The Haines Borough Administration Building. (Google Maps)
The Haines Borough Assembly is holding a special meeting Tuesday, to discuss several issues related to the vacant borough manager position.
Last month, the assembly voted 4-2 to terminate the contract of manager Bill Seward. Now, they’re working to get an interim manager in place, to fill the position until a new permanent manager is hired. The assembly’s personnel committee recommended public facilities director Brad Ryan for the job at a meeting last week.
He served as interim manager around this time last year, and received favorable reviews. Ryan has offered to take on the job again.
But he’s not the only candidate for the position. Dave Palmer, a former city manager in Juneau, Craig and Petersburg also offered to step in. At last week’s personnel committee meeting, Assemblyman Tom Morphet said that’s who they should be considering. He and other assembly members suggested interviewing Palmer for the position.
The assembly will discuss both offers at the special meeting.
Also on the agenda is an executive session with the borough’s attorney, Brooks Chandler. That portion of the meeting will cover Big Salmon litigation. Big Salmon Ventures is owned by Haines resident Scott Sundberg, who also owns the heliskiing company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures.
In 2015, Big Salmon was denied a conditional use permit to operate a heliport on Chilkat Lake Road. They appealed the decision in superior court. Last month, a judge upheld the borough’s rejection of the permit.
The executive session will also involve discussion about a public records request for assembly emails and information related to the termination of Bill Seward. Those records were requested by Seward and his attorney plans to use the information in determining whether the termination was wrongful.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Assembly Chambers.
