The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday told concerned residents it would not slow plans for expansion of the Small Boat Harbor, but agreed to discuss an economic analysis of the project at a Finance Committee meeting next week. Tresham Gregg submitted an informal petition to the assembly with 100 signatures asking the borough to suspend engineering work […]
Search results
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Town, harbor have great potential
We the residents of Haines often lose sight of what we have and can have. Often people or groups come up with an idea to make Haines a better place. Then, once the idea gets in the public eye, people with a different perspective come out to say how wrong or how bad the idea […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Foundation donated 316 books
We need to say a special thanks to the Reading Foundation for the 316 new children’s books they have donated to the Summer Reading Program this year! When we have our Kick-Off party on May 22, there will be so many happy children who will be able to take home a book and start their […]
Posted inSchool Board, News
School board OKs plan to house preschool
What a difference a year can make. In spring 2014, Chilkat Valley Preschool officials were so discouraged by the Haines Borough School District’s cool response to a proposal for siting a modular preschool building on its grounds, they gave up on the idea and instead pursued a site near the Presbyterian Church. On Tuesday, the borough school board unanimously […]
Posted inNews
Pellet boiler project to test ‘Alaska’ burn tube
In the wake of an unresolved problem with wood pellet boilers in Haines, the Alaska Energy Authority has indefinitely extended a deadline for spending $1.2 million to put pellet-burners in Haines Borough facilities. Engineer Jams Vail, energy infrastructure project manager for AEA, said on April 30 that the grant completion date “is not set in stone.” The […]
Posted inNews
Borough studying more free dockings
With two cruise ship companies receiving docking fee waivers for the 2015 season, Haines Borough staff say additional waivers might boost the town’s economy through increased sales tax. The one-year waivers for the 2015 season, authorized by the assembly for Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises, amounted to a loss of $13,400 in revenue for the borough. However, […]
Posted inNews
Fuel spill stains 16 yards of soil at Lutak Dock
On April 21, at about 10:30 a.m., 125 gallons of jet fuel spilled from a Delta Western truck rack onto the ground at Lutak Dock. The dock’s owner, the Haines Borough, didn’t find out about the spill until two days after the fact, and when it did, it wasn’t from those responsible. Though Delta Western officials said they […]
Posted inNews
Sign law enforcement has shopkeepers seeing red
A recent decision by Haines Borough staff to begin enforcing a controversial sign law has already inflamed a Fort Seward business owner and prompted more discussion of the law at the Planning Commission level. Debi Knight Kennedy, owner of Forget-Me-Not Gallery on Tower Road, is appealing a notice by the borough to remove her business’s off-premises sign. […]
Posted inNews
Sosa hires interim police chief
A former Cordova police chief has conditionally accepted the position of interim police chief for the Haines Borough. Robert Griffiths of Scappoose, Ore., accepted manager David Sosa’s job offer Tuesday, pending completion of a background check. Sosa said he and Griffiths are in the process of discussing a salary and a start date. Griffiths worked as […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Sales increased 2 percent in 2014
An upswing in sales tax from tourism and construction helped offset a dip in retail sales, boosting Haines Borough sales tax income 2 percent in 2014. Taxable sales last year reached $52.4 million. The increase seems to defy previously held speculation that sales tax income was largely decided by the price of fuel: When the price of […]