KHNS - Haines

A team of researchers have released their findings from an investigation into the Beach Road landslide in Haines. Investigators found the area is stable for now but could slide again after another large rainstorm or earthquake.

They presented their finding and recommendations at a town hall via video-conference on Monday.

After an investigation that spanned more than a year, geologists say that loose, saturated soil and weak bedrock were behind the December 2020 landslide. Eight inches of rain fell in 24 hours before the catastrophic event, which buried homes and killed David Simmons and Jenae Larson.

Engineer George Machan, with the Oregon-based geotechnical firm Landslide Technologies, says nearby areas didn’t have the same issues.

“The catastrophic landslide occurred where the hillside is weakest and the ground pressures are highest. It’s like the perfect storm,” Machan said. “Elsewhere, the hillside on either side, the subsurface materials are not as weak.”

But he says the slope is stable for now.

“If you just spread your fingers just very slightly to like a tenth of an inch or so, that’s a small amount of movement that has occurred over the past five months,” Machan said. “So it’s a very small amount of movement we’re able to detect.”

The state contracted his firm, along with Anchorage-based R&M Consultants, Inc., to study the landslide.

The investigation involved calculating any continued movement, slope stability, water and debris flows, analyzing geologic hazards and making recommendations for management.

Machan says a major earthquake could present especially big risks.

“Now, in December 2020, there wasn’t an earthquake,” Machan said. “But we are asked to study seismic events or earthquakes because this is a fairly active seismic area. And there is a fault area on the inlet to the south of this hillside. And so, if a very close-by earthquake were to occur, it could shake this hill.”

Machan says large earthquakes are rare, but it could be hazardous for not only the Beach Road area but other slopes as well.

“These are fairly infrequent events, right? So you could have seismic events that could have a 500 year recurrence interval or 1000 year recurrence interval,” he said. “But when they happen, they can have some effects. Now, it’s not just Beach Road, so many areas throughout Haines, we’ve got these steep hillsides that are going to feel the effects of seismic events.”

The engineers’ report also lays out several recommendations to improve the community’s response to conditions that make landslides likely. Machan says management could look like improving drainage in the area and monitoring rainfall during severe storms to determine whether residents should evacuate.

“As you do more monitoring, you’ll figure out where that threshold is,” he said. “At what threshold of precipitation would we become more concerned about it and maybe take more critical measures like advising people to not be in that area.”

Machan and the team of researchers encourage the public to look through the findings and recommendations and bring questions for the team to the next town hall, which is scheduled for 6:30pm on April 5.

The Chilkoot Indian Association has launched a traditional Lingít arts apprenticeship program. The year-long initiative will pair mentors with apprentices to develop traditional skills — and to foster vital cultural and traditional knowledge of the Chilkat Valley.

The first cohort of the Chilkoot Indian Association’s traditional arts apprenticeship program, focused on Chilkat weaving and silver carving, began earlier this month.

Tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette says the apprenticeship program is part of a wider initiative to support tribal members developing their art.

“Our apprenticeship program is a way to develop master artists. What we have been seeing in our community is that we’re losing our master artists,” Brouillette said. “Thanks to AIA (Alaska Indian Arts), we do have some master artists, but they’re reaching retirement age. And we don’t have the capacity or have not had the capacity to build master artists to step up in their place.”

Three mentors will work with four apprentices over the next year to build skills and creativity while expanding intergenerational cultural and traditional knowledge.

Mentors include weaver Lily Hope, who will work with Karen Taug on dying and weaving techniques, versions of the Chilkat braid and how to weave a perfect circle.

Master weaver and fluent Lingít speaker Marsha Hotch will work with Cara Gilbert and Gwen Sauser on weaving techniques, language connections, clan stories, goat wool processing and dying, thigh spinning and incorporating cedar bark.

Apprentices Gilbert and Sauser are the great-granddaughters of renowned Chilkat weaver Jenny Thlunaut.

Silver carver Greg Horner will work with apprentice Rob Martin on soldering, making rings, inlaying gems and stones and silver working skills.

Brouillette says it’s vital to support artists, who then will pass down their craft to future generations.

“We have a really strong base of new artists who are dedicated to their art. They just need a little extra help,” Brouillette said.

A federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services will support the program. Apprentices and mentors will give workshops and write blog posts about their processes. At the end of the year, their work will be showcased in a community exhibit.

The Chilkoot Indian Association is accepting applications for the second cohort, which will begin Oct. 1.

Canadian officials have announced that COVID-19 testing will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada by land, water or air.

Right now, travelers entering or returning to Canada must have a negative PCR or rapid antigen COVID-19 test that’s clinically administered. That changes on April 1.

Haines Tourism Director Steven Auch says it’s a major change that will ease travel across the border.

“People here that want to go into Canada or Canadians who want to come down and return, it makes it easier for them to be able to do so,” Auch said.

Travelers are still required to be fully vaccinated.

Canada will also still require U.S. travelers to complete the ArriveCAN process and show proof of vaccination to enter the country.

Auch says Haines is ready to welcome Canadian travelers — and anyone traveling between the Alaska Marine Highway into Canada and up to Alaska.

