The Haines Borough Assembly voted 5-1 to provide its police department an additional $63,000 for recent and anticipated personnel costs in excess of the department’s budget for the current year. Starting in December, chief Heath Scott pushed for the increase, saying it was needed due to an increase in cases and emergency calls from up the highway. […]
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Legal, procedural questions slow appeal of rock-haul
The Haines Borough Assembly extended its Tuesday meeting into a third day after wrestling for hours with two appeals of a controversial conditional use permit issued by the planning commission. During the extended meeting Wednesday, the assembly decided to wait for advice from its attorney, delaying a decision on a challenge to the permit that would allow […]
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Manager applicants include Bill Seward
By Kyle Clayton Haines Borough Assembly members will meet Thursday to start reviewing applications for the manager position. They include one from recent manager Bill Seward, who was fired from the job in December. “After careful review of the circumstances, I believe the Haines Borough continues to be an excellent fit for my background, experience and skill sets,” […]
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Extension for comments on trash rate regulation
Community Waste Solutions is advocating that the Haines Borough Assembly reconsider a Feb. 28 recommendation that the state regulatory commission set local garbage rates, following a three-week extension of a comment deadline. CWS representative Sally Garton told the borough’s Solid Waste Working Group March 2 that the Regulatory Commission of Alaska granted the borough a deadline extension […]
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Card, $25 fee proposed for sales tax exemption
The Haines Borough may require non-profit organizations to purchase an annual $25 sales tax-exempt card following a recommendation from the assembly’s Finance Committee. Currently, 80 non-profits are exempt from paying local sales tax. Committee member Tom Morphet thinks tax-exempt cards would help recoup some of those losses. Morphet initially proposed a $50 annual card. “That would raise […]
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Budget overrun an assembly concern
The Haines Borough Assembly questioned the police department Feb. 28 on its request for a $63,000 budget boost, asking how the department was authorized to overspend in the first place. “I think it’s important to point out that it’s unusual for a department in the borough to go over budget this much,” said assembly member Margaret Friedenauer. […]
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Assembly: Have state govern garbage rates
Mayor Jan Hill broke a 3-3 Haines Borough Assembly tie Tuesday to recommend that the state regulatory commission regulate trash collection rates instead of the borough. Community Waste Solutions, the town’s privately-owned trash handler, said state regulation could lead to a hike in collection fees. This action comes after the RCA set a March 2 deadline to hear a […]
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Assembly agrees to hear appeals of rock haul
The Haines Borough Assembly will rehear a planning commission decision that granted Roger Schnabel a conditional use permit for gravel extraction work near the Skyline Subdivision and Young Road. Schnabel, through company Southeast Roadbuilders, was granted a conditional use permit in early February to extract about 7,500 cubic yards of material from a 65-acre parcel for use […]
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Fill work starts at waterfront
Contractors broke ground on the Portage Cove Harbor Expansion Project early last week to begin constructing the uplands parking area. Interim Borough Manager Brad Ryan said Southeast Roadbuilders, subcontracted to Pacific Pile & Marine, started dumping fill to build a containment berm for the nearly four-acre lot. Dredging in the canal was expected to begin […]
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Assembly hears idea to move visitor center
The Haines Borough Assembly this week heard a proposal to move the Visitor Information Center from the aging log structure at Second Avenue near Willard Street. Some borough officials say visitors might be better served by a room in the public library or museum. The assembly forwarded the question to its Tourism Advisory Board for further discussion. […]