The Haines Borough received 43 capital improvement plan proposals as part of a public engagement program launched this year.

Nine of the ideas were nominated by residents, and the rest were put forward by borough staff.

The deadline for residents to propose projects was March 1.

Borough staff will evaluate and score proposals based on feasibility and relevance to the Haines Borough Assembly’s goals. The borough Finance Committee will determine which ideas to forward to the assembly. Then there will be public hearings about the initial project list, followed by scoring and ranking by a team of experts and another round of public hearings. Finally, the assembly will determine which projects to adopt and fund.

Modeled after a Fairbanks North Star Borough program, the new program is intended to increase public engagement and expand the pool of ideas for the borough’s capital improvement project list, said borough clerk Alekka Fullerton, who had the idea to implement the program in Haines.