – the retirement, the dental, the healthcare, kind of outlined them so that a person can get a really good picture of, not only why they want to come to Haines, what we have to offer. Those types of things are so important to managers.”
Newest borough property to be developed as a park
A trust for the late Margaret Piggott has donated a parcel of land to the borough, located on Front Street near Beach Road, to specifically establish it as a public park with tidewater access.
Assembly members discussed ensuring the property, which has been assessed at just under $200,000, would be used as a park in perpetuity, rather than potentially being developed or sold in the future.
“I just don’t want to see this become a piece of property that the borough gets, we do a park for ten years and then we develop it and sell it,” said assembly member Gabe Thomas.” I can see people in 10-15 years saying, well that’s $600,000-an-acre land.”
Debra Schnabel called the donation generous.
“This is a beautiful piece of property. I’ve been really concerned that it might end up being condominiums or something like that,” Schnabel said.
She said what was striking is that Piggott’s property was offered with the specific option that there could be a sale to provide for the needs of families with disabled children if the borough did not want to accept the land. Piggott worked as a physical therapist, traveling often to remote locations.
“Perhaps we could think of it as developing a park with specific attention to people with disabilities so that it was a very ADA-accessible playground since we have such fabulous playgrounds in Haines,” Schnabel said.
Ultimately they put language into the resolution that requires that it be used as a park in perpetuity and adopted that plan unanimously.