The Haines Borough is looking to purchase a wood grinder and lease it to an emerging or small business to operate for the community.
Bids are due July 2. A separate process will select the operator.
“The idea is to make things possible for a business that wouldn’t have the capital to afford to purchase a grinder,” said public facilities director Brad Ryan.
The grinder will help local businesses get in on the biomass push in Haines, Ryan said.
The operator would sell the ground-up wood, with several locations already using the fuel, including Olerud’s Market, Haines Senior Center, Chilkoot Indian Association and the refurbished city shop. The borough has plans to install a biomass boiler near Takshanuk Watershed Council’s Starvin’ Marvin Garden. That boiler could serve the school, borough offices and the library from the site.
Funds for the grinder will come from about $112,000 in federal and state grants. The borough wants a grinder that can accept logs at least 24 inches in diameter and produce chips two inches or smaller.