Cemetery caretakers, Takshanuk in dispute over Sawmill Road parcel

The new recycling facility and a gravel driveway that is the subject of an easement dispute, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Will Steinfeld/Chilkat Valley News)

By Will Steinfeld

Chilkat Valley News

A boundary conflict between neighbors on Sawmill Road exploded into the open last week, threatening the future of a community composting facility, and, some say, the future of the borough-owned Jones Point Cemetery.

The composting facility, built by local non-profit Takshanuk Watershed Council (Takshanuk), sits on land diagonally across Sawmill Road from the nearest headstones in the cemetery. While the structure is on Takshanuk land, an existing driveway, which Takshanuk plans to use to access the facility, runs partially across cemetery land not currently used for burial.

Takshanuk so far has support from the interim borough manager and a majority of the planning commission to use that roughly one-tenth acre of borough-owned driveway. But the cemetery’s caretakers of almost four decades, Diann and Roc Ahrens, and concerned residents, say they unconditionally oppose granting the easement and use of the driveway.

Opposition has centered around two sets of concerns: first, that the borough and Takshanuk have improperly and illegally handled the planning stages for the facility. And second, regardless of the exact boundary dispute, that a neighboring composting facility is disrespectful to the sanctity of the cemetery.

A long planning process

The first set of concerns, about process, are wrapped up in a complex timeline stretching back to 2022, when Takshanuk first contacted borough officials about the possibility of an easement. Takshanuk planned to build on the foundation of a partially-collapsed, unused machine shop built by prior owners of the land. Repurposing an existing driveway and concrete slab was meant to be a cost and time-saving measure, but the nonprofit knew, before building, that the facility would likely run partially over the boundary.

Takshanuk Executive director Derek Poinsette said earlier this week that neither they nor the borough knew the exact boundary until Takshanuk cleared debris on the property, including a junked boat that had been covering a survey marker. However, the boundary was shown to be near-flush with the machine shop on parcel maps which the organization included in communications from 2022.

Opponents of the facility have pointed to that knowledge, and a 1996 plat map showing the location of the property line, as evidence of negligence or worse – willful misconduct. “They went ahead and built (the facility) fully recognizing the only way it would work is that they would get it built and then ask the borough for an easement,” said Roc Ahrens last week.

But Takshanuk contends that not only had the driveway been used for industrial purposes by previous owners of the land — first Alaska Forest Products and then Klukwan Inc. — but also that they were open with borough officials from the beginning. In a February 2022 email to then-planner Dave Long, 18 months before construction on the facility began, Poinsette notified Long of the potential issue, asking to make “an arrangement of some sort with the Borough–maybe a sale or long term lease” for Takshanuk to use the borough-owned driveway.

Poinsette said earlier this week that following that email, up through when the facility was constructed in the summer of 2023, borough officials were “supportive of the project,” as the organization discussed with planners possibilities for sale, lease, or easement of the driveway land.

The organization submitted an official easement application in spring of 2024. But when then-interim manager Elke Doom made a recommendation on the easement in December 2024, it was a denial. Doom’s rationale included a deed restriction that the cemetery land only be used for cemetery purposes, concern about space in the cemetery, and the cemetery caretakers’ plans to build a structure on the same piece of land. Poinsette said Doom’s recommendation was the first time he had been made aware of borough opposition to the land use.

Earlier this month, half a year after Doom’s recommendation, current interim-manager Alekka Fullerton changed course, recommending approving the easement for a period of five years. While Roc Ahrens described this in a public letter as a “hard left turn by the Borough Management” and a “back room political deal,” Fullerton has said her decision was based on new information.

Doom had cited the fact that the cemetery property was deed-restricted to be used only for cemetery purposes, and that if violated, the land would return to federal control. But when asked by the borough, federal Bureau of Land Management section chief Bettie Shelby wrote that “granting an easement would not change the primary use of the land as a cemetery.” That opinion, however, did not cover plans for a bear fence, and Poinsette said he has contacted the Bureau of Land Management for an opinion that includes the fence. Takshanuk has said it is able to avoid fencing the easement if necessary.

Space in the cemetery

The Ahrens have also said that apart from the legality of the process, the cemetery “does not have any land to give (Takshanuk).” The total area of the cemetery is roughly 20 acres, around four of which have been filled by graves. But residents at last week’s planning commission meeting said much of the remaining land – roughly half the total property as estimated by Don Turner Jr. – is wooded, bedrock slope unsuitable for burial.

