In a 3-3 tie broken by Mayor Douglas Olerud, the Haines Borough Assembly voted to postpone discussion about returning a $350,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant. The postponement gives Haines Sheldon Museum advocates, including Rasmuson Foundation president Diane Kaplan, time to find a match for the grant, or another creative solution for keeping […]
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Assembly weighs Beach Road access versus stability assessment
The Haines Borough Assembly faces another difficult decision that will impact the lives of Beach Road property owners—whether to expedite the process of restoring power and permanent road access to homes by excavating down to the original road, or to allow the state-funded geotechnical stability assessment of the area to be completed. This winter, the state contracted […]
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Ambulance billing on the table, again
The Haines Borough plans to restart discussion of charging for ambulance service. “(The Haines Borough Volunteer Fire Department is) on target to have the busiest year that they have had and not only is it busy, but the severity of the calls is much higher than it used to be, and so we are starting to have conversations about […]
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Chamber facilitates AIDEA Lutak Dock financing discussion
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) last week proposed financing and developing Lutak Dock reconstruction to include an ore dock, a project that, according to AIDEA would diversify the local economy by supporting job growth and the “mining industry with a local mine on Alaska soil.” AIDEA presented its proposal to the Port and Harbor […]
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Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution delayed after public opposition
The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday postponed a resolution to make the town a “Second Amendment Sanctuary.” The vote to delay came after 45 minutes of discussion and an outpouring of public opposition. The resolution expresses the borough’s intent to uphold the right to bear arms and oppose efforts to infringe on that right. “The borough will […]
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Demand a severance tax
Where’s the money? With imminent round log export from the Haines Borough and potential mineral export in the future, it is all going overseas to China and Japan. We get the environmental degradation and serious impact to our quality of life, ability to sustain ourselves off the land, plus the clean up costs when the damage is […]
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Borough failed to effectively communicate end of Beach Road evacuation order
There is no mandatory evacuation zone in the Beach Road neighborhood, and there hasn’t been one for three and a half months, according to Haines Borough officials–a surprise to residents who thought they couldn’t legally return home. “I was told it was legally binding (in December). Otherwise, I’d have been driving my truck up and down there […]
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Borough asks public to stay out of Beach Road neighborhood
The Haines Borough has posted signs at the entrance to the newly reopened section of Beach Road that read, “Warning-Access prohibited. Area Under surveillance. Violators will be prosecuted. Area is geologically unstable and dangerous.” As of Wednesday morning, it was unclear whether people would be cited for using the road. The assembly rescinded a resolution closing Beach […]
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Borough and Alten reach settlement
The Haines Borough reached a settlement agreement on April 12 with former Haines Sheldon Museum director Helen Alten. The settlement involved a $25,000 payment to Alten. Other details about the agreement are confidential. “We have reached a settlement that was agreeable to both parties,” Mayor Douglas Olerud said in a Monday interview, declining to comment further. Alten also declined […]
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Commerce committee discusses donating land for new SEARHC facility
The Haines Borough Assembly is considering donating land to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) in exchange for construction of a new medical facility in town. The assembly’s Commerce Committee began preliminary discussion of the proposal, originally brought forward by member Caitie Kirby, at a meeting Tuesday night. “This is really a key thing for Haines. […]