10 years ago
Assembly chooses Coast Guardsman as manager
The Haines Borough Assembly bucked the staff’s choice for manager on Saturday, voting 4-2 to offer the job to Coast Guard veteran William Seward over Mark Karet, a planner and development director with more than two decades of municipal experience.
Three groups – one comprised of assembly members, one of department heads and one of citizens – took turns Saturday interviewing the four manager finalists before converging to hash out the pros and cons of each one.
After an hour of discussion, it was clear Seward and Karet had risen to the top over finalists Paul Dauphinais, executive director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, and Kevin Opple, director of operations at a naval station in Everett, Wash.
While the assembly appeared to put more emphasis on hiring a candidate with a winning personality, staff lobbied for experience.
24 years ago
Local projects get nearly $1 million
Haines fared well for capital project funding in the waning days of the legislative session, with local projects set to receive nearly $1 million through direct capital appropriations and agency budgets.
Rep. Albert Kookesh (D-Angoon) said Wednesday although the list of projects is firm, the Legislature still hasn’t decided how to divide spending between general fund appropriations and state-issued bonds. “Nothing’s been funded yet, because the funding sources are still up in the air.”
The school district’s two biggest wish list items, paving most of the high school parking lot and rebuilding the tennis court, are set for funding through the state Department of Education.
The $269,440 paving project will correct drainage problems that have plagued the gymnasium side of the high school for years. The education department budget also includes $153,000 to replace leaky siding at the high school.
Klukwan School will receive $138,000 to fix mechanical systems and $110,000 for other building repairs. The village of Klukwan will receive $25,000 for repairs to the old BIA school where the municipal office is located.
The City of Haines received funding for a number of tourism-related projects, and money to continue work on harbor and utility expansion.
Grants include: $100,000 to help fund the last phase of the feasibility study for the Small Boat Harbor expansion project; $54,800 to study extending city water and sewer lines to the annexed area; $44,444 to continue rehabilitation of the Lutak Dock; and $35,000 to improve lighting at the Port Chilkoot Dock to comply with new federal security requirements.
Other visitor-related grants include: $20,000 to design a covered waterfront viewing pavilion; $11,000 to purchase a motorized cart to assist cruise ship passengers who have trouble walking on the dock; $10,000 to help pay for a new city vehicle; and $5,000 for visitor-related signs.
City councilor Norm Smith said the funding seems like a windfall during what was thought to be a lean period of state spending. “Considering the deficit as a whole for the state, we came out smelling like a rose… Everything we got was way more than we expected.”
Haines Borough capital projects receiving funding included $13,000 for repairs to the Chilkat Center and $12,000 for new fire department equipment.
47 years ago
Safe bicycling gets a boost
Bikers, K-8, went through bicycle safety instruction at the elementary school last Thursday and Friday under the direction of Alaska State Troopers Rod Guinn and Ted Backman, who were assisted by the school staff, community volunteers and Haines police.
Trooper Guinn, who was a city policeman here before he joined the troopers about 18 months ago, said that as far as he knows it is the first such riding course to be given in Southeast Alaska, perhaps in the state. He ran a similar program during the 10 years he was with the California Highway Patrol and has been trying to initiate actual riding instruction for Alaska youngsters.
He said most of the safety instruction is limited to the classrooms, like that given here on Thursday, and riders are not confronted with traffic patterns and signals like those laid out on the Haines school ground on Friday.
Riders lined up for a safety check by the troopers before they drove through a course that simulated stops, turns, and obstacles. A working signal light, the only one in the city, was operated by Ray Lewis, off duty after his regular shift as a city police officer.
The signal was salvaged from three broken ones by the Division of Highways in Juneau and was wired by the City of Haines.
Alan Heinrich, elementary principal, said he and John Fain, Haines police chief, have been working to bring together the program for two years.
“It was one of those busy, busy days, with several substitutes in, but the staff made it work,” Heinrich said.