Sub-surface movement continues in the Oceanview Drive and Lutak Road area, prompting the Haines Borough late last week to implement its emergency response plan and causing one family to voluntarily move out of their shifting home. A “command center” was set up in public facilities director Brian Lemcke’s office on Jan. 19 and local disaster response planner Roc Ahrens […]

The Haines Borough Planning Commission last week in a 3-3 vote denied a company’s request for a permit to use a 26 Mile heliport for commercial helicopter skiing. Commissioners Andy Hedden, Roger Maynard and Donnie Turner on Jan. 19 supported the conditional use permit for Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA). Rob Goldberg, Danny Gonce and Lee Heinmiller were opposed, […]

The Haines Borough Assembly this week directed manager Mark Earnest to provide a report outlining options for maintenance and ownership of the Chilkat Center. “This is a facility that is in need of a solution and has been asking for that solution for a long time,” said assemblyman Steve Vick. “This information is what we’d need in order to come […]

In what Haines Borough officials are calling “significant ground failure” cracks and heaves have recently and suddenly appeared along Oceanview Drive and Lutak Road, the main route for travelers Alaska Marine Ferry Terminal to Haines and beyond. Borough and state engineers and geologists arrived in Haines on Wednesday to assess the ground cracks, surface ruptures, lateral spreading and differential […]

The Haines Borough Assembly approved an 18-month contract extension and 2 percent pay raise for borough manager Mark Earnest following an evaluation last week. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to continue serving the community and the borough, and I look forward to pushing the projects that we’ve got moving in the next year and a half,” Earnest said. […]

The Haines Borough Assembly in a 4-2 vote Tuesday introduced an ordinance that would make global positioning system data for helicopter skiing confidential. “The only thing about this ordinance is you have to be satisfied that the GPS data is indeed a trade secret, and the people who bear the burden of that proof are the operators […]

The Haines Borough will send a letter to Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures informing them that use of a heliport at 26 Mile for commercial helicopter skiing is a violation of the company’s tour permit that could result in revocation. Mayor Stephanie Scott said the letter has been approved by the borough’s attorney. “We intend to hold the line. The terms of […]

A committee of the Haines Borough Assembly took a baby step toward funding a Chilkat Center roof repair at a Dec. 27 workshop. The borough recently received a $650,000 estimate to rebuild the center’s roof, including structural work and replacement of cedar shakes with metal roofing. Adding insulation is expected to stem a problem that starts when […]