Announcing - Energy Award!

In honor of our local Earth Day celebration today, I am announcing the Mayor's Energy Award.

The Haines Borough Mayor’s  Energy Award

The Haines Borough Mayor will offer an Energy Award annually.  The first awardee will be announced at the spring Earth Day Event, 2013.  The award will honor innovation and actions in two categories: (A) energy conservation and efficiency that  substantially reduces the cost of energy and (B)  installations of renewable energy technology to replace or significantly supplement energy supplied by fossil-based fuels.

All Haines Borough residents, including Borough employees, officers, and elected officials, are eligible to receive the award.  People may nominate themselves or may be nominated by someone.  Businesses and non-profit groups are also encouraged to participate.

The Energy Award will include a check for $100 funded from the Mayor's discretionary funds, a framed Mayoral proclamation describing the contribution of the awardee.

All applicants will be showcased in a publication prepared by the Mayor’s office celebrating the local commitment to energy conservation, efficiency, and utilization of renewable energy sources. 

Examples of projects may include installation of energy efficient heating systems, lighting retrofits, weatherization projects, energy generation systems using solar, wind, biomass, hydro, or geothermal technology.

Nomination forms and instructions will available at the Haines Borough Administration Building, online at the Haines Borough website.  The nomination period is open until January 31, 2013.  Completed nomination forms can be dropped off at the Haines Borough Administration Building, or emailed or mailed to the Mayor at the Haines Borough:

MAYOR
103 Third Avenue S.
P.O. BOX 1209
HAINES, ALASKA 99827
PH - (907) 766-2231

sscott@haines.ak.us

Working the Case, Not the Clock

Depending on our interests, different details draw us in.  I am grateful that Tracy Mikowski's abiding interest in both domestic and wild animals drew her to the abandoned seal pup early Wednesday morning.  Mikowski and HARK executive director Steve Vick took no notice of the time when they started running down the resources needed to respond to the pup's situation. 

In my short tenure as Mayor, I have had the opportunity to observe this un-sung trait in borough employee after borough employee.   Thank you.

You can follow the rehabilitation of the pup at the Seward Sea Life Center.  The photos are great!

Lemonade Day - Haines, May 6, 2012

I spent yesterday with a five-year old Lemonade Day entrepreneur.  Her planning is impressive!  Her decisions are strategic.  Her enthusiasm is infectious!  Please mark this day on your calendars - Sunday, May 6.  Look for Lemonade Stands popping up all over Haines.  Please buy some lemonade and help these teams of emerging entrepreneurs meet their expenses, if not turn a tidy profit!  My five-year old informant tells me that she will donate 25% of her profits to her favorite charity and then deposit the rest in a college savings account.  She wants to be a ferry boat captain and she knows that will require planning and investment.  What an inspiration!

Lemonade Day Alaska started in Anchorage last year.  It is a statewide initiative that helps students in grades K through 12 learn how to operate their own businesses - a lemonade stand.  The Haines initiative is sponsored by Southeast Conference and organized in Haines by Jan Hill.

Strategic Plan 2012-13 Update #2

Development took place for items 4 and 8 and were reported to the Assembly April 24. The Summer Communication workshop (Item 4) subcommittee met 4/16 and modified the proposed day-long seminar.  The subcommittee (Buxton, Hoffman, Lapp, Scott) recommends a 2-evening session seminar open to the public and focused on skills an Assembly member needs in order to listen and communicate effectively with the public and with each other.  Further communication with the proposed contractor (Daniel Henry) is needed before a formal recommendation will be made to the Assembly.

Investigation into the possibility of conducting election of Assembly members from a list of candidates (Item 8) so that all candidates run against each other has been started with emails between the Mayor and local government specialist Glen Hamburg from the Department of Community and Regional Affairs.  The Assembly is considering retiring the current practice of having candidates run for "seats."  Mr. Hamburg writes:

The downside to having candidates register as a candidate and run for a specific "seat" may be that they end up losing the election while actually having received more votes than someone else who gets elected to the governing body.  For example, say Jane Doe registers as a candidate specifically for assembly seat "A" and has to run against Bob Smith for that specific seat.  At the same time, maybe Sally Sue is the only person who registers as a candidate for seat "B."  At the election, Jane receives 101 votes, Bob receives 145 votes, and Sally receives 60 votes.  If the election rules are such that the candidate who receives the most votes for a specific seat wins that seat, Bob would win seat A and Sally would win seat B, even though Sally received less votes than Jane.  This system often then leads to candidates strategizing over which seat they'll run for given who their challengers might be.

Typically though, first class cities that label their council seats A, B, C, D, E, and F are having candidates all competing against each other.  Their elections rules and ballots explain that the two candidates with the most votes overall will end up in the vacant seats.  The lettering then just acts a convenient way to keep track of when the term for that seat expires.  This is especially helpful when one seat is prematurely vacated, as you've described.

