At its Feb. 16 meeting, the Haines Borough’s Solid Waste Working Group showed interest in a plan by resident Burl Sheldon to tackle community waste problems.
Member Jeremy Stephens resigned following the meeting. He said his departure was “to make room” for Sheldon. Stephens added that Sheldon has a lot of experience, has “done the leg-work” researching solid waste issues, and “is a better fit for the group.”
Deputy Clerk Alekka Fullerton said Sheldon has applied to take the position.
Sheldon was founder of Haines Friends of Recycling and also worked as a consultant for Community Waste Solutions, the town’s privately-owned waste handler.
Sheldon’s plan includes establishing “waste and recycling transfer stations” throughout the borough where customers could self-haul their trash. Disposal at such stations would be paid for by a freight or transport tax on goods crossing Lutak Dock.
Also, the borough could enter into a contractual agreement with CWS to care for the transfer stations, collect the waste and dispose of it in the landfill, according to the plan.
This option is aimed at reducing illegal dumping in the borough, which the group identified as a problem.
“I really like some of the things I’m seeing in what Burl put together,” Stephens said at the meeting. “He’s done a lot of the leg work for us here and there’s some good stuff in there that I think we can utilize…the biggest thing is to avoid an additional cost to the public.”
“Everything that is physical comes to us by freight,” Sheldon said. He also said a freight tax would encompass wholesale items, whereas a sales tax would only apply to retail. He gave the example that Howser’s IGA would be paying into a freight tax, but only collecting a sales tax for the borough.
Group member Diana Lapham said with a freight tax, the community would bear the brunt of paying for summer visitors’ garbage. She suggested a sales tax increase that would allow tourists to contribute.
But the group acknowledged that some nonprofit organizations and low income families are exempt from paying sales tax.
Stephens was in support of a freight tax, saying it was “the only way we could successfully get a community-wide solution.” The tax would essentially be “hidden” when, for example, someone goes to the store and buys a bottle of water, Stephens said. But he said the group shouldn’t get into other details yet.
“We’re having difficulty getting to the plan phase because we’re having a hard time with a vision,” Stephens said. “We can all be on the same page with a vision, then we can start planning out some of these specifics.”
Haines Friends of Recycling representative Melissa Aronson said she would like to make sure the transfer stations would allow people to self-sort their recyclables and include participation from HFR.
“I think we have, at least in this group sitting here today, some cohesion over a sketch outline of what it is we think we want to do with the transfer site idea,” said group member Phil Reeves. “Not getting into detail, but if we could just nail down the concept… and then we can address that concept with how to pay for it.”
Interim Borough Manager Brad Ryan suggested the group reach out to other communities about how they handle their waste.
“We don’t need to reinvent everything in Haines…What about stepping back and having somebody come and present what they’re doing?” Ryan said.
Group chair Margaret Friedenauer said she’s been in contact with Karl Hagerman of Southeast Alaska Regional Solid Waste Authority to discuss how Petersburg handles its waste. Other members of the consortium include Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay and Wrangell.
Friedenauer said she understands that SEASWA is a consortium of municipalities in Southeast that hold a joint contract with Republic Services of Washington. By working together, the small communities can reduce cost, as well as work from single sources of funding for authority-wide projects, Friedenauer said.
SEASWA has a board of eight directors and works in conjunction with Southeast Conference. There is no fee for a municipality to join or maintain membership.
Friedenauer said many of the options the group discussed could be possible through a contract with CWS or another provider, or the borough could join SEASWA.
Ryan said the borough could also apply for its own permit to collect waste at transfer stations from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
Ryan said the group will eventually need to reach out to the community for input on mandatory pickup, an idea that has considerable opposition.
A few members of the public at the meeting spoke on various topics, including opposing mandatory pickup, opposing borough competition with private business, and advocating for more stringent code to identify illegal dumping behaviors.
The group’s next meeting will include a presentation with Hagerman via phone. The following meeting may be a public forum to discuss taxes and how the community might be willing to pay for waste services.