The Haines Borough Assembly approved a short-term access plan for Beach Road aimed at balancing residents’ desire to return home with the desire to secure FEMA funding for completion of a geotechnical study. Up until last week, it had appeared that the borough would need to choose between expediting the process of restoring power and permanent road […]
Search results
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Assembly considers police overtime hour increase
The Haines Borough Assembly took no action on several police budget-related amendments at a meeting Tuesday, despite discussion at a budget Committee of the Whole meeting the week prior. Amendments discussed at last week’s budget meeting included increasing police overtime and standby hours, and transferring money from the areawide general fund to the townsite fund to reimburse […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
The sky isn’t falling
No, Chicken Little, the sky is NOT falling. I agree with previous naysayers Aronson and Figdor who deplore Mr. Paul Rogers’ wrongheaded resolution to make Haines a Second Amendment sanctuary city. I own and have enjoyed guns for trapshooting, black powder rifle competition, and deer hunting. Both my father and my husband were NRA members, […]
Posted inNews, Mining, Haines Borough
Assembly to look at severance tax as source of revenue
The Haines Borough Assembly is considering a severance tax. Assembly member Carol Tuynman suggested the revenue-generating measure, a tax on natural resources extracted from the borough, at an April 29 committee of the whole meeting. In recent years, the borough has used savings, cuts and federal stimulus money to compensate for revenue losses due to the pandemic […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Museum funding uncertain; CIA offers to take on building
Funding for the Haines Sheldon Museum in this year’s Haines Borough budget remains an open question after more than an hour of discussion at a Government Affairs and Services (GAS) Committee meeting Tuesday. “I hope that the timeline (for reaching a decision about museum funding) is rational and is not a slow-rolling disaster, but on July 1, […]
Posted inNews
Beach Road residents brace for another year without power, reliable access
Beach Road residents will have to wait another year for a permanent road and power to their homes if the Haines Borough Assembly follows the advice of state disaster officials and landslide researchers. Landslide Technology’s George Machan summarized the preliminary findings of their analysis of the fatal Dec. 2 landslide on Beach Road and answered questions from […]
Posted inNews
Alten hired as deputy clerk
Former Haines Sheldon Museum director Helen Alten is the new Haines Borough deputy clerk. Alten, who was brought on as a temporary, emergency hire to ease the burden of borough clerk and interim manager Alekka Fullerton, began her new job on Monday. “It feels good to have work. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a […]
Posted inNews
Limited in-person assembly meeting attendance likely to return
The Haines Borough is revisiting its COVID-19 mitigation policy regarding assembly meeting attendance after a handful of residents showed up to testify in-person at an April 27 meeting. For most of the past year, borough meeting attendance has been relegated to Zoom in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The new policy, if approved by […]
Posted inNews
Haines seeks funding for two trail projects
Two borough-supported applications have been submitted to the state Recreational Trails Program for improvements to Haines’ trail system. The Recreational Trails Program provides grants to develop and repair motorized, non-motorized and mixed-use trails in the state. It requires a local match worth 10% of total project costs. Applications for the most recent grant cycle were […]
Posted inNews
Royal Caribbean talks berthing agreement with assembly
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) is interested in a contractual berthing agreement with Haines, cruise line executives said during a Monday meeting with Haines Borough Assembly members. The meeting was the culmination of more than a year of talks between borough tourism director Steven Auch and RCCL executives. Last May, the assembly adopted a resolution supporting increased […]