Strategic Plan 2012-13 Update #1

For those of you who like brevity, here is an update that will fit on a 5x7 index card!

Haines Borough Assembly, Strategic Goals 2012-2013

PROGRESS REPORT April 10, 2012

1. Committee of the Whole Building Meeting  ·      (Meeting 4/17/12)	5. Refine & Use Project Decision Matrix
2. Identify Essential Pieces of Equipment	6. Revisit APOC Campaign Finance Disclosure Issue
3. Better informed & More involved Budget process	7. Revise Vacancy Appointment Procedures ·      (Ord. 12.03.282 Introduced March 13; reviewed by GAS committee April 3)
4. Summer Communication Seminar ·      (Subcom. meets 4/16/12)	8. Investigate “Slate” approach for election of Assembly Members

FERC Orders Preliminary Permit for Connelly Lake

On March 19, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered a "Preliminary Permit" and "Priority to File License Application" to Goat Lake Hydro, Inc., Project Number 14229-000.  That's the Connelly Lake hydro power project.  Click here to go to the FERC e-library for the Order and to download the PDF of the document.

A "preliminary permit" is indeed - preliminary.  For example, the Order states that "this preliminary permit does not authorize the permittee to undertake any ground disturbing activity at the proposed site" (Section 7, page 2).  The order also confirms that it is during this stage of development (the permit stage) that the information will be developed that will enable the agency to make a conclusion as to the whether or not the project is in the public interest (Section 12, pages 3-4).  Section 14 of the Order states:

14. A preliminary permit does not authorize a permittee to undertake construction of
the proposed project. The purpose of a preliminary permit is to study the feasibility of
the project, including studying potential impacts. The concerns raised in the comments
are premature at the preliminary permit stage, in that they address the potential effects of
constructing and operating the proposed project. Should the permittee file a license
application, these issues will be addressed in the licensing process.

The Order does not specify any particular set of studies, however, Section 18 of the Order states:

18. The Commission has not sought to place all relevant study requirements in
preliminary permits. Rather, the studies to be undertaken by a permittee are shaped by
the Commission's filing requirements for development applications. Potential
development applicants are required to consult with appropriate state and federal resource
agencies and affected Indian tribes, conduct all reasonable studies requested by the
agencies, and solicit comments on the applications before they are filed. Further,
permit conditions have been framed to ensure that the permittee does not tie up a site
without pursuing in good faith a study of the project's feasibility.

Please take a moment and read the Order in full.  Thank you.

Fireworks!

The Haines Borough Assembly sits down with the Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, March 27, 5:45 PM to "study" the issue of assumption of liability for the 4th of July fireworks display.  The less formal Committee of the Whole (COW) structure has been tapped in order to fully understand  the March 1, 2012, request to the Assembly. The Chamber Board of Directors requested the Assembly to "consider taking on this responsibility because of the liability costs and insurance expenses incurred by the Chamber."  The Assembly may make a decision during its Regular Meeting later on the same evening.

Historically, the Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the 4th of July Fireworks with help from the Borough.  Last year, the Borough budgeted $3500.00 for the display.  This year, the Chamber Board of Directors unanimously voted to ask the Borough to take over the event.

The Mayor and the Chamber president, Ned Rozbicki, discussed the request in a series of emails, resulting in a draft MOU (Memorandum of Agreement) prepared by the Chamber outlining the shared responsibilities.  According to the MOU, the Chamber will continue to do all the tasks related to organizing and advertising and coordinating the event; but the Borough will be listed on the permits as the official sponsor.  This step will free the Chamber from either purchasing additional insurance coverage for this single event, or sponsoring an event for which it is carrying potentially inadequate liability insurance should there be an accident.

One reason that this seemingly simple request rises to the level of discussion it has is that the Assembly must consider the point of view of its own insurer.  Through the Manager, I requested information from the Borough's insurer regarding any impact of sponsoring the fireworks on our premium.  Jila Stuart, Haines Borough Chief Financial Officer, responded March 20, 2012.  Ms. Stuart writes:

I spoke with our insurance agent Joe Johnston. He sounded very uncomfortable with the Borough taking on liability for the fireworks display.  He said, "It probably won't increase your premium but it will definitely increase your liability exposure."  He also said, "Is this part of the Borough operation that you want to accept liability for?"  He questioned whether the Borough wanted to take on the exposure for the possibility of something going wrong with the display and there being a great deal of injury to people and property. He said in Ketchikan (where he lives) the City and Borough make a donation to the Lyon's Club who puts on the display.  I did a quick google search and I see that in Juneau, the CBJ similarly makes a donation to help make the fireworks happened. Joe suggested the Borough would be better off increasing the donation to the Chamber to offset the cost of their increased premium.

So, this seemingly simple request will take a little more thought to process.  That's why I have called a Fireworks COW!