On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly rejected an ordinance that would have given the borough the ability to enforce its recommended 14-day quarantine requirement. 

At a meeting on March 24, the assembly passed a resolution requiring people entering the borough to quarantine for 14 days with exemptions for workers traveling to support critical infrastructure. To have their employees exempt from quarantine, employers must submit and receive borough approval for a “plan of protection” to ensure employees entering Haines will not compromise the health and safety of the community. Businesses must submit their plan of protection via email to the borough manager at least 24 hours before employees enter the community. 

The primary difference between the ordinance the assembly rejected and the resolution currently in place is that the ordinance included a $500 fine for failure to comply with the quarantine requirements. Under the current resolution, there is no mechanism for enforcement. 

Borough manager Debra Schnabel said that she has been in contact with 13 businesses who will be bringing workers into the community. Half have already submitted plans of protection and all have seemed willing to comply with the borough’s request.

The ordinance that ultimately failed by a vote of 5-2 drew both support and criticism from community members.

Several residents submitted letters expressing concern that the proposed ordinance added an unnecessary layer of regulation.

“I believe state mandates are enough… keep it simple,” resident Diana Lapham said in a letter to the assembly opposing the ordinance.

Others wrote to say that seasonal workers including construction workers, miners and seafood industry employees had the potential to introduce COVID-19 to the community if left unregulated by the borough. 

Many comments centered on construction workers. The borough has the ability to require local hire or even postpone some of its summer projects, but it has no control over the Alaska Department of Transportation’s summer plans, Schnabel said. DOT’s Haines Highway project has been delayed due to right-of-way disputes, but officials at the Alaska Department of Transportation have said construction is still expected to begin at some point this summer.

Assembly member Zephyr Sincerny, one of the two “yes” votes along with assembly member Stephanie Scott, said the ability to enforce quarantine and disease mitigation plans is a necessary step to protect the community’s elderly population. He said the community’s limited health care infrastructure could easily be overwhelmed if COVID-19 reaches Haines.

Consideration of the ordinance was further complicated by a state mandate passed on March 27 limiting travel between Alaskan communities to travel necessary to support critical infrastructure or for critical personal need. The mandate requires that businesses that support critical infrastructure submit mitigation plans to the state and specifies that their employees cannot be subject to quarantine restrictions. 

The state’s mandate supersedes all local mandates and says the only communities allowed to pass more stringent travel restrictions must have a population less than 3,000, be removed from the road system and must not include a medical facility classified as a hospital.

While Haines meets two out of three of the criteria--a sub-3,000 population and a clinic that is classified as a “frontier extended stay clinic” rather than a hospital--its connection to Canada and the rest of Alaska via the highway raises questions about whether the community has the authority to require a 14-day quarantine for those entering from other parts of the state.

Haines is not the only Southeast community that has sought to impose more stringent travel restrictions than the state’s. Petersburg had been considering a 14-day quarantine requirement but has put the measure aside for now, according to a recent Petersburg Pilot article. Under the state’s current definition, Petersburg does not qualify as a small community because its population exceeds 3,000 and its medical facility is classified as a hospital. According to the local radio station, Wrangell abandoned its effort to impose more stringent travel restrictions after receiving confirmation from the state that it did not meet the definition of a small community due to its medical facility.

Angoon and Hoonah, communities that meet the state’s definition of “small community,” have passed measures calling all residents home and barring nonresidents from entering. The state has reduced ferry service to the communities to honor their desire for isolation.

On April 3, Schnabel sent a letter to the governor’s administration requesting that Haines receive formal recognition as a “small community” for the purpose of the mandate. Borough clerk Alekka Fullerton said, as of Tuesday, the borough had yet to receive a response from the state.

Assembly member Gabe Thomas expressed concern about reinforcing a quarantine measure without having clarity from the state about whether or not Haines has the ability to impose more stringent travel restrictions.

Fullerton implied that the state’s lack of response could be interpreted as support for Haines’ case to be recognized as a small community. She said when Wrangell wrote a similar letter to the administration, the community received a direct reply denying their request.

In a memo included in the assembly’s meeting packet, Fullerton said that while the state has not confirmed that Haines qualifies as a “small community,” it is her understanding that allowing Haines to operate as a small community is consistent with the underlying goal of the mandate. 

“The limitation on small communities is designed to keep magnet municipalities with hospitals from ‘closing their borders’ to other small Alaskan communities who do not have hospitals and can access the magnet communities by road,” Fullerton said, adding that Haines is, in essence, “removed” from the road system by another country with the ability to completely close its borders at any time.

As things stand, employers are required to submit mitigation plans to the state for any travel between Alaskan communities to support critical infrastructure. Fullerton said the state is not required to share the plan with local communities. Under the borough’s resolution, employers will be asked to submit the same mitigation plan to the borough, although the borough has no ability to enforce the request. Travelers entering the community without a borough-approved plan of protection will be asked to quarantine for 14 days.

The resolution will remain in effect until the end of the month unless extended at the assembly’s next meeting on April 28.