The Haines Borough wants to make it easier to get junked vehicles out of town. A code amendment proposed by the planning commission would do that by allowing a storage yard for the cars and trucks in waterfront industrial zones.
Juneau-based Skookum Sales & Recycling, owned by parent company Channel Construction, has contacted the borough with interest in setting up a junkyard on the waterfront to process cars onsite for removal when an annual barge would pick them up, said Krista Kielsmeier, executive assistant to the borough manager.
The borough planning commission unanimously voted June 14 to submit to the assembly a draft amendment to allow junkyards in waterfront industrial areas. The amendment includes several environmental requirements recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including plans to address air and water pollution, hazardous waste, oil-spill prevention and aesthetic concerns.
Aesthetic concerns were a factor that led the planning commission to recommend the waterfront industrial area. The borough and Skookum have identified an area by the industrial zone at the borough-owned Lutak Dock as the best potential location.
Currently, junk cars are picked up by the borough’s public works department; the fluids and some parts are removed by Reilly Kosinski of Total Reclaim; the rigs are eventually shipped out on Alaska Marine Lines to a scrap-steel buyer in Washington state.
Vehicles had been shipped out every few years by a private scrap dealer when the price of metal was high enough. Since 2016, the borough has paid for shipping twice a year. Currently, 36 vehicles are sitting at public works, which is reaching capacity, said public facilities director Brad Ryan. There will be no shipments as the borough considers Skookum’s proposal.
The borough pays for the pickup, draining and shipping, partially funded by a $22 biennial registration fee for all vehicles and a $50 junked-car collection fee. The borough receives some revenue from the salvaged scrap metal, but still subsidizes the operation. Last fall, the borough paid AML approximately $7,000 to ship cars out and received $4,000 back from salvage, covering the $3,000 difference.
The proposal by Skookum would save money for the borough because the company would pay the shipping costs, instead of the borough, while paying to lease borough land for the yard. Additionally, the company has offered to pay to pickup the cars currently stored at public works, Kielsmeier said.
The borough’s zoning code does not permit junkyards in waterfront industrial areas but the practice is common in other Southeast communities, said borough planner Holly Smith.
The borough is working toward an appraisal of the potential lease area on Lutak Road. A request for proposals to lease the area would be required.
“The goal is to have a private-sector solution first, this would be a hybrid solution,” Kielsmeier said.