A new budget draft discussed at Tuesday’s Haines Borough Assembly meeting proposes cuts including a one-month closure of the library and a year-long closure of the museum. The assembly has yet to officially adopt the new draft. It will have the opportunity to do so at its next meeting on May 12. Borough manager Debra Schnabel drafted the new […]
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Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly approves $3,000 chamber request
The Haines Borough Assembly unanimously approved at its Tuesday meeting the Haines Chamber of Commerce’s request for $3,000 and declined to discuss a $20,000 request from the Alaska Avalanche Information Center. Prior to the meeting, both organizations had submitted funding requests for assembly consideration. The chamber has lost revenue with the loss of its pull-tab operation due […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly requests new budget with more cuts to offset sales tax loss
On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly introduced the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and began discussion of changes necessary to reflect the stark revenue realities of COVID-19. Borough manager Debra Schnabel’s budget estimates a 40% reduction in sales tax revenue for this year and makes a series of cuts to offset the reduction, including […]
Posted inNews
Big cuts could be on the horizon for Haines
Elimination of borough funding for the Haines Economic Development Corporation, reduced tourism office staff and seasonal operation of the library and museum were cost-saving ideas raised at Tuesday’s preliminary meeting on the budget. At the meeting, several assembly members said they do not believe the current draft budget’s 40% reduction in sales tax revenue is […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Jusi will be Haines’ new police officer, eventually
Haines dispatcher Max Jusi has been recommended to fill the vacant officer position on the police force. However, the next step in the process—the actual hiring—is on hold while the assembly considers a boroughwide hiring freeze. A panel composed of borough staff including Celeste Grimes, Tim Holm, Josh Dryden and manager Debra Schnabel endorsed Jusi’s hire after […]
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Highway construction could start in July
Despite ongoing right-of-way disputes and pandemic concerns, summer work on the Haines Highway construction project is still scheduled to take place, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation. The goal of the project is to widen and straighten the Haines Highway between milepost 3.9 and 25 to allow for a 55-mph speed limit. Construction began […]
Posted inNews
New budget draft cuts Mosquito Lake Community Center
Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel has submitted a new draft of the budget for the assembly’s consideration that removes funding for the Mosquito Lake Community Center. After Schnabel released her first draft on April 1, several assembly members said they were concerned that the budget did not cut enough to accommodate the economic realities of COVID-19. “We […]
Posted inNews
Library pick-up service to continue
The Haines Library’s pick-up service will continue for the foreseeable future. After discussion at Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting, member Paul Rogers withdrew his resolution which would have ended the service. Rogers said he had introduced the resolution because he was concerned that the library was accepting returns and lending the same books out to new […]
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Josephson asks borough manager to curtail role as EOC director
Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel was asked to relinquish her role as incident commander for the Emergency Operations Center at Tuesday’s assembly meeting. Assembly member Brenda Josephson raised the issue at the end of the meeting. She said a lot of the regular functions of the borough administration have been falling through the cracks in recent weeks […]
Posted inNews
Property owners receive two-week extension for filing appeals
The deadline for landowners to appeal the assessed value of their property has been extended to April 30. The original deadline had been this past Tuesday. Assembly member Brenda Josephson, who introduced the measure at Tuesday’s assembly meeting, said she felt an extension was necessary given the unprecedented nature of social-distancing measures. She said she […]