The Juneau Assembly’s three-member subcommittee tasked with overhauling the city’s mining ordinance is adding four new members.
At least 10 applicants put their names forward this month for four open seats, two from the city’s planning commission and two from the general public.
The proposed appointments are:
- Ben Haight, chair of the planning commission and an electrical engineer
- Paul Voelckers, a vice chair of the planning commission an architect
- Kyle Moselle, head of large mine permitting for the state Department of Natural Resources
- Roman Motyka, a professor of geology emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The mining subcommittee was created this summer by Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch, at the urging of a group of businessmen who argued the city’s mining ordinance was restrictive and duplicated federal and state review. That’s been controversial and alarmed environmentalists.
Proponents of streamlining the mining ordinance say there are no active proposals to reopen downtown Juneau’s long-shuttered A-J Mine.
A recent study commissioned by the city to review the ordinance found few examples where the local ordinance duplicated the work of state and federal regulators.
The appointments will need to be confirmed by the full Juneau Assembly.
