Members of the Haines Solid Waste Working Group held a meeting for the first time since 2017 last week after the assembly voted earlier this month to reestablish the committee.

The group voted to prioritize a list of action items the committee should work toward addressing. To do so, working group members will rate their concerns based off a 2017 report the group drafted for the assembly. The document listed problems such as expensive disposal costs, illegal dumping, inadequate access to convenient disposal services and infrequent options for disposal of hazardous waste.

It ultimately recommended a tax-based system managed by the borough, the issuance of an RFP for operation of a transfer station and shipping of waste outside the borough.

Working group member Burl Sheldon said he’d like each member to review the document and prioritize their concerns. Afterwards, the group can decide its priorities based on each members list.

“(Pick) one to three things that are not critical, but are of importance to you and everything else we sweep away and we don’t deal with it,” Sheldon said.

Borough staff wrote a draft ordinance that would have provided for the regulation, operation and management of a municipal solid waste program, but it was voted down twice by the assembly, once in 2018 and again in 2019.

Tom Morphet was on the assembly at the time and voted against the draft ordinance. He attended last week’s meeting and said while the problems identified by the working group were sound, the draft ordinance that sprang from them came with a large price tag and tried to change too much too fast.

“A more politically sellable way to address the waste issue is take one element at a time and see what perhaps the public sector could do to assist the private sector on getting a handle on these things,” Morphet said.

Sheldon said although mandatory collection is a proven way to discourage illegal dumping and littering, it is “politically impossible” in Haines.

“As for really solving the illegal disposal problems, that’s how it’s been done in America,” Sheldon said of mandatory waste collection. “We’ve thrown that under the bus. There’s not going to be any rational conversation.”

Morphet encouraged the committee to include multiple perspectives as it continues to work toward solutions.

“I would hope as we go forward this committee does its best to include skeptics, critics and opponents so whatever comes out at the end has a chance of getting past the assembly,” Morphet said. “It’s been my observation that if our committees are drawn from people who are all like-minded, they hit a lot of opposition.”

Sheldon suggested including someone on the committee who has a collection account with Community Waste Solutions, the local landfill operator.

The working group has seven seats. Three members attended Thursday’s meeting. Committee chair Melissa Aaronson said she’s reached out to other members but hasn’t heard back.

At its next meeting, group members will individually prioritize their concerns.