The Haines Borough Assembly approved a new director for the Sheldon Museum Tuesday. John Hairr, currently site manager for the House in the Horseshoe State Historic Society, will assume his duties in August, said Jim Heaton, president of the the museum’s board of trustees. “He’s well educated,” said Jim Shook, vice president of the Board of Trustees, […]
Search results
Posted inNews
Money issues sank Connelly Lake plans
Difficulty securing funding from the state-operated Alaska Energy Authority appears to have been the key factor in Alaska Power and Telephone’s decision to abandon permitting for the Connelly Lake hydro project. The scale and cost of the project – including a plan to sell excess power to cruise ships – hurt state funding opportunities, according to recent […]
Posted inNews
Muniplex cost: $8.6 million
An Anchorage-based architect estimates a new “muniplex” including Haines Borough offices, a fire hall, police station and assembly chambers would cost the Haines Borough about $8.5 million to build. The estimate does not include design, construction administration, furniture, fixtures, building permits, geological investigation or hazardous clean-up (if necessary). Jason Gamache, an architect with McCool Carlson Green, provided estimates for […]
Posted inNews
Assembly retains parking rules
The Haines Borough Planning Commission will have to go back to the drawing board to address parking requirements, as the assembly on June 25 struck down an ordinance endorsed by the commission to relax the rules. The ordinance would have allowed commercial business developers to allow adjacent, on-street parking to count toward parking space requirements with the permission […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Time to end mobster-style government
I attended what I believed to be a meeting on whether or not Mark Earnest should be kept on as Haines Borough manager June 10. Turned out that his contract – which has not expired – has already been extended and the meeting was to review his contract: A classic example of the wagon moving before the horse. Once […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Borough adopts roster-style ballot
Elections for positions on the Haines Borough Assembly and school board will no longer pit candidate vs. candidate for specific seats. Mayor Stephanie Scott broke a 3-3 tie Tuesday to establish a roster-style ballot, eliminating the current system in which candidates vie for designated, individual seats. Assembly members Debra Schnabel, Joanne Waterman and Norm Smith supported the change; Dave Berry, Steve Vick and Jerry Lapp were opposed. “This system simply […]
Posted inNews
Borough may offer early retirement
The Haines Borough may offer an early retirement incentive program to its employees in order to recoup some of the lost funding from state and federal sources. The assembly voted Tuesday to forward the draft program plan to the Government Services Committee and Finances Committee for review. The program would be available to employees who have worked […]
Posted inNews
Teachers, staff secure raises
The Haines Borough school board on June 13 approved employee contracts that include a 2 percent raise for teachers and other district employees and a one-year, $550 per capita “stipend” to employees to defray rising costs of health insurance. Board members also approved a 25-cent per hour raise for teachers’ aides and custodians, raising the base rate for […]
Posted inNews
Borough staffers fill in as acting manager
The Haines Borough is playing musical chairs with its top position until July 3, when manager Mark Earnest will return to work from a two-and-a-half week vacation. Earnest left June 17, putting second-in-command clerk Julie Cozzi in the acting manager position. Cozzi, then, left June 25. As the third and final borough officer, chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart would […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Borough eyes legislative office
Haines may soon be offering its residents a faster, more effective way of connecting with legislators and gaining up-to-date information about the goings-on in the state government. The Haines Borough Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday requesting the Legislative Affairs Council work with the borough to establish a legislative information office (LIO) in the Haines library. An LIO […]