Following testimony by a half-dozen upper highway residents, the Haines Borough school board voted 5-0 Tuesday to oppose putting up for sale Mosquito Lake School before July 2016, with members saying such a move was premature. The same question will go to the borough’s planning commission Thursday. “It seems we’re moving awfully fast on this,” said board member […]
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Posted inNews, Haines Borough
State approves electric rate hike
On a 2-1 vote, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week approved an 11.18 percent electric rate increase for more than 7,000 Alaska Power Company customers, including 1,450 in Haines. Users should see their rates increase by February, said Rod Crum, chief of the RCA’s consumer protection and information section. Alaska Power Company, the power […]
Posted inNews
Crime, weather left mark on 2014
The Haines Borough, its school and police department, came under new management in 2014, a year marked by lopsided weather patterns, infrastructure worries and chronic crime. Acts of courage brightened a townscape clouded as much by economic uncertainty as by months of rain. Luke Marquardt ran back into a house fire to save a friend. Novice […]
Posted inNews
Candidate offered development job
After two rounds of interviews, Haines Borough manager David Sosa last week offered the community and economic development director job to Bill Mandeville of Tumwater, Wash. Mandeville has worked for Washington’s Department of Commerce since 2006. He manages a $6.5 million revolving loan fund designed to redevelop sites with environmental hazards into productive commercial and industrial […]
Posted inNews
Borough holds $15 million in savings
As a percentage of spending, the Haines Borough’s $15 million in savings is exponentially more than what many other municipalities hold onto, but it’s a “prudent cushion,” the Haines Borough’s auditor told the assembly last month. The $15 million in fund balances identified by Max Mertz of Juneau includes $7.1 million in permanent fund capital, […]
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Borough to seek water,sewer rate increases
After eight weeks of consultation with senior Haines Borough staffers, manager David Sosa is recommending the assembly raise water and sewer rates. Final numbers haven’t been hammered out, but Sosa said if his recommendation is adopted, the average water and sewer user will likely see a minimum $10 per month cumulative increase over the next three years. […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Leaders explain support, opposition of power rate increase
Haines Borough officials said this week that information that can’t be disclosed led them to vote in favor of a settlement with the Alaska Power Company to increase electric rates by 11 percent. Assembly members Mike Case, Diana Lapham and George Campbell voted to accept the settlement offer. Assembly members Ron Jackson, Dave Berry […]
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Assembly opposes Juneau road plan
The Haines Borough Assembly is remaining firm in its opposition to the proposed East Side Lynn Canal Highway. The assembly voted 5-0 at its Oct. 28 meeting to send a letter drafted by former Mayor Stephanie Scott to the Department of Transportation once again stating the borough’s preference for improved ferry service over a road connecting Juneau to Katzehin. The assembly has […]
Posted inNews
Assembly OKs 11 percent rate hike
After most than an hour of discussion behind closed doors, the Haines Borough Assembly on Wednesday voted to accept a settlement with the Alaska Power Company to increase power rates by 11 percent in Haines. It was unclear this week how the vote would affect legal action taken by five communities to oppose an 18.12 percent across-the-board […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Marijuana supporters stood alone
I am not only very pleased with the passing of Measure 2 but also a bit overwhelmed by all the rhetoric around town. It seems everybody and their mother is talking about opening a “dispensary.” Where were all these people when the fight to legalize started? Many were asked and told to show their faces, […]