Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Haines has been discussing harbor expansion since at least 2009. We have had 90 opportunities to give input. All those hearings, planning sessions and meetings have cost us the labor of many people, and will continue to cost as long as we argue. 

The harbor is too small. There is a waiting list. Parking, especially for boats and boat trailers, is insufficient. Commercial fishermen use that harbor and commercial fishing brings in an estimated $7 million annually.

Some object to the steel breakwater because it won’t be as pretty as the rubble mound breakwater. Some object to Lookout Park overlooking a parking lot. The 95 percent design with the steel barrier was estimated at $7.8 million in 2013, while a rubble mound was estimated to cost an additional $8.2 million. The floats and drive-down ramp will be about $12 million.

We live in a time of shrinking revenue. The money raised for the harbor has not cost borough taxpayers a penny. It’s all grants and state money. We could tax ourselves to get that $8.2 million, or we could live with a little less than we want. Most of us do that all the time. It’s called living within your means.

We seem to live in an era of “My way or the highway!” May I make a plea for moderation? In the words of The Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” 

Pam Randles