Haines Assembly combines cruise dock bid reviews into one Nov. 17 work session

The Haines Borough Assembly voted unanimously Tuesday to combine two planned reviews of the Port Chilkoot cruise dock bids into one work session Nov. 17. It set no date to decide which bid, if either, the borough will pursue.

Two bidders want to lease and run the dock for terms of 15 to 35 years. The Assembly was set to take up a review process running into January for the two competing bids, Alaska News reported Oct. 24. Residents get their first scheduled forum on the dock Dec. 1.

Staff had proposed six stages for reviewing and negotiating the bids, starting with a side-by-side review of the bids Oct. 29 and a session on borough priorities Nov. 17. Assembly member Mark Smith moved to follow staff's schedule. Assembly member Eben Sargent amended it to review the proposals "using a hybrid of number one and number two." The amendment and the amended motion both carried unanimously, according to the draft minutes. The merged session starts at 5:30 pm in the Assembly chambers.

A speaker had worried that staff's first date was only two days away. Sargent first moved to skip the bid review and start with priorities, saying the borough put out its request "without a lot of specifics." "I think we need to determine what we want out of this," he said. He withdrew that motion after Assembly member Cheryl Stickler asked to combine the two stages, saying a side-by-side review would help her. Smith said staff would carry much of the work: "It's not gonna just be the seven of us up here." A speaker the borough transcript does not name said the Assembly should also weigh keeping the dock as it is.

Staff's remaining dates stand, though a member said later stages could change. A Dec. 14 executive session at 5:30 pm would cover negotiating strategy, the borough's financial interests and possible concessions. Under state law, an executive session takes up its subject in private. A Jan. 7, 2027 work session would set a negotiating framework. The date for formal direction is "To Be Determined," according to staff's process document. That direction could be to negotiate with one or both bidders, ask for best-and-final offers, reject both or pursue another course.

The Port Chilkoot Development Corporation, made up of Huna Totem Corporation and Survey Point Holdings with Viking as a partner, offers a 35-year lease paying $9 per passenger with a floor of $250,000 a year. It includes a borough buyout option.

Global Ports Holding offers four options, from a 15-year term paying $1.3 million up front and $100,000 a year to a 20-year term paying $425,000 a year with nothing up front. It proposes binding annual passenger limits starting at 175,000 for 2027 through 2031 and rising to 275,000 for 2042 through 2046. It asks the borough to fund about $2.85 million in capital improvements, including a covered shelter and decking, and offers $200,000 in community contributions to the Chilkat Valley Community Foundation and Haines High School if selected.

Earlier in the meeting, the Assembly certified the Oct. 6 election. Mayor Douglas Olerud and Assembly members Beau Bradley and Anne Marie Palmieri took office, replacing Mayor Tom Morphet and members Kevin Forster and Craig Loomis.