Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Sewer Service Area topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Haines Borough assembly finds Tenantee Bay sewer service area appropriate, directs timeline for homeowners
Summary
The assembly voted to find a sewer service-area mechanism appropriate for Tenantee Bay and directed staff to produce a clear timeline and next steps for affected homeowners, noting further voter ratification and engineering cost estimates are required.
The Haines Borough Assembly voted unanimously to find it appropriate to create a Tenantee Bay subdivision sewer maintenance service area and directed borough staff to prepare and publish a clear timeline explaining next steps to affected homeowners.
The action came during a second public hearing on an ordinance to amend the Hainesborough code to establish the service area. Borough staff told the assembly the vote tonight would not transfer ownership of infrastructure or finalize maintenance responsibilities but would confirm the service-area mechanism and kick off fact-finding, including an engineer's estimate of outfall status and likely maintenance costs. The manager told the assembly the next procedural step would be a mail-in vote for property owners within the service area, noting mail ballots are commonly used for small service-area questions and the division of elections can supply voter rolls.
Why it matters: the finding authorizes staff to proceed with studies and a voter ratification process that could lead to a service area being established. Homeowners will later receive a ballot and information explaining the proposed services and anticipated costs to enable an informed yes-or-no decision.
Assembly members emphasized the limited scope of tonight’s action. The manager said, “We’re just saying that the service area is an appropriate use of a service area,” and that further steps — engineering estimates, maintenance-cost projections and a mail vote of households in the area — remain. Following the unanimous finding, an additional motion directing the borough manager to develop and distribute a timeline and explanation for residents also passed unanimously.
Next steps: staff will complete the requested engineer estimate, draft the homeowner notification and timeline, and prepare the mail ballot materials. Any formal imposition of a maintenance assessment or borough takeover would require additional approvals and, if applicable, voter ratification.