“Hopefully, we’ll see more people come down,” Auch said. “And the big part for the summer, too, is that it makes it a lot easier for anybody, not just Canadians, but anybody wanting to do any road travel, to be able to drive through Canada to get here.”

Although fully vaccinated travelers will be allowed to enter Canada, questions remain about how tour companies will handle the ArriveCan requirement for tour groups.

The first cruise ship of the 2022 season is scheduled to arrive in Skagway on April 26. And starting in early May, the community is expecting three to four cruise ships a day.

But Skagway businesses are struggling to figure out how many staff they’ll need  — or how to attract workers to Southeast Alaska in today’s tight labor market.

Skagway is the 18th-most-visited cruise ship port in the world, but over the last two years, visitor numbers have plummeted. The port community drew over a million visitors per summer pre-pandemic, but close to zero in 2020 and well under 100,000 in 2021.

Many owners have had to shutter their businesses to survive, and those that stayed open have operated with a reduced staff.

And after two years with little to no tourism, there are still some major unknowns — like how full cruise ships will be this year, or if land tours will be allowed to enter Canada.

One of Skagway’s largest employers is the Westmark Hotel. They have two full restaurants on-site, an upstairs lounge and the town’s largest hotel. General Manager Jim Sager says he doesn’t even know if he’s fully staffed at this point.

“I don’t think anybody truly knows exactly what the 2022 season has in store for us,” he said.

Sager says it all depends on the number of visitors that actually show up.

“If we anticipate in the neighborhood of 60-70% of what the cruise ships’ capacity is, and that’s where it comes in, then I’m probably fully staffed. But if things come in closer to 90% or 100% of what the ships’ capacity are, then perhaps I’m a bit understaffed,” he said.

Neal Fried is an economist with the Alaska Department of Labor’s research section. He says Alaska’s labor market is closely aligned with the national labor market, which is showing low unemployment numbers. He says it will be a challenge for businesses to attract seasonal workers who’ve found full-time work since the pandemic started.

“Of course, that also depends on what the pay is and how that compares to the pay closer to home and that’s gotten more difficult because Alaska is just not paying the premiums that we used to,” Fried said. “And you know, nationally, wages have gone up significantly.”

There are almost 20 open jobs posted on Skagway’s municipal website, from clinic jobs to trail crew to a museum assistant. Last week the mayor suggested to the assembly that they should consider increasing wages $5 an hour across the board to stay competitive in the market. That would raise an entry-level employee’s wage from about $10 an hour to about $15 an hour.

Beth Smith owns a bar, restaurant a hotel in Skagway. She says she’s only staffed at about 25% at her restaurant, the Station Bar and Grill, though typically she’d be fully staffed by this point in the season. She says that the increased wages she’ll need to pay to attract employees will force her to raise prices.

“Our prices are going to have to go up, and that’s kind of scary as well because I think everyone in town is gonna see that,” Smith said.

Nicholle Chandler owns two souvenir gift shops. She says she was lucky to lure back a previous manager with a big salary increase, but she’s struggling to fill the rest of her open positions.

“At this point, I’m just hoping that more people apply, and I’m anticipating that being college students,” she said.

Chandler expects to be short-staffed during the shoulder seasons but hopes those college students fill in the gaps by mid-summer.

Meanwhile, some potential employees are seeing this season as a boon. Natasha Kraus worked as a tour guide for one season before the pandemic, then found other temporary jobs for the last two years. She says she spoke with half a dozen employers before settling on the same company she had worked with in 2019.

“I definitely feel wanted. I had a few options. Ultimately, I actually had to make my decision on who I was going to work with based on housing,” Kraus said.

She says she’s getting a big pay increase, housing at a reduced rate, an end-of-season bonus and the chance for more bonuses based on performance reviews.

Stacy Gould from Chilkoot Charters says she’s got plenty of employees waiting for her call in the lower 48 to get back to work, but she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to open up at all. That’s because of Canadian border restrictions that would make it nearly impossible for the company to drive tours into nearby Canada.

“Staffing is not the issue for us. It’s the COVID testing at the border. So we’re diligently keeping our ear to the ground and waiting for any sign that Canada will lift those testing requirements. When that happens, we’re good to go,” Gould said.

Liz Lavoie from the Red Onion Saloon says her team of historic brothel actors is in place thanks to an industry site called Backstage. But the restaurant side of the business is still short several employees.

“We didn’t have a full staff last year, or the year before,” she said. “So we’re just kind of starting with a light bench.”

A ballot measure to decide whether to turn Skagway’s medical clinic over to a regional tribal health consortium could go before voters later this year. That’s following a 4-2 vote Thursday evening by the Skagway Assembly.

The assembly has been negotiating with Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to take over health care in Skagway amid high turnover of staff and leadership at the community-owned clinic.

At a March 3 assembly meeting, Assemblyperson Orion Hanson moved to put the sale of all Dahl Memorial Clinic properties up for a public vote.