However, it’s unclear whether the easement would affect the amount of remaining burial land. The land area of the easement is small – one-tenth of an acre – and is not on the main burial grounds. Instead, it runs through a narrow corner of the property across the street from the burial area that has not yet been developed. Roc Ahrens said last week that the land across the street from the burial grounds will not be used for graves. But he has advocated for using that land instead to build a columbarium – a small pavilion that would store cremated remains.

The columbarium is not in the borough’s budget or on the six-year capital improvement plan list. If a columbarium is built and the easement forces it to be sited elsewhere that could reduce burial area.

An issue of respect

Much of the property dispute, regarding permits, zoning, and land area, comes with years of documentation and legal opinions. But in reality, even resolving the property dispute may not fully address the issue of whether the compost facility is disrespectful to the cemetery.

The Ahrens and members of the public have said that while they are not opposed to composting, they are opposed to composting next to the cemetery. At last week’s planning commission meeting, many of the public commenters shared personal stories about loved ones buried in Jones Point.

“My husband is buried on that property, kitty corner to the composting facility,” said Diana Lapham. “It will disturb my sanctuary, and it will disturb my time of visiting with him.”

“I have taken many coffins out to the cemetery for graveside services,” said Cindy Jones. “Quiet is a necessary ingredient.”

That issue, raised by Lapham, Jones, and others, is about proximity to gravesites. And even if the driveway access is denied, Takshanuk’s composting facility will remain just as close to the cemetery.

Takshanuk staff members, for their part, have argued that they are following borough zoning, which zones their land for light-industrial use, and existing precedent. And, they say, all of the building and composting has and will happen on their property.

In an email, Poinsette responded to charges that having a neighboring compost facility violated sacred ground.

“Was (the facility area) sacred ground for the 50 years that it was a bus depot and primary access to an equipment repair shop?

Was it sacred ground when it was a garbage dump?” Poinsette wrote. “What about all of [Alaska Mountain Guides’] junk vehicles and other trash that is on cemetery property directly across from the grave sites in full view of all burial services?”

“[The cemetery] is in front of one of the largest tourism companies in Southeast Alaska,” said Takshanuk compost project manager Cindy Zuluaga Jimenez this week, also adding that many each week use the road to access trails on Takshanuk land at the end of the road. “This has never been a quiet residential road.”

In terms of increased traffic, Jimenez said the compost facility would be open for public drop-off three hours per week. On top of that, Jimenez estimates 12-20 days of tractor usage per year to process the compost.

Jimenez and Poinsette also said there won’t be any smell, describing the composting containers as capped and state of the art. Residents opposed to the facility remain dubious of that claim. As for the compost attracting bears, which some residents have argued will happen, Takshanuk’s land use permit stipulates that if the facility becomes a bear-attractant, it will shut down.

The path forward

The issue will now proceed to the assembly for a final decision on whether to grant the easement of borough land. At least right now, it does not appear there is an easy way to deescalate tension between the two sides.

Takshanuk staff say they have offered, in a spirit of “being good neighbors,” to lend their equipment for cemetery maintenance and expansion projects.

Poinsette said at the planning commission meeting that he has made “multiple attempts over many months to have a conversation with Mr. and Ms. Ahrens, including multiple emails, voicemails, and even a very brief telephone exchange,” but has not received a response.

Opponents of the facility say a better solution would be to relocate the facility elsewhere in Takshanuk’s property. And the cemetery caretakers have said they are not looking to negotiate. “We don’t have anything in common with them given the ways they’ve attacked us,” said Roc Ahrens.

Opponents of the compost facility have also pointed to a deeper divide.

Ahrens said he sees Takshanuk as part of a group of “non-profits that came in and destroyed family jobs (in Haines),” which echoed comments at the planning commission about a generational difference, where the cemetery meant more to long-time residents.

“Most of you have probably not lived here long enough to appreciate or understand the special connection many of us lifelong residents have with our cemetery,” said former Mayor Jan Hill to planning commissioners.

Depending on the assembly’s decision, the compost facility is looking at two very different paths: if approved for an easement, it will either begin operating almost immediately.

If denied, Takshanuk will have to rework the facility, which Poinsette said could double the total cost of the project – a cost he said the organization cannot afford.

• This story was originally published by the Chilkat Valley News.