The Haines Borough is taking steps to dump its involvement in garbage collection.
Haines Sanitation owner Tom Hall, who holds an exclusive contract with the borough to pick up garbage in the townsite, says the move may drive up costs instead of bringing them down. His 10-year contract expires April 30.
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), the state agency that governs utilities, has certified Haines Sanitation, also called Community Waste Solutions, to provide townsite service. Acme Transfer also wants RCA certification to serve the townsite.
The borough is supporting Acme’s request.
“Our impression was that if we were going to try to have a balanced playing field for the free market, we should not, in any way, appear to be in favor of either one,”
borough assemblyman Steve Vick said this week.
RCA will review whether Acme is “financially fit, managerially fit, and willing and able to provide the services,” said spokeswoman Grace Salazar.
The borough’s government affairs and services committee met March 14 to discuss Haines Sanitation’s contract.
“We were informed by the (borough) lawyer that it’s not actually correct to have an exclusive contract with one agency,” Vick said. “We can have a contract with somebody, but we can’t say it’s exclusive.”
However, state law allows RCA to limit competition on behalf of the public interest.
Other options discussed by the committee included entering two non-exclusive contracts, establishing municipal pick-up or entering a new contract with Haines Sanitation.
The assembly’s government affairs and services committee recommended the borough “send the RCA a letter indicating the Borough supports competition for garbage collection within the townsite and let the RCA decide whether Acme’s service territory should be expanded. If RCA approves, then natural competitive forces should lead to rates and levels of service desired by residents.”
The assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday not to request proposals for garbage collection services in the townsite. Member Greg Goodman was absent.
Paul Nelson of Acme Transfer said he was surprised the borough would not request proposals.
“There may be a third company or a fourth company out there that they’re completely ignoring,” Nelson said.
In his report to the assembly, borough manager Mark Earnest wrote that the borough entering into another contract with Haines Sanitation “would likely prevent Acme from being given an opportunity to get RCA approval to compete with Haines Sanitation.”
Hall of Haines Sanitation said at Tuesday’s meeting that his business “has never received one letter from the Haines Borough that they were not satisfied with our service or that we were doing something they did not like or want.”
He said Haines Sanitation has not increased rates for garbage pick-up in the last decade, but said Acme Transfer’s involvement could lead to increased costs in the borough for municipal solid waste services. Hall said Haines Sanitation has been efficient due to its composting system in Haines.
“Shipping municipal solid waste outside Alaska leaves the community susceptible to many increased costs, such as barges, port fees, trucking, trains and landfills,” Hall said. “What if Washington decided to impose an import tariff for garbage coming to Washington, such as happened on the East Coast when garbage was shipped to other states?”
With volume split between Haines Sanitation and Acme Transfer, he said, higher rates might be necessary to cover overhead costs, with only a “relatively small” customer pool.
Salazar of the RCA said certification is necessary for any utility providing service to 10 or more customers.
“Generally, whenever a utility wants to provide service to a certain service territory, they would need to come to us and file an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity – in other words, a certificate that gives them authority to operate as a public utility and provide services for compensation,” she said.
Acme requested an RCA certificate for garbage pick-up in the Haines Borough, but was instead granted a certificate only to provide pick-up outside the townsite. The company offers self-hauling services.
Nelson said Haines Sanitation has had landfill issues that led to its permit being extended, but not renewed, by the state of Alaska.
“I don’t know what the answer is to municipal solid waste, but I believe that Acme has a much better solution for it than burying it in the ground here in Haines, where we have to deal with our high annual rainfall and the problems we’ve had with the landfill recently,” Nelson said.
He said Acme Transfer has a competitive advantage because it doesn’t manage a landfill, and would be capable of underbidding Haines Sanitation for a borough contract.
“When you operate a landfill here, if you comply, you have to take water samples; there’s a whole series of things that you have to do to keep your landfill in compliance,” Nelson said. “Then, once you close that landfill, you have to monitor it for 30 years after it closes, and this is all federal stuff. There’s state law, too.”
He said the application process with RCA might take several months, but he could be granted temporary operating authority.
“I’m trying to do this to help with the disposal of garbage,” Nelson said. “It’s not really a huge moneymaking thing.”