“SEARHC seems to be kind of an all-or-nothing proposition. They’re only interested now if they can own the building and the land and all the assets and not lease it,” he said. “I was hopeful there will be some sort of opportunity for a honeymoon period, to see if it’s a good fit for Skagway. Apparently, SEARHC is not interested in that.”

The clinic has five permanent positions advertised on the municipal website along with two temporary spots. The clinic only employs 16 full-time staff. Two of the open positions include a nurse practitioner and executive director.

Recently a long-serving registered nurse resigned, and the interim executive director is no longer involved in day-to-day activities.

“I think everybody on this assembly takes responsibility for the short fallings of the clinic because every two weeks, we approve the check run. And a significant part of that portion of that check run is clinic-related, and I know it’s a great source of pride for the community that they own that building,” Hanson said.

The motion passed with four votes for and two votes against. Assemblyperson Jay Burnham voted against it.

“I didn’t quite have enough information to feel comfortable sending it to the voters,” he said. “And also, I think that it, I don’t know if it would really be a popular thing. And I would hate to waste more time with putting it out to a vote.”

The other no vote came from Assemblyperson Sam Bass, who told KHNS in a written statement that he wanted more time to consider the idea of including the building and land in the deal with SEARHC.

The board also voted unanimously to direct the mayor to nominate two members of the assembly to serve on the volunteer-based nine-member clinic board of directors. That board makes the bulk of the staffing decisions for the clinic.

Hanson said this step was taken as a means to help streamline meetings and add people to the board that feel the same sense of urgency expressed to the assembly by their constituents.

“I think our feeling on the assembly is that a lot of changes needed to be made. And we’ve hoped and been patient and waited to see how that would come about, and it doesn’t seem to be changing,” said Hanson.

There is no formal word on when the ballot measure to sell Dahl Memorial Clinic to SEARHC will go to Skagway voters. Hanson thinks it could be as early as July or as late as October, during municipal elections.

Skagway’s mayor has proposed giving half of the land that was once a Native boarding school to the local tribal government. Mayor Andrew Cremata made the proposal on Monday night during a special assembly meeting to discuss the long-term future of the five acres that’s now a municipal-owned RV park.

What’s now the Garden City RV park was once the site of the Pius X Mission School, where Native children were indoctrinated into Western culture in the mid-1900s.

Cremata started the Feb. 28 meeting with a proposal that appeared to take many in the room by surprise.

“There is a scar at Garden City, and it covers a wound that was created when the Pius X Mission was operational,” Cremata said. “I would recommend seriously entertaining taking half of that property, recognizing the scar exists and in an effort to heal that scar, generously give that property to the Skagway Traditional Council, half of it, where the mission is buried. And then we agree as part of an agreement between the Skagway Traditional Council and the municipality of Skagway to erect a monument that spans both pieces of property.”

The RV park was purchased in 2013 from the Catholic Church and is currently awaiting an archeological study. The bodies of hundreds of Native schoolchildren have been found buried at similar schools in Canada.

The Skagway Traditional Council has stated that it wants to see the results of the archeological study before determining how much of the land they think is appropriate to receive.

Monday’s meeting was also about developing a long-term plan for the park’s future. Some residents want it to remain a viable option for low-cost employee housing. Others want the revenue and economic diversity it offers as an RV park. Still others want the land to be sectioned off and sold for development.

Assemblyperson Dustin Stone argued that creating lots for sale won’t solve Skagway’s longstanding seasonal housing shortage.

“There is, I guess for lack of a better term, a crisis for people who are looking to buy their first home who’ve been here year-round. But the real housing crisis in this town is we don’t have anywhere to house people that come here to work and support our economy all summer,” said Stone.

Assemblyperson Orion Hanson argued against making the park accessible for seasonal housing.

“I don’t think an RV park ever should have been our band-aid for employee housing. What’s far more appropriate is we develop a trailer court if you’re looking for cheap, affordable housing, and the only place really to do that properly is across the bridge,” he said.

The municipality does own about five acres of land near the intersection of the Dyea Road and the Klondike Highway north of downtown that is set aside for the development of either a trailer park or an RV park.

Borough Manager Brad Ryan said the municipality has received an estimate for the cost of extending utilities to that area.

“We have a pretty recent estimate it’s about $10 million. We actually have a grant application in for it as well,” he said.

Assemblyperson Reba Hylton says she wants to keep a portion of Garden City as an RV park as a way to diversify Skagway’s tourism-based economy instead of strictly relying on cruise ships.

“I do support RV traffic. I think it’s an important part of our economy, and we really need to invest all we can. And I would love to see half of Garden City RV park continue to be an RV park. I think having green space and having nice facilities, especially close to a school is really, really important. I think the minimum we should give back is half of it,” she said.

She also wants the Catholic Church to take some responsibility for the mission school, which it sold to Skagway’s local government for $1.5 million.

“I think we should ask the Catholic Church to give us half of that money back too. They should be paying for that. We wrote them a $25,000 check in the last check run. Give that back, please. We want to do what’s right, they should do what’s right as well,” Hylton said.

After the nearly two-hour meeting, the mayor asked for the discussion to continue at the committee level.