The Haines Planning Commission is scheduled to approve the 95% design for the Lutak dock at its Thursday meeting. A local environmental group released a document questioning the financial and legal grounds on which the dock is to be built.

Lynn Canal Conservation has been scrutinizing the planning process for the Lutak dock for over a year. Jessica Plachta is the executive director of the organization. She has come to public meetings in the past to testify about some issues the group sees with the planning process. This week the organization released two booklets, its most comprehensive statement on the dock to date.

Plachta: “It’s the culmination of over a year’s worth of investigation, and all the information in the e-book is excerpted or summarized from technical reports, historical documents, public records, we did maybe four records requests from the borough, and news stories, dating back  over a decade. And the e-book has links to make it easy for people to find more information on each topic.”

The first e-book goes into the history of the dock and how the town’s transport needs are met. It also documents the planning of an ore terminal at the site. The second e-book talks about risks of cost overruns and the grant application. 

The borough was awarded $20 million for the project from the federal government. The borough wrote the grant application  in 2021. In it, the Borough repeatedly warns of dire consequences for the local economy if the dock had to be closed. It says food and supplies would have to be trucked in from Seattle, Anchorage or Skagway.  

The local conservation group, LCC, points out that the dock was already closed by the time the application was submitted. Alaska Marine Lines had been using a new ramp independent from the dock for more than six months, without interruption of services. This arrangement is still usedthree years later.

LCC says that the local government could be penalized if their application wasn’t accurate. The granting agency states on the application [web: on page 4, section 21] that “any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims” may subject the borough “to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties.” The implication is that if the federal government decides to cancel the grant, the borough could be stuck with the bill.

The booklets also question whether the dock would generate enough revenue to cover maintenance costs. 

John Upton is the chair of the ports and harbor advisory committee. He says he would also like to see a business plan for the operations of the proposed dock.

Upton: “I have pushed and requested for some period of time to see a greater articulation of the business plan, the finances for the dock project not just in terms of maintenance but in terms of incremental users and projected revenues and expenses from that. And I’ve yet to receive or see most of that information, but I would still very much like to see it before this gets any further along.”

The planning commission will vote on the main design for the Lutak dock at its regular meeting on Thursday. Borough officials contacted for this story said they either had not seen the Lynn Canal Conservation document yet, or had not had time to read through it, and declined to comment on it. The link to the document can be found on our website.