The Haines Borough Assembly Tuesday added roughly $263,000 from a mixture of borough funds and CARES Act dollars to the $13 million operating and capital budget for the next fiscal year (FY22). Amendments included funding for the Haines Sheldon Museum, pool, public works department, a new borough planner, the Haines Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), the Haines Chamber […]
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Posted inNews
Lutak could get cell service
Cell phone service could be coming to Lutak. On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly introduced an ordinance that would authorize the lease of property behind Lutak Dock to Vertical Bridge LLC for construction of a communications tower. “It’ll be a 5G tower, providing service from Lutak Spur (Road), south,” planning commission chair Diana Lapham said. “It’s trying to bring us into the […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly Briefs
Election Canvass The Haines Borough Assembly canvassed the municipal election on Tuesday, tallying an additional 63 outstanding absentee votes. Candidates Gabe Thomas and Paul Rogers were elected with 592 and 480 votes, respectively. The assembly moved to appoint the third highest vote-getter, Zephyr Sincerny, with 471 total votes, to be seated at the Oct. 22 assembly meeting. […]
Posted inNews
SEARHC and borough consider location for new medical facility
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is considering building a new medical facility in Haines. “I’ve been yakking at the SEARHC board for years, ‘It’s Haines’s turn. Wrangell has a hospital, now it’s our turn,’” said SEARHC board member and Chilkoot Indian Association (CIA) tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette Tuesday. “There’s a very good chance […]
Posted inNews
Haines borough becomes Second Amendment Sanctuary
Haines Borough has joined an ever-growing list of municipalities nationwide vowing to uphold the Second Amendment in the event the federal government enacts what the assembly views as unconstitutional gun regulations. Although the words “Second Amendment Sanctuary” were removed from the resolution prior to passage on Tuesday, in keeping with resolutions from other gun sanctuaries, […]
Posted inNews
Beach Road residents could be six weeks out from a return home
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 […]
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 inMining, Haines Borough, News
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
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 […]