The Haines Borough Assembly narrowly advanced a ballot measure during its first public hearing Tuesday that would give voters the option to approve a 1 percent areawide sales tax increase to pay for a municipally managed solid waste program. The ordinance would provide for “regulation, operation and management of a municipal solid waste program that pays for […]
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Posted inNews, Public Safety
Voters one step closer to deciding on police service outside townsite
The Haines Borough Assembly advanced an amended ballot question that would allow Lutak, Mud Bay and Haines Highway residents to vote to create their own separate “on-call police service areas” that would be funded by a property tax increase. The original ordinance called for one on-call police service area that would encompass the bulk of borough land outside […]
Posted inNews
Communication a theme in assembly’s manager evaluation
Presenting a range of alternative plans, being more objective and formulating processes for vetting ordinances and a feeling of mistrust between borough staff and the assembly were among the topics discussed during the assembly’s annual evaluation of borough manager Debra Schnabel. Four assembly members and Mayor Jan Hill met Wednesday to evaluate Schnabel’s performance. On the whole, assembly members […]
Posted inNews
Ballot measure would change charter to allow areawide policing
The Haines Borough Assembly narrowly approved introducing two ordinances for public hearings that, if advanced, would allow voters to decide whether or not they want to expand police services beyond the townsite. But which one voters will decide is drumming up debate reminiscent of consolidation. One ordinance would allow voters who live outside the townsite service area […]
Posted inNews, Timber
Assembly at odds over university timber
Assembly members, meeting as a committee of the whole June 19, debated whether the borough was misrepresented in information University of Alaska staff presented to the board of regents earlier that day regarding the school’s timber sale in the Haines area. Mayor Jan Hill, not the borough, was listed as supporting the sale in material for […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Committee rejects proposal to elect board, planning commission members
Haines Mayor Jan Hill will continue to appoint volunteers to the borough’s committees and boards after a proposal to shift responsibility to voters failed Monday. Assembly member Tom Morphet supported the idea from the audience at Monday’s assembly Government Affairs and Services Committee meeting. While not a member of the body, he said members of the borough’s boards […]
Posted inNews
$100,000 ‘lipstick job’: officials discuss fate of public safety building
The Haines Borough Assembly discussed what should happen with the borough’s public safety building Monday, a facility that one assembly member said is “in shambles” and barely functional for its daily operations. The public safety building on Haines Highway houses the borough’s police department and dispatch, the fire department and ambulance crew, the assembly chambers where public […]
Posted inNews
Assembly withdraws funding for OpenGov
The assembly withdrew funding for an online public engagement software program before approving next year’s $13.6 million budget, reversing its former support of the tool designed to promote civic engagement. Assembly member Heather Lende made an amendment to withdraw funding for opengov.com. The assembly had previously voted on May 9 to fund the platform in […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly rejects police dog proposal
The Haines Borough Assembly unanimously rejected a proposal Tuesday to seek grants to purchase a police dog. The assembly also rejected, 4-2, having staff research whether a dog would be effective for curbing drug use and importation. The borough’s Public Safety Commission in April recommended the assembly look into purchasing a drug-sniffing dog after police chief Heath […]
Posted inNews
OpenGov could take time to see citizen response
The Haines Borough Assembly last week narrowly approved purchasing a $40,000 software program aimed at increasing citizen engagement, but the assembly may take up the issue again. The CVN reached out to two similarly sized communities using the software to see how it’s working in their towns. The “Citizen Engagement” program from the tech company OpenGov allows […]