Town Hall scheduled for March 13 Along with tax increases and spending cuts, the Haines Borough Assembly will consider raising the borough’s tax cap during budget discussions because Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget would reduce state revenue to the borough by about $1.7 million. Dunleavy’s cuts to school debt reimbursement, raw fish tax and the education budget […]
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Posted inNews, School Board
School board considers jobs, programs as cuts loom
Last week a school board work group discussed best and worst case scenarios in response to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget, including layoffs and cutting programs such as art, physical education and music. Based on last year’s budget, the Haines Borough School District was expecting to receive $2.2 million in state funding for 2020, but under Dunleavy’s proposal it […]
Posted inNews, Housing
GAS committee pulls stakes from tents in draft housing ordinance
The Government Affairs and Services Committee advanced a recommendation to the assembly on a substitute ordinance for employee housing that would prohibit tents and impose sanitation requirements. “We’re trying to hold employers to a standard that they need to pay people well enough so that they don’t have to live in a tent,” committee chair […]
Posted inThank You Letters
Thanks for another great ski race
Sunday’s annual Miles Klehini Ski Classic was a huge success with 21 racers attending, plus friends and family. Participants enjoyed a barbecue lunch and blazing sunshine in the unparalleled beauty of the bald eagle preserve. I’d like to thank everyone who made the event a success with labor and donations. First thanks to State Park […]
Posted inNews
State considers status of wildlife Trooper position
State wildlife trooper Trent Chwialkowski will leave Haines before summer for a post in Cantwell, Alaska. “No decision or change has been made in regards to the Haines Alaska Wildlife Trooper post,” said Department of Public Safety spokesperson Megan Peters. “At present, all one-man trooper posts are being analyzed.” A “blue shirt” trooper position in […]
Posted inNews
Resource extraction debate surfaces conflict-of-interest issues for officials
For the second time in three months, planning commission members examined if their voting powers were compromised by a commissioner’s potential conflict of interest. According to borough code, conflict of interest is defined as “substantial financial gain or personal interest.” It defines the former as interest that would result in a gain or loss exceeding […]
Posted inMining
Two mining forums tell different tales
Two entities organized two mining forums this week that focused on community impacts and solutions from industrial mining—a split that largely reflected the perspectives and concerns about a potential mine at the Palmer Project 30 miles north of Haines. The Chilkat Valley Mining Forum Committee organized Sunday’s forum at the American Legion. Lynn Canal Conservation and Chilkat […]
Posted inNews
Assembly favors ‘soft opening’ for tour code
The Haines Borough Assembly unanimously approved a temporary change to tourism code for 2019 that will reverse by March 1, 2020 if the borough does not further develop the code. “This resolution lets us look at unintended consequences and allows us to have a soft opening,” borough clerk Alekka Fullerton said in a commerce committee meeting last […]
Posted inNews
Assembly directs resource extraction to committee
Borough planner Holly Smith and residents on both sides of the aisle asked the Haines Borough Assembly to hold off adopting an ordinance that would allow small-scale resource extraction in the Mud Bay zoning district until concerns are worked through. On Tuesday, the assembly referred a resource extraction draft ordinance, approved by the planning commission, to the […]
Posted inNews
Kiehl: Governor used ‘meat ax’ approach
State Sen. Jesse Kiehl’s visit to Haines was dominated by questions about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget that aims to reduce more than $1 billion in state spending by significantly cutting the Alaska Marine Highway System, education and municipal revenue-sharing programs. Kiehl described the governor’s proposed budget as a “meat ax” approach, and told assembly […]