The Haines borough assembly met on Tuesday night, during a short meeting they talked about a vehicle purchase and a fire department audit, but the discussion to review a planning commission decision about a gravel pit on Lutak road was postponed.
The last meeting of the Haines Borough Assembly went by relatively fast. The main agenda item was an appeal of a permit issued to Southeast Road Builders for a rock quarry on Lutak road. The appellants requested the discussion be postponed until all assembly members are able to participate. A super majority of five votes is required to overturn planning the commission’s decisions, and the absence of one assembly member made that requirement difficult to meet.
During his report, mayor Tom Morphet spoke about the coming meeting of the Alaska municipal league.
Morphet: “this is where we go and gain knowledge and ask questions and steal good ideas and bring them back here and make use of them.”
The event assembles municipal leaders from around the state. There are many workshops to attend, and Morphet said he will task some assembly members with attending them and reporting what they learned.”
Morphet also gave an update on the downtown winter trash cans.
Morphet: “Staff has set out four trash cans for pedestrians and dog walkers downtown, and unfortunately they are filling up with bags of household garbage, so we are going to be retrofitting those cans to allow only small deposits.”
He said doggy bags are available, and encourages all citizens to contribute to downtown cleanliness.
Morphet says he is working towards reenergizing the Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council, a group that was active for forty years since the creation of the preserve and whose meetings have recently become more sporadic.
Morphet: “Absent objections from the assembly, I will ask regional parks superintendent Preston Kroes to restart that group.”
Morphet alluded to the recent landslides that shook the community of Wrangell.
Morphet: “I did draft a letter to the city of Wrangell, also former mayor Doug Olerud has reached out and offered his assistance, we are basically offering them any advice and what we learned during our own landslide tragedies.”
Morphet talked about the Lutak dock, an issue that has received much attention from the public.
Morphet: “I’m working on getting a written transcript form our workshop on the Lutak Dock, in the meantime the clock is ticking on the dock project, so if we want a different design or more questions, it’s just a reminder, that discussion has to happen. We’ve set a direction,and we haven’t deviated from it yet.”
The assembly went on to unanimously vote for the adoption of new tariffs for the borough’s docks and harbors. Included in this are increases in docking fees, and changing lightering fees from a flat rate to charging according to vessel length.
Borough clerk Alekka Fullerton read the harbor master’s recommendations for charging for staff time, increasing the charge to $50 per hour, during regular hours and to $100 per hour during off hours.
Fullerton: “During the course of the year, many employees work for the port and harbors department. The employee pay is not uniform and neither is their overall compensation. The amended rate was suggested after reviewing staff wages and after considering who will likely perform the required tasks.”
The assembly passed a resolution that allows for the purchase of a new police car for $85K.
They passed another resolution to contract a firm to audit the fire department. Assembly member Debra Schnabel voiced her disappointment that the assembly had not been involved more in that discussion up to now.
Schnabel: “What are we looking for, why are we looking for it. What do we expect to get out of it. Do I think we need one, I think so, I think we should have had it long before we decided that we were going to hire a fire chief, but we are apparently going to be doing all these things at the same time”
The assembly amended the resolution to say that the Public Safety Advisory Committee members will be part of the project team. The mayor said he will have named the members of the advisory committee by Friday, the deadline for applying to join that committee is Thursday.
The contract for the audit is currently at $41K.
The assembly also discussed the state of the Letnikof dock. The harbormaster has described the dock as damaged beyond repair. The cost of replacing it is estimated at $3M, and the assembly will discuss a course of action at a later meeting.
The next meeting of the Haines Borough Assembly will be on December 12.
