The Haines Borough Assembly on Dec. 28 approved an ordinance that creates a waiting period for tour applicants with dodgy histories and rejected a tax- exempt request for a piece of land near Chilkoot Lake held by the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Mayor Jan Hill cast the tie-breaking vote to reject the exemption request, joining assembly members Greg Goodman, Steve Vick and Daymond Hoffman. […]

Borough manager Mark Earnest has offered the tourism director position to a 2001 University of Alaska-Southeast graduate who worked as a naturalist for Holland America. Tanya Carlson, a product developer at Holiday Vacations in Eau Claire, Wis., attended a Dec. 20 meet-and-greet at the Haines Borough Public Library as one of three finalists for the position, and Earnest selected […]

A meeting will be held Jan. 26 to begin work toward downtown revitalization. The meeting time and location are pending. At the request of Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest, businesswoman Lenise Henderson-Fontenot is organizing the meeting that will bring together downtown merchants with other stakeholders to start mapping out the process for the project. “The idea is to […]

A U.S. Senate bill that included $478,000 for the Haines harbor was defeated last month, but borough manager Mark Earnest said he is “optimistic” about other sources for federal money. “There was an omnibus bill that was making its way through the Senate, but it was not adopted and did not pass the Senate,” Earnest said. “It […]

The Haines Borough Assembly Dec. 14 approved resolutions that ranked 2011 federal and state legislative priorities. The capital budget priorities for the Legislature, in order, were road upgrades, boat harbor improvements and the Lutak port facility master plan. “I always remember this list being way longer than this,” said member Scott Rossman. Borough manager Mark Earnest said he had consulted State […]

The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a new fuel tariff expected to nearly quadruple municipal revenues from shipments, based on current volumes. The borough approved a rate of 2 cents per gallon, dropping to 1.75 cents on volumes in excess of five million gallons per year. It will bring in $237,000 per year, compared to […]

Haines Borough planning commissioners last week approved a variance for Haines Assisted Living’s addition, but said that continuing, after-the-fact variances were rendering the group meaningless. “Why are we here if you can build whatever you want and then say, ‘oops,’ afterwards? Even if it’s an honest mistake, it still isn’t what code is and it makes […]

Two of three finalists for the Haines Borough’s vacant tourism director position are expected to attend a 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, meet-and-greet at the Haines Borough Public Library. Borough manager Mark Earnest said Tanya Carlson, a product developer at Holiday Vacations in Eau Claire, Wis., and Ross Silkman, sales manager for Alaska Wildland Adventures in Girdwood, would appear […]