The Haines Borough Assembly may be back up to six members next week.

Seven residents applied for the seat that Mike Case resigned from in April. The assembly is poised to appoint Stephanie Scott, a former mayor with a long background in borough government.

If the assembly does approve Scott’s appointment, she will be sworn in at the beginning of the meeting.

That means Scott will jump in as the assembly makes a couple big decisions. They are expected to vote on Debra Schnabel’s borough manager contract, which has a tentative start date of June 1.

Discussion of Schnabel’s contract is expected to happen behind closed doors. The assembly also plans to meet in executive session for an exit interview with interim manager Brad Ryan.

The assembly is set to vote on the borough budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Topics of debate in the spending plan include funding for the police department, economic development and nonprofits.

The assembly will also consider a special services contract with the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The Alaska State Troopers shut down its Haines post earlier this year. The $25,000 payment is meant to compensate the borough for expenses to local law enforcement resulting from the loss of the trooper.

The one-time $25,000 payment is about half of what interim manager Ryan requested. The agreement states the Haines Police will provide necessary services for all areas of the borough. It also stipulates the municipality will develop its own funding sources to provide borough-wide police services going forward.

Ryan cautions against signing the contract as is. He says it could commit the borough to something the assembly and community have not yet agreed on. How to pay for outside townsite police response is still uncertain.

The meeting is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in assembly chambers.