Haines debates the redevelopment of Lutak Dock, how to pay for it, and the future of the economy

Haines is debating how to renovate the Lutak Dock, how to finance it, and how it will be used. As KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports from the second Lutak Dock town hall, the public heard from potential economic development partners, financial backers, and discussed the future of the Haines economy.

Businesses and communities across Southeast Alaska and Canada have an interest in the renovation of Haines’ Lutak Dock. That’s because it’s a key landing for bringing goods from the Inland Passage to northwest B.C. and the Yukon. 

At the second Lutak Dock Town Hall held Thursday night, Harbormaster Shawn Bell said that the first phase would fill in about 1.5 acres adjacent to the existing ramp. 

“We need space,” said Bell. “And we need a stable upland space for cargo operations and fuel.”

The Borough estimates that would cost up to $3 million dollars, including permitting and design. The second phase would be to demolish the existing dock. In its place would be a $22 million bulkhead. Bell says both projects would be expensive — and interlinked.

“I’ve heard it asked several times: why can’t we just have phase one, why can’t we just have phase two alone,” said Bell. “Really they’re critical to work together those two phases, because we need the space, and we need to stabilize a safe working environment on the dock.”

Of course, who would pay for the work and how has been an intense conversation. 

Several economic organizations gave brief presentations urging investment, and ideas for financing, including the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s Alan Weitzner. AIDEA offers state-backed loans for development projects.

“Ultimately, anything that we’re investing in has to meet two important criteria,” Weitner told the town hall “It’s a good financial investment, there’s a return of capital, so we can continue to reinvest in the state, and it has to have the community support.”

With financial backing from AIDEA, Haines would have to boost economic activity and revenues at the dock to repay millions in loans with interest. 

Other options discussed were financial backing from the Yukon Territory of Canada interested in cheaper freight costs than shipping to Skagway, or funding from U.S. federal infrastructure grants.

But so far all that’s speculation. And concerned members of the public like Haines resident Sue Levinson asked the community to tread carefully.

“We took on the debt for the school, thinking the state was going to pay most of it,” Levinson said during the public comment period. “And wow, guess what? The current administration just yanked it. So you have to be really careful in incurring that kind of debt, can you really sustain it on your own?”

Others like Sue Bell, say the investment in infrastructure needs to happen. Then, she said, Haines can welcome industries in to use the dock.

“You don’t want your children to be like mine, where they grew up and went away because there was no opportunity for them. You want them to stay here,” said Bell. “So you have to provide the infrastructure to make business profitable, whether it’s something they bring in and build, or something they build here and ship out.”

Tom Ely cautioned against renovating the dock for private industry without ensuring they pay their fare share in taxes and fees. 

“We don’t need to be a corporate welfare administration, and community, where we’re giving out millions of dollars to private industry so they can make millions of dollars and we get very little back,” said Ely. “Without any sort of taxes on resource export, we will get nothing at Lutak Dock, and if AIDEA builds a facility there, the money goes into their coffers.”

Many were particularly concerned about the impacts of developing the dock to accommodate an ore terminal. Don Polling delivered a cautionary tale about Skagway which is now working  to clean up contamination from its ore terminal, and toxic legacy.

“Now if Skagway doesn’t want to run their ore terminal anymore because they’ve poisoned their harbor, does that mean that Haines can borrow money so that we can poison our harbor also?” said Polling. “We do have some concerns here with those kinds of things.”

The Haines Borough is now applying for federal grants from the Department of Transportation. There will be more town halls on the Lutak Dock but they haven’t yet been scheduled.