Borough pushes for childcare reimbursements
Experts say that across the country providing childcare and early childhood education is increasingly a losing proposition financially.
At the borough level, there’s been ongoing discussion of how to support childcare providers in the face of that nationwide trend. Amid much longer-range planning, there’s one issue that seems like it could be a quicker fix.
One of the Chilkat Valley’s long-time childcare providers, Kim Larson, had for years received state reimbursements for her students’ meals during the day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she lost the funding, but only because the state said it would no longer send staff to Haines to inspect her business — a prerequisite for receiving the money.
Now Larson says she pays around $15,000 out of pocket per year to cover the meals she serves to students.
According to both borough officials and state legislators, getting Larson’s food funding back would just require convincing the state to once again send an inspector to town.
On Tuesday, the assembly lent its official voice to that effort by requesting that the governor and state legislature include funding for inspections in this year’s state budget.
The assembly briefly discussed the possibility of reimbursing food costs out of the borough’s coffers in the absence of that state funding, at least temporarily. Preliminary discussions hinted at all licensed childcare providers being eligible for the reimbursements. The assembly will officially take up discussion of that topic at their next meeting.
Porcupine Road still up in the air
The first phase of work on Porcupine Road is a closed book, after the borough won back $1.4 million in FEMA funding for the already-completed work in December. But planned second and third phases of the project, originally estimated to cost $15 million, Fullerton said, are still up in the air.
Borough manager Alekka Fullerton said Tuesday she had asked the state government and FEMA for an extension on the project’s original second and third phases earlier this month. No work has officially been done on those phases, though FEMA initially found that work had been completed in areas slated for later phases without authorization. Those findings were later overturned on appeal.
Fullerton said she submitted the extension request upon learning that after a Feb. 17 deadline, any possibility of the project being funded by the federal agency would be gone altogether.
Fullerton, however, emphasized that no decision about whether to move forward with the project has been made.
“I would hate to be making a $15 million decision due to our failure to meet a deadline — that is the extent of that request,” Fullerton said. “Pursuing this, or not, is squarely in the hands of the assembly.”
The topic is set for discussion at the Feb. 24 assembly meeting.
Lutak Dock project manager position developed
Borough staff will begin drawing up a job description for a Lutak Dock project manager position – an initially controversial idea that ended with a unanimous vote.
Proposed by assembly member Eben Sargent, the idea is to hire a temporary contract position dedicated to the dock project. According to Sargent’s pitch, the project manager could provide oversight and take workload off full-time borough employees.
“I think just having that job description out there puts another tool in the kit,” Sargent said. “If we had a great person here, I’d pull the clerk off (the dock project), pull the planner off it…. there’s a ton of busywork in here that needs to happen.”
The idea drew support from a number of assembly members, including Forster, who said it was “unfair” for the borough manager to be responsible for dock project oversight on top of running the borough administration. Assembly member Mark Smith pointed to his own military experience, in which large-dollar projects always had project managers, he said.
But Smith, and others, also raised concerns. For Smith, it was the possibility of the position being made permanent and adding to the borough’s payroll costs.
Assembly member Gabe Thomas shared that concern, and asked whether the position would make project management more complicated. “Can we use grant funds for this?” Thomas asked. “It just seems like more time. It feels like a stall.”
Forster, however, took issue with the idea of the proposal being a stalling measure.
“We’re talking about doing a $20 million infrastructure project without a project manager. That’s not a stall,” Forster said. “Look at (current dock project owner-advisor) Moffat & Nichol’s hourly rate. If we can handle things internally that’s good for us.”
Ultimately, the assembly voted unanimously to approve the outlines of a new position.
A new employee likely won’t be walking into the borough office anytime soon. Even after a job listing is posted, the assembly still plans to look at who applies before deciding whether to make a hire, which could be weeks or months away.
CIA equipment sharing formalized with borough
The Haines Borough has formalized an agreement with the Chilkoot Indian Association for equipment sharing between the two governments.
Fullerton said it would allow governments to avoid spending on duplicate equipment, particularly specialized equipment.
Formalizing the agreement is meant to ensure operators are properly qualified and equipment is properly insured, Fullerton said.
Fullerton faced a number of questions about the agreement from Smith, seemingly to ensure the agreement was an even deal, for both the borough and for businesses in the borough.
Part of Fullerton’s response was that the equipment currently switching hands is Chilkoot Indian Association equipment being loaned to the Haines Borough, including a road sander. Assembly member Gabe Thomas, who is also CIA’s transportation director, said CIA had also lent the borough a loader to clear snow from Lutak Dock during winter storms last month.
“In an era when the assembly cut some of the equipment purchases on the last (capital improvement project) list… it makes more sense that if we have this equipment in the valley we all share it and don’t all have to purchase it for something that will be used minimally,” Fullerton said.
Smith also raised the possibility that the sharing agreement between the governments would hurt local businesses.
“It occurred to some people in the community who told me it puts businesses who do like-minded work with that equipment at a disadvantage of providing that service to the borough,” Smith said.
In response, other assembly members said the measure was a worthwhile way to cut borough spending. Said assembly member Craig Loomis, “it can’t be a daily thing, but when [stuff] hits the fan, it has to be worked out.”
State lobbyist hired
The assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to bring back Reid Harris as the borough’s state lobbyist in Juneau. The contract will pay Harris $40,000 in a contract running from Feb. 12 2026 to Feb. 12 2027. The fee is a slight bump up from recent years, in which the borough has paid Harris $36,000 annually.
Dalton Trail RMSA shifted
A small change to the Dalton Trail Road Maintenance Service Area: the assembly will take on the citizen board’s responsibility for setting commercial user fees. Assembly member Cheryl Stickler said in her past experience working with the board determining the commercial user fees was an “onerous task” and “major hurdle.”
The commercial user fees have relevance for recreation and guiding activity in the area. It also could have future relevance if there is increased mining activity at the Palmer Project, some assembly members said. The Palmer Project is accessed by Porcupine Road, which is in the road maintenance area.
Going forward, the assembly will now make those commercial user-fee decisions, and the citizen board will retain their other duties determining road maintenance in the Dalton Trail area.