Lutak Dock
The borough is seeking a project manager for the Lutak Dock, a role assembly member Gabe Thomas said could keep the dock on schedule by “keeping the fire lit.”
That comes as assembly member Eben Sargent again brought up concerns with the management of the project, including not having an updated schedule and concerns that current management may make it so “the price would be somewhat immovable to the builder.”
But before he could delve into all of his concerns, mayor Tom Morphet told Sargent that the assembly meeting was not the correct forum for airing those concerns.
“I don’t think this venue is a good one for a conversation between yourself and the manager,” Morphet said.
Morphet suggested that Sargent have a private conversation with the manager to address the questions he was presenting as well as coming to the assembly with a letter of concerns that the body could then review and send to its contractors.
Sargent told the assembly that he had written formal letters to the body, met with the manager privately, met with the harbormaster multiple times, participated in meetings, and reached out privately to Sean McFarlane, the Moffat & Nichol advisor working with the borough, who would not speak to him.
“I think it is highly likely that we would have problems constructing the dock within the parameters financially that we’ve ascribed. The reason this conversation is appropriate for the venue is the Haines Borough Assembly is the body that manages the financial resources, risks and responsibilities of the people we represent … and currently, in my opinion, is failing to do due diligence to protect those financial interests. So that is why I’m forcing this conversation,” he said.
One topic the assembly did spend some time on is the current schedule for getting the project built. Sargent pointed to the schedule being “entirely why we have failed in this project in the past.”
Borough manager Fullerton told the assembly that in the March project timeline and schedule presented by Moffat & Nichol, they had not accounted for the delay between when the assembly chose its preferred design and the federal Maritime Administration receiving the change.
That set the entire project schedule back a month and a half, she said.
Fullerton said she has asked consultants Moffatt & Nichol to start with the conceptual design.
“I realize that it might be slightly premature, but based on my conversation with MARAD and with their expectations, I felt that since time is of the essence, that we needed to go ahead and start with the development of the scope,” Fullerton said. The borough cannot start making substantial progress without an understanding of the scope of the design, she said.
The borough cannot start some major permit work until it can describe the project with details like the number of pilings, or columns of materials anchoring the dock, to be driven and how much fill will be excavated.
Tsunami Sirens
The borough is eligible to get one to three tsunami sirens through a grant from the state and the assembly voted Tuesday to move forward with acquiring the sirens. Potential locations include Lutak Road and around the Letnikof and Mud Bay Road area.
Fullerton estimated that the yearly maintenance costs per siren would range from $2,000 to $4,000. Assembly member Craig Loomis recalled the 1964 earthquake and tsunamis that resulted from that. He was in Haines at that time and said there was no tsunami to be seen, just the tide going out and back in.
Haines fire chief Zak Overmyer said local landslides that result in tsunamis are the major concern.
A landslide in the Lynn Canal could generate a wave more than 50 feet tall, according to a 2018 report from the state’s Division of Geology and Geophysical Surveys. Before Haines got its first siren in 2024, police officers evacuated residents by sending officers door-to-door and driving through the community with a bullhorn during a 2018 tsunami scare.
New vehicles
Borough staff are planning to buy a new $65,000 flatbed truck for the Public Works Department. Currently, staff are working a truck from the 1990s. The truck would be used for sanding roads. Both the truck and $74,000 for a new Chevrolet Tahoe police car were budgeted on the capital improvements list earlier this year. The assembly voted to move forward with the purchase of the truck but hold off on the new police car.
Outhouses
Assembly members also voted to schedule public hearings on a measure that would prohibit the use of outhouses in the Haines townsite. This decision came after a land-use permit request was submitted to the borough with an outhouse in a wetland.
Fullerton said she denied the permit and would “like some teeth behind me in denying to have outhouses in the townsite in today’s day and age.”
If passed, new language in the general approval criteria for the permit will explicitly ban construction, erection or maintenance of any temporary or sustained outhouse or privy which would allow human waste to be discharged into soil, ground or surface water unless it has been treated.
Morphet said that this question of outright prohibiting outhouses has come up in the past and that for many, they’re a nostalgic vestige of Alaska’s history.
“There’s an emotional connection to outhouses,” Morphet said.
Public hearings on the measure will be held July 28 and Aug. 